After walking for about two hours through the forest, where to Silvia's
and Clelia's inexperienced eyes there appeared to be no path ever
trodden by man, Orazio stopped at a clearing, and they beheld a small
pleasant-looking glade. Jack, the sailor, had proved of great use in
removing fallen branches strewn across the way, which would else have
greatly impeded the progress of the ladies. The weather had cleared up,
and although the wind still moved the crowns of the trees it fanned but
gently the cheeks of the fugitives.
"Signora, sit down here with your daughter," said their guide, pointing
to a large flat stone, "and take some rest, of which I see you are in
need. Jack and I will go in search of some food; but, before we do so,
I will spread my cloak upon your hard bench, that you may repose in
greater comfort."
Orazio was repaid with a graceful bow, and starting into the wood at a
rapid pace, accompanied by the sailor-boy, was soon hidden from their
view.
Silvia was really fatigued, but Clelia, being of a more elastic
constitution, and refreshed by her sound sleep during the past night,
was not so much fatigued; nevertheless, she found it very welcome to
rest in that agreeable place, where no human being save themselves was
visible.
Yielding presently, however, to the vivacity of her age, the young
girl sprang up, and began to gather some pretty wild flowers she had
observed, and forming them into a bouquet, presented them with a smile
to her mother, and re-seated herself at her side. Just then, the report
of a musket re-echoed through the wood. Silvia was greatly startled
by the sudden echo in that lonely, silent retreat, which had in it
something solemn.
Clelia, perceiving the effect upon her mother, embraced her, and in
reassuring tones said, "That is only a shot from our friend, _mia madre_;
he will soon return with some game."
Silvia's color came back again, and very soon afterwards Orazio and Jack
rejoined the ladies, carrying between them a young boar, struck down by
a ball from the carbine of the Roman.
At Orazio's request, Clelia, who had some knowledge of the English
language, bade Jack gather some sticks and light a fire, which he did
willingly, and in a little time the cheerful pile was blazing before
them.
Animal food may be necessary to man--in part a carnivorous animal--still
the trade of a butcher is a horrid one, while the continual dabbling in
the blood of dumb creatures, and cutting up their slaughtered carcasses
has something very repulsive in it. For our own part we would gladly
give up eating animal food, and as years pass on, we become more and
more averse to the destruction of these creatures, and can not even
endure to see a bird wounded, though formerly we delighted in the chase.
However, habit had made slaying and preparing the boar natural and easy
to Orazio, who, compelled to live in the forest, had, indeed, no choice
in the matter, being obliged either to kill game or starve. He laid the
boar upon the grass, and with his hunting-knife skinned a portion, and
cutting some substantial slices, fastened them on a skewer, cut by Jack
out of a piece of green wood, and laid them over the fire. When fairly
cooked, he presented them to the famished travellers. It was a roast
well fitted to appease the cravings of a moderate appetite, and the wild
dinner was heartily relished by all the parly. The meal was, indeed, a
cheerful one, much merriment being caused by the absurdities uttered by
Jack, whom Clelia was laughingly endeavoring to teach Italian.
The sailor is always a light-hearted fellow on land, and more
particularly after he has been a long time at sea. Jack, forgetting his
narrow escape, was now the gayest of the four, and, in the company of
the gentle and beautiful Clelia, did not envy his late shipmates, who
were tossing on the tempestuous ocean. For Orazio, his preserver, and
the Italian ladies, his gratitude knew no bounds, although he had but a
vague idea of their position and purposes.
When the repast was ended the party continued their journey, resting
occasionally by the way, and in this manner arrived, late in the
afternoon, in sight of one of those ancient edifices along the Ostian
shore which appear to have escaped the destroying touch of Time. It
stood away from the sea, on the edge of the forest, and at the entrance
to a vast plain; several fine oaks, many centuries old, were growing
about it, planted apparently by the original possessors, with some
attempt at regularity.
Orazio, begging the ladies to recline upon a mossy bank, stepped aside,
and drawing a small horn from his pouch, blew a blast, shrill and long.
The signal was answered by a similar sound from the ancient building,
and an individual, dressed much in Orazio's style, issued from it, who,
approaching the brigand with an air of respect, cordially saluted him.
Orazio took the new-comer's hand in a friendly manner, and, pointing to
his party, held a short conversation with him in an undertone. The man
then retired, and Orazio, returning to the ladies, begged them to rise,
and permit him to conduct them to this secure place of refuge.