The Princess Passes Volume 56, Alice Muriel Williamson, Charles Norris Williamson [primary phonics txt] 📗

Get A Change Of Clothing, A Mule,

And Some Money, He Might Risk Attacking Even Two Travellers, From

Behind. But We Shall Arrive At Aosta Before Dark, And I Am Afraid----"

 

"I'll Warrant You're Not Afraid Of Danger."

 

"That We Shall Get No Such Sport, Monsieur."

 

Even As He Spoke There Came, With The Wind Blowing Up From The Valley,

A Loud, Long-Drawn Shriek Of Fear Or Distress, Uttered By A Woman. We

Looked At Each Other, Joseph And I, And Then Without A Word Set Off

Running Down The Hill, In The Direction Of The Cry. Again It Came, "À

Moi-À Moi!" We Could Hear The Words, Now, And Then A Wild,

Inarticulate Scream.

 

I Bounded Down The Winding White Road, Where The Evening Shadows Lay,

And Joseph Followed, Somehow Dragging Finois--At Least, I Am Sure That

He Would Not Have Left His Beloved Beast Behind,--And So At Last We

Turned A Sharp Bend Of The Path, Thickly Fringed With A Dense Wood,

Where Suddenly Innocentina Sprang Almost Into My Arms. She Ran To Me,

Blindly, Not Seeing Who It Was, But Knowing By Instinct That Help Was

At Hand. "A Robber--A Murderer!" She Panted. "Oh, Save--" And Then, I

Think, She Fainted.

 

I Have A Vague Recollection Of Tossing Her To Joseph, And Plunging

Into The Dim Wood, Where Something Moved, Half-Hidden By The Crowding

Trees. It Was The Donkeys I Saw At First, And Then I Came Full Upon A

Man, Dressed All In The Brown Of The Tree Trunks, So That At A

Distance He Would Not Be Seen Among Them, In The Dusk. He Had The

_Rücksack_ I Had Noticed At The Cantine De Proz In One Hand, And With

The Other He Had Just Drawn A Knife From The Belt Under His Coat. On

The Ground Crouched The Boy, Shielding His Bowed Face With A Slim,

Blue-Serge Arm.

 

Chapter 12 (The Princess) Pg 83

    "My Little Body Is Aweary Of This Great World."

                                     --Shakespeare.

 

 

This Was The Tableau Photographed On My Retina As I Sprang Forward;

But I Drew The Revolver Which Had Occasioned Winston's Mirth When

Molly Gave It To Me At Brig, And In An Instant The Picture Had

Dissolved. The Man In Brown Dropped The _Rücksack_, And Ran As I Have

Never Seen Man Run Before--Ran As If He Wore Seven-Leagued Boots. My

Chapter 12 (The Princess) Pg 84

Revolver Was Not Loaded, And All The Cartridges Were Among My Shirts

And Collars, On Finois' Back, Therefore I Could Pursue Him With

Nothing More Dangerous Than Anathemas, Unless I Had Deserted The Boy,

Who Seemed At First Glance To Be Almost As Near Fainting As

Innocentina.

 

Reluctantly Letting The Man Go Free, I Bent Over The Little Figure In

Blue, Still On Its Knees. "Are You Hurt?" I Asked In Real Anxiety,

Such As I Had Not Thought It Possible To Feel For The Brat.

 

"No--Only My Arm. He Wrung It So. And Perhaps I Have Twisted My Knee.

I Don't Know Yet. He Pushed Me Back, And I Fell Down."

 

I Lifted Him Up And Supported Him For A Moment, He Leaning Against Me,

The Colour Drained From Cheeks And Lips. But Suddenly It Streamed

Back, Even To His Forehead; And Raising His Head From My Shoulder

Where It Had Lain For A Few Seconds, He Unwound Himself Gently From My

Arm. "I'm All Right Now, Thank You Awfully," He Said. "I Believe You

Have Saved My Life And Innocentina's. You See, We Fought With The Man

For Our Things; And When He Saw That He Couldn't Steal Them Without A

Struggle, He Whipped Out A Knife And--And Then You Came. Oh, He Was A

Coward To Attack Two--Two People So Much Weaker Than Himself, And Then

To Run Away When A Stronger One Came!"

 

I Kept Joseph's Story To Myself, And Hoped That The Boy Had Not Heard

It. Perhaps, After All, This Lurking Beast Of Prey Had Not Been The

Murderer In Hiding. The Place Was Desolate, And Evening Was Falling.

Some Tramp, Or Thievish Peasant, Taking Advantage Of The Murder-Scare,

Might Easily Have Dared This Attack; And When I Glanced At The Picnic

Array Under A Tree Near By, I Was Even Less Surprised Than Before At

The Thing Which Had Happened.

 

The Mouse-Coloured Pack-Donkey Had Been Denuded Of His Load, And The

Most Elaborate Tea Basket I Had Ever Seen (Finer Even Than Molly's)

Was Open On The Ground. If The Cups, Plates And Saucers, The Knives,

Spoons And Forks, Were Not Silver, They Were Masquerading Hypocrites;

And I Now Discovered That The Large, Dark Object Which I Had Seen

Innocentina Putting Into The _Rücksack_ (At This Moment Half On, Half

Off) Was A Very Handsome Travelling Bag. It Was Gaping Wide, The Mouth

Fixed In Position With Patent Catches, And It Lay Where The

Disappointed Thief Had Flung It, Tumbled On Its Side, With A Quantity

Of Gold And Crystal Fittings Scattered Round About. On The Gold Backs

Of The Brushes, And The Tops Of The Bottles, Was An Intricate

Monogram, Traced In Small Turquoises.

 

"By Jove!" I Exclaimed. "Do You Travel With These Things? What

Madness To Spread Them Out In The Woods By An Unfrequented Mountain

Road! That Is To Offer Too Much Temptation Even To The Honest Poor."

 

"I Know," Said The Boy Meekly. "It Was Stupid To Picnic In Such A

Place, But We Had Come Fast" (With This He Had The Grace To Look A

Little Shame-Faced, Knowing That I Knew _Why_ He Had Come Fast) "And

We Were Tired. It Was So Beautiful Here, And Seemed So Peaceful That

Chapter 12 (The Princess) Pg 85

We Never Thought Of Danger, At This Time Of Day. We Had Just Begun To

Pack Up Our Things To Move On Again, When There Was A Rustling Behind

Us, The Crackling Of A Branch Under A Foot, And That Wretch Sprang

Out. I Was Frightened, But--I Hate Being A Coward, And I Just Made Up

My Mind He _Shouldn't_ Have Our Things. Innocentina Screamed, And I

Struck At The Man With The Stick She Uses To Drive Fanny And Souris.

Then He Got Out His Knife, And Innocentina Screamed A Good Deal More,

And--I Don't Quite Know What Did Happen After That, Till You Came."

 

"Well, I'm Thankful I Was Near," I Said. "And I Must Say That, Though

It Was Foolhardy To Make Such A Display Of Valuables, You Were A

Plucky Little David To Defend Your Belongings Against Such A Goliath.

I Admire You For It."

 

The Boy Flushed With Pleasure. "Oh, Do You Really Think I Was Plucky?"

He Asked. "Everything Was So Confused, I Wasn't Sure. I'd Rather Be

Plucky Than Anything. Thank You For Saying That, Almost As Much As For

Saving Our Lives. And--And I'm Dreadfully Sorry I Called You A--Brute,

Last Night."

 

"It Was Only Because I Called You A Brat. I Fully Deserved It, And

We'll Cry Quits, If You Don't Mind. Now, I'd Better See How The

Fainting Lady Is, And Then I'll Help You Get Your Things Together. How

Are The Knee And Arm?"

 

"Nothing Much Wrong With Them After All, I Think," Said The Boy,

Limping A Little As He Walked By My Side Back To The Road, Where I Had

Left Innocentina With Joseph.

 

We Had Taken But A Few Steps, When They Both Appeared, The Young Woman

White Under Her Tan, Her Eyes Big And Frightened. She Was Herself

Again, Very Thankful For So Good An End To The Adventure, And Volubly

Ashamed Of The Weakness To Which She Had Given Way. In The Midst Of

Her Explanations And Enquiries, However, I Noticed That She Took Time

Now And Then To Throw A Glance At My Muleteer, Not Scornful And

Defiant, As On The Day Before, But Grateful And Mildly Feminine. In

Conclave We Agreed To Say Nothing In Aosta Of The Grim Encounter, Lest

Our Lives Should Be Made Miserable By _Gendarmes_ And Much Red Tape.

But Joseph, Less Diplomatic Than I, Had Not Scrupled To Seize The

Moment Of Innocentina's Recovery To Pour Into Her Ears The Story Of

The Escaped Criminal, And The Excitement In Which He Had Plunged The

Neighbouring Country. She Was Anxious To Hurry On As Quickly As

Possible, Lest Night Should Overtake Her Party On The Way, And, Still

Pale And Tremulous, She Sprang Eagerly To The Work Of Gathering Up The

Scattered Belongings. While She And Joseph Put The Tea-Basket To

Rights, The Boy And I Rearranged The Gorgeous Fittings Of The Bag, And

Discovered That Not Even A Single Bottle-Top Was Missing.

 

"What A Burden To Carry On A Donkey's Back!" I Laughed. "You Are A

Regular Beau Brummel."

 

"Why Not?" Pleaded The Boy. "I Like Pretty Things, And This Is Very

Convenient. It Is No Trouble For Souris. When The Bag Is In The

Chapter 12 (The Princess) Pg 86

Rücksack_, No One Would Suspect That It Is Valuable. I Have Carried

All This Luggage So, Ever Since Lucerne, And Never Had Any Bother

Before."

 

"What, You Too Started From Lucerne?"

 

"Yes. I Had Innocentina And The Donkeys Come Up From The Riviera, To

Meet Me There. We Have Been A Long Time On The Way--Weeks: For We Have

Stopped Wherever We Liked, And As Long As We Liked. Until To-Day We

Haven't Had A Single Real Adventure. I Was Wishing For One, But

Now--Well, I Suppose Most Adventures Are Disagreeable When They Are

Happening, And Only Turn Nice Afterwards, In Memory."

 

"Like Caterpillars When They Become Butterflies. But Look Here, My

Young Friend David, Lest You Meet Another Goliath, I Really Think

You'd Better Put Up With The Proximity (I Don't Say Society) Of That

Hateful Animal, Man, As Far As Aosta. Joseph And I Will Either Keep A

Few Yards In