Among the Brigands Page 14

  CHAPTER XIII.

  _David Captured.--The big, bluff, burly, brusque, bearded,broad-shouldered, beetle-browed Bully of a Brigand.--A terrificInquisition.--David's Plea for Mercy.--The hard-hearted Captor andthe trembling Captive.--A direful Threat.--David carried off helplessand despairing.--The Robber's Hold._

  So this great, big, bluff, burly, brusque, bearded, broad-shouldered,beetle-browed brigand came straight towards the place where poorDavid was; walking with great strides; and David, seeing all hopelost, stood still, and awaited the arrival of his formidable enemy.The consciousness of his utter helplessness filled him with despair,and his ignorance of Italian put it out of his power to disarm thefury or deprecate the wrath of his fierce pursuer. In the fewmoments that intervened between the first discovery that he wasseen and the arrival of his enemy, his brain was filled withconfusion, and his bewildered thoughts turned helplessly to hisfriends whom he had left behind. He thought of their grief. Hethought, too, of his home. He thought, of his mother. That home,those friends, that loving, mother, he now might never see again.Farewell, all dear ones! Farewell, bright past! Farewell, sweetlife, and glad light of day! Such were the thoughts, gloomy anddespairing, that filled his mind, and tormented his heart; and atthe moment that his pursuer entered the grove and stood before him,David looked up with pale face and frightened eyes, and somethinglike a sob escaped him.

  The big, burly brigand stood before him, and eyed him from head tofoot. He was very tall, and, indeed, to David he seemed gigantic,while his right hand held the rifle like a walking-stick. He lookedat David in silence, and scanned him curiously all over; and David'seyes, which had at first sought those of his captor in timidentreaty, now sank before his stern gaze.

  "_Cosa volete?_" said the brigand. "_Donde venite?_" in a deepvoice.

  "_Non capisco_," faltered David, bringing forth the only Italianthat he knew.

  At this the brigand was silent, and again surveyed him.

  "_Parlate Italiano?_" he asked, at length.

  "No," said David, in a tremulous voice; for he understood themeaning of those words well enough.

  "Hm--" said the brigand, and then, "_Parlez vous Francais?_"

  "No," said David.

  "_Habla usted Espanol?_" asked the brigand once more, apparentlyquite curious to find out the nationality of his prisoner, so asto form some basis of communication with him.

  David shook his head.

  The brigand paused, and frowned, and stared fixedly at David, asthough trying to gather from his looks and dress what his countrymight be. David's dress showed him to be a respectable youth,while his face might belong to any nationality; for his complexionwas dark, and somewhat sallow, his eyes dark, his hair black andstraight, and his frame slender.

  "_Sprechen sie Deutsch?_" asked the brigand, once, more returningto the examination.

  David shook his head.

  At this the brigand frowned, and once more relapsed into silencefor some time. At length he made a further effort.

  "_Russo?_" he asked, in an interrogative tone, elevating hiseyebrows.

  David shook his head.

  "_Turco?_" asked the brigand again, in the same tone and manner.

  Again David shook his head, wondering why the brigand should forone moment imagine it possible that he could be a Russian or aTurk.

  "_Greco?_" asked the brigand, in a tone of voice which seemed asthough he was about to give it up as a hopeless conundrum.

  When David shook his head at this, the brigand turned away indisgust, and stood for a few moments meditating. David felt hisfate to be hanging in the balance, and stood in deep suspense,watching with anxious eyes the face of his captor. But the heavybeard and mustache, and the slouched felt hat, concealed allexpression; nor could David see anything there which could at alllessen his anxiety. He thought, however, that if he could onlycommunicate in some way his mournful story, and let his captor seethat he had come here unintentionally, and only wanted to get backto his friends, he might excite his compassion, if indeed therewas any compassion in the stern soul of this awful being. It wasDavid's only chance, however; and so, putting his hand timidly onthe brigand's arm, he pointed towards the shore, and waved his armtowards Naples.

  At this the brigand stared; but seeing that David persistentlypointed in that direction, he walked off through the grove for afew paces, till he reached the top of the bank, where the beachappeared before him, and the boat drawn up on it. David followedhim, and as they came in sight of the boat he pointed towards it,and then touched his breast, meaning by that to show that the boatwas his. This the brigand at once understood, and after once morestaring hard at David, as though anxious to ascertain whether hewas speaking the truth or not, he bounded down the bank, and strodetowards the boat, which he examined narrowly, inside and out. Daringthis time he paid no attention to David; but to the poor lost ladthis indifference gave no hope. He knew that there was no escapefor him. He felt that on this island the brigand was supreme, andany effort to fly would only be worse than useless. So, instead oftrying to fly, he followed the brigand, and came up to where hewas standing beside the boat.

  The brigand examined it very narrowly outside and inside. Heinspected the bow, the stern, and the rudder. He knelt down andlooked underneath. He stepped inside and examined David's clumsyfastenings of the sail. These excited much interest, apparently,and caused prolonged study on his part. To David all this appearedperfectly intelligible, and very natural. The brigand was evidentlyexamining his plunder, to see what it was worth. David felt anadditional pang of grief at the thought that he had sequestratedthe property of some innocent Castellamare fisherman, and divertedit into the possession of brigands; but he consoled himself by thethought that if he ever escaped he could hunt up the owner and makegood the loss. Escape for himself was the first thing, and he triedto hope that the boat might prove a prize sufficiently valuable tomollify the mind of the brigand, and dispose him to mercy andcompassion. So, as the brigand inspected the boat, David stoodwatching the brigand, and looking earnestly to see whether therewere any signs of a relenting disposition. But the face of thebrigand preserved an unchanged expression; and after he had examinedthe boat to his satisfaction, he once more confronted David, andthe poor, forlorn, despairing lad saw that his aspect was as malign,as ferocious, and as truculent as ever.

  David determined to make a further effort. There was nothing elseto be done. He felt that he must pacify this ferocious being, disarmhis hostility, appease his cruelty, and, if possible, excite hiscompassion. To do all this, it would be necessary to express himselfby signs--for he could not speak the language; and though signsseemed very inadequate, yet he had to resort to them. He had heard,however, of the skill of the Italians in expressing ideas by meansof gestures, and he hoped that this man might gain some meaningfrom his unskilled efforts.

  So, first of all, he tried to tell the brigand that he was from.America. He laid one hand on his heart, and waved the other towardswhat he supposed to be the west.

  The brigand nodded solemnly, and seemed to comprehend what he wishedto state. It gratified David to see this, and to notice also thatthe brigand was very attentive, and fixed his dark, stern eyes uponhim with closest scrutiny.

  The next thing that David tried to tell him was, that he had friendswith him.

  This he did by patting his breast, waving his arms around him,smiling, and touching four of his fingers.

  The brigand nodded. He had apparently got idea.

  David was very much encouraged.

  The next thing to be told was, that he and his friends had gone onan excursion into the country.

  This he did by prancing along the sand, and snapping an imaginarywhip; after which he pointed to the opposite shore, waving his handalong the country.

  The brigand nodded again, and appeared deeply interested.

  The next thing to be told was, that he had put off in this boat.

  He waved his hand towards Vesuvius. Then he lay down on thesand, and pretended t
o be asleep. He then rose, yawned, andrubbed his eyes. Then he went to the boat, pretended to pushoff and hoist sail.

  The brigand now nodded very vigorously, and it began to be evidentto David that his story was making some impression.

  He now wished to explain that the boat had got beyond his control,on account of his ignorance of navigation, and that he had driftedor been blown upon this shore.

  To do this, he pointed to the boat, then to himself; after whichhe sighed and looked down in a melancholy way. Then he got intothe boat and shook the sail. Then he jumped out and rocked it asviolently as he could. Then he sank back on one knee with foldedarms and upturned face, intending by that to indicate despair. Thenhe waved his hands all about, and pointed to the boat and to thesea; and then, pointing alternately to the boat and to the sea, hewaved his hands, trying to indicate the track over which he hadpassed while approaching the island. After this he paused, andturned a supplicatory look at his captor.

  Thereupon the brigand nodded vehemently, as before.

  And now one thing yet remained for David to explain, and that was,his own position. He wished to tell the brigand that he knew hewas in his power, and that he would pay any ransom, if he wouldonly restore him to his friends.

  To explain this, David took the big hand of the brigand, and putit upon his head, stooping down low as he did so. Then he wavedhis arms all around, and mournfully shook his head. Which meant,that he was in the brigand's power, and would not and could notescape. Then he drew forth his purse, tapped it several times, heldit out to the brigand, waved his hands towards Naples, slapped hisbreast, and pointed to the brigand and to himself. Which meant,that he would pay any money, that he had friends in Naples whowould treat with the brigand for his release on his own terms.Having explained this much, David stopped, for he felt that therewas nothing more for him to do, and watched the effect of his story,and his concluding offer.

  The brigand seemed gratified. He nodded several times gravely andthoughtfully. Then he looked at the boat, and then at David, andthen at the sea. To David it seemed as if the brigand was tryingto trace the boat's devious track over the water, so as to seewhether his story was true or not. He did not offer any furtherexplanations, but allowed the brigand to think it out for himself.That worthy accordingly devoted his mind to the consideration ofthe situation for some time, until at length he seemed to havemastered it, and also to have come to a decision about his owncourse of conduct.

  He reached out his brawny hand, and laid it on David's head. Afterwhich he pointed to himself, and nodded.

  By this David saw, unmistakably, that the brigand was claiminghim as his own captive. Although the fact was already painfullyevident, yet this formal statement of it produced a very depressingeffect upon David's mind, and made him feel that he had beenindulging in hopes too soon. Then the brigand waved his handtowards the fields, and the cottage beyond the grove. After this,he waved his hand in a general direction, and then swept it overthe surrounding scene. He pointed to the island and nodded,pointed to Naples and shook his head.

  By which David understood him to say, "You are my prisoner. I livein that house. You shall be kept there. You can't escape."

  Then the brigand raised his gun, and nodded at David. Then heslapped the stock of it several times, fixing his keen, glowingeyes gloomily upon the lad as he did so. Then he waved his handtowards the sky.

  By which David understood the following:--

  "You're my prisoner! You cannot escape! If you dare try it, I willshoot you! You can no more escape than you can fly in the air!"

  Then the brigand pointed to the boat, and touched his breast.

  By which David understood,--

  "This boat is mine, and I will keep it as my lawful prize."

  Then he waved his hand to the house, and then pointed to Naples.After which he brought forth a purse from his pocket, tapped itsignificantly, pointed to David, and then to Naples.

  By which David understood,--

  "I will keep you as a prisoner up there in my house till I communicatewith your friends about your ransom, and find out how much I canget for you."

  After this the brigand pulled the boat farther up on the beach,and then, beckoning to David to follow, he strode off towardsthe house.

  Slowly and sadly poor David followed; and hope, which had for amoment revived, began to die out within him. He had been deceivedby the demeanor of the brigand, during his own description of hiswoes and wandering, and had mistaken for compassion what was onlyordinary attention. The manner of the brigand, when he had beganto gesticulate, changed hope to fear, and fear to despair. Themerciless allusion to David's captive state; the rude appropriationof him as a prisoner by the grasp of his head; the ferocious threatwith the gun; and, finally, the display of the purse, and the coarsereference to money and ransom, all convinced David that he had todo with one who was a stranger to compassion--a ferocious andruthless nature, without pity, and without remorse. And now, ashis captor led the way to the house, he felt that he was beingconveyed to a prison, from which his escape was, indeed, uncertain;for, though he knew that Uncle Moses would pay any ransom, yet hecould not know whether the brigand would ever be able to communicatewith him or not. On the whole, it was the darkest hour of his life;and the stride of the ruffian in front of him seemed like the marchof inevitable Fate!

  They climbed up the bank, and then went through the grove. Emerginginto the field, they walked on towards the house. As they drewnearer, David saw signs that were not altogether in keeping withthe tough exterior of his enemy, for in front of the cottagethere were flowers in bloom, which appeared to be cultivated bysome careful hand; but a moment's thought showed David that thismight be the work of the robber's wife. The prospect of meetingwith a woman afforded hope; for whatever the husband might be,the wife might be gentle, and pitiful, and womanly; and Daviddrew hope from the flowers; for the one that would have tasteslike these might not be altogether hard and implacable; and asthe giants and ogres of the fairy books had wives who generallywere willing to help the victims of their husbands, so here, inthe wife of this Italian ogre, David hoped to find one who mightbe as merciful as those of fairy lore.

  At length they reached the house, and the brigand, after waitingfor a moment for his prisoner to come up, entered the door. Davidfollowed, and found himself inside.

  The door opened immediately into a room. It was large and low. Thefloor was paved with red tiles, and the walls were of wood, varnished.Around the walls hung numerous pictures without frames. In differentplaces there were confused heaps of clothing and drapery. Theclothing was rich, though fantastic. In one corner was a frame witharmor suspended; while over this, on the wall, he saw arms ofdifferent kinds--pistols, carbines, daggers, and blunderbusses.The fashion of all these was somewhat antique, and there was arichness in their ornaments which even David noticed, in spite ofhis trouble and anxiety. The furniture about the room wasold-fashioned, formed of massive mahogany, carved most elaborately,and was of so many different styles that the pieces seemed throwntogether at random. A Glastonbury chair stood beside an Elizabethansofa; a modern Davenport, a Louis Quatorze side-board, and a classictripod, stood in a row. Some Chinese tables were in one corner. Inthe centre of the room was a table of massive construction, withrichly carved legs, that seemed as old as the middle ages; whilebeside it was an American rocking-chair, in which lay a guitar.The whole scene struck David as being perfectly in keeping withhis captor; for this interior looked like some pictures which hehad seen of robber holds, where the accumulated plunder of yearsis heaped indiscriminately together, and reminded him vividly ofthe descriptions which he had read of the abodes of pirates orbrigands, in the novels of Cooper, in Francisco, the Pirate of thePacific, Lafitte, the Pirate of the Gulf, and Rinaldo Rinaldini.