"
And while the trumpet sounded the Baron listened and listened, and
walked up and down, and fretted and fumed and chafed, and I'm afraid
he swore a little too; and at last he was going to tell the trumpeter
to stop his infernal noise, when, just at that moment, what should he
see all of a sudden emerging from the woods but three figures!
And I'll leave you to imagine, if you can, the joy and delight which
agitated the bosom of our good Baron as he recognized among these
three figures the well-known face and form of his friend Hawbury. With
Hawbury was a lady whom the Baron remembered having seen once in the
upper hall of a certain house in Rome, on a memorable occasion, when
he stood on the stairs calling _Min_. The lady was very austere then,
but she was very gracious now, and very wonderfully sweet in the
expression of her face. And with them was a stranger in the garb of a
priest.
Now as soon as the party met the Baron, who rushed to meet them,
Hawbury wrung his hand, and stared at him in unbounded astonishment.
"You!" he cried; "yourself, old boy! By Jove!"
"Yes," said the Baron. "You see, the moment we got into that ambush I
kept my eye open, and got a chance to spring into the woods. There I
was all right, and ran for it. I got into the road again a couple of
miles back, got a horse, rode to Civita Castellaria, and there I was
lucky enough to find a company of Zouaves. Well, Sir, we came here
flying, mind, I tell you, and got hold of a chap that we made guide us
to the lake.
Pages:
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371