Chapter XIX: They Meet with Banditti

So the two carriages started from Terracina that afternoon, accompanied by three mounted guards. The dress of these men was very picturesque; but Norah did not much like the expression of their handsome faces. Cattarina seemed to recognise an old friend in one of them, and she had a long talk with him as they drove slowly up the hills.

It was one of those fine days in February which are particularly delightful in Southern Italy. The chestnut woods through which the road passed were beginning to be tinged with green, and formed a lovely contrast to the dark hues of the pines and cypresses.

As they approached Forli, the road was so steep that Mrs. Chandos wished to walk up the hill, so they all got out, except Mr. Chandos; and Norah was glad to have the enjoyment of the splendid scenery prolonged.

But Mrs. Chandos soon repented of having given way to her fears of an overturn, when a shot was heard, and they saw the trooper who rode at the head of their escort fall from his horse, and lie apparently dead on the road. Two more shots were fired, and then four men, evidently bandits, emerged from the wood, and seized the horses’ heads of both carriages; while a fifth came up to the window, and holding his pistol at Mr. Chandos’s head, demanded all the money and valuables the party possessed.

Norah was at his side in a moment, and seized on his arm, while she with the utmost coolness explained that if they would not hurt her father, they should be well paid.

“Ah! va bene,” said the bandit, who apparently admired Norah’s courage and coolness. “Va bene, ma fa presto,” said the man, as the screams of the rest of the party began to resound through the echoing valley, upon which he ordered the other bandits to stop their mouths and bandage their eyes.

Miss Rumble made a most vigorous resistance; but Mrs. Spinnyfit fainted into the arms of the bandit who proceeded to bandage her eyes.

Cattarina made a violent show of resistance and outcry at first, but soon submitted to the same ignominious treatment. Mrs. Chandos had followed Norah, and clung to her as if for protection, and endeavoured to keep herself from fainting, while she instinctively felt that their only hope was in the young girl’s coolness and tact. In the meantime Mr. Chandos took out all the money he had in his pocket.

“Ah, non basta,” said the man, and expressed that unless they would give everything they possessed quickly he would be obliged to use force.

“Oh, then, do, dear Norah, give them the box down. Mr. Chandos, pray do give them the box,” said Mrs. Chandos, as she pointed to a small despatch box inside the carriage, which she knew contained their most valuable jewels.

“Ah, si, va bene; dammi questa scatola.”

Norah tried to turn away the man’s attention, and said that the most valuable things were in the other carriage.

“Ah no, la signora dice che son qui,” he said, as he rudely pushed forward and proceeded to rummage the carriage and look under the seat. Norah knew that amongst their jewels, which were of great value, there were some family miniatures, set round with diamonds, and these miniatures no money could replace. She therefore regretted much that her mother’s fears had made her betray their whereabouts to the bandits, but she saw resistance was useless. Soon the man found the box, and as the lock, which was very strong, resisted his efforts to break it open, he said:

“La chiave, presto.”

Mr. Chandos took off a gold chain, to which the key was attached, and gave it to the man. Still Norah, who could not bear the idea of parting with her mother’s and grandmother’s miniatures, resolved to explain her reasons, and offered to send a further payment if he would allow them to redeem some of the contents of the box.

“Vedremo,” he said, as he proceeded to examine the brilliant treasures. But though Norah fancied that the head of the party would have agreed to her terms, the others insisted on having all. She then saw it was hopeless, and Mr. Chandos advised that no further efforts should be made. But as Norah saw how deeply he regretted losing these precious memorials, she looked anxiously round to see if the other two guards of the escort could not give any help.

They were nowhere to be seen, but she fancied that she could discern a cloud of dust at the bottom of the hill. The men were so engaged in examining and seizing upon their pray, and quarrelling about the division of it, that they did not perceive the dust nor hear the tramp of horses, which she, the next minute, distinctly heard coming up the hill.

Clinging to the hope of a rescue, she made some further objections, and again appealed to their feelings, and made energetic entreaties that they would not take the miniatures. She managed to get hold of the one of her mother; she held it firmly in her hand, and appealed to the bandit’s love for his own mother, while she contrived to place herself so as to obstruct their view down the hill; and then, as the advancing sounds drew nearer, she suddenly gave a most piercing shriek.

The next moment a shot was heard, and one of the bandits, who held the horse’s head, fell down, while the other turned from the carriage door to look from whence the shot proceeded. They were not long in discovering, and before they had time to recover from their surprise, they were surrounded by four well-armed men.

The chief bandit fired off his pistol, and made a vigorous resistance, but he was soon disarmed, and his hands tied behind his back. Then the person who seemed to have taken the lead in this unexpected rescue advanced towards Norah, and, to her great surprise, she recognised the Duke of Luna.

When Mrs. Chandos discovered who it was, she became completely puzzled, and began to fear that he was heading another party of bandits, and expressed her fears to her husband and Norah in piteous terms. The Duke, who spoke very good English, was much amused, and assured her that he was not in league with any bandits; on the contrary, he and a party of friends were resolved, in travelling this road, to ride well-armed, and, if possible, capture the celebrated Gasparone, “which we have done,” he added, with a triumphant smile, “but we must first empty his pockets, and return to your party all he has taken.”

But this was not quite so easy as the Duke had expected, for, as he was in the act of handing some of the valuables to Mr. Chandos, a shot was fired from the wood, which struck the Duke’s right arm, and a large body of bandits emerged from the thick trees and surrounded the whole party. Still the Duke and his friends made a most determined resistance, and Norah contrived to gather up all the jewels, miniatures, and money taken from Gasparone, while shots were being fired all round. She then helped her now really fainting mother into the carriage, and then got in herself, and pulled up the wooden blinds, with her father’s assistance. It was a moment of horrible suspense, for, if the Duke’s party did not succeed in putting their antagonists to flight, the enraged brigands would probably proceed to extremities, and murder some of the party. Mr. Chandos looked out at the little back window, for his anxiety about his children in the other carriage was intense.

“The thieves seem to be retreating again, I hope,” he said; “and here comes Valentino at last--I wonder what he did with himself all the time of the scuffle?”

“All right,” said the courier’s always cheerful voice at the window--“you may let de blind down now. No more fear, only the Duke of Luna is badly wounded, and we must try to put him in one of de carriages, for he cannot ride.”

“Has Gasparone escaped?”

“Si, Signor, he contrived to undo the cords when the others were fighting, and off he went; but he got no booty, everyting quite safe,” he added, with an air of triumph, as if it had been entirely owing to his own brave vigilance--“no Signor of mine ever lost anyting, as I assured the Signori before.”

On hearing that the Duke was badly wounded, Mr. Chandos ordered Valentino to ride on to Mola, and despatch a doctor as quickly as possible; and then he and Norah got out and went to see the poor Duke, who was lying on the bank, quite unable to move, and the blood was running from a wound on the side of his head. His companions were looking at him in helpless consternation, two of them also having received slight wounds; for there had been a sharp fight by the Duke’s party, against more than double their number, and, of course, then everyone was most anxious to leave this dangerous spot, and proceed on the way to Mola di Gaeta.

Mr. Chandos and his daughter were very good doctors, for they had always been accustomed to visit the poor people of their large village, so he immediately bound up the wounds, with the help of little Hetty, while Norah got some restoratives to pour down his throat. Then he was lifted into the large berline, and placed so that he could lie down; and Mr. Chandos and his two daughters accompanied him, for they were now the only useful ones of the party, Mrs. Chandos being in a state of hysterics, as well as the maid and governess; while the children, who had not been able to comprehend the scene at all, were still crying most piteously.

The postilion, who seemed to have been the first victim of the bandit’s attack, was found to be quite unhurt, although he had continued to cry out that he was “morto ed amazato!” for some time after he was raised from the ground. He now mounted his horse doggedly, by Valentino’s orders, and the carriages drove on. The wounded Duke had great difficulty in speaking, but he endeavoured to express by looks his gratitude for their kind efforts to alleviate his sufferings. Mr. Chandos, who had never heard of him, and did not now even know his name, was deeply struck by his handsome features, and the patient and grateful expression of his splendid eyes.

Norah at once saw the favourable impression produced on her father by his appearance. At first she shrank from introducing him by name, lest her mother might have spoken about the annoyance she had felt at his admiration; nor did she like to remind the poor sufferer of a scene which she fancied he would, in his present state, be pained to remember.

It seemed almost as if he had read her thoughts, for at the last stage going out to Gaeta, he mentioned that he had met Mrs. Chandos and herself at Princess D----’s; and as he said so, she saw the blush mount to his pale cheeks, and a painful expression of remorse overspread his countenance. Mr. Chandos saw it, and was puzzled, for his wife had not mentioned the Duke’s name, so that he knew of no cause for the pained look. Norah was so glad to witness it, that she began to talk much more kindly to the poor sufferer, for she knew that his recovery from such dangerous wounds must depend upon his spirits being kept up.

During the remainder of the drive, both she and her father used the best endeavours to amuse him, and make him forget his sufferings; and when they drove up at the hotel door, he expressed an earnest wish that he might have the pleasure of seeing them again.

“We certainly shall not desert you; we shall not be so ungrateful as to desert the man who has been the means of saving our valuables, and probably also our lives, till he is out of danger,” said Mr. Chandos.