le
about the matter, but he still adhered to his first assertion, that
Ripa was the assassin. With regard to the money he had lost, there
was necessarily less mystery, since it consisted of a sum that he
was carrying to his sister, and was indeed her property, being the
half share of some rents which he had received on that morning, the
produce of two houses in the town of Aquila which had been
bequeathed to them conjointly by their mother. The money was in a
canvas bag, and the other half which belonged to himself he had left
locked in his strong box at home, where, on searching for it, it was
found. As Ripa was known to be poor, and very much straitened by his
endeavours to make good the sum he had lost, that he should add
robbery to assassination was not to be wondered at. On the contrary,
it strengthened the conviction of his guilt, by supplying an
additional motive for the crime.

The injuries having been severe, it was some time before Mendez
recovered sufficiently to return home; and when he was well enough
to move, instead of going to Forni, he discharged his servant
Antonio Guerra, and went himself to Florence, where he remained
several months.

All this time Giuseppe Ripa was in prison, condemned to die, but not
executed; because after his trial and sentence, a letter had been
received by the chief person in authority, warning him against
shedding the blood of the innocent. 'Senor Mendez is mistaken,' the
letter said: 'he did not see the assassin, who attacked him from
behind, and Giuseppe Ripa is not guilty.'

This judge, whose name was Marino, appears to have been a just man,
and to have felt some dissatisfaction with the evidence against
Ripa; inasmuch as Mendez, who, when first questioned, had spoken
confidently as to his identity, had since faltered when he came to
give his evidence in public, and seemed unable to afford any
positive testimony on the subject. The presumption against the
prisoner, without the evidence of the Spaniard, was considered by
the other judges strong enough to convict him; but Marino had
objected that since the attack was made by daylight--for it was in
the summer, and the evenings were quite light--it seemed
extraordinary that Mendez could give no more certain indications of
his assailant. Added to this, although every means had been used to
obtain a confession--such means as are permitted on the continent,
but illegal in this country--Giuseppe persisted in his innocence.
M