The men
talked and smoked, and the Captain read a newspaper at the door of his
dugout.

No one bothered Lucia, and she kept very quiet. She had had nothing to
eat since the night before and she was very hungry, but she would not
for the world ask her enemies for food. She was not above accepting
it, however, when a little before noon one of the soldiers brought her
a hard and tasteless biscuit and a cup of water. She ate greedily, and
then tired out from so much excitement she fell asleep.

She awoke an hour later to a scene of activity. She could see through
the peek-hole that the Captain was consulting his watch every little
while, and the men were hurrying about excitedly. They all looked up
at a certain mountain above with suspicious eyes, and Lucia could tell
by the tone of their voices that they were angry about something.

A few minutes later the arrival of a very muddy and tired soldier from
the opposite direction created a diversion. He saluted the Captain and
handed him a message. Whatever the message was, it pleased the
Captain, for he brought his fist down on his knee and laughed. Then he
gave some very long; and to Lucia, unintelligible orders, and the men
lost some of their ugly rebellious look.

He chose two soldiers from the group before him, and motioned them into
his dugout. Lucia tried to make something out of the strange words
that the other men spoke, but she could not. They were eagerly
questioning the messenger and giving him food and water. He was
answering them, and from the expression of their faces his replies were
not cheering. At last he stood up, shrugged his shoulders and for the
first time noticed Garibaldi.

The other soldiers explained, and Lucia knew they were discussing her
when they pointed to the shed. The messenger evidently suggested
milking the goat, for after a little laughing and jesting, one of the
men took a pail and approached Garibaldi.

Now, no one had ever milked Garibaldi in all her life but Lucia, and
from the disastrous attempts on the part of the soldiers it was evident
that no one was ever going to, if that very particular animal could
prevent it, and she seemed quite able to, to judge from the results.

Lucia watching through the cracks in the shed laughed softly to
herself. She was not surprised when, a few minutes later, one of the
men opened the door and told her to come out.

He could not speak Italian and he resorted to the sign languag