hoose; either to jail or to the _maquis_. But no della
Rebbia knows the path that leads him to the jail. To the _maquis_, Ors'
Anton'."

"Farewell, then, to all my hopes!" exclaimed the wounded man, sadly.

"Your hopes? Deuce take it! Did you hope to do any better with a
double-barrelled gun? How on earth did the fellows contrive to hit you?
The rascals must have been as hard to kill as cats."

"They fired first," said Orso.

"True, true; I'd forgotten that!--_piff, piff--boum, boum_! A right and
left, and only one hand! If any man can do better, I'll go hang myself.
Come! now you're safely mounted! Before we start, just give a glance
at your work. It isn't civil to leave one's company without saying
good-bye."

Orso spurred his horse. He would not have looked at the two poor
wretches he had just destroyed, for anything on earth.

"Hark ye, Ors' Anton'," quoth the bandit, as he caught hold of the
horse's bridle, "shall I tell you the truth? Well, no offence to you!
I'm sorry for those poor young fellows! You'll pardon me, I hope; so
good-looking, so strong, so young. Orlanduccio, I've shot with him
so often! Only four days ago he gave me a bundle of cigars, and
Vincentello--he was always so cheery. Of course you've only done what
you had to do, and indeed the shot was such a splendid one, nobody could
regret it. But I, you see, had nothing to do with your vengeance. I know
you're perfectly in the right. When one has an enemy one must get rid of
him. But the Barricini were an old family. Here's another of them wiped
out, and by a right and left too! It's striking."

As he thus spoke his funeral oration over the Barricini, Brandolaccio
hastily guided Orso, Chilina, and Brusco, the dog, toward the Stazzona
_maquis_.

CHAPTER XVIII

Meanwhile, very shortly after Orso's departure, Colomba's spies had
warned her that the Barricini were out on the warpath, and from that
moment she was racked by the most intense anxiety. She was to be seen
moving hither and thither all over the house, between the kitchen and
the rooms that were being made ready for her guests, doing nothing, yet
always busy, and constantly stopping to look out of a window for any
unusual stir in the village. Toward eleven o'clock, a somewhat numerous
cavalcade rode into Pietranera. This was the colonel, with his daughter,
their servants, and their guide. Colomba's first word, as she welcomed
them, was "Have you seen my brother?" Then she question