the loss of his own
life, leaving his name unknown and the mystery forever
unsolved--whether it were love for the injured woman, the impulse of a
generous heart, or the more exalted flame of patriotism that prompted
him thus to give the signal of deliverance.

Noble example has a power far beyond that of argument or eloquence to
rouse the people; and the erstwhile abject slaves awoke at length from
their long bondage. "Death, death to the French!" they cried; and the
cry--say the historians of the time--reechoed, like the voice of God,
through the whole country, and found an answer in every heart.

Above the corpse of Drouet were heaped those of the slain on either
side. The crowd expanded itself, closed in, and swayed hither and
thither in wild confusion. The Sicilians, with sticks, stones, and
knives, rushed with desperate ferocity upon their fully armed
opponents. They sought for them and hunted them down. Fearful
tragedies were enacted amid the preparations for festivity, and the
overthrown tables were drenched with blood. The people displayed their
strength and conquered. The struggle was brief, and great the
slaughter of the Sicilians; but of the French there were two
hundred--and two hundred fell!

Breathless, covered with blood, brandishing the plundered weapons, and
proclaiming the insult and its vengeance, the insurgents rushed toward
the tranquil city, "Death to the French!" they shouted, and as many as
they found were put to the sword. The example, the words, the
contagion of passion, in an instant aroused the whole people. In the
heat of the tumult Roger Mastrangelo, a nobleman, was chosen--or
constituted himself--their leader. The multitude continued to
increase; dividing into troops they scoured the streets, burst open
doors, searched every nook, every hiding-place, and shouting "Death to
the French!" smote them and slew them, while those too distant to
strike added to the tumult by their applause. On the outbreak of this
sudden uproar the Justiciary had taken refuge in his strong palace;
the next moment it was surrounded by an enraged multitude crying aloud
for his death; they demolished the defences and rushed furiously in,
but the Justiciary escaped them. Favored by the confusion and the
closing darkness, he succeeded, though wounded in the face, in
mounting his horse unobserved, with only two attendants, and fled with
all speed. Meanwhile the slaughter continued with increased ferocity;
even the d