n cold when he saw his old ally feebly wag his tail
and then stretch out his four legs stiffly. He himself was hardly able
to stand, yet he could not find it in his heart to leave his dead
comrade there in the open plain where vultures would soon have found
him out next morning. He wished to give him the honourable burial he
had so well earned, in the vineyard at home, and so he took him up,
supporting the weight with the stock of the gun--that gun itself being
heavy enough for him in his present condition--and with tottering steps
he reached the vineyard, and found the iron gate as usual locked from
within. He opened it by a trick known only to him and Maddalena. But he
was surprised that the sound of his steps should not have roused the
wakeful creature: thought she had perhaps been drinking some strong
wine which he had just had from the village, and as he passed the door
of her room did not care to disturb her. The dog he laid down in the
kitchen, and covered with an old straw mat, then he tottered up the
steps that led to the upper room, feeling as if he should hardly live
to reach his couch, and re-bandage his burning wound.

"But when he opened the door of the salon, he stood motionless on the
threshold, turned to stone by what he saw. The moon was shining full
upon the balcony and through the windows, and lit up the stand of
fire-arms in the corner. In the middle of the room, his back to the
light, erect and stiff as a marble pillar, arms crossed, and
contemplating the picture of Erminia, stood Domenico Serone, Il Rosso.
He no longer deserved this nick-name, however, for he had cut off his
beard, and his long wild hair looked ashy grey against the old yellow
straw hat that so shadowed his face nothing was to be seen but the
white of his eyes. But Signor Gustavo knew him at a glance.

"They looked full at each other for a moment, those two deadly foes,
Domenico, however, without changing his position, while the captain
leant upon his gun, and called up his last remnant of strength to play
the man, spite of his wound.

"'You are come at last then,' said Il Rosso, and his voice trembled. 'I
have waited for you here, since I did not find you at home. You know
that I have sworn to reckon with you, and the time is fully come.
Tomorrow night you are going to make a great sally and surprise my
band. Bravo! Set to! Only what you and I have to settle could be better
done, I thought, by ourselves. Let your gun alone,' fo