ge towel round Gambardella's neck, after which he made a
rich lather of Spanish soap, which he conscientiously rubbed into the
Bravo's hard brown cheeks and sinewy throat; last of all, he stropped
his razor with the air and flourish of an accomplished barber and set to
work.

Trombin finished his orange and looked on.

'Did you ever cut a man's throat while you were shaving him, Tommaso?'
he asked idly.

'Only once, sir,' Tommaso answered quietly, and he turned Gambardella's
head a little on one side, in order to get below his jaw.

'Why did you do it?' inquired Trombin, dipping the tips of his large
pink fingers into a bowl of water and carefully rinsing his lips.

'It was to save my neck, sir. The man was one of the cleverest sbirri I
ever had after me, but he did not know me by sight. It was in the March
of Ancona, at a small village near Fermo. He had tracked me all the way
from Modena, and he came to the inn on the evening of the third day. He
sent for the village barber before he had supper; but the barber was a
friend of mine and was hiding me, and he let me go in his place. I told
the landlord of the inn that I was the barber's new apprentice, and so I
was admitted to shave the officer in his own room. You see, sir, both
our horses were worn out, but his was still far better than mine, so it
was safer that he should go no farther. That is the whole story, sir. I
was over the frontier before morning.'

Gambardella smiled while Tommaso went on shaving him, and Trombin
laughed as if the jest were very good.

'It was not strictly in your branch of the profession, Tommaso,' he
said, 'but under the circumstances you acted with great tact.
Nevertheless, even in an extreme case, avoid shaving Don Alberto in that
manner, for there is no telling what the consequences might be if he
were found with his throat cut in the little house in Via di Santa
Sabina!'

CHAPTER XVIII

Cucurullo had his own opinion of what he saw during those days, and he
kept it to himself for some time, though he and Pina talked together a
good deal in the evenings over their late supper, in the little room
next to the kitchen. The woman had interested the hunchback from the
first, and when any one roused his interest he pondered much upon that
person's character and ways, and asked questions with considerable
cunning. On the other hand, Pina, who was not given to exhibiting much
liking for any one, seemed to have taken a fancy to