most stunned at first by the suddenness of
the attack, Everard, as soon as he recovered his speech, protested
indignantly, and demanded of his assailants what they wanted. They spoke
together in rapid Italian, which he did not understand, then one of
them replied in very broken English:

"Signore, it is our order to take you to our captain."

"And who is your captain?"

"That I not tell."

"And what does your captain want with me?"

"He ask ransom. You rich Inglese. Property in your own country. You give
many thousand lire ransom."

"Indeed I can't!" protested Everard. "You've made a big mistake. I don't
own any property, and I'm not rich at all. You'd better let me go, or
there'll be trouble in store for you when my friends hear of it."

The brigands, if such they were, made no reply. Possibly they did not
understand him. They were busy, moreover, searching his pockets, and
were appropriating his watch, money, and other valuables with short
grunts of satisfaction. Bound hand and foot, Everard could offer no
physical resistance, though his bold spirit was raging. At length his
captors, having rifled all they wanted, untied his legs, and, taking him
by the arms, hauled him along between them. Blindfold as he was, he had
no notion in what direction he was going, though they seemed to leave
the main road, and to be taking a cross-country journey over fields and
rough ground. Were they taking him to the Castello, he wondered? It had
been a noted haunt of brigands in bygone days, and its inaccessible
position would make it a safe hiding-place. He asked himself what was
going to happen. How soon would he be missed at the Casa Bianca? Would a
search be made for him, and with what success? These fellows were often
very crafty in their places of concealment, and had evidently got hold
of some false idea of his rank and fortune. In that half-hour, Everard
went through very severe mental as well as physical discomfort. His
captors were not too gentle, and hurried him along anyhow. They refused
to answer any more of his questions, and, except for an occasional
hoarse remark to one another in Italian, kept a rigid silence.

After what seemed to him an interminable distance, they apparently
reached their destination, for he was dragged up a flight of steps into
some building, whether prison, castle, or private dwelling he was unable
to guess. A door was flung open, for a moment he heard an echo of
voices, then all was silent