e says?" asked Obed.

The Heidelbergian told him.

Obed laughed.

"Ask him why he does not come and take us," said he, grimly. "We have
already given him leave to do so."

The Heidelbergian repeated these words.

The captain, in a fury, ordered his men to advance.

The Americans fully expected an attack, and stood ready to pour in a
volley at the first movement on the part of the enemy. But the enemy
did not move. The soldiers stood motionless. They did not seem
afraid. They seemed rather as if they were animated by some totally
different feeling. It had been whispered already that the Neapolitan
army was unreliable. This certainly looked like it.

"Cowards!" cried the captain, who seemed to think that their inaction
arose from fear. "You will suffer for this, you scoundrels! Then, if
you are afraid to advance, make ready! present! fire!"

His command might as well have been addressed to the winds. The guns
of the soldiers stood by their sides. Not one of them raised his
piece. The captain was thunder-struck; yet his surprise was not
greater than that of the Americans when this was hastily explained to
them by the Heidelbergians. Evidently there was disaffection among
the soldiers of his Majesty of Naples when brought into the presence
of _Red Shirts_.

The captain was so overwhelmed by this discovery that he stood like
one paralyzed, not knowing what to do. This passive disobedience on
the part of his men was a thing so unexpected that he was left
helpless, without resources.

Meanwhile the crowd outside had been intensely excited. They had
witnessed the arrival of the dragoons. They had seen them dismount
and enter the hotel after the captain. They had seen the captain come
down after another detachment. They had known nothing of what was
going on inside, but conjectured that a desperate struggle was
inevitable between the Red Shirts and the dragoons. As an unarmed
crowd they could offer no active intervention, so they held their
peace for a time, waiting in breathless suspense for the result. The
result seemed long delayed. The troopers did not seem to gain that
immediate victory over the Red Shirts which had been fearfully
anticipated. Every moment seemed to postpone such a victory, and
render it impossible. Every moment restored the courage of the crowd,
which at first had been panic-stricken. Low murmurs passed among
them, which deepened into words of remonstrance, and strengthened
into cries of symp