an by showing me his
room which was very clean and tidy. His bed was at one end, his table,
with his official papers and books, in the middle and against the wall
hung his guns which he showed me particularly, declaring that he was
passionately devoted to the chase. After he had done the honours I
washed my hands and so did he; then he led the conversation to what his
manner betrayed was the real business of the interview. He asked me my
name and age, whether I was married or single and particulars of my
family, whether I was an Englishman from London or from New York and how
much a metre I had paid for the stuff my clothes were made of. This last
was the only question that gave me any real trouble, but I made a hasty
calculation, converted the result into francs, deducted five per cent.
for cash and hazarded--

"Fourteen lire."

In return for his polite interest in my affairs I pretended a similar
interest in his, and it turned out that we had a friend in common--a
maresciallo dei carabinieri whom I had met on Monte San Giuliano and of
whom I was able to give the latest information namely, that he had
retired, gone home to Cremona and married. Carabinieri are not allowed
to marry so long as they are in service, or rather they may marry but
only on condition of depositing a sum of money which is fixed at an
amount beyond anything they are likely to be able to lay their hands on.

Having exhausted our questions and answers we returned to the guard-room
and the corporal welcomed us by filling our glasses again. The
brigadier, before sitting down, took Angelo aside and became again
immersed in conversation; this time he appeared to be getting on more
satisfactorily with his instructions. The artichokes were beginning to
lose their attractions for every one, so I took out a packet of
cigarettes and offered them round. In those days there used to be in
every packet of Italian cigarettes a loose piece of paper about the size
of a postage stamp with a number on it. Boxes of biscuits in England
sometimes have a similar paper to identify the person responsible for the
packing should anything be found to be wrong. In my packet there
happened to be two pieces of paper which fluttered out upon the table as
I opened it. The brigadier instantly pounced upon them. There was
silence in the room. Every one watched and waited. Each of my pieces of
paper bore the number thirty-three. The brigadier did me the honour of
ca