Lucia Rudini Part 6

Lucia did not hesitate, but hurried back along the rocks, choosing the safest footholds and sometimes leaving her companion far behind.

When she reached the little gra.s.sy plateau, she stopped and pointed.

"It is above here, sir."

She started to ascend, and the soldier followed in silence. When they reached the cave she pointed to the back wall and said: "Listen there."

The soldier was so tall that he had to stoop down before he could enter, but he was very careful to be quiet and not disturb the still sleeping Beppi.

He put his ear to the wall and Lucia watched him excitedly. By the expression of his face she knew he was hearing the "rat, tat, tat."

"Can you show me the place where you thought you heard the explosion?"

he whispered.

Lucia nodded and beckoned to him to follow. In her eagerness she forgot that he could not climb as nimbly as she could, and she was on the roof of the cave before he had started to ascend.

It was fortunate that she was, for not ten feet ahead of her, crawling along the ground, his helmet s.h.i.+ning in the sun, was a soldier in the Austrian uniform.

CHAPTER V

IN THE TOOL SHED

At sight of her he jumped to his feet.

"Halt!" he commanded, unnecessarily, for Lucia was far too frightened to move.

She was thinking of the soldier whose head would appear at any moment over the ledge of rock behind, and her one wish was to stop him.

"I won't move, sir!" she cried loudly, "I see you have a big gun and I am all alone." She spoke in Italian, but the Austrian seemed to understand.

"What are you doing prowling around here at this time of day?" he demanded angrily, speaking to her in her own language.

"Oh, sir, I am lost," Lucia replied, not daring to look below her. "My goat wandered away in the storm and I came out to find her, and now I am very, very far away from home."

She walked towards the man as she spoke. She was terrified for fear he would discover the cave below her.

"Where did you sleep?" he demanded.

"Oh, I have not slept, sir. See my dress it is wet from the rain, there is no shelter anywhere, and the wind and the rain frightened me so I did not know where I was, and I was afraid to stay still."

The Austrian eyed her suspiciously.

"Why didn't you go to the soldiers and ask for shelter?" he inquired harshly.

"The soldiers?" Lucia's brown eyes opened wide in surprise. "But there are no soldiers near here. They are miles away with the guns.

How could I reach them? My home is over there," she pointed in the opposite direction from the cave, "and I think I will go back to it, now that it is day."

"Oh, no, you won't," the Austrian replied. "You'll come with me."

"But why, what have I done?" Lucia inquired.

"That's not the point," the soldier replied. "You're an Italian, and if I let you go you'll run home and tell all the troops in the town that I was here. Oh, no, my little lady, we can't allow that--you're coming along with me."

His lordly tone and the sneer on his lips infuriated Lucia. She thought all danger of his discovering the cave was over, so she replied angrily. "And suppose I won't come? Don't think you can frighten me, for you can't. I tell you, I won't go a step with you."

The Austrian was about to reply, when a sound that had been so welcome only a few hours ago struck terror to Lucia's ears.

"Naa, Naa!"

"What's that?" the soldier jumped nervously. He was startled and frightened. Lucia saw it and her own courage returned.

"My goat," she said as Garibaldi appeared above the rock.

Lucia ran to him.

"My pet, here you are, I have found you at last. Where have you been?

you are a bad girl. See how you frightened the brave Austrian soldier."

The sarcasm and scorn in her voice were unmistakable. The soldier was indignant.

"Here, that is enough from you. Come along, I will take you where they will teach you better manners."

He caught her roughly by the shoulder, and Lucia went with him only too gladly. If she could get him well away from the cave, it would be time enough to think of herself. She, had no doubt that she would be able to run away from him later on.

As they walked along the noise underground grew louder. Every now and then the man would turn and look at her suspiciously. He did not speak to her, however, and they walked for quite a distance in silence. When Lucia considered that they had gone far enough she stopped.

"Where are you taking me?" she demanded with spirit.

"Never mind, you come along," the man replied impatiently. "Time enough for you to know when we get there."

"But I won't go any further." Lucia was determined. "Do you think that I will be taken prisoner by an Austrian? Never!"

Her eyes blazed indignantly. She planned so many times just what she would do, if she was ever brought face to face with her hated enemy, that the feeling of helplessness that she felt under the big man's hand infuriated her.

"Come along, I will not speak again," the Austrian commanded, and once more Lucia went on, unable to withstand the strength of his arm.

The flat ground ended abruptly, and they had to climb down jagged rocks. Lucia thought that her chance of escape had come, but the Austrian never lessened his hold on her arm.

They had traveled this far without meeting any one. The only signs of life had been the mysterious noise underground, and the click of Garibaldi's sharp hoofs as they hit the stone.

When they reached a certain point the soldier stopped. "If you make any noise," he said roughly, "I will have to shoot you."

Lucia opened her mouth to scream, but before the sound came she changed her mind. A new and splendid idea had just come to her. She stopped holding back and walked obediently beside her guard. They did not go very far, before he told her to lie down and crawl, and before she realized where she was going, she was in a deep trench that ran along the base of the rock and was completely hidden from sight.

Garibaldi followed them, picking her way daintily, and stopping every now and then to let out a mournful "Naa!" The Austrian did not seem to hear her. If he did, he paid no attention, but led Lucia hurriedly along the dark pa.s.sage.

They had not gone far before a sentry stopped them. Lucia's guard said something to him that she could not understand. The sentry disappeared, to return in a few minutes with another man. From the respectful salutes that he received, Lucia decided he must be a very high officer. More talk followed which she could not understand, and then her guard turned to her.