Among the Brigands Part 23

He gave a cry of vexation.

Bob had seized Frank's trousers in his teeth, and as he was pulled up, he held on tight. Consequently the cloth gave way, and there was poor Frank, reduced to rags and tatters, and utterly unpresentable in any decent society.

He gave up Bob in despair, and began to investigate the extent of the ruin that had been wrought in his trousers. It was a bad rent, an irretrievable one, in fact; and all that he could do was to tie his handkerchief around his leg.

Bob now slept heavily, held up by Uncle Moses.

The other boys grew drowsier and drowsier. Frank was just deciding to get out of the carriage and make them all walk for a time, when a sudden event occurred which brought a solution to the problem.

It was a sudden crash.

Down sank the carriage under them, and away it went, toppling over on one side. A cry of terror escaped all of them. Every one started up, and each one grasped neighbor.

There was something in this sudden shock so dreadful and so startling, that it broke through even the drowsiness and heavy stupor of Bob, and penetrated to his slumbering faculties, and in an instant roused them all. With a wild yell he flung his arms round Uncle Moses.

Uncle Moses, fell backward, and all the others were flung upon him.

They all lay thus heaped upon the side of the coach, a straggling ma.s.s of humanity.

Frank was the first to come to himself, and regain his presence of mind.

"All right," said he, in a cheerful voice. "We haven't gone over quite. The horses have stopped. All right."

A groan came from below the pile of humanity.

"Get off, get off!" exclaimed Bob's voice. "You're smothering Uncle Moses." Frank, who was uppermost, disengaged himself, and helped off the others; and finally Bob scrambled away, giving every indication by this time that he was at last perfectly wide awake.

This restored Uncle Moses. He was able to take a long breath.

By this time Frank had torn open the carriage door, and jumped down. The others followed.

He saw the driver holding the horses. The carriage was tilted over.

One of the hind wheels lay underneath, a shattered wreck.

Now all was bustle and confusion.

The driver proceeded to put into execution a plan by which they could go forward, at least far enough to traverse the marshes. The boys all helped, and their efforts drove away the last vestige of drowsiness.

The plan consisted in taking out the tongue of the wagon, binding it upon the fore axle, and letting its other end drag on the ground.

Now, as the tongue sloped down, the hind axle rested upon it, and thus the trailing wood served to keep the coach erect, and to act as a runner, which supplied very well the place of the lost wheel.

The horses were then hitched on by the traces, without any tongue, and in this way they pulled along the broken carriage.

CHAPTER XXII.

_The March ended.--A lonely Inn.--Evil Faces.--Beetling Brows.--Sinister Glances.--Suspicions of the Party.--They put their Head together.--Conferences of the Party.--A threatening Prospect.--Barricades.--In Time of Peace prepare for War.--The Garrison arm themselves._

After completing their arrangements they resumed their journey; but this time they all went on foot, with the exception of Uncle Moses. They went on foot for two reasons: first, because it was impossible for the horses to pull them all when one of the wheels was gone, since it was as much as they could do to maintain a walking pace even with the empty carriage; and the other reason was, that by walking they would be better able to fight off the drowsiness which had menaced them. In truth, as far as drowsiness is concerned, there did not now seem to be any particular danger; for the shock of the break-down had been sufficient to rouse even Bob, and the effects of that shock still remained. Uncle Moses, however, on account of his years, his infirmities, and his tendency to "rheumatics," together with his freedom from drowsiness, was installed in the carriage, with all due honors, as its sole occupant.

Walking on thus, they did not regret, in the slightest degree, the hards.h.i.+ps of their lot, but rather exulted in them, since they had been the means of rousing them out of their almost unconquerable tendency to sleep. Frank felt the highest possible relief, since he was now freed from the responsibility that had of late been so heavy. In Bob, however, there was the exhibition of the greatest liveliness. Bob, mercurial, volatile, nonsensical, mobile, was ever running to extremes; and as he was the first to fall asleep, so now, when he had awaked, he was the most wide awake of all. He sang, he shouted, he laughed, he danced, he ran; he seemed, in fact, overflowing with animal spirits.

Fortunately they were not very far from the end of the marshes when the wheel broke, and in less than two hours they had traversed the remainder. The driver could speak a little English, and informed them that they could not reach the destination which he had proposed; but he hoped before dark to get as far as an inn, where they could obtain food and lodging. He informed them that it was not a very good inn; but under the circ.u.mstances it was the best that they could hope for. To the boys, however, it made very little difference what sort of an inn they came to. As long as they could get something to eat, and any kind of a bed to lie on, they were content; and so they told the driver.

Leaving the marshes, the road began to ascend; and after about a half hour's farther tramp, they came, to a place which the driver informed them was the inn.

It was by no means an inviting place. It was an old stone edifice, two stories high, which had once been covered with, stucco; but the stucco had fallen off in most places, disclosing the rough stones underneath, and giving it an air of dilapidation and squalor.

The front was by the road-side. A door opened in the middle, on each side of which was a small, dismal window. In the second story were two other small, dismal windows. At the end they law a window on each story, and a third in the attic. These were all small and dismal. Some of them had sashes and gla.s.s; others had sashes without gla.s.s; while others had no sashes at all.

A group of men were outside the house, all of whom stared hard at the carriage as it drew near. There was something in the aspect of these men which was indescribably repulsive to the boys: their dirty, swarthy faces, covered with s.h.a.ggy, jet-black beards; their bushy eyebrows, from beneath which their black eyes glowed like b.a.l.l.s of fire; their hats slouched down over their brows; their lounging att.i.tudes, and their furtive glances; all these combined to give them an evil aspect--a wicked, sinister, suspicious appearance, by which all the boys were equally impressed.

They said nothing, however; and much as they disliked the look of the place and its surroundings, they saw that there was no help for it, and so they made up their minds to pa.s.s the night here as well as they could.

Leaving the carriage, they waited a few moments to ask the driver about the prospects for the next day. The driver had everything arranged. Velletre was only five miles away, and he was going to send there for another carriage, or go himself. They would all be able to leave early on the following day.

This rea.s.sured them somewhat, and though they all would have been willing to walk to Velletre, rather than pa.s.s the night here, yet Uncle Moses would not be able to do it, and so they had to make up their minds to stay.

On entering the house, they found the interior quite in keeping with the exterior. The hall was narrow, and on either side were two dirty rooms, in which were some frowsy women. One room seemed to be a kitchen, and the other a sitting-room. A rickety stairway led up to the second story. Here they came to a room, which, they were informed, was to be theirs. The door was fragile, and without any fastening. The room was a large one, containing a table and three beds, with one small wash-stand. Two windows looked out in front, and at either end was one. At the south end the window had no sash at all, but was open to the air.

The aspect of the room was certainly rather cheerless, but there was nothing to be done. So they sat down, and waited as patiently as they could for dinner. Before it came, the sun set, and a feeble lamp was brought in, which flickered in the draughts of air, and scarcely lighted the room at all.

The dinner was but a meagre repast. There was some very thin soup, then a stew, then macaroni. There were also bread and sour wine.

However, the boys did not complain. They had footed it so far, and had worked so hard, that they were all as hungry as hunters; and so the dinner gave as great satisfaction as if it had been far better. While they were eating, an evil-faced, low-browed villain waited on the table; and as he placed down each dish in succession, he looked round upon the company with a scowl that would have taken away the appet.i.tes of any guests less hungry than these. But these were too near starvation to be affected by mere scowls, and so they ate on, reserving their remarks for a future occasion.

So the dinner pa.s.sed.

And after the dinner was over, and the dishes were removed, and they found themselves alone, they all looked round stealthily, and they all put their heads together, and then,--

"I don't like this," said Frank.

do. said Clive.

do. said David.

do. said Bob.

"I don't feel altogether comfortable here," said Uncle Moses.

"Did you notice that scowl?" said Bob.

do. said Clive.

do. said David.

do. said Frank.

"He's the ugliest creetur I ever see," said Uncle Moses. "I've been expectin somethin o' this sort."

The boys looked all around, for fear of being observed. Frank got up and closed the rickety door. Then he resumed his seat.

Then they all put their heads together again.

"This is a bad place," said Frank.

do. said Clive.

do. said David.

do. said Bob.