The scene before me reminded me of some of those described by Homer.  There wanted only the victim on the coals, and the sacred knife, to cut off the succulent parts, and distribute them around.  My companions might have rivalled the grim warriors of Greece.  In place of the noble repasts, however, of Achilles and Agamemnon, I beheld displayed on the grass the remains of the ham which had sustained so vigorous an attack on the preceding evening, accompanied by the reliques of the bread, cheese, and wine.

We had scarcely commenced our frugal breakfast, when I heard again an Imitation of the bleating of sheep, similar to what I had heard the day before.  The captain answered it in the same tone.  Two men were soon after seen descending from the woody height, where we had passed the preceding evening.  On nearer approach, they proved to be the sentinel and the messenger.  The captain rose and went to meet them.  He made a signal for his comrades to join him.  They had a short conference, and then returning to me with eagerness, “Your ransom is paid,” said he; “you are free!”

Though I had anticipated deliverance, I cannot tell you what a rush of delight these tidings gave me.  I cared not to finish my repast, but prepared to depart.  The captain took me by the hand; requested permission to write to me, and begged me not to forget the passport.  I replied, that I hoped to be of effectual service to him, and that I relied on his honor to return the prince’s note for five hundred dollars, now that the cash was paid.  He regarded me for a moment with surprise; then, seeming to recollect himself, “E giusto,” said he, “eccoloadio!"[1] He delivered me the note, pressed my hand once more, and we separated.  The laborers were permitted to follow me, and we resumed with joy our road towards Tusculum.

[Footnote 1:  It is just—­there it is—­adieu!]

* * * * *

The artist ceased to speak; the party continued for a few moments to pace the shore of Terracina in silence.  The story they had heard had made a deep impression on them, particularly on the fair Venetian, who had gradually regained her husband’s arm.  At the part that related to the young girl of Frosinone, she had been violently affected; sobs broke from her; she clung close to her husband, and as she looked up to him as if for protection, the moon-beams shining on her beautifully fair countenance showed it paler than usual with terror, while tears glittered in her fine dark eyes.  “O caro mio!” would she murmur, shuddering at every atrocious circumstance of the story.

“Corragio, mia vita!” was the reply, as the husband gently and fondly tapped the white hand that lay upon his arm.

The Englishman alone preserved his usual phlegm, and the fair Venetian was piqued at it.

She had pardoned him a want of gallantry towards herself, though a sin of omission seldom met with in the gallant climate of Italy, but the quiet coolness which he maintained in matters which so much affected her, and the slow credence which he had given to the stories which had filled her with alarm, were quite vexatious.