LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1918, 17 April 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A COUXT'S ADVENTUKE WITH BRIGANDS. BY ALEX. DUMAS, I'EKE. [Translated from the Paris ' Figaro.'] {Concluded.} The count took in the s:ene at a glance, and admired the religious abnegation of the good fathers, who, possessing such treasures as those before his eyes, lived, nevertheless, exposed to the inclemencies of the weather, like the old hermits of Mount Carmel and the Thebaid. The superior noticed his astonishment. ' Monsieur le Comte,' he said, smiling, ' I must onca more ask your pardon for the inadequate dinner and the unpleasant accommodation that you find here. Perhaps some one has pictured to you the interior of our convent as a place of delights. That is the way society judges us, but when you return to the world 1 hope you will do us justice.' 'My vord I peneral,' replied ttie count; ' I do not know vat zere ia ze matter viz ze dinner, and I have never peen in a petter arranged .kitchen.' ' I only fear,' added the superior, 'thatour habits may not seem to you very monastic. For example, it is our custom to never take supper withou'c each of us having a pair of piato's at his side. It is a precaution against accide-nts which might arrive at tiny moment in so isolated a spvt as this. You will, therefore, be good enough to excuse us if, notwithstanding your company, we do not abandon our usual habit?.' And thereupon the superior pull d aside bis robe, and drew from his belt a couple of pic-tols, which he laid down ner.r his ; late. ' Yea, y. s ; biay do so,' replied the (-erman, ' bistols are. ze vriend of man I, also, have bisfccls. But vat a vonderful resemblance zero is between yours and mitto ! It i;; vonderful!' 'That may be,' answered the supfti :r, repressing a smile; ' they are very good weapons which I have had snt to me from Germany—thay are Kukeoreiteis.' ' Knkeureitera! Yes zsy are. Send for mine, vich are in my pagache, so zat ve can compare zem.' •After dinuer, count, aft-r dinner. Meanwhile, sit yours'lf there, in face of me ; very good. Do you know your Beneilicite ?' ' I used to know it, but I have forgotten it.'

'So much the worse, so much the worse,' paid the general; ' for I was depending ou yon to say it; but if you have forgotten it we will do without it.' ' Yes, ve vill do vizout it, ve vill do vizout it,' said the counr.Jwho was of a very accommodating disposition. And the count, in fact, swallowed bis aonp without Benedicite, as did also all the other monks. When he had finished, the captain passed him a bottle. 'Taste the wine,' he said. The nount, thinking he had Home choice wine, filled a small alass that was bofore him, took it in his hand, looked at it a moment in the light of the nearest lamp, the liquid appearing to be as yellow as amber ; and then put it to his lips, and sipped it with all the voluptuous slowness of a connoisseur. 'lt is astonishing,' said the Count —* I, who zought zat I knew all,] ze vines, do not know thi°, unless it is a new growse of ifadeira.' ' It is Marsala, Count,' replied the superior; ' a wine which is very little known, though it deserves to bo. Oh, our poor Sicily! She has, like that wine, many forgotten treasures ! ' 'Vat do you call it?'.said the Count, pouring out a second glaßs. ' Marsala.' ' Maraala ? Ah, well, it is g"ot vino. I wi 1 puy some of it. Is it dear ? ' ' A penny a bottle.' ' Vat do you fay?' asked the Count, who ' thought he had misunderstood. ' A benny a pottle ! Vy, you live in a terrestrial baradjse_! general; I shall become a Penadictine.' ' Thanks for your preference ; we shall be glad to receive you whenever you please. ' A benny a potile ! ' repeated the Count, pen ring out a third glass. ' I warn y->u, however, that there is one defect,' said the superior. ' It has no defects,' replied the Count, 'I beg your pardon ; it is too heady.' 'Heady, heady,' said the Count scornfully; ' I could drink a bint, and it vould pe no *nore zan if I had swallowed ein glass of goosepcrry syrup.' ' Ah, well, don't trouble yourself,' said the superior ; ' make youraelf at home, only remember that we have other varieties.'

In accordance with the permission, given to him, the count set himself to eat and drink like a true German. He admirably sustained the reputation which his countrymen enjoy. The monks, urged on by their superior, did not wish to be behindhand with a stranger, so that the religious silence, that had prevailed from the commencement of the repaat was very shortly broken, and one or another began to speak in a low tone to his neighbour, and then out loud to everybody. Afterwards each commenced to relate the strangest adventures that it was possible to hear. The count, so far as he could understand, thought they were talking of some bold expeditions by brigauds, of convents pillaged, of gendarmes hung, of nuns illtreated. But there was nothing surprising in all that ; the isolated situation of the worthy Benedictines, and their residence far away from the town, must have caused them to be more than once witnesses of such scenes. Tin consumption of the Marsala continued without prejudice to the dry Syracuse, the mu?cat of Oalabar, and the Ripari malvoisie But, however strong the count's head might be, his vision at last grew hazy, and he became more talkative. Then little by little monologues succeeded conversation, and songs succeeded monologues. The count, who desired to remain superior to his hosts, searched in his own musical repertoire, and, finding nothing at that moment but Schiller's song of the Brigands, struck up, as loudly as he could, the famous stehlen, mordon, balgen, to which he thought his hosts replied by general cheering. Soon everything appeared to him to be turning round, and it seemed to bim that the monks were throwing off their religious garments, and were gradually transforming themselves into bandits. These ascetic figures were chnnging in their expression, and their faces became illuminated with a ferocious joy. The dinner was, in fact, degenerating into an orgie.

Nevertheless the company continued to drink, and each time they drank they had new wives —wines most heady, taken from the cellar of the Prince of Paterno, or from the cantine of the Dominicans of Aci Reale. The revellers knocked upon the tables with the empty bottles in order to demand full ones, and, in knocking, they overthrew the lamps. The fire caught the tablecloth, and then extended to the table, but instead of attempting to extinguish the flames the bandits threw the chairs and benches upon them. In an instant the table appeared to be only the centre of a great heip of wood, around which the monks who had become bandits commenced to dance like a set of demons. At last, in the middle of the discord, the captain's voice resounded through the place, crying 'Le le monache 1' An instant afterwards a door was opened, and four nuns appeared, dragged forward by five or six bandits. Shouts of joy welcomed them. The count saw all this as In a draam, and as though in a dream it appeared to him that a superior force nailed his body down to the place where he sat, whilst his mind was carried away elsewhere In a moment the brigands rushed forward ; the captain endeavored to raise his voice, but it was drowned in the general clamour. It then seemed to the count that the captain took up the famous Kukenreiters, which so closely resembled his own. He thought he heard two reports of firearms, and he closed his eyes, which were dazzled by the flame. On opening them he saw blood, two brigauds writhing in a corner, and the most beautiful of the nuns in the captain's arms, and then he cnuld discern nothing more. His eyes closfd a second time without his having power to reopen them, his legs gave way undei him. and he fell down like a mass. He was dead drunk.

When the Oount awoke 'it was broad daylight. Ho rubbed his eyes, raised himself on his elbows, and looked around him. He was lying under a tree on the ontskirts of the wood, having Nicolosi to his right, Pedara to his left, Catania in front, and behind Catania the sea Ho appeared to have spent the night in the open air, lying on a soft bed of sand, hia head supported hy his portmanteau, and with no covering save the immense c napy of heaven. At first he could remember nothing, and remained for some time like a man just recovering from a lethargy; but at last, by a slow and confused operation, he collected his thoughts, and soon recollected hia depa- ture from Catania—his mule driver's leluotance —his arrival at the convent—his alttrcation with the cook—the reception accordod to him by the general—the dinner — the Mareala wine—the songs—the orgie——ths fire, the nuns, and the pistol shots. He once mere looked aiound him and saw his trunk, his carpel; bag. and his portmanteau. He opened the last mentioned, and there found his pocket book, his meerschaum pipe, his t bacco pouch, and his purse—his purse, which to his great astonishment appeared a< if it had not been interfered with. He examined it auxi- U'ly. It was still full of gold, and there was a letter in addition. The Count opened it hastily, and read a" follows :

'Monsieur la Comte —We offer yoa a thnustinri apologies for having left you so abruptly ; but an expeditiou of the greatest importance require! us to go to the coast of Oeralu. I hope that you will not forget the hospitality which the Benedictines of Saint Nicolas-le-Vieux have given you, and that if you return to Rome you will request MonBignor Moroaiui not to forget some poor sinners in hi* prayers. ' you will And all your baggage returned to you, with the exception of the Kukenreiters, which I beg you will allow me 10 retain an a souvenir of yourself. ' Dom Ga etano, ' Prior of Saint Nieolas-!e Vieux. 'October IG.h, lsOS.' The count examined h : s money : there was uot % coin missing. When lie reohed he found the entire village in commotion. On the previous evening th« convent, of St Clair had been forced, the silver belonging to the monastery stolen and the four youngest and nust beautiful nuns carried away, without anyone knowing to what place they had beui taken. The c tint found his inule-driv.r. remounted his mule, returned to Catauia, and, learning that a boit was about to sail for N;;p!es. went en board, and left Sicily the s:um nig v t. Two y-.-ara afterwards he learnt that the famous bandit chief, Q-aetano, who had taken possession of Habit Nicolas le-Vieux as a dwelling place for his brigands, had, after a terrible conflict with a regiment of Knglish troops, been captured and executed, to the ' great joy of the inhabitants of Catania.