A STOLEN DUKE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1638, 19 March 1884, Page 3

A STOLEN DUKE.

The Diiltc of Calvino, who was captured by brigands near the neigh- , borhood of Trapani, has been released by his captors on the payment of a ransom of 150,000f. by his family, | who never expected to see him alive again, he being very obese, advanced in age, and afflicted with a nervous malady. He lias passed thirty-five days with the brigands, and, strange to say, the treatment he had received, though by no means pleasant, has had the effect of completely curing liirn. The duke relates that in the night when ho was taken, he was put on horseback ami made to ride till next morning, when the brigands stopped at ut kind of warehouse. There he remained the first day, and wrote, at his captors' dictation, a letter to his family, asking them to send the above named ransom. In the evening the journey was resumed, and as the rain was falling in torrents, the duke was clad in some tarpaulin, and a sack was placed over his head to protect him, On the second night the party reached an abandoned shed, where the duke was left, with a guard ont side the door. The third night the journey was continued, and ended at the place destined beforehand for the duke's concealment. lie had to enter this retreat on hands and knees, through a narrow opening, into a cave, and then through a second hole into a subterranean grotto. Hero lie remained for thirty days without any light, lying on a bundle of straw, which was never changed. His food consisted of bread, cheese, and water. The brigands left him alone, only returning to bring food. By the light of a lamp, which was lowered from above, they forced him to write pressing letters to liis family, and dictated what he should say, His family, to obtain his release, used their utmost influence to prevent the military authorities from pursuing the brigands until the ransom had been safely paid and received, The band liberated their victim after having conducted . him on foot for a considerable distance territory of Caslellamare, where a peasant's house had been indicated to him, whence he would be conducted ■ by the inmates to Trapani, about twenty miles distant. .