King for a Summer: a story of Corsican life and adventure, etc

Front matter

KING FOR A SUMMER I watched him circling round me. p. 17. frontispiece. J^ING FOR a Summer A STORY OF CORSICAN LIFE AND ADVENTURE BY Edgar Pickering author of " AFTER SEDGEMOOR, " " AN OLD TIME YARN, " ETC. With illustrations by Warwick Goble Xon&on HUTCHINSON & CO. 34 PATERNOSTER ROW PRINTED AT NIMEGUEN (HOLLAND) BY ||. C. A. TH1EME OF NIMEOUEN (HOLLAND) AND 27 3IIOE LANE, LONDON, E.C. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. MY MOUNTAIN HOME I II. THE QUARREL 8 III. THE DUEL 17 IV. THE NOTARY OF CORTE 25 V. THE THREE BANDITS 38 VI. WHAT NASONE TOLD ME 45 VII. THE ATTACK ON THE CAVE 54 VIII. HOW WE FARED 66 IX. STEALING THE HANGMAN 77 X. AN UNEXPECTED EVENT 87 XI. WE JOIN THE INSURGENTS 95 XII. I SAVE NASONE'S LIFE 103 XIII. ON THE ROAD TO CORTE Ill XIV. A PERILOUS ADVENTURE 120 XV. SERAFINO'S STORY 12S XVI.

HOW WE TOOK ALERIA 135 XVII. IN BASTIA 150 XVIII. WE ARE ARRESTED 1 63 XIX. A RACE FOR LIFE I 70 XX. THE SORTIE 179 XXI. THE ENGLISH SHIPS 18S XXII. MARTIN CHICHELEY 200 XXIII. LOST CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XXIV. THE RED GAMBINI 228 XXV. THE ATTACK ON THE FARM 239 XXVI. WE START FOR AJACCIO 248 XXVII. THE TAX-GATHERER 258 XXVIII. UNLOOKED-FOR AID 269 XXIX. "A WONDERFUL COMING" 284 XXX. THE KING IS CROWNED 297 XXXI. THE PROGRESS OF THEODORE 304 XXXII. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 314 XXXIII. FABIANI EXPLAINS 323 XXXIV. A MY'STERIOUS SUMMONS 33 I XXXV. SNARED ! 339 XXXVI. MY COUSIN'S VILLAINY 34O XXXVII. MARTIN'S STORY 354 XXXVIII. A CORSICAN'S REVENGE 363 XXXIX. THE GATHERING STORM 375 XL. AN UNEXPECTED TEMPEST 382 XLI. THE GOING OF THEODORE 392 XLII. THE PHANTOM FADES AT LAST I King for a Summer.

Chapter I. My Mountain Home

MY favourite spot in the grim old house built in the shape of a great square tower, was a little room just beneath the pointed roof, having a window from which one could catch a glimpse of Ajaccio lying miles away. Down below the window, for the house was high amongst the moun tains, were vineyards and olive-grounds, with here and there a great fan palm marking itself out plainly from among the brown-black cypresses and other trees that grew almost up to the house. The ascent to this was steep and narrow, leading to the high flight of steps that gave entrance to the building, and although the land surrounding it had once been cultivated, for two years or longer it had been left to itself and become overgrown with weeds and ground ivy. There were some out-buildings, but these had fallen to ruin, and all the life or movement there was, lay within the house, although that was little enough, for my cousin Fabiani Brasco was morose and silent,who kept himself like a prisoner and paid but little heed to my presence.

He was a big, strong man, with grizzled curly hair that reached his shoulders, and walked with a limp, having a bullet in his thigh, put there, so Teodor told me, by one of the Arrighi. Teodor was my cousin's son, and a year older than I, big like his father and fierce as a watch dog. We were not friends, through no fault of mine, however, and it would have taken little to have made us enemies, relations though we were. Teodor had a lofty overbearing way with him, being insolent upon the slightest opposition to his vain glorious talk, and proud as a Genoese noble, boasting of his descent from the old signori of Corsica, as indeed I might have done, if it had been worth doing. My father had been one of the richest men in Bastia, so I had heard, but he died when I was a child, and Fabiani Brasco brought me to the home amongst the mountains, where it stood gaunt and solitary, like the fragment of some great castle that had crumbled away, and here for seven years I had lived, seeing and knowing very little more of the world than could be discovered from the window of the little room I have already mentioned.

What I did know, however, was that between the Brascos and the Arrighis a deadly feud existed, being a parentado l on my cousin's side at least, and that it was for this reason the land remained un- 1 An alliance of relatives with the quarrel, who are included in the Vendetta. MY MOUNTAIN HOME. 3 cultivated, and the lower windows of the house were kept barricaded with straw mattresses, having loopholes through which an enemy could be seen and shot at easily. It was not a very uncommon state for a house to be placed in, being called " inceppar le fcncstrcA and in our case it had lasted so long that we were quite accustomed to the gloom which it made in the rooms. We were in a real fortress, for the only entrance to the house was by the steep flight of steps and these not even an Arrighi dare climb; but two years had gone by since Fabiani Brasco ventured down them last, and those who did so were always heavily armed and on the watch against a surprise.

It would have been certain death had either he or Teodor worked in the fields, and it was almost as dangerous for Fabiani's workmen. The last man he had employed never returned to be paid his wages, and it was three months before his bones were found, picked clean by the eagles. How the Vendetta began I know not, but it had lasted longer than Teodor could recollect, who was eighteen, and the quarrel had gone on until only my cousin Fabiani remained alive of four brothers, and he, as I have said, was crippled by a shot from his enemy Cesario Arrighi. Teodor tried to make the quarrel plain to me, but although I was a relative — my name was Camilla Negroni — I could never quite understand my share in it. He it was who called it Vendetta parentado and said Cesario Arrighi was as much my enemy as Fabiani's and his own, and that I was to shoot him and any of his friends I might chance to encounter.

How ever, I had never seen the Arrighi, and cared nothing for him, neither could I get myself to hate him nor thirst for his blood. But I kept these thoughts to myself, not wishing to be considered other than friendly to my cousin's family of whom I knew no others beside Fabiani and his son. It seemed a very long time since I had lived in Bastia, where my father died, who had been a trader, going to and fro to foreign countries, and was, as I say, reckoned one of the richest men in those parts. Fabiani, who came to my father's funeral, took charge of me afterwards, and from that time I had lived with him in his lonely old house amongst the mountains. Now and again some of his kindred came to us, and we were regularly supplied with provisions, whilst Teodor and I were free to go in and out as we chose, although we rarely left the house, for there was no telling who might be on the watch for us, and a bullet flies very swiftly.

It was a state of siege in fact, and I have heard of men being kept prisoners, as was Fabiani, for ten or twelve years, and these when the fear of their enemy had grown old and dim, had ventured out to find death still waiting for them. Paulina — she was our servant, old and tottering — said that a Corsican's revenge never sleeps, and that a Corsican never forgets. It was from old Paulina that I learnt something MY MOUNTAIN HOME. ■5 about myself and a good deal more about my cousin. She it was who spoke about my dead father's riches which would be mine some day — if Signor Brasco permitted, added Paulina, shrugging her shoulders for a reason I was to discover later on — and how that my cousin had lost a great deal of money in the year 1729 when Corsica revolted against its Genoese rulers. The house amongst the mountains was the only property remaining to Fabiani, and Teodor would have very little to inherit when his father died, she told me.

I cannot say that Paulina's talk interested me; she was a gossiping old woman, brown and shrivelled like a dried olive, and Teodor was for ever speaking about the war which we in the hills saw nothing of, hearing the faint rumble of it only as it were from the conversation of the few people who came to visit us. Teodor was for shouldering his gun and marching away to battle, but of this my cousin would not hear. " I have spent enough for my country, " said Fabiani, " and can ill spare you, my son ; so stay here with me, and let Camilla go if he will ! " This he said one day that I remember very distinctly, because it was the one before the day my cousin went down the steep steps of his house, on his way to Ajaccio. As I said, Fabiani had been kept prisoner in his own house for two years, and then came the time when he resolved to go into the town.

I do not know the reason he had for this, but it must have been a very strong reason to persuade him to risk his life. Teodor tried to hinder his father from going, but my cousin was so bent on making the journey that all his son's words were unavailing to prevent it. Paulina who came up to me in the little room from which the downward path and the road to Ajaccio could be seen easily, said that Fabiani's visit was upon his own business affairs and he had vowed that though a hundred of the Arrighi might beset the way he did not fear them. Paulina and I stood watching my cousin and Teodor as they went down the winding path through an olive grove, until presently they disappeared and I followed the old woman to the lower rooms, which, as I have described, were always gloomy even at noon-day, because of the thick mattresses of straw before the windows, but I never knew the dullness and dimness affect me as they did that morning.

There was nothing to do, nor anyone to speak to except Paulina, whom I could hear grumbling to herself in the underground room where our meals were cooked. I knew from the manner in which she moved the big copper stewpan as though dashing it on the table, that her mind was ill at ease, and then a sudden resolution came over me, to quit the house and go down that winding path through the olive grove — to go further away from the house than I had before gone, to go as far as Ajaccio even — it was but a few miles off — as I had MY MOUNTAIN HOME. 7 longed to do many a time when I stood gazing out on the world from the little window. Fabiani and Teodor had been gone half an hour maybe, when I decided upon following them; and without a thought of danger I made my way down the path. The last thing in my mind was Fabiani's vendetta parcntado as I went swiftly beneath the big chestnut trees and through the cool green thickets on my road to Ajaccio, and a feeling of freedom added a delight to the journey.

The sun shone brightly and a soft breeze stirred the leaves into a sort of music that was very pleasant to hear, and except for an eagle that was soaring high in the blue sky, not a sight of any living creature was there. Down the rocky path I went, eager to join Fabiani and Teodor before they reached Ajaccio, if possible, when suddenly there came on the air the sound of firearms. Once — twice — the report of a gun rang out, together with a cry such as I had never heard before, and I found myself holding my breath in eager expectation as I tried to peer through the thick foliage that hid the valley.

Chapter II. The Quarrel

FOR a moment I remained thus, and then ran to where a turn in the road gave me a view below, from whence came a little cloud of smoke out of a thicket, and the sound of voices, amongst them Teodor's loud and shrill. I was listen ing to this when from the trees that were not a hundred yards away, the tall figure of a man sprang out, who stood levelling his gun in the direc tion of Ajaccio downward, whilst at the same moment another man came rushing towards him. There was a sharp report and the man who had been running, dropped on his knees, rolling over before he lay motionless with his face to the sun, and then two other men had closed upon the tall figure, coming unexpectedly from either side of the path, and one of them had a big vine-knife in his hand. I saw the broad blade flash in the light, and the tall figure seemed to quiver for a moment, but the fellow wras so quick in his movements and strong that he had twisted himself free from the attack and sent one of the assailants sprawling on the path.

B The tall figure of a man sprang out. P. 8. before being seized again, and a struggle, fierce as of wild beasts, began between him and his remaining foe. I saw him stagger once or twice, for the blood was pouring from a wound in his leg made by the vine knife, and his grasp was on the throat of his foe, when there came staggering up the pebbly road my cousin Fabiani who leant on Teodor's arm heavily. Fabiani's face was blood-stained — that I saw at a glance — but there was no time to look at him again, for the deadly struggle between the two men had brought them close to me. With quick-coming throbs of breath, and faces pale with passion, they fought and wrestled, the taller of the men becom ing quickly weakened. Try as he might, that wound in his leg gave his opponent the advantage, and with a stumbling movement the wounded man fell to his knees — leaving his broad chest exposed to the dagger that was uplifted.

Another instant and the weapon would have decided the fight, but I had run forward, and putting all my strength in the blow, sent the murderous fellow backward. There was a sharp descent from the edge of the path at this point, hidden by bushes; and through these downward — I cannot say how far the man fell, but I heard his shout of rage from a great depth — went he and his dagger, and I turned to his wounded foe who sat on the path, with a laugh on his handsome face. " I owe you my life, " he exclaimed, getting himself upright with an awkward spring. "Tell me your name. " Camilla Negroni." " I shall remember that always — and that you have saved me from death : I will repay you some day — never doubt that" — and maybe we should have said more to each other, if he had not vanished from sight amidst the trees, for Teodor with his father leaning on his arm was beside me.

"What have you done?" cried Teodor, furiously, his face aflame with anger. " Why have you let that assassin escape? help me to carry my father to the house — he is wounded and like to die of his hurt." I glanced at Fabiani who was scowling beneath the blood which dyed his brow and cheeks, and was a good deal relieved, for there was no sign of death about him. He was badly wounded, however, a part of one ear had been shot away and the bullet had grazed through his curly hair, but the injury was not deadly. E*abiani was too full of rage and fury to die just then I reckoned, and the manner of his gripping my arm which I held out for his support, assured me of this. " You have aided my bitterest enemy, " he ground out between his teeth. " He who has kept me like a caged bird these two years, and who was in my grasp.

We were five to one; and he escaped — it was through you, Camilla Negroni, that he has been snatched from my hand." ■ He would have been killed, if I had not sent that fellow through the bushes," I replied, almost as angrily as Fabiani had spoken. " He was wounded, too, and had fought bravely." " But do you know who the fellow is ? " cried Teodor, giving me another furious look over Fabiani's shoulder as we went slowly up the path. " You, Camilla Negroni, of our own blood that you are, have saved the enemy of your family. It is Cesario Arrighi that you befriended. Think of it," and his eyes shot out an angry flash. "Cesario Arrighi!" That made me think indeed, as Teodor had said, and I understood very easily what had happened. Fabiani had been attacked, as Paulina had prophesied, and the three men, two of whom were lying on the path and the third of whom was somewhere in the direction of Ajaccio, had come to his assistance against Cesario.

Yes, it was plain enough, and also that I, a sharer according to Teodor in the vendetta parentado, had aided our bitterest enemy to escape. That was something more to think of as we three went toiling up to the narrow flight of steps of our besieged house. Not another word was said until we were behind the bolted door, but then Fabiani's anger burst out again upon me. " It is through you, " he cried, " that Cesario is yet alive, and able to harm us further. See — my business has been prevented in being done ; I should have been well on the way to Ajaccio had Cesario not encountered me ! " And Fabiani was raging thus when Paulina stopped him. He seemed to have forgotten his wounded ear, and so had Teodor who stood frowning at me; but in spite of him and my cousin I could not feel sorry for what I had done.

Nay I felt very glad that Cesario had not fallen beneath that murderous dagger, and that I had helped him to escape, but it was clear that Teodor was my enemy from that day. Paulina forced Fabiani into a chair and began dressing his wound, making him groan once or twice, for her hand was heavy, and Teodor went striding out of the room. I had no wish for further talk with Fabiani, who at the best of times was harsh and sneering in his manner, so I left him also, and for the remainder of that day kept out of my cousin's sight. There was no one to talk with except Paulina, and from her I heard the full account of the morning's adventure. It was just as Fabiani and his son had reached the broad road leading to Ajaccio, that a shot came whizzing past his ear, and then before he could hide himself in a thicket, another bullet had cut half his ear off, and Teodor had given the cry I heard.

There were three men at work hard by the spot, and these came running to my cousin, who promised them a good reward if they killed or captured his assailant. This they promised to do, and the readier were they seeing that a price was set on Cesario Arrighi's head, he being outlawed; and the rest of the story I have already told. " Fabiani, " went on Paulina, " says that it is you, Camilla Negroni, who prevented Cesario from being taken; and let me tell you that you have acted foolishly. Not that Fabiani is any wiser, for 'twas only a month since that the message " si prcparasse " 1 came. How it reached Fabiani's hand I know not, but he showed me the writing of it, and said he, ' Not all the Arrighi in Corsica shall hinder me from going to Ajaccio.' But there Fabiani proved him self untruthful, as you have seen," and Paulina gave one of her croaking laughs as she said this.

It had never been very cheerful in the house, but from the time of the adventure I have described, a gloomier cloud than usual rested over it and its inmates. Fabiani never spoke to me, being satisfied with his scowling rebuke, I suppose, but Teodor showed his enmity openly. He would sneer and jeer at every friendly word I offered him, calling me a name under his breath so that I could riot catch the meaning of it distinctly enough to resent it. I had no wish to quarrel, however, for all that I had done was but to have saved a wounded man's life; yet to be ever looked at in scorn and resentment made me angry, although I restrained myself from showing my anger, until there came a day when Teodor's words and manner could be endured no longer. We were alone, I remember, in the hot room that was shut out from the air and light by the 1 Let him be prepared. great bulging mattress of straw which covered the window, but I could see his sneering face from the further end of the room amongst the shadows.

E'abiani had gone to his bed to rest his wounded head which Paulina had bandaged afresh that morning, and for some minutes neither Teodor nor I had spoken. Then he said something, which set my blood boiling. He spoke it, in a tone as though to himself, but I knew he meant the words for me. " There was a man once," said Teodor softly, " who lost his bravery, and delayed to avenge him self upon his enemy. Who was willing to bear insult, and would listen unmoved when one said 'rimbecco' ' of him," and when Teodor muttered that I felt my fingers tingling to choke the horrible word back into his throat, but I made as though I had not heard, and this prompted Teodor to call me by my name as if I had been a stranger to him. " Signor Negroni," he said aloud. " You find this home unpleasant to live in maybe?"

" The house is well enough, " I replied, as care lessly as I could. " So that it is these who are with you, whom you dislike — that is so?" " I have not thought of that — yet, " I answered. " It is to come, perhaps. " " Nay, but it has come to me, Camilla Negroni," ' To use this word, which is to reproach for not revenging an insult, was forbidden by the old Genoese law in Corsica, as pro voking bloodshed, and was punished by a sine, or public flogging. he cried, starting to his feet, and I thought he would have used that hateful word again, which he whispered a moment before; but that I think Teodor, fierce as he looked, was not brave enough to do to my face. " It is the sight of my father's wound, that he owes to you; the thought that it is to you Cesario Arrighi is indebted for his life, and that you have proved a traitor to your family, which makes this house unbearable to me so long as you are in it."

" It is for Fabiani to send me away, " I retorted, " you have no power here. And as for his wound, he owes nothing to me for it, so in saying that you have told a lie, Teodor Brasco." I daresay my answer angered him, but I was beyond myself with passion. I had been unjustly blamed and treated with scorn for no cause of my own. " I have power enough to make you repent of saying that I lied," he exclaimed. "It is easy to talk thus while we are in this room, but you would not dare to do so if you and I were alone, Camilla Negroni, under the open sky, with none to inter rupt us." " I will say that you did lie, wherever I may be. Fabiani's wound was given him before Arrighi met me." Teodor became suddenly quite calm in his manner, and he looked at me meaningly when I had said this. It is not a pleasant thing to be thought a coward, " KING FOR A SUMMER. he answered, nodding his head gravely, " therefore, Camilla, you shall have the opportunity of proving that you are not one.

Come to me presently, where the orange wood begins — we shall not be seen, believe me." I understood what he meant — it did not require that Teodor should take down from the wall of the room one of the large knives that hung there with some other weapons, nor that he should flourish it before me. He had invited me to the Duello and unless I were indeed the coward he had called me I must consent to fight him. There was no other method of settling a quarrel that I had ever heard of, and even brothers fought together, let alone re latives closer connected with each other than were Teodor and myself. I had the satisfaction of know ing that the quarrel was none of my seeking moreover, and in response to the invitation I made a gesture with my head, whereupon with a lofty air Teodor went out of the room ; and I, having waited for some little time, took another of the knives and followed him to where, at a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the house, the wood began, that had a broad patch of bare rock at its entrance.

I recollect even now, the solemn stillness there was when we came face to face, and the evil look in Teodor's eyes, as he stood holding his knife hand behind his back, creeping in a little circle round me to find an opening for his attack.

Chapter III. The Duel

I SUPPOSE my blood was as hot as Teodor's, even if I showed less anger, and for a few seconds I watched him circling round me, preparing himself for a spring, with a longing for revenge such as I had never felt before. If I had not heard him whisper that word, maybe my anger would have been less; but he had called me " coward" also, and that reproach must be wiped out even if it needed his blood to do it; and I watched with eyes that saw only his stealthy movements which brought him closer and closer to where I remained standing with bent body, on my guard. Nearer and nearer he came, until with a fierce stab his knife shot out, and I had parried the blow which went past my side, drawing myself backward a pace as I did this, and he laughed with a hiss. Then before I could guard myself, he had leaped forward and his knife went deep into my arm, making a cut which was as though a flame had touched me.

It was my left arm, however, or the fight would have been sooner ended, and I threw 2 »7 myself against him before he could recover a firm footing, stooping a little, so that my knife blade made a long scratch — it was no more I am con vinced—in his thigh. I did this, that I might disable him quickly and by so doing prevent worse coming of the duel. I had no thought of slaying him, angry as I was, and would have been well content in proving myself as brave as he ; but Teodor was otherwise minded I suppose, for with a yell of fury he was upon me again, dealing blows that it needed all my power to withstand, and all my good fortune to escape alive from. I knew that I was stabbed more than once, and my hot blood was pouring from a cut in my shoulder ; and that Teodor had not escaped I knew also, for my knife had a redness on it as it flashed in the sun.

I had lost all my calmness now, and was con scious of nothing but the sight of my desperate enemy as we struggled to and fro, that sunny day. Now Teodor had drawn apart from me for an instant, and then we were closely locked again, and suddenly it seemed that I was alone, panting and faint, for Teodor had fallen with his face hidden by his outstretched arm, and the knife, clenched still in his hand, had thrust with such force as to shiver the blade against the rocky ground. And when I saw this a great flood of remorse came over me ; I forgot his sneers and taunts, only remembering that Teodor had been my kinsman; and running forward I turned him on his side. He was not THE DUEL. 19 dead, but a deep groan escaped him as he looked at me, and then his eyes closed, as if death had seized him; whereupon I gave a cry of alarm, and as though in answer to it, a man was standing at my side, and glancing up I recognised Cesario Arrighi.