Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
I'd like your advice. What shall I do?"
"The only possible thing, signore. Submit."
"Why is it the only possible thing?"
"Have you not yet discovered? Unless you pay, your friends will never
hear from you again. Il Duca, by his mother's favor, is king here. He
will murder you if you oppose his demands."
"Really?"
"It is quite certain, signore. He has murdered several obstinate people
since I have been here, and the outside world will never know their
fate. It is folly to oppose the king. Were you not rich you would not be
here. Il Duca knows the exact wealth of every American who travels
abroad and is likely to visit Sicily. Many escape him, but a few wander
into his toils, for he is wonderfully sagacious. Mark you: he does not
demand your all; he merely takes tribute, leaving his victims sufficient
to render life desirable to them. If he required their all, many would
as soon forfeit life as make the payment; but a tithe they will spare
for the privilege of living. That is why he is so successful. And that
is why he remains undisturbed. For an American, being robbed so simply,
never tells of his humiliating experience. He goes home, and avoids
Sicily ever after."
"H-m-m. I understand."
"But if you do not pay, you are not permitted to leave this place. You
are killed at once, and the incident is over. Il Duca does not love to
murder, but he takes no chances."
"I see. But suppose I pay, and then make complaint to the Italian
government?"
"It has been done, signore. But the government is very blind. It does
not know Il Duca d' Alcanta. Its officials are convinced he does not
exist. They investigate carefully, and declare the tale is all a myth."
"Then there is no way of escape?"
"Absolutely none. Such a condition is almost inconceivable, is it not?
and in this enlightened age? But it exists, and is only harmful when its
victims are stubborn and rebellious. To be cheerful and pay promptly is
the only sensible way out of your difficulty."
"Thank you," said Uncle John.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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