Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
The day after, however, he insisted that he had dallied long enough,
although after much argument on the part of his enforced guests he
agreed to give them three days to decide, with the understanding that
each day they delayed would add a goodly sum to their ransom. If at the
end of the three days the Americans remained obdurate, he would invite
them to take a little walk, and the affair would be terminated.
Ferralti hugged his revolver and awaited his opportunity. It seemed to
Uncle John that he might have had a hundred chances to shoot the
brigand, who merited no better fate than assassination at their hands;
but although Ferralti was resolved upon the deed he constantly hesitated
to accomplish it in cold blood, and the fact that he had three days
grace induced him to put off the matter as long as possible.
He came to regret most bitterly his indecision; for something in the
young man's eyes must have put the brigand on his guard. When they awoke
on the third morning, which was the fifth since their imprisonment, some
one had searched their rooms thoroughly. The revolver and the knife were
both gone, and the loss rendered them absolutely helpless.
CHAPTER XX
UNCLE JOHN PLAYS EAVESDROPPER
It now seemed to Uncle John that further resistance to the demands of Il
Duca was as useless as it was dangerous. He resented the necessity of
paying a ransom as much as any man could; but imprisoned as he was in a
veritable "robbers' den," without means of communicating with the
authorities or the outside world, and powerless to protect his life from
the vengeance of the unprincipled scoundrel who held him, the only safe
and sane mode of procedure was to give in as gracefully as possible.
He formed this conclusion during a long walk around the valley, during
which he once more noted the absolute seclusion of the place and the
impossibility of escape by scaling the cliffs. The doctor was fishing
again by the brook, but paid no heed when Uncle John tramped by. The
sight of the dapper little man gave Mr.
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The Story of the Leopard, the Tortoise, and the Bush Rat
Category: Nigerian folktales
Read times: 65 -
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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