Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
Merrick a thought, and
presently he turned back and sat down beside the fisherman.
"I want to get out of this," he said, bluntly. "It was fun, at first,
and rather interesting; but I've had enough of it."
The physician kept his eye on the line and made no reply.
"I want you to tell me how to escape," continued Uncle John. "It's no
use saying that it can't be done, for nothing is impossible to a clever
man, such as I believe you to be."
Still no reply.
"You spoke, the other day, of earning enough money to go home and live
in peace for the rest of your days. Here, sir, is your opportunity to
improve upon that ambition. The brigand is trying to exact a large
ransom from me; I'll give it to you willingly--every penny--if you'll
show me how to escape."
"Why should you do that?" enquired the doctor, still intent upon his
line. "Does it matter to you who gets your money?"
"Of course," was the prompt reply. "In one case I pay it for a service
rendered, and do it gladly. On the other hand, I am robbed, and that
goes against the grain. Il Duca has finally decided to demand fifty
thousand dollars. It shall be yours, instead, if you give me your
assistance."
"Signore," said the other, calmly, "I would like this money, and I
regret that it is impossible for me to earn it. But there is no means of
escape from this place except by the passage through the rocks, which
passage only three people know the secret of opening--Il Duca himself,
the child Tato, and the old Duchessa. Perhaps Tommaso also knows; I am
not certain; but he will not admit he has such knowledge. You see,
signore, I am as much a prisoner as yourself."
"There ought to be some way to climb these cliffs; some secret path or
underground tunnel," remarked Uncle John, musingly.
"It is more than a hundred years since this valley was made secure by a
brigand ancestor of our Duchessa," was the reply. "It may be two or
three centuries ago, for all I know. And ever since it has been used for
just this purpose: to hold a prisoner until he was ransomed--and no
such man has ever left the place alive unless he paid the price.
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There was once an honest journeyman tailor, by name Labakan, who learned his trade with an excellent master in Alexandria. It could not be said that Labakan was unhandy with the needle; on the contrary, he could make excellent work: moreover, one would have done him injustice to have called him lazy. Nevertheless, his companions knew not what to make of him, for he would often sew for hours together so rapidly that the needle would glow in his hand, and the thread smoke, and that none could equal him.
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