Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
"She is mad!" cried Ferralti. "Quick, Tommaso; let us follow her."
The brigand bounded forward, with the young man scarce a pace behind
him. The woman, running with wonderful speed in spite of her burden,
began to ascend a narrow path leading up the face of a rugged cliff.
A yell of anguish from behind for a moment arrested Ferralti's rapid
pursuit. Glancing back he saw the Duke running frantically toward them,
at the same time waving his arms high above his head.
"The pit!" he shouted. "She is making for the pit. Stop her, for the
love of God!"
Ferralti understood, and dashed forward again at full speed. Tommaso
also understood, for his face was white and he muttered terrible oaths
as he pressed on. Yet run as they might, the mad duchessa was inspired
with a strength so superhuman that she kept well in advance.
But the narrow path ended half way up the cliff. It ended at a deep
chasm in the rocks, the edge of which was protected by a large flat
stone, like the curb of a well.
With a final leap the old woman gained this stone, and while the
dreadful pit yawned at her feet she turned, and with a demoniacal laugh
faced her pursuers, hugging the child close to her breast.
Tommaso and Ferralti, who were nearest, paused instinctively. It was now
impossible for them to prevent the tragedy about to be enacted. The
Duke, spurred on by fear, was yet twenty paces in their rear, and in a
moment he also stopped, clasping his hands in a gesture of vain
entreaty.
"Listen, Lugui!" his mother called to him, in a dear, high voice. "This
is the child that has come between us and turned you from a man into a
coward. Here alone is the cause of our troubles. Behold! I will remove
it forever from our path."
With the words she lifted Tato high above her head and turned toward the
pit--that terrible cleft in the rocks which was believed to have no
bottom.
At her first movement Tommaso had raised his gun, and the Duke,
perceiving this, called to him in an agonized voice to fire.
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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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