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Show Love or Death By RAFAEL SABATINI I. CHAPTER III Continued i "I am," said Cnstrocaro. "And had I J been from Cesare Borgia, with a j jcore of men at my heels, I could by now have been mnster of San Leo, to zealous are your watchers." H was shrewdly conceived, because It seemed to state an obvious truth that was well calculated to disarm suspicion. But the tone he took, though well enough with men-at-arms, u-as a mighty dangerous one to take with a castellan of such Importance ind such a tierce, ungovernable temper tem-per as was notoriously Messer Tolentino's. Tolen-tino's. It flung that gentleman very natuially Into a rage, and might well have earned the speaker a broken head upon the instant. This Messer Lorenzo knew and risked ; for he also knew that It must earn him confidence, confi-dence, both for the reason already ! jiven and also because It must be Inferred that only a person very sure of himself would dare to voice such a reproof. Tolentino stared at him out of fierce, bloodinjected eyes, too much taken aback to find an answer for a moment. He was a tall, handsome, big-nosed man, with black hair, an olive, shaven face, and a long, square chin. H stared on awhile, and then exploded. "Blood of G d!" he roared. "Here is a cockerel with a very noisy cackle 1 We'll mend that for you ere you leave Ius," he promised viciously. "Who are you?" "An envoy from Duke Guldobaldo, as you have been Informed. As for the rest the cockerel and the cackle we will discuss it at some other time." The castellan heaved himself up and sought to strike a pose of dignity, dig-nity, no easy matter for a man in his shirt and crowned by a night-cap. "You pert lap-dog I" said he, between be-tween anger and amazement. He breattied gustily, words failing him, and then grew calmer. "What is your .name?" "Lorenzo Snello," answered Cas-trocaro, Cas-trocaro, who had been prepared for the question, and he added sternly. "I like it better than the one you have Just bestowed upon me." I "Are you come hither to tell me what you like?" bellowed the castellan. castel-lan. "Look you, young sir, I am the master here, and here my will is ia-.v. I can flog you, flay you, or hang you, and give account of it to none. Bear yon that in mind, and " "Oh, peace!" cried Messer Lorenzo, in his turn, waving a contemptuous hand, and dominating the other by his very tone and manner. "Whatever "What-ever I m&y have come for, I have not come to listen to your vaporlngs. Have I climbed from the plain, risked my life ' to get through the Borgia lines, and mv neck a score of times ' in the ascent, to stand here and have . you bellow at me of what you imag- Ine you can do? What you cannot j do, I have seen for myself." "And what may that be?" quoth Tolentino, now wickedly gentle. "You cannot guard a castle, and , you cannot discriminate between a lackey and ove who is your peer and perhaps something more." The castellan sat down again and rubbed bis chin. Here was a very hot fellow, and like all bullies, Messer '1'nlentiuo found that hot fellows put him out of countenance. In the backgound, behind Messer Lorenzo, stood Tolentino's men In line, silent but avid witnesses of his discomliture. The castellan perceived that at all costs he must save his face. "You'll need a weighty message to Justify this insolence and to save you from a whipping," said he gravely. Til need no weightier a message than the one I bear," was the sharp unsvser. "The duke shall hear of these Indignities to which you are subjecting one he loves, and who has run great peril in his service." Ills dignity, his air of injury was now overwhelming. "And mark you, sir, It is not the way to treat an envoy, en-voy, this. Were my duty to the duUfi less than it is1, or my message o'f less moment, I should depart as I Have come. But he shall hear of the reception re-ception 1 have had, rest assured or that." Tolentino shuffled, ill at ease now. "Sir," he cried, protesting, "I swear the fault Is yours. Who, pray, are you, to visit -me with your reproofs? If I have failed In courtesy it was J'on provoked me. Am 1 to bear the Sibes of every popin-jay who thinks he can discharge my duties better than I? Enough, sir!" He waved a Breat hand, growing dignified In his 'urn. "Deliver the message that you l,enr." And he held out that massive ''Mil of his in expectation of a letter. Hut Messer Lorenzo's pretense was, of necessity, that he bore his message ? word of mouth. "1 nni bidden by my lord to enjoin !" to ninUe surrender with the honors of war, which shall be con-eded con-eded you by tne duke of Valentinois," ald he; and seeing the surprise, ""ubt, and suspicion that Instantly hpPn to nreaa upon Tolentino's face '" all to read, he launched himself 11110 explanations. "Cesare Horgia ' amdp icons with Duke Guidobal- do, and has promised him certain compensations com-pensations If all the fortresses of his dominions make surrender without more ado. These terms my lord has tjeen advised to accept, since by refusing re-fusing them nothing can he hope to gain, whilst he may lose all. Perceiving Per-ceiving this, and satisfied that, by prolonging pro-longing Its resistance San Leo can only be postponing its ultimately Inevitable In-evitable surrender and entailing by that postponement . the loss of much valuable life, Duke Guidobaldo has sent me to bid you, in his name, capitulate capit-ulate forthwith." It had a specious ring. It was precisely pre-cisely such a message as the humanitarian humani-tarian duke might well have sent, and the profit to accrue to himself from the surrender he enjoined seemed also a likely enough contingency. Yet the shrewd Tolentino had his doubts, doubts which might never have assailed as-sailed another. Wrinkles Increased about his fierce black eyes as he bent them now upon the messenger. "You will have letters of this tenor from my lord?" he said. "I have none," replied Messer Lorenzo, Lo-renzo, dissembling his uneasiness. "Now, by Bacchus, that is odd I" "Nay, sir, consider," said the young man too hastily, "the danger of my carrying such letters. Should they be found upon me Joy the Borgia troops, I " He checked, somewhat awkwardly, perceiving his mistake. Tolentino smacked his thigh with his open palm, The Castellan Heaved Himself Up and Sought to Strike a Pose of Dignity. and the room rang with the sound of it. His face grew red. He sprang up. "Sir, sir," said he, with a certain grlmness, "we must understand each other better. You say that you bring me certain orders to act upon a certain cer-tain matter that has been concerted between Valentinois and my lord, and you talk of danger to yourself in bearing bear-ing such orders In a letter. Be patient pa-tient with me if I do not understand." Tolentino's accents were .unmistakably .unmistak-ably sardonic. "So desirable is it from the' point of view of Valentinois that such commands should reach me. that he could not have failed to pass you unmolested through his troops- Can you explain where I am wrong In these conclusions?" There but remained for Messer Lorenzo Lo-renzo to put upon the matter the best fnce possible. A gap was yawning at his feet. He saw It all too plainly. He was lost, It seemed. "That explanation, my lord, no doubt, will furnish you, should you seek U from him. I -jot. It was not given me, nor had I the presumption pre-sumption to request it.. 1 Pe calmly and proudly, for all that his , heart-beats had quickened, and in his last words there was a certain veiled ' reproof of the other's attitude. "When," he continued, "I said that it would have been dangerous to have given me letters, I but put forward, to answer you, the explanation which occurred oc-curred to me at the moment. I had not earlier considered the matter. I now see that I was. wrong In my assumption." as-sumption." Messer Tolentino considered hlra very seurchingly. Throughout his speech, indeed, the castellan's eyes had never left his face. Messer Lorenzo's Lo-renzo's words all but convinced Tolentino To-lentino that the man was lying. Yet his calm and easy assurance, his proud demeanor, left the captain still a lingering doubt. "At least you'll bear some sign by which I am to know that you are Indeed In-deed my lord's envoy?" said he. "I bear none. I was dispatched In haste. The duke, It seems, did not reckon upon such a message as ' this being doubted." "Did he not?" quoth Tolentino, and his note was sardonic. Suddenly he asked another question. "How came you to enter the fortress?" "I climbed up from the plain on the southern side, where the rock Is accounted inaccessible." And, seeing the look of surprise that overspread the captain's face, "I am . of these parts," he explained. "In boyhood I have frequently essayed the climb. It was for this reason that Duke Guldobaldo Guldo-baldo chose me." . "And when you had gained the wall did you bid the sentry lower you a rope ?" "I did not. I had a rope of my own, and grappllng-hooks." "Why this, when you are a messenger messen-ger from Guidobaldo?" The c&ntellan turned sharply to his men. "Where did you find him?" he inquired. It was Bernardo who made haste to answer that they had found him lurking in the passage outside the guard-room as they were coming, out. Tolentino laughed with fierce relish, and swore copiously and humorously. "So-lio !" he crowed. "You had passed the sentry unperceived, and you were well within the fortress ere you were discovered, when, behold ! you become a messenger of Guldo-baldo's Guldo-baldo's bearing orders to me to surrender sur-render the fortress, and you take this high tone about our indifferent watch to cover the sly manner of your entrance. en-trance. Oh-o! 'Twas shrewdly thought of, but It shall not avail you though It be a pity, to wring the neck of so spirited a cockerel.". And he laughed again. "Yon are a fool," said Castrocaro with finality, "and you reason like a fool." "Do I so? Now, mark me. You said that it was because you knew a secret way into this castle that Guido baldo chose you for his messenger. Consider now the folly of that statement state-ment You might yourself have construed con-strued that Guldobaldo's wish was that you should come hither secretly, though yourself you have admitted the obvious error of such an assumption. assump-tion. But to tell me that an envoy from the duke bidding us surrender to Cesare Borgia, and so do the will of the latter, should need to come here by secret ways at tht risk of his neck " Tolentino shrugged and laughed in the white face of Messer Lorenzo. "Which of us is the fool in Uils, sir?" he questioned, leering. Then, with' an abrupt change of manner, man-ner, he waved to his men. "Seize and search him," he commanded. In a moment they had him down upon the floor, and they were strip-pin" strip-pin" him of his garments. They made a very thorough search, but It yielded nothing. "No matter," said Tolentino as he ..ot'into bed again. "We have more than enough against him already. Make him safe for the night. He shall-"o shall-"o down the cliff's face again in the morning- and 1 swear he shall go down faster Hum ever he came up. And Messer Tolentino rolled over, and settled down comfortably to go to sleep again. - (TO BE CONTINUED.) |