shaped cabinet of rare marqueterie work, flanked by a washing-stand, a dressing-table in one of the deep recesses of the windows, and a dozen or thereabout of most respectable looking arm-chairs of white and gold, make the room appear anything like furnished or comfortable according to our ideas. The floor was of brick, and although the hearth, in the vast aperture of the chimney, was piled up with blazing logs, there was a cheerless look about the place. Now, gentlemen, is it not most extraordinary that, although not ten minutes since I had been picturing to myself a robber's stronghold, a Gil Blas sort of cavern, with massive trap-doors, heavy iron gratings, and winding galleries excavated in the rock, I should have allowed any feeling of discontent to come over me on finding myself introduced into a capital bed-room?

My conductor, Pepino, who was a squarebuilt little fellow, presenting, both in dress and appearance, a kind of cross between a tenderhearted brigand and a disreputable valet, had been watching me curiously with a pair of twinkling little eyes, and having given me time to finish my survey of the room, he said, "This is the sleeping chamber of sua 'celenza, and this," pointing to a quantity of wearing apparel laid out on the bed, “this,”—and he | laid a sort of comic emphasis, I fancied, on the word,-"this is sua 'celenza's dress. 'Celenza will have the goodness to put it on, he will find it most pleasant and becoming, it is our custom here," and he held up, article by article, the parts which compose the holiday dress, as it seemed to me, of a peasant of the Campagna. A black velvet jacket with breeches of the same, a crimson waistcoat with gilt filigree buttons, a neckerchief of many colours, and for the chaussure some most inexplicable buskins or mocassins, with endless laces.

As my looks expressed, in all probability, the astonishment I felt at this singular proposal, Pepino added, "Eccelenza will find it a most commodious and charming costume. Let him be without apprehension; there may be little difficulties in adapting it to his comely figure at first; but, if he desires it, I can act as his valet, and, perhaps it would be well that sua 'celenza should not lose time; the table will be served as soon as sua 'celenza has finished his toilette."

Overwhelmed with this politeness, which I firmly believed was only assumed for some horrid end, perhaps to make my punishment more terrible by contrast, I obeyed mechanically, and, after a time, with the skilful assistance of my attendant, I got into my clothes, which were rather tight, by the way.

I am not going to tell you the trouble I

had in adapting this costume-which had evidently been made for a gentleman at least a couple of sizes smaller than myself to my rather stout form; what a work it was the fitting on and fastening the buskins, with all their intricacies of lacing, nor the difficulty we experienced in gathering up enough of my hair to attach a net bag to it. You smile, gentlemen, but, upon my honour, I had a really fine head of hair then. The long and the short of it is, that in the course of half an hour or so, I was pacing up and down the room in a fancy dress, endeavouring in vain to feel myself at home in it, and quite as uncomfortable in every way, mind and body, as if I had been about to make my first appearance on any boards before an indulgent public. On looking at the mirror, I perceived myself to be metamorphosed into a rather stout bandit, and it struck me-I don't mind confessing as much to you-I had never set eyes on such a truculent ruffian. This arose most likely from the distortion of the glass I should be inclined to think it did.

Pepino was giving a finishing touch or two to my dress, when I was startled by the sound of a horn-I say startled to a sense of my position. Up to this moment I had given myself up to the contemplation of the requirements of the moment with a reckless abandon, as the French call it. All the horrors of my situation were now forced upon my thoughts with stunning violence. I do not know what

I should have done if Pepino had not recalled me to myself by speaking.

"Eccelenza," said he, "is curious to know what the sound of the horn signifies. I have to make him aware that it is the signal for going to table, and if he will give himself the trouble to follow me, I will conduct him to the dining-hall."

Without, as it seemed to me, a will of my own, I followed my guide through a long gallery lined with queer old portraitsprobably of defunct banditti-who all seemed to regard me with a grim smile as I passed along. You may think it curious that I was able to take notice of anything whatever, but it was not the least remarkable peculiarity of my state, that while I was submitting without resistance, and almost puppet-like, to the will of another, my powers of observation did not appear to be in any degree weakened.

A door at the end of a corridor opened as we approached, and Pepino, stepping aside, made a low bow as he motioned me to enter the room.

Now, although but little time had been allowed me to speculate on the sort of company I was likely to meet at table, I had not been without some very unpleasant misgivings on

the subject. It now became evident to me that the banditti must have possessed themselves of some noble villa, probably after murdering the proprietor. Banditti! why, the very name suggested all that was brutal, and coarse, and ribald !

Imagine, gentlemen, if you can, my surprise. The room in which I found myself was, as most rooms are in Italy, large in dimension and lofty. In the middle of it was a table laid with a smaller number of covers than I could have anticipated, and set out in a style in no way according with the generally received traditions of brigand household arrangements; it was rather such as might have been looked for in an opulent and wellappointed ménage. But what took me most aback was a group of five persons standing in conversation near the fire-place. Three were females, elegantly dressed, and though the upper part of their faces was concealed under black silk masks, it was easy to discern at a glance that they were ladies of condition. Two men, also masked, made up the party— they were attired pretty much in the fashion of my costume, but somehow it seemed to set upon them more naturally and becomingly.

The taller of the two advanced to meet me as I entered.

"Evviva, amico mio!"-(this was rather friendly, was it not?)-"Evviva! sia il benvenuto!" exclaimed he, at the same time seizing my hand, giving it a cordial shake, and leading me up to the ladies, to whom he presented me in these words: "Mesdames, I have the distinguished honour of presenting to you the Signore Don Perciogmoro "-(my name is Ogmore-Percy Ogmore; the fellow had turned it into Italian after reading it, I suppose, on the brass-plate of my desk, when he broke it open)" the Signor Don Perciogmoro, one of ours, or, at least, about to become one; you will observe that his so cheerfully and readily adopting our costume is the most ample pledge of his good faith". (Holy powers! I, Percy Ogmore-I, one of theirs! I, a bandit! Horrible thought!)

"These ladies," he continued, without noticing my look of dismay, "are the Donna Inesilla, her daughter the Donna Amalia, and this, her niece the Donna Annina. This gentleman is my lieutenant, Don Rinaldo Malpasso."

I bowed to each of the ladies as he named them, quite as low as my very unpleasantly tight velvets would allow me, and then rather more stiffly to Lieutenant Don Rinaldo Malpasso.

66

"And now," continued the tall bandit

now for dinner. If you will offer your arm, signore, to the Donna Inesilla, we will to

table. I ought, by-the-by, to have introduced myself: know me, then, as the Capitano Castronero, at your service. Your appetite, I hope, is good."

I do not know how it was; perhaps it arose from a certain facility, hereditary, I believe, in my family, of adapting oneself to circumstances-especially when these circumstances are agreeable; or, it might have been from the sight of a capital dinner served in firstrate style; but, certain it is, that I gave myself up to the enjoyment of the present moment without the least reserve. The wines, were, if possible, better than the dinner. Such Lagryma! By Jove! it makes my mouth water now to think of it. I assure you it has been a matter of much self-reproach to me ever since that I omitted to get the address of my host's wine merchant. The odds are, however, the fellow knew nothing about it. He found it in the cellar, when he took possession of the villa; but I might have got it from the butler.

And there I was, seated next to one of the prettiest-I know she was-one of the prettiest of brunettes, that is, if the upper part of her face corresponded to the lower, which of course it did. What a mouth! what a dear little dimpled chin! what-oh, dear!

The conversation was most animated and agreeable. I really went the length of hazarding a joke or two, and certainly succeeded in making my charming neighbour laugh heartily. I never enjoyed a dinner more, and if an ugly thought did cross my mind as to the probable fate of the owner of the villa, how he might be languishing in a dungeon, in chains, perhaps, it was merely a passing thought. Besides, what business was it of mine? As to my own awkward position and my probable fate, I give you my word it never once occurred to me to speculate on the subject. I remember considering the conduct of the old lady, Inesilla, and her daughter, rather heartless. To be sure, my charming neighbour Annina was the merriest of them all, but then she was only the old lady's niece. The murdered proprietor of the villa—if the villains had murdered him-was after all only a connection of hers, not a relation. Who knows, too, if his death might not be looked upon as a happy release! Most likely it was. The circumstance of the whole party being masked at dinner was peculiar; it struck me so at the time. But then, you know, I was a stranger, it would not do to let me recognise their features.

In the meantime there I was after being foully robbed, (even the very garments I sat in were not my own,) a prisoner, for all I knew, under sentence of death-there I was, I say,

in a state of supreme happiness and enjoy ment.

The poor old Dominie's situation occurred to me once, and on my questioning the lieutenant about him, he bid me make my mind easy about him, saying that he was well provided for. Provided for! that might have been a cant word for his being- -but no; I could not bring myself to believe that persons who were treating me with such very distinguished hospitality could have been guilty of perpetrating any enormity towards an inoffensive old man. In short, I began to conceive a very good opinion of my entertainers, dropping, one by one, my prejudices against banditti in general, and I had already come to the conclusion that the profession, like its patron, might not, after all, be so black as it is painted.

The conversation was, as I have before observed, lively enough; it would have been bad taste in me to ask any questions about my carriage and servant, to say nothing of my wardrobe and effects; such interrogations would have been indiscreet: for, like all other professional men, thieves must naturally be averse to "talking shop" in society; besides, I took my cue from the ladies, who, in spite of their bereaved position, appeared cheerful and contented. They, the ladies, I mean, paid me a good many pretty compliments on my appearance generally, and the singular becomingness of my dress, while I, in return, made some rather well-turned replies to the sallies of my fascinating neighbour, who received them with evident pleasure.

There was only one drawback to my happiness all this time, trifling perhaps in itself, but which, nevertheless, had the effect of cramping my energies, and curbing that laisser aller, as the French term it, that freedom of action and gay abandon of which I felt capable-this was the excessive tightness of my velvets. Whether I leaned backward or forward, or turned to this side or that, it was all the same. I was under the perpetual apprehension that something or other must inevitably go-burst, in fact.

A handsome dessert, "comprising all the delicacies of the season," wound up the dinner. We were served by two tall footmen in very long tailed livery coats, the seams covered with gold lace, while a serious individual, in a sort of black court dress, presided at the side-board as major domo. Of course, these servants formed part of the establishment of the poor gentleman, who, I began by this time to think, could be well spared; nobody seemed to care a bit about him.

After the tall brigand had proposed my health in the most flattering manner, and it had

been drunk with enthusiasm by the whole party, I made a neat speech, and then, on the ladies rising to leave the table, I gave my arm to the pretty Annina, and escorted her to the door, which was reverently opened by the severe major domo. The other cavaliers conducted the elder lady and her daughter.

"Those popguns of yours," said the Captain Castronero, as we reseated ourselves at table, are but poor tools; your aim was not bad, and we were at rather close quarters, too." The storm is coming now, thought I; the presence of the ladies has been my safeguard hitherto.

"Gentlemen," I replied, and I really spoke in earnest, for my heart began to warm to them, "had I only known what estimable individuals you are, I give you my word of honour I would rather have cut off my right hand than have shot at you; but you really must pardon me as to the pistols. No, no, I assure you they are perfect-Nock's last make. (Nock was the great man in those days). How you escaped, for the life of me I cannot make out. I rejoice, however, that it did so happen. I suppose in my agitation I must have missed my aim."

"Per Bacco no, signore!" and then, to my intense surprise, they each produced from their pockets a ball, which bore the marks of having been recently discharged. "Judge for yourself," continued the captain; "look! here, you see, are the two bullets!"

Here was a miracle-no mistake about itan evident, palpable miracle! I recollected but too well that their jackets were open and their throats bare; there could have been no shirt of mail, no armour. I was dumbfoundered. I dare say my uneasiness was observed by them, for they good-humouredly enough asseverated that I had behaved like a man, that my coraggio had been maravigliosissimo, and that I had proved myself to be degnosissimo of the amicizia and the benevolenza of galantuomini, like themselves. (I don't happen to know, gentlemen, whether you speak Italian; if you do, you will see the force of the compliment.)

"And now to our better acquaintance! said the Capitano. So we filled our glasses, and the wine was so good, and the bottle passed so freely, that somehow-I don't know how it happened-I retain only a dim recollection of swearing to join the band, and being assisted by my old friend Pepino to the tapestried room. I have, however, a distinct remembrance of shaking Pepino warmly by the hand and vowing eternal friendship to him.

I no sooner lay down in bed than there was a shindy (if I may use the classic word?) such as I shall not readily forget. All the quaint

figures in the tapestry stepped down on the floor, and proceeded to go through a series of the most extraordinary gymnastics. There was one old gentleman who made a great impression upon me; he was mounted upon a huge grey Flanders horse, a regular Barclay and Perkins's drayhorse; he wore an enormous three-cornered hat, and a yellow broadskirted coat with monstrous cuffs. But his boots-you should have seen his boots! a pair of giant fire-buckets! There was a big brass horn, too, slung over his shoulders, which bumped up and down as he went rollicking and caracolling about the room, chasing the laughing Annina into all the corners.

Pepino! Pepino!" I called out, for I fancied suddenly the bed was moving uncomfortably about, and a strange, grating sound, as of wheels on the gravel, was perceptible. "Pepino, I say!" Then, stretching out my hand lazily, it came in contact with-what do you think? the nose of my old tutor, who was fast asleep; where, do you think?-in the carriage!

Ineed scarcely tell you that I was wide awake now, and there we were in the carriage, precisely as when we left Rome. I looked out of the window-that wretched swamp on either side of the road, those obscene buffalos, that solemn old heron standing on one leg in the pool, it must be the Pontine Marshes !

Was it then all a dream? Impossible! But my dress? the very same in which I left Rome. I tried to awaken the Dominie-hopeless! Was I dreaming still? The carriage, the Dominie, the Pontine Marshes, the buffalos, the heron, the air of heaven, was it all a delusion ?

I rubbed my eyes; I pinched myself till I cried out with pain, and having come to the conclusion that I was indeed awake, I called out to the driver to stop instantly. Gaetano stood at the door, hat in hand.

"Cos'è, 'celenza? what is the matter? he asked.

"Open the door, you scoundrel!" said I; and, jumping out of the carriage, I seized him by the collar.

"Tell me, knave!"—(birbone was the word I used)" tell me, scellerate, villain! as you value your life-where am I? Am I awake? what has happened to me? where is Pepino? where are the banditti ?" and, at every successive question, I shook the astonished varlet more violently. "Where did you go yesterday with the carriage? Out with it, man! presto! I am not to be trifled with!

Having exhausted all my strength as well as breath with the exertion, I let go the trembling wretch, who had been exclaiming in piteous tones, "Ma 'celenza, che cosa

vuole ? what is your desire? Non è mia la colpa, I am not to blame. Sua 'celenza slept so sound, and the Signor Dottore, at Albano, we only stopped an hour and a-half to bait the horses. Sua 'celenza will find a couple of nice roasted chickens and bread, as well as a bottle of the best red wine, in the right-hand pocket of the carriage," he said, in a deprecating tone, as soon as I took my hand from his throat; "I thought sua 'celenza and the Signor Dottore would be hungry before we got to Terracina."

"None of your sciocchezze; don't try to humbug me. I tell you I dined famously." "Eh, signore, scusa; I beg your pardon'

"Villain!" I cried, as a brilliant thought occurred to me; "my pistols! quick! give them me from the front pocket."

"Per l'amor di Dio-for God's sake-I am innocent! Pardon, 'celenza; don't shoot me, I am the father of a family! and the miserable creature threw himself upon his knees in the middle of the road.

"Ass! dolt!" I roared; "the pistols instantly. Presto! I am not going to shoot you, I only want to see if they have been recently discharged."

"Ma 'Celenza! surely your excellency is joking. Oh no; the pistols are exactly as sua 'Celenza placed them this morning;" and in a moment they were in my hands.

"Clean and loaded, by all that is wonderful!" I exclaimed, as I felt the ball with the ramrod. And now for the first time I began to be sensible of having a racking headache; so getting into the carriage, I ordered the driver to proceed. Gaetano closed the door with a look of intense bewilderment, and I shut my eyes and endeavoured to reflect.

Could it be a dream ? But all was so real -so palpable-so patent. No dream ever left impression so perfect, so circumstantial. The Dominie was still snoring heavily, and all my efforts to rouse him were vain. Well, thought I, the truth must come out sooner or later, at some time or other. Musing thus, I, too, fell asleep, and was roused from my torpor by Gaetano, informing me we were arrived at Terracina.

I could extract nothing from the stolid, stupid lout of a vetturino, and from the Dominie I could obtain no information to help