CHAPTER XII.
THE AMBUSCADE.
It is good to go through the air, with the strength of a brave horseunder one, to know that his strong muscles are stretching with anenjoyment as keen as his rider's pleasure, to hear the air whistle asone cuts through it, and to feel the blood fairly dance in the veins.After those weary weeks of illness, of inaction, and of mental despairI had passed through, it was as if new life was poured into me, toknow that I was once more in the saddle, with a prospect, howeverfaint, of regaining all I had lost. As the landscape on each side ofme melted into a green grey streak, it seemed to carry away with it mysuffering; as the true horse answered willingly to the touch of myspur, I forgot the past, and was once again Ugo di Savelli, with aspirit as high as the days before the black sorrow fell upon me. Tothe left of the road was a broad stretch of springy turf, crossed by afairly wide water channel. I could not resist giving the beast a burstover this, and followed by Jacopo, galloped over it with a free rein.Both the horses took the jump like bucks, and carried away by themoment, we held on, until we reached the stony and boulder-coveredincline which led to the valley of the Greve. Here the turf came to asudden end, in a line such as the edge of a calm sea makes in a bay,and then began a steep descent of gravel, and loose stones, whose manycolours of grey, ochre, and brown, were splashed here and there, bymasses of short thick shrubs, which gradually increased in denseness,until they spread before us, a sea of sombre green, that stretched tothe clear blue line of the Greve. Here on the crest of the slope Idrew bridle, thinking the horses had enough of it for the present, andthat it would be well to husband their strength. Jacopo pulled upalongside of me, and stooping to pat the neck of his mount said--
"Excellency, the horses are in good condition; they will carry us wellto Leghorn!" He spoke the truth, for although they might have been inbetter training, as the few clots of yellowy white foam, on the partof the reins which had touched their necks showed, still we shouldhave been content with less, from new and practically untriedpurchases, such as we had made, and I congratulated myself mentally onour luck, for Barabbas himself would have had much to learn from thehorse-dealers of Tuscany. Thinking in this way, I replied:
"Yes, Jacopo, they seem to be a cheap forty crowns' worth, and we havebeen cheated as little as possible. As you say, they should carry uswell on our journey, and we can either dispose of them at Leghorn, ortake them on to Rome if necessary."
"If I may speak, excellency, I would advise taking them with us. Butoh, signore, is that not superb?"
With an Italian's inborn love for the beautiful, he pointed to theview around us, and although not a Florentine, I could feel why it wasthat her citizens so loved the City of the Lily. The sun was settingin opal and rose, and as we turned to give a last look behind, we sawthat this light was reflected from the west, on the great fleecymasses of clouds that were slumbering in the pure blue of the sky, andwas again thrown back, or rather downwards, on to Florence itself,bathing in its glow the campaniles of the churches, the grim palace ofthe Signory, and the towers of the houses of the nobles. Where thelight did not fall, the shadows were in soft greys, that deepened to apurple black, and a yellow band marked where the walls clasped thecity like a girdle. To the east, as we looked, the hills of the PratoMagno rose in a heavy solid outline, with the jagged peaks, trying asit were to stab at the sky; to the north, covered with a heavy pineforest, lay Senario, shutting from sight the upper Voldarno, and theMugello; whilst, as we faced slowly round by our left, we saw thesilver ribbon of the Arno, and the heights of Monte Orlando, thelandscape being closed in on the west by San Miniato, over whosecypress crowned heights the sun now hung like a soft ball of fire. AsI gazed upon this, a sadness came upon me, and my mind filled againwith the image of the woman, whom I began to realise that I loved inspite of all; and I almost laughed in the bitterness of my heart, whenI thought that this burden of a hopeless passion was added to theweight I already had to bear. I began to fairly despise myself for myweakness, in that for the moment I felt inclined to turn my horse'shead and ride back to Florence. It was gall to know, that if she butlifted her finger, I would go back like a beaten dog, and it requiredme to summon all my pride to rescue myself at the time. It was suchhopeless folly, such madness, that I began to think I must be littleshort of an idiot, and cursed myself with such hearty good will, thatJacopo, who was always a trifle free with his tongue, began to let itwag.
"If your excellency is so liberal with curses on yourself, methinksyou will have none to spare for your enemies," he said.
"True, Jacopo," I answered, "but the word enemies reminds me, that youshould keep your arquebus ready for instant use, and now I think wehad better jog on."
Jacopo's answer was to unsling his arquebus, which he rested crosswiseon his thigh, and we began to slowly descend the slope towards theriver, the loose gravel crunching under our horses' feet.
"It is loaded," said Jacopo, somewhat irrelevantly, as we came to thebanks of the stream; but I understood he was speaking of his piece."It is loaded, excellency," he repeated, "with three balls, which Ihave had dipped in holy water, and on each of which I have cut a crossfor luck. I lay my life on it, that if discharged, it will bring downwhatever it is aimed at--saint or sinner."
"Heaven grant that it may be the sinner, Jacopo; but only take careyou are ready to discharge it when the time comes."
"Never fear, signore. Jacopo Jacopi is too old a soldier to be caughtnapping," with these words we plunged into the Greve, and after muchcareful stepping on the part of the horses, for the animals foundtheir foothold an uncertain one in the smooth round stones under thewater, we reached the opposite bank, and trotted on with the horses'noses in a line towards San Miniato. The sun had now sunk behind thehill, which was so full of memories for me, and although there wouldbe a moon later on, we had for the present to face a rapidlyincreasing darkness.
"By keeping at this pace, excellency," said Jacopo as we trotted on,"we shall reach the Resa shortly before it gets quite dark, and Isubmit that we stop there to feed the horses. As your honourcommanded, I have brought a meal for them, and there was space enoughin the sack for a snack for me, which would do at a pinch for two, ifyour excellency would but condescend to taste of it."
"You say well, Jacopo; but I also am an old soldier, and mysaddle-bags are full. A fasting body makes but a faint heart, whetherfor man or beast--on the other bank of the Resa then, we shall call ahalt. There is a little light still, enough to increase the pace--soonwards!"
We broke into a hand gallop, keeping one behind the other, andfollowing the windings of a cattle track, for I had purposely avoidedthe road after receiving the information I had extracted from thesentry at the San Frediano Gate. It was evident, that the party ofmen, followed by Ceci's nephew, had left Florence to carry out somedesperate design. I had been dogged all day by this man, and now hehad galloped off in disguise to join the men who had left Florencebefore he had, and amongst whom was his uncle. Ceci's words at ourlast interview, and the persistent manner in which I was followed,left me no room to doubt that I was the object of their attention, andthat it would be necessary to keep well on the alert. I did notapprehend danger at once, but thought that if an attack were made, itwould be in the narrow valley between the low hills to the north ofMontespertoli, or at Ponte a Elsa, each of which places wasparticularly suited for an ambuscade, although of course, consideringtheir numbers, the attempt might be made anywhere, and openly, withoutvery much danger. So with another hurried word of warning to Jacopo,and holding my sword ready, I galloped along, increasing the pace asmuch as possible, whenever we went past a clump of trees, and both ofus keeping as sharp a look-out as the light, or rather darkness,permitted. We avoided the regular ford of the Resa on theMontespertoli road, crossing higher up in the direction of Montelupo,and here got a good wetting, for the water was deeper than weanticipated. Had Ceci and his friends only lain in wait for us at thispoint, we should have had
no chance. As it happened, however, we hadtaken a zig-zag route, which had either thrown them off the trackentirely, or we would meet them further on, either at one of the twospots mentioned by me, or in some other equally convenient locality.At any rate, we were safe for the present, and that was something tobe thankful for, even if we were in darkness. So my thoughts ran on,as we scrambled somehow to the opposite bank of the Resa, and gropedour way up until we felt soft grass under our feet, for we haddismounted on fording the stream, and led our horses by their bridlesup the steep left bank. Here we called a halt, determined to await themoon, and Jacopo managed somehow to tether the horses; fastening thehalters to the stump of a tree he discovered by stumbling against, andon which he wasted some of those curses he was so anxious for me toreserve for my enemies. After giving the horses their feed, which theynosed out readily enough, despite the darkness, he joined me where Isat on the grass trying to dry, and wrapping up the lock of hisarquebus in a woollen cap, which he produced, to keep it from damp, hetook his seat beside me at my invitation.
"It is too dark to eat now, excellency," he said. "I for one, like alight of some kind, even if it be my Lady Moon, with my meals, and wehave some little time to wait--ill-luck to it! Do you call to mind,signore, it was just such a night as this when we lay outside thebreach at Arx Sismundea, waiting for the signal rockets?"
"I do, Jacopo."
"Ah, that was a fight! We have had nothing like it since then--noteven Fornovo--but good times are coming, excellency, and maybe we willsee them again."
"How comes it, Jacopo, that with this prospect before you, you leftthe army?"
"There was trouble, excellency, big trouble at Siena, and I left toavoid the attentions of Messer Braccio Fortebraccio, whom your worshipdoubtless remembers."
I could get no further explanation from Jacopo, but afterwards foundout that he had fought with and grievously wounded a man who hadspoken disparagingly of me; and fearing lest the swift disciplinewhich D'Alegres maintained might overtake him, had immediatelydeserted, making his way to Florence, where a lucky chance threw himin my way. I thought it well, at this time, to explain to Jacopo, thedanger I feared of an ambuscade, and he, knowing the road as well as Idid, agreed with me in regard to the spots most likely to be chosenfor the attack.
"Would it not be prudent, excellency, to await daylight, and, keepingout of the beaten track, avoid these gentlemen?"
"You see, Jacopo," I answered, "we have not time for all this, andmust take some risk. I mean, therefore, to go as far as we canto-night."
"As your worship desires. It is not that I fear the danger, but I donot like putting my head in a bag. _Buono!_ There is the moon, and Ialready begin to taste my supper, after which, excellency, I have nocare which way we travel, either by broad daylight, or through theteeth of these brigands."
As he spoke the stars began to pale, and the moon rose slowly abovethe horizon. In a few minutes, so bright and clear was the light, thatone may have easily read by it, and I was glad to see, moreover, thatthe shifting clouds were gone, and there was every prospect of a finenight. It was fall-to, now, to our supper, and adding my store to myfaithful follower's supply, I sunk distinctions of rank, and weenjoyed a meal, with a hearty contentment that had been a stranger tome for many a day. When the last drop of wine in the bottle wasfinished, and we had picked our last bone, Jacopo arose with a sigh.
"Before supper, excellency, I was ready to eat and then fight my waythrough an army; now beshrew me, if a sound nap of an hour or so isnot much to my taste!"
I could not forbear smiling, but did not rise to the hint, and whenour horses were saddled again, and every buckle and strap examinedwith the minutest care, we mounted and set off. As although we bothwell knew the direct road to Leghorn, but were not acquainted with thedistrict so as to correctly pursue our way by moonlight, I decided torun the gauntlet of the ambuscade, if there was any, and take the riskof coming off with a whole skin, to the certainty of losing our trackby chancing short cuts, which might lead to, Heaven alone knew where!Now that we were once more on the road, we trotted along at a fairishpace through the silent night. The way led for some distance over anuneven plain, covered with a multitude of white stones, that shone inthe moonlight like water. The plain gradually narrowed to where it wasintersected by a chain of low hills, and it was in crossing these thatwe should have to ride through a narrow gut, and possibly meet ourdanger. As we approached the hills, the short, stunted foliage thattufted the plain, changed to a half-grown forest, in the midst ofwhich the road wound, and here we halted for a second, whilst Jacopoexamined his piece to see that all was aright, and gingerly blew atthe match thereon, to give the fire a little strength. This beingdone, we proceeded with the greatest caution, riding one behind theother, and going slowly, as we feared a pitfall of some kind among thetrees. Luckily there was none, and at last we got out of the immediatepresence of the forest, and into the gut, where the precipice rosehigh on each side of us. All was rock and stone, but the road wasfairly even, a trap could have been seen, and going slow a mistakehere, so we clapped spurs to the horses, and sent them along, andalthough momentarily expecting to see the flash of an arquebus, wewere agreeably disappointed, and got out of the passage without mishapof any kind.
"_Animo!_ Signore, we are out of this, and to-night will not be breadfor the teeth of these brigands;" and Jacopo, whose horse had carriedhim a little in advance,' drew rein to let me come up, as we rode outof the tail of the pass.
"I hope so, but we are not out of the wood yet," and I pointed towhere a dip in the ground showed there was a small stream, and on theopposite bank the road again led into forest land.
"And I was just going to beg your worship's leave to troll a catch,"said Jacopo; and as he uttered these words we plashed into the shallowstream before us. Almost at this moment my horse neighed shrilly, andan answering neigh from the wood before us rang out into the night.
_Crack_! _Crack!_ Two red tongues of fire licked out from the darknessof the trees, we heard the loud report of firearms, and a brace ofballs sang past, unpleasantly close to my head.
"Quick, Jacopo--follow me," and driving my spurs home, the good horseplunged forwards, topping the bank almost on the instant that theambuscaders, who rushed out with a shout, reached it. The man to myleft, who was riding a white horse, pulled up in an unaccountablemanner, and making a point at the one on my sword side, I ran himthrough the throat, my blade twisting him clean round in the saddle asI dashed on. The attacking party, coming at a great pace, were carriedby their horses down the slope into the stream, and before they couldturn I had gained a fair start, and to my joy heard Jacopo swearing ashe galloped behind me.
"_Maldetto!_ I could not fire, signore--you were right in front ofme--but here goes." He turned back in his saddle, and would have letoff his piece had I not shouted out:--
"Hold! hold! till I tell you," and fortunately he heard my words, orthe chances were there would have been a miss with no opportunity ofreloading.
We gained a full hundred yards before the others recovered themselves,coming after us with yells of anger, and I distinctly heard Ceci'svoice--
"Two hundred crowns for them, dead or alive!"
Now commenced a race for life. We had the start and meant to keep it;but their horses were the fresher, and it became a mere question ofwho could last longest. We made the pace as hot as we could, in thehope that if we came to close quarters again some of our pursuerswould have tailed behind. For a little time things went well, and Iwas beginning to think we should be able to show our friends a cleanpair of heels, when I suddenly felt my horse puffing, stretching hisneck forward and holding on to the bit, in a manner which left nodoubt to my mind that he was done. Jacopo, too, called out--
"We had better fight it out, excellency; my horse is blown."
Before giving a final answer, I slung round in the saddle to see howthe enemy were getting on. The only two who were at our heels was theman mounted on the white horse, who had pulled aside i
n so strange amanner when charging me, and another, whom I could not make out. Therest were well behind, but riding hard. We could probably account forthese two, and turning back I shouted to Jacopo--
"All right; fight it out."
As I said this my horse stumbled and rolled clean over, killinghimself on the spot, but fortunately throwing me clear of him andwithout doing any damage to me. I had just time to scramble to myfeet, when the two foremost of our pursuers were upon us.
Jacopo had been carried some yards on by the speed of his mount, butas the men came up he turned sharp round in his saddle and fired. Thereport was followed by a yell of pain, and the leading horseman fell;the other, who bestrode the white horse, again sheering off from me.Here he met with Jacopo, who was coming back at a gallop, and, itseemed to me, fairly flung himself from his horse, doing this in soclumsy a manner as to be immediately ridden over by my knave.
"Mount--mount, excellency--mount behind me!" and Jacopo steadied hishorse. But there was no time, and three of the remaining horsemendashed up. Two of the horses shied past the body of my animal, but thethird came boldly up, and the rider immediately engaged Jacopo. Icould not give my brave fellow any aid, for my time was fully occupiedin dealing with my own adversaries. Their horses were too fresh, ornot well in hand, by great good luck, and so they could not manage tocome at me together. Seeing this, I made a dash across the road intothe wood--it was but a few feet--and both my adversaries followed,with the result that the horse of one of them put his foot in a rut,and stumbling forwards unseated his rider, and the other, in aiming acut at me, got his sword entangled for a second in an overhangingbough. This second was, however, enough for me to give him six inchesof cold steel, and he pulled round and rode off, dropping his sword,and swinging from side to side in his saddle like a drunken man. Theman who had fallen from his horse was nowhere to be seen. Indeed I didnot look for him, but rushed back to the assistance of Jacopo, andthis time, having opportunity for observing, if only for a twinkling,saw his opponent was my friend, the sham monk. He, however, had asquick an eye, and taking in the situation, made a sudden charge atJacopo, and as suddenly wheeling his horse to the left, shot past himand fled on ahead, leaving us masters of the situation.
"Are you hurt, excellency?" called out Jacopo.
"Not in the least. How are you?"
"Nothing but a scratch, excellency, which I received from hisreverence, who, for all his monkish cowl, wields a good weapon."
"Well, jump down and let us see who our friends are, but first let melook to your wound."
"It is really nothing as I said, signore," and Jacopo sprang lightlyto earth. I did not, however, listen to him, and taking from him hisflint and steel, lighted a piece of dry wood, which I converted into atorch. With the aid of this and the moonlight, I examined Jacopo'swound, which after all was but slight, and had just bandaged it upwith my kerchief, when I became aware that the man whom Jacopo hadridden over, had arisen on his hands and knees, and was crawling offinto the brushwood.
"Steady, friend," I said, and running up to him, gave him a prick withmy sword as a hint to stop. He made a little outcry, but had the goodsense to take the hint, and casting the light of the torch on hisface, I recognised my old acquaintance the ancient Brico.
"So, signore," I said, "I have again to be thankful to you."
Jacopo too came up and recognised the man at a glance.
"_Cappita!_" he burst out, "but it is the ancient Brico! Shall I beathis brains out, excellency?"
"Mercy, most noble cavalier," exclaimed Brico, "I yield me to ransom."
"Ransom forsooth!" called out Jacopo, "such ransom as a noose willgive you. Prepare to die."
"Be quiet, Jacopo," I said, "the ancient has yielded to ransom, wewill leave him to discuss the terms with the moon. Fetch me the bridlefrom my poor horse yonder, and bind this knave firmly."
Jacopo needed no second bidding, and in five minutes the ancient,securely bound, was sitting like a trussed fowl in the middle of theroad, alternately cursing and weeping.
"Perhaps, excellency, we had better look at the other," and Jacopopointed to the man whom he had shot, who lay on his face. "Perchance,"he added, "he too might turn out an old acquaintance."
We did so, and as we bent over him I saw it was Bernabo Ceci gone tohis last account. He was shot through the heart, and lay quite dead,with a frown on his forehead, and his teeth clenched in the deathagony. I looked at him in a sad silence which Jacopo broke.
"I never knew a cross-marked bullet to fail, excellency. He is stonedead."
"May he rest in peace," I answered; "he was a brave man, although myenemy."
"He is still enough now, your worship--and see! There is his horsegrazing quietly. It will do excellently to replace the lost one."
He ran forward and secured the animal, whilst I had a final look at mydead beast. His neck was broken, and there was an end of him. WhilstJacopo at my request was changing the saddles, I stirred up theancient, who had lapsed into silence, and begged the favour of hisinforming me to whom I was indebted for the excitement of the night.Brico at first would not answer, but an inch of steel removed hissulkiness, and he told me all that I believe he knew, which was to theeffect that he and some others had been hired by a great Florentinecalled Strozzi, to stop me at all hazards on my journey to Rome, andthat the party was commanded by Ceci, who was to pay them two hundredcrowns for their trouble. More he evidently did not know, anddisregarding all his entreaties to loosen him, we rode off, wishinghim a good night. Nevertheless I am afraid he suffered considerablediscomfort.
"That rascal monk," said Jacopo as we jogged along, "has gone on aheadof us, and to-morrow, perhaps, will rouse the country in advance ofus."
"Never fear, Jacopo," I answered, "he is no monk, as I well know, andhis only chance was to escape as he did. He will hark back soon enoughto Florence. Such hawks as he do not fly far from their eyries."
And in this I proved to be right, and the library scribe was neverseen by me again.
So we kept to our way, deciding to rest by day on the banks of theEvola, to which we came in the early morning. Here we concealed ourhorses in the forest which fringed the banks, and the tireless Jacopo,leaving me to watch the cattle, proceeded on foot to a small hamlet heknew of, returning in about an hour with the materials for asubstantial meal, and a small skin of wine. In order not to be takenby surprise by the neighing of our horses, which would assuredlydiscover us if other riders passed, we hobbled them in a secure place,and sought a safe retreat for ourselves, almost half way up the lowhill which bounded the river at the point where we halted. Here wespent a restful day, the only incident being the passing of a finebody of men-at-arms across the Evola. From the double-headed lion ontheir standard I perceived they were part of the _condotta_ ofColleoni, a devoted adherent of the Borgia, and it was fortunate thatwe did not meet them or it would have gone hard with us, for I wasknown personally to Colleoni and most of his officers, the free-lancehaving changed sides after Fornovo, ostensibly because he said it wasagainst his conscience to war with the Pope; but in reality beingbribed by an immediate present of a fief in the Campagna, and thepromise of the lordship of Bergamo, which, although his son obtainedit, he himself never enjoyed. So much for the two-headed lion whichcrossed our path as we lay hidden in the shade of the trees. Ourhorses also being actively employed in cropping the rich turf in thehollow where they were tethered, behaved themselves excellently, withthe result that the long line of men-at-arms passed on and out ofsight, without doing us any harm.
In this manner we continued our journey, halting by day and travellingby night, and finally reached Leghorn in safety. Here we took passagein a ship bound for Rome; but were compelled to wait two days inLeghorn, as the master was not ready to sail at once. At last, allthings being arranged, we got our horses and ourselves aboard, and putout to sea with a fair wind. The master of the ship had sailed withMesser Columbus to the New World, and lost no time in giving us thehistory of his adventures, whic
h were in truth marvellous beyondimagination. I listened with a smooth face, and the good man no doubtthought that I believed his stories. In this, however, he wasmistaken, nevertheless they were diverting in the extreme. Jacopo wasovercome by the sickness of the sea, and flung himself down in acorner on the deck of the ship from which spot nothing would inducehim to move. At every lurch he threw out a prayer which ended in agroan, and so great was his distress, that as he afterwards stated, hewould have sold his soul to Satan for a paul, if only to obtain anhour's relief. As for me, I was well, having had some experience ofthe ocean before, when employed by the Most Serene Republic forservice against the Turk, and found contentment in the master'sstories, and in pacing up and down watching such things as came undermy view. I had plenty of opportunity for reflection on the voyage, andcame to the conclusion that on delivering my letter to the Cardinal atRome, I would seek out Bayard if he were there, lay my story beforehim, and beseech his help to enable me to recover myself.
At last, one fine day, we reached Ostia, and there disembarked afterbidding farewell to the master, and set out on our way to Rome. Jacoporecovered his spirits as his foot touched land, and though theruddiness of his cheek had paled a little, he was quite himself againby the time we crossed the Stagno di Ostia. Finally we came in fullview of the Eternal City, and towards the afternoon, having pressedalong at a good pace, our jaded horses brought us before the Gate ofSt. Paul.