said, 'Fear not, for I am the protecting spirit of
the prisoners in the Bargello, and have come to free thee; put thy trust
in me and I will save thee!'

"Then he told the youth how he was to act, and bade him say certain
things when examined, and follow closely all the goblin would whisper to
him; but whether it was his fault or his failure, he missed every point
and went wrong in his replies, the end being that he was condemned to
prison for life. Truly it went to his heart to think that while he lived
he should always see the sun looking like a chess-board, {162} and
bitterly reflected on the proverb:

"'Ne a torto ne a ragione,
Non ti lasciar metter prigione.'

"'Whether you're right or wrong, my man,
Keep out of prison as long as you can.'

"But it went most bitterly to his heart to think that he had by his own
stupidity and want of study lost the chance of freedom. And for some
time the Red Goblin never came near him. But at last the prisoner heard
him call, and then the spirit said, 'Now thou see'st to what a pass thy
neglect of my advice has brought thee. Truly _il diavolo non ti
tenterebbe_--the devil takes no pains to tempt such a fool as thou, for
he knows that he will get him without the trouble of asking. And yet I
will give thee one more chance, and this time be thou wide awake and
remember that _a buona volonta_, _non manca facolta_--where there's a
will there's a way.'

"Now there was a great lord and mighty man of the state who had been in
the Bargello, and greatly comforted by the Red Goblin, who now went unto
this Signore, speaking so well of the young man that the latter ere long
had a new trial. And this time, I warrant you, he studied his case like
a lawyer; for _asino punto_, _convien che trotte_--when an ass is goaded
he must needs trot--and the end thereof was that he trotted out of
prison, and thence into the world, and having learned repentance as well
as the art of watching his wits and turning them to account, prospered
mightily, and to his dying day never forgot to pray for the Red Goblin of
the Bargello."

* * * * *

There have been other spirits which haunted prisons; there was one in the
Bastile, and the White Ladies of Berlin and Parma are of their kind.
This of the Bargello is certainly the household sprite with the red cap,
in a short shirt, who was very well known to the Etruscans and Romans,
and afterwards to the German