world looked as if it had just been bathed and freshly clothed
to step out glistening and very clean to greet the day. The air was
chilly, but so fresh and sweet that Lucia took long grateful breaths of
it. She was just wondering how long she would have to wait, when a
stone rolled down beside her and hit her foot. She jumped and turned
around. A soldier with a broad smile that showed all his fine white
teeth was climbing down towards her.

Lucia put her fingers to her lip to caution silence, and his smile
changed to a look of sudden anxiety.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Don't make any noise," Lucia warned. "Listen to me."

She told him all that she had discovered during the night.

"Are you sure of what you say?" the soldier questioned her seriously.

"Oh, yes, sir, I tell you I crawled out and listened. The sound was
very near."

"Can you show me the place?"

"Yes, yes, I have just come from there, but it is a slippery climb."
Lucia looked at him interrogatively.

The man nodded. "Never mind that, lead the way."

Lucia did not hesitate, but hurried back along the rocks, choosing the
safest footholds and sometimes leaving her companion far behind.

When she reached the little grassy plateau, she stopped and pointed.
"It is above here, sir."

She started to ascend, and the soldier followed in silence. When they
reached the cave she pointed to the back wall and said: "Listen there."

The soldier was so tall that he had to stoop down before he could
enter, but he was very careful to be quiet and not disturb the still
sleeping Beppi.

He put his ear to the wall and Lucia watched him excitedly. By the
expression of his face she knew he was hearing the "rat, tat, tat."

"Can you show me the place where you thought you heard the explosion?"
he whispered.

Lucia nodded and beckoned to him to follow. In her eagerness she
forgot that he could not climb as nimbly as she could, and she was on
the roof of the cave before he had started to ascend.

It was fortunate that she was, for not ten feet ahead of her, crawling
along the ground, his helmet shining in the sun, was a soldier in the
Austrian uniform.

CHAPTER V

IN THE TOOL SHED

At sight of her he jumped to his feet.

"Halt!" he commanded, unnecessarily, for Lucia was far too frightened
to move.

She was thinking of the soldier whose head would appear at any moment
over the ledge of rock behind, and her one wish was to stop him.