anavello, that I
feel it better to let my account of La Torre rest here, and proceed to
narrate my visit to Rora, the residence of that patriotic soldier and pious
chieftain.

CHAPTER IX.

RORA AND JANAVELLO.

In order to reach this spot, my companion and I left the town of La Torre
by a street bounded on one side by Trinity College. We then crossed the
Pelice by a somewhat rustic bridge, and found ourselves very quickly
immersed in woods on the mountain side with numberless bye-paths. These
paths were very circuitous, and we had occasion often to ask our way from
some friendly woodman or inhabitant of a wayside chalet. Every now and then
we came to a kind of table-land, where we could indulge in a panoramic
survey. The steepness of the ascent, and the occasional ruggedness of our
path, served to intensify our realization of the interest of the locality,
as the scene of so many heroic deeds by Janavello and his little but brave
band of patriots against the assailants of their hearths, faith, and homes.
About an hour and a half from the time we had left La Torre we came to the
Plas Janavel, which constitutes a magnificent amphitheatre, planted with
vines, and corn, and chestnut trees. From this locality we bore away in a
south-westerly direction, over a rocky eminence crowned with wood, and
descended through gardens and orchards to a kind of ravine or narrow
valley, on the sloping side of which stands Janavello's house. We found an
old, but obliging, Roman Catholic in possession of the premises, once so
bravely defended by their patriotic owner. However, overwhelmed by numbers,
he was compelled to retreat after performing prodigies of valour, his
sister, with babe at her breast, being shot by his side. We were shown the
entrance to the subterranean outlet by which Janavello made his escape. The
initials G. G., with the date of the year, we also read, cut in the stone
above.

So soon, however, as Janavello had placed his little son, only eight years
of age, in the care of friends in Dauphiny, he returned to his native
valleys, and became the David of his people against the bands of
Philistines who were yet in the land. The skill and bravery already
displayed by Janavello in so successfully resisting the troops of Pianezza,
led the latter at first to attempt to win over the patriot warrior by
offering him a pardon for himself and the safe return of his wife and three