ke the
pillars of a church that Silvestro ventured to remark as much to her
neighbour--a broad-faced, thick fellow, not quite her own height, but
twice as big in the girth. His mouth was large, his eyes were small and
rather hot. He blinked a good deal, was very sulky, and met her advances
with a grunt. "Chi lo sa?" was as far as he would go along with her in
the matter of tree-trunks.

It was annoying. Every one had seemed friendly at first. But being free,
she could not feel daunted long; and at the second bend of the road the
hills sailed into full vision--the solemn hills in a long line of peak
and hollow, velvety, dark, and brooding sleep, like a bank of cloud
edging the pale sky. The frogs were singing vespers in the ditches, the
sharp chorus of the cicalas shrilled on all sides. At the sight of this
enormous calm Silvestro forgot rebuffs. For a murderer he was in a very
cheerful humour; he began to sing; soon he had all the boys (except that
blinker) rapt to attention. Andrea slewed round his bag and pipes and
began upon a winding air; they all sang, going at a trot. The goats
pricked up their ears; they too began to amble; it became a stampede.
The sun went down behind Monte Venda, the bats came flickering out, the
great droning cockchafers dropped on the road like splashes of rain. The
night found them still far from Abano, but still talking and nearly all
friends. Silvestro was hand in hand with Petruccio and another boy,
called Mastino because he was heavy-jowled and underhung. Their tongues
wagged against each other about nothing at all. Silvestro strengthened
his position by hints and shrewd winks, but it was decided that the Jew
should be kept for the night fire. That was too choice a morsel to be
eaten on the road; that must be rolled on the palate, to get the
flavours. It was a pity, certainly, about the pig-eyed boy, who snorted
whenever the exploit was mentioned--but "Never mind him," thought
Silvestro; "I have all the others."

They passed through Abano; Monte Ortone was ahead, a spur of the great
body of the hills.

"There's the hermit's candle," said Petruccio. A twinkling light showed
deep in the trees. "There was a most excellent miracle there--the
Blessed Virgin in a tree. Two girls saw her and thought she was a kite
entangled. But they fetched a priest from Abano, and he knew better. So
then they built an oracle or some such place, and paid a hermit to pray
there. And now, whoever has ague, o