h, which, at the distance of
a hundred paces, led them over a declivity to the bottom of a small
valley. They then perceived two men conversing in the obscurity. "Ought
we to go on?" asked Franz of the count; "or shall we wait awhile?"

"Let us go on; Peppino will have warned the sentry of our coming." One
of the two men was Peppino, and the other a bandit on the lookout. Franz
and the count advanced, and the bandit saluted them. "Your excellency,"
said Peppino, addressing the count, "if you will follow me, the opening
of the catacombs is close at hand."

"Go on, then," replied the count. They came to an opening behind a clump
of bushes and in the midst of a pile of rocks, by which a man could
scarcely pass. Peppino glided first into this crevice; after they got
along a few paces the passage widened. Peppino passed, lighted his
torch, and turned to see if they came after him. The count first reached
an open space and Franz followed him closely. The passageway sloped in
a gentle descent, enlarging as they proceeded; still Franz and the count
were compelled to advance in a stooping posture, and were scarcely able
to proceed abreast of one another. They went on a hundred and fifty
paces in this way, and then were stopped by, "Who comes there?" At the
same time they saw the reflection of a torch on a carbine barrel.

"A friend!" responded Peppino; and, advancing alone towards the sentry,
he said a few words to him in a low tone; and then he, like the first,
saluted the nocturnal visitors, making a sign that they might proceed.

Behind the sentinel was a staircase with twenty steps. Franz and the
count descended these, and found themselves in a mortuary chamber. Five
corridors diverged like the rays of a star, and the walls, dug into
niches, which were arranged one above the other in the shape of
coffins, showed that they were at last in the catacombs. Down one of the
corridors, whose extent it was impossible to determine, rays of light
were visible. The count laid his hand on Franz's shoulder. "Would you
like to see a camp of bandits in repose?" he inquired.

"Exceedingly," replied Franz.

"Come with me, then. Peppino, put out the torch." Peppino obeyed, and
Franz and the count were in utter darkness, except that fifty paces in
advance of them a reddish glare, more evident since Peppino had put out
his torch, was visible along the wall. They advanced silently, the count
guiding Franz as if he had the singular faculty o