I congratulate the Government! Where is the fellow ?" "In the great square," returned the garcon, eagerly.

"If the signor would walk round the corner he would see Carmelo, bound and fettered.
The saints have mercy upon him! The crowds there are thick as flies round a honeycomb! I must go thither myself--I would not miss the sight for a thousand francs!" And he ran off, as full of the anticipated delight of looking at a brigand as a child going to its first fair.

I put on my hat and strolled leisurely round to the scene of excitement.

It was a picturesque sight enough; the square was black with a sea of eager heads, and restless, gesticulating figures, and the center of this swaying, muttering crowd was occupied by a compact band of mounted gendarmes with drawn swords flashing in the pale evening light--both horses and men nearly as motionless as though cast in bronze.

They were stationed opposite the head-quarters of the Carabinieri, where the chief officer of the party had dismounted to make his formal report respecting the details of the capture before proceeding further.
Between these armed and watchful guards, with his legs strapped to a sturdy mule, his arms tied fast behind him, and his hands heavily manacled, was the notorious Neri, as dark and fierce as a mountain thunder-storm.