And here are the _carabinieri's_ big hats again, and the policemen.

In vain the six protest, shouting themselves hoarse; the yells of "Down with him!" and "Death to him!" drown their voices.

A _delegato_ orders the bugler to sound the "disperse." At the third blast there is a general stampede.

The deputation, led by the tobacconist, flees also; but each member manages to drag after him in his flight one or other of the less violent citizens, promising further information, impossible to give in the open street, when they shall have reached a fitting place.

They take refuge in a yard, where building material is stored, and which is surrounded by a wooden fence.