Among the Brigands

by James De Mille

  CHAPTER IV.

  _Salerno and the sulky Driver.--Paestum and its Temples.--A greatSensation.--An unpleasant Predicament.--Is the Driver a Traitor?--Ishe in League with Bandits?--Arguments about the Situation, andwhat each thought about it._

  After a very pleasant drive through a country as beautiful as ithad been ever since they left Naples, the party reached Salerno,where they passed the night. Salerno is a lovely place, situatedat the extremity of a bay, like Naples, of which it may be calleda miniature. It is protected from the wind by the high hills thatencircle it, and its delicious climate makes it a great resort forinvalids. But formerly Salerno had a different character, and onefar more prominent in the eyes of the world. Salerno has a historyfull of events of the most varied and stirring character. Foughtfor by Greek, and Roman, and German, and Saracen, and Norman, itsstreets have witnessed the march of hundreds of warlike arrays,and it has known every extreme of good or evil fortune. Two thingsmake. Salerno full of interest to the traveller who loves the past.One is, its position as a seat of learning daring the middle ages.Here once arose the greatest school of medicine in, the world, thechairs of which were thrown open, to Jewish and Arabian professors,who at that time far outstripped the students of the Christianworld in scientific attainments. The other thing is, that here thegreat pope, Gregory VII., found refuge, after his long struggle,and, flying from Rome, obtained rest here among the friendly Normans,for it was in Salerno that he uttered those memorable dying wordsof his: "I have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity, andtherefore I die in exile."

  Here at Salerno they had a slight misunderstanding with theirdriver. He insisted on getting more pay. As they had already madea full contract with him, this demand seemed like an imposition,and was rejected by the whole of them. The driver grew furiouslyexcited, gesticulated vehemently, stamped, his feet, rolled hiseyes, struck his fists together, and uttered language which soundedlike Italian oaths, though they could not make it out. Uncle Mosesseemed a little appalled at his vehement, and was inclined toyield to his demands for the sake of peace; but the boys wouldnot listen to this for a moment. After watching the ragingItalian till they were tired, Frank at length started to hisfeet, and in a peremptory tone ordered him out of the room. TheItalian was so unprepared for this decisive conduct on the partof one who appeared to be but a boy, that he stopped short inthe midst of a most eloquent tirade against them, in which hewas threatening to denounce them to the authorities for sacrilege;and having stopped, he stared at Frank, and seemed unable to goon once more. Frank now repeated his orders, accompanying themwith a threat that he would call in the police. At this thedriver's brow lowered into a sullen scowl, and muttering someexpressions of rage and vengeance, he left the room.

  The boys chatted a little about the mutiny of the driver, as theycalled it, but soon dismissed the thought from their minds.

  After passing the night at Salerno, they prepared, on the followingmorning, to continue their journey. Early in the day, the drivermade his appearance. He was quiet, and not communicative, and muchchanged from his former self. Frank addressed a few remarks tohim, but perceiving that he was sulky, he gave up all attempts toappease his wrath. In fact, he began to think that it might, perhaps,have been as well to comply with his request, for the request formore money had been based upon his recent rescue of them from thehands of the mob at Sorrento. Had the driver made his request alittle more meekly, and not presented it with such an assertion ofright, there is no doubt that they would have cheerfully given whathe asked. But his tone excited their resentment; and afterwards,when the driver chose to lose his temper and scold them, they weremore determined than ever to refuse. Had he appeared at this timewith his former good-natured expression, and had he shown any signsof compunction for his insolent behavior, there is no doubt thatthey would have brought up the subject of their own accord, andpromised him as handsome a sum as his exploit deserved. But hiscontinued sulks prevented them from introducing the subject, andso they concluded to defer it to some other time, when he might berestored to himself.

  They now drove along the road en route for Paestum. At first theydrove along the sea-shore, but after a few miles the road turnedoff into the country. All around them were fields, which werecovered with flocks and herds, while in the distance were hillsthat were clothed with vineyards and olive groves, that adornedtheir sloping declivities with mantles of dark green and light. Inthe country, on either side, they also saw some indications ofItalian life, which excited strong feelings of repugnance withinthem; for here and there, in many places, women were toiling inthe fields just as the men, with heavy hoes, or with ploughs, orwith harrows. In some places it was even worse, for they saw womenlaboring in the fields, while the men lolled on the fences, or satsmoking under the shade of some tree. The implements of labor usedexcited their surprise. The hoes were as ponderous, as clumsy, andas heavy as pickaxes; the ploughs were miserably awkward things--astraight pole with a straight wooden share, which was sometimes,though by no means always, pointed with iron. These ploughs wereworked in various ways, being sometimes pulled by donkeys, sometimesby oxen, and on one memorable occasion a donkey and a woman pulledthe plough, while a man, who may have been the woman's husband,guided it through the furrow.

  The road was a good one, and was at first well travelled. They metsoldiers, and priests, and peasants. They met droves of oxen, andwine carts, and large herds of those peculiar hairless pigs whichare common to this country. As they drove on farther, the traveldiminished, and at length the country seemed more lonely. It wasstill fertile, and covered with luxuriant vegetation on every side;but the signs of human habitation decreased, until at length theyceased. The reason of this lies in the unhealthy character of thecountry, which, like many places in Italy, is subject to malaria,and is shunned by the people. This is the nature of the countrywhich lies around ancient Paestum; and though the fields arecultivated, yet the cultivators live at a distance upon the slopesof the mountains.

  At about midday they arrived at Paestum. Here they descended fromthe carriage, and giving instruction to the driver to remain atthis place until they should return, they started off to explorethe ruined city. It had been their intention to make use of thedriver as guide, to show them the objects of interest in the town;but his long-continued sulks drove this from their minds, and theyconcluded to trust to themselves and their guide-books. The carriagewas drawn up on the side of the road, not far from where therestood an archway, still entire, which once formed one of the gatesof Paestum.

  Towards this they directed their steps. The gateway was formed oflarge blocks of stone laid upon each other without cement, and bytheir great size they had resisted the ravages of time. On eitherside of this could be seen the foundation stones of the city walls,which have fallen or have been removed in the course of ages. Butthe circuit of the walls can be traced by the fragments that yetremain, and from this circuit the size of the city may be judged.Beyond the gates and in the enclosure of the walls are some majesticand world-famed ruins, some of which are little else than massesof rubbish, while others are so well preserved, that they mightnow be used for the purpose to which they were originally devoted.There are the remains of a theatre and of an amphitheatre, which,however, are confused heaps, and some public edifices in the samecondition. The foundations of some private houses may also beseen. But the most noted and most interesting of the remains ofPaestum are its two Temples and Basilica--edifices whose originreaches back to the depths of an immemorial antiquity, but whichstill remain in a state of preservation so perfect as to be almostincredible. For these edifices are as old, at least, as Homer, andwere probably in existence before his day. Phoenician sailors ormerchants may have set eyes on these temples, who also saw theTemple of Solomon at its completion. They existed in the age ofthe Pharaohs, and rival in antiquity, in massive grandeur, and inperfect preservation, the Pyramids of Egypt. In the age of imperialRome, and even of republican Rome, these temples were ancient, andthe Emperor Augustus visited them, and reg
arded them as remains ofvenerable antiquity.

  Of these three edifices, the most majestic, and probably the mostancient, is the one which is called the Temple of Neptune. Thestone of which it is built, is found in the neighborhood still,and presents a most singular appearance. At a distance it appearsvery rough and full of holes, like cork. A closer examination showsthat it is really composed of innumerable fragments of wood,compressed together in a vast, solid mass, and petrified. Thestone is exceedingly hard and durable. The blocks of this stoneout of which this temple, and the others also, are built, are ofsuch enormous size, that they can only be compared to those immensemasses that were heaped up to form the Pyramids of Egypt and theTemples of Karnak. Piled up here upon one another without cement,they have defied the ravages of time.

  The Temple of Neptune is approached by three immense steps, whichextend around every side of it. It is about two hundred feet inlength, and eighty in breadth, while on every side there is a rowof enormous columns of the Doric order, thirty-six in number. Theyare all fluted, and have an aspect of severe and massive grandeurthat is unequalled in any other temple. Above these columns risean enormous Doric frieze and cornice, the height of which is equalto half the height of the columns; and these proportions give suchvastness to the mass above, that it heightens the sublime effect.The columns, which extend round the Temple, are thirty feet high,and seven feet in diameter at the base. Inside, the pavement iswell preserved; and, though the altar is gone, yet the place whereit stood can easily be seen. There is no roof above, and probablynever was any; for many of the vast edifices of antiquity were opento the sky--a circumstance which made the task of the architectmuch easier, since it relieved him of the necessity of sustaininga vast weight in the air, and also of the equal difficulty oflighting the interiors of his buildings. From within the templeenclosures, as from within the theatres and amphitheatres, the bluesky could be seen overhead, while the too fervid rays of amidsummer sun, or the storms of winter, could be warded off fromthose within by means of an awning thrown over the open roof,and stretched on cables.

  Near the Temple of Neptune is another, which is called the Templeof Ceres. It is neither so large nor so grand as the former, butit possesses more elegance and beauty. It is about a hundred feetlong and fifty feet wide. Like its companion, it is surroundedon all sides by a colonnade, six pillars being in the front, sixin the rear, and twelve on either side. The altar here is gone,but its foundations remain. Various signs show a greater degreeof splendor in the interior adornment of this temple, especiallythe fact that the pavement was mosaic work. There is reason tosuppose that this temple was turned into a Christian church sometime in the fourth century. Such a transformation as this wascommon enough throughout the Roman empire during that greattriumph of Christianity which took place under Constantine, andafter him, so that in this, case there need be little room fordoubt as to the truth of the statement.

  Not far from this is the third of the great edifices of Paestum.It is about as large as the Temple of Neptune, being nearly twohundred feet long, and about eighty feet wide. Like the others, itis surrounded by a colonnade, but the architecture is less massivethan that of the first temple. Of these columns, nine are in front,nine in the rear, and sixteen are on either side, making fifty inall. In this edifice there are no signs whatever of an altar; andthis circumstance has led to the belief that it was not a templeat all, but a court of law. Accordingly, it is called the Basilica,which term was used by the Romans to indicate a place used forpublic trials. Inside, the pavement yet remains, and there are theremains of a row of columns which once passed along the middle ofthe building from front to rear, dividing it into two parts.

  Of all the three, the Temple of Neptune is the grandest, the bestpreserved, and the most famous. But the others are fit companions,and the giant forms of these mighty relics of hoary antiquity,unsurpassed by any other edifice, rise before the traveller, excitingwithin him emotions of reverential awe.

  The party visited all these various objects of interest, and atlength returned to the gate. They had spent about two hours intheir Purvey of Paestum, and had seen all that there was to beseen; and now nothing more remained but to return as soon aspossible, and spend that night at Salerno. They had seen nothingof the driver since they left him, and they accounted for this onthe ground that he was still maintaining himself in his giganticsulk, and brooding over his wrongs; and they thought that if hechose to make a fool of himself, they would allow him to do so aslong as it was agreeable to him.

  With these thoughts they approached the gateway. As they drewnear, they were surprised to find that there were no signs of thecarriage. The view was open and unobstructed. Here and there moundsor fragments of stone arose in the place where once had been thewall of the city of Paestum, and before them was the simple archof the massive gateway, but no carriage or horses were visible.

  This excited their surprise, and also their alarm. They rememberedthat the sullen mood of the driver made him quite capable of playingoff some malicious trick upon them, and they recalled, also, histhreats of the evening before. Could he have chosen this way to puthis threats into execution? It seemed, indeed, very much like it.

  Still, there was one hope left. It was just possible that the carriagehad been drawn up more under the arch, so that it was hidden fromview. As this was the last hope that was left them, they hurriedforth to put an end to their suspense as soon as possible. Nearerand nearer they came.

  At last they reached the arch.

  They rushed through it, and beyond it.

  There was nothing there!

  No carriage! No horses! No driver!

  At this they all stopped, and stared at one another in silentconsternation.

  "He's gone," cried Clive. "He's left us here--to get back the bestway we can."

  "He swore last night," said David, "that he'd pay us up; and thisis the way he's done it."

  "Yes," said Bob; "he's been sulky all day. He's been concoctingsome plan."

  "I don't see what good it'll do him," said Frank.

  "He'll lose his fare. We won't pay him."

  "O. he'll give up that for the pleasure of revenge," said Clive.

  "Wal, wal, wal," cried Uncle Moses, looking all around with a faceof dark and doleful perplexity. "This here doos beat all I everseen in all my life. An now, what upon airth we can do--I'm sureI can't tell."

  "Whatever we do," said Frank, "it won't do to wait here. It's toolate now."

  "Perhaps he hasn't run off at all," said David, who always wasinclined to believe the best of people. "Perhaps he has driven upthe road, and intends to return."

  Frank shook his head.

  "No," cried he. "I believe the scoundrel has left us. We paid himhalf of his fare at Sorrento; the rest was to be paid at Naples;but he has thrown that up, in order to have the pleasure of beingrevenged on us. And where he's gone to now is a mystery to me."

  "O, I dare say he's driven off to Naples."

  "Perhaps so. But he may intend something more. I've heard thatthere are brigands about here."

  "Brigands!"

  "Yes. And I shouldn't wonder if he has gone off with the intentionof bringing some of them here to pay their respects to us. He mayhave started off immediately after we left him; and, if so, he'shad two hours already--time enough, as I think, to do a good dealof mischief."

  "Brigands!" cried Uncle Moses, in a voice of horror. He staredwildly around, and then looked, with moistened eyes, upon the boys.

  "O, boys," he sighed, "why did we ever ventoor out so far in thishere I-talian land, or why did we ever come to Italy at all?Brigands! It's what I've allus dreaded, an allus expected, eversence I fust sot foot on this benighted strand. I ben a feelin itin my bones all day. I felt it a comin over me yesterday, when themob chased us; but now--our hour hev come!"

  "Nonsense, Uncle Moses!" cried Frank, in a hearty, joyous voice."What's the use of giving up in that fashion? Cheer up. We'll beall right yet."