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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: thou canst knock down as easy as yon poor dabbler in the art, Pietrino?" " Which of you ? " cried Abellino ; " all of you together. and half a dozen more such pitiful scoundrels !" And he sprang from lu's seat, threw his sword on the table, and measured the strength of his antagonists with his single eye. The banditti burst into a loud fit of laughter. " Now then," cried Abellino, fiercely; " now then for die trial! Why come you not on ? " " Fellow," replied Matteo, " take my advice; try first, what you ean do with me alone, and learn what sort of men you have to manage. Think you, we are marrowless boys, or delicate signors ? " Abellino answered him by a scornful laugh. Matteo became furious: his companions shouted aloud, and clapped their hands. ' To business !" said Abellino; " I'm now in a right humour for sport! Look to yourselves, my lads!" And in the same instant he collected his forces together, threw the gigantic Matteo over his head as if he had been an infant, knocked Struzza down on the right hand, and Pietrino on the left, tumbled Thomaso to the end of the room head over heels, and stretched Baluzzo without animation upon the neighbouring benches. Three minutes elapsed, ere the subdued bravos could recover themselves; loud shouted Abellino, while the astonished Cinthia gazed and trembled at the terrible exhibition. " By the blood of St. Januarius," cried Matteo at length, rubbing his battered joints, " the fellow is our master. Cinthia, take care to give him our best chamber." " He must have made a compact with the devil!" grumbled Thomaso, and forced his dislocated wrist back into its socket. No one seemed inclined to hazard a second trial of strength. The night was far advanced, or rather the grey of morning already was visible over ...
