The cold rain in her face gave her back her courage, and she felt her way around the cliff and up between the crevices of the two rocks, until she was on the roof of the cave.  It was flat and the ground seemed to stretch out level for quite a distance before her.  She listened for a moment, but the rain beating down made it impossible for her to distinguish any other sound.

She lay down flat on the wet ground, and crawled forward for a few feet, then listened again.  At first she heard only the rain and the wind, but after a little wait there was a muffled bang as if a bomb had exploded deep down in the earth, and the ground beneath her trembled.

Lucia sprang to her feet and ran terrified back to the cave.  It was fortunate that she was as sure-footed as her goats, for the way was steep and slippery, and she did not pause to take care.

Over in the cave, with her hand on Beppi’s curly head, she sat down to think.  Her mind was not capable of arriving at any logical explanation.  Two thoughts stood out clearly and beyond doubt.  First, the enemy was doing something of which the Italians were unaware, and second, the Italians must be warned before it was too late.  That she must warn them she realized at once, but the way was not easy to determine.

The mountains were tricky.  From one side they might look deserted, and yet a whole army could be in hiding just over the other side.  The giant peaks formed formidable and wellnigh impassable barriers between one range and the next.  Lucia had seen the troops disappear that morning, as if the great rocks had opened and devoured them, and she knew that at this moment they might be within a half a mile of her, but where to begin to find them she did not know.

The close proximity of the Austrians frightened her, and she was afraid to go off at random, or even to call.  Throughout the night she tried to think and plan as she sat up with her back against the rock listening for the rat, tat, tat, which began again after she returned to the cave, and continued at regular intervals.

Before dawn the rain stopped and the wind blew the clouds away.  At the first streak of light Lucia stole softly away from the sleeping Beppi and Garibaldi, and crept down the tiny path to the plateau below.  Once there she was on familiar ground and even in the pale light she could tell her way.

During the night she had decided to go to the rock where she took her milk in the morning, surely the mysterious hand that left the pennies for her would be there, and she was determined, to wait for him.

She reached the spot without encountering any difficulties, and sat down to wait.  The sun rose east of Cellino, and she watched it as it climbed over the hill and lighted the windows of the church with its yellow low rays.

All the world looked as if it had just been bathed and freshly clothed to step out glistening and very clean to greet the day.  The air was chilly, but so fresh and sweet that Lucia took long grateful breaths of it.  She was just wondering how long she would have to wait, when a stone rolled down beside her and hit her foot.  She jumped and turned around.  A soldier with a broad smile that showed all his fine white teeth was climbing down towards her.