The flat ground ended abruptly, and they had to climb down jagged rocks.  Lucia thought that her chance of escape had come, but the Austrian never lessened his hold on her arm.

They had traveled this far without meeting any one.  The only signs of life had been the mysterious noise underground, and the click of Garibaldi’s sharp hoofs as they hit the stone.

When they reached a certain point the soldier stopped.  “If you make any noise,” he said roughly, “I will have to shoot you.”

Lucia opened her mouth to scream, but before the sound came she changed her mind.  A new and splendid idea had just come to her.  She stopped holding back and walked obediently beside her guard.  They did not go very far, before he told her to lie down and crawl, and before she realized where she was going, she was in a deep trench that ran along the base of the rock and was completely hidden from sight.

Garibaldi followed them, picking her way daintily, and stopping every now and then to let out a mournful “Naa!” The Austrian did not seem to hear her.  If he did, he paid no attention, but led Lucia hurriedly along the dark passage.

They had not gone far before a sentry stopped them.  Lucia’s guard said something to him that she could not understand.  The sentry disappeared, to return in a few minutes with another man.  From the respectful salutes that he received, Lucia decided he must be a very high officer.  More talk followed which she could not understand, and then her guard turned to her.

“Follow me,” he directed, and led her out of the passage across a stretch of open ground, and over to a shed.  Another soldier opened the door, and before Lucia quite got her breath, she heard the key turn in a lock and the thud, thud of the men’s boots as they marched away.

CHAPTER VI

GARIBALDI PERFORMS

The shed had been hastily put together, and served as a place for picks and shovels.  There were so many of them, in fact, that Lucia at first had difficulty in finding a place to stand, but by rearranging them she cleared a portion of the floor and sat down to think.

The shed was by no means airtight, for the boards had been nailed up so far apart that not only did the air and light enter between the cracks, but it was also possible for Lucia to see everything that was going on about her.

At first it looked as if the soldiers were just hurrying about aimlessly, but by watching them closely, especially the guard that had caught her, she saw that they were preparing to leave.

A bugle sounded from a dugout at the end of the passage, and all the soldiers in sight fell into marching order and waited at attention.  Then the officer who had ordered Lucia shut up in the tool-house, gave them some orders that she could not understand.

One soldier came over to the shed and unlocked the door.  He beckoned Lucia to step outside, and as the men filed past the door he handed each one a pick and shovel.  When they had all received them, and Lucia expected to return, the Captain spoke to her.  His Italian was so very bad she pretended not to understand.