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 at the foot of the Salto. The Salto is a very bad little cliff—it is little but wicked, and foreigners should not use that path."

"Liana!" Rennie exclaimed. "Was he badly hurt?"

"Yes, badly. His mother was sent for and she came with the priest, the carabinieri and the doctor from Raona, four hours ago. She has gone ahead in her automobile and they are taking him to the hospital in the cart because he must be kept lying down. Don Arturo talked to the carabinieri and to the doctor; I heard him myself, through a window. He told them he was walking to a meeting at Castrogirone last night, all alone. Ah! I think he should have been more careful! He said he met some men on the path, but in the darkness he could not tell who they were; he said perhaps they had too much wine. Don Arturo is a brave fellow; I willingly say as much as that for him. He is a foreigner from the North; but he understands the customs of our country and of course he would not tell the carabinieri who pushed him off the path."

"So!" Rennie said. "Who did push him off the path, Luigi?"

Luigi opened his eyes until they showed an extreme amount of white below and above their topaz