Page:In Maremma, by Ouida (vol 2).djvu/25

 'Pardon us,' said one, with hesitation. 'Is this Etruscan tomb your care in any way? We did not know. We sought for a sepulchre that is marked on ancient maps. A little boy, a little goatherd, brought us here. If we offend'

She turned very pale.

'A goatherd! Zirlo?'

'How should I know his name?' said the stranger. 'A little long-haired, barelegged fellow. I am grieved if you are distressed, but how were we to know?'

'Zirlo! Zirlo!' she said again, with a bitter wondering sadness in the words that touched her listeners, though they could not understand its cause, and thought she was but jealous of the custody of the tombs and of the silver scudi.

'If,' began one of them, holding out a French gold piece; but his very breath was caught and stopped by the girl's imperious gesture.

'Get you gone or I shall hurt you!' she said, as she motioned to the stairs. 'This is my house, my home, my temple, my grave, my all! The boy betrayed me. He is vile. Get you gone!'

'She is mad,' they murmured one to