Page:In Maremma, by Ouida (vol 3).djvu/71

 'Oh, my dear, my wife was amongst them; if you had come quietly to us instead of dashing that pitcher down and wasting all that fair money'

'Oh, you would have loved me as long as the money had lasted,' said Musa with a curt sarcasm. 'So would any one of them; you are not alone there.'

'But you have got money now?' he said with an envious glance at the flasks she carried.

'These are not for myself,' she answered. 'And how goes on the smuggling? Has the coastguard never yet found out that closet of yours behind the olive-wood Pietà?'

'Oh now, my sweet child, be quiet!' began the old man trembling. 'There are guards and soldiers all about, and never did I do you any harm, but lent you my boat and gave you pretty shells, and would have welcomed you always.'

'You are safe with me, Andreino, and your secrets too,' she said with a little laugh as she bade him good-morrow and went down towards the quay. He would let her alone, she thought, now that he knew she could bite.