Brigands Draw Lots for Rita’s Custody
The savage deed was understood by all, though no other bandit might have done the same. Carlini rose with his hand on a pistol butt, approaching the corpse and asking if anyone disputed possession of the woman with him. Cucumetto answered that she was his, and Carlini carried her out of the firelight. That night, Rita’s father arrived at midnight with the three hundred piastres ransom, and Cucumetto led him through the moonlit trees to where Carlini sat with Rita’s body.
Burial of Rita and Her Father’s Suicide
The old man recognized his dead daughter. Carlini explained that Cucumetto had violated Rita, and he had slain her to spare her the bandits’ brutality. He offered the father the knife to avenge her, but the old man, in a hoarse voice, said “Thou hast done well!” and embraced him—these were the first tears the man of blood had ever wept. Father and lover dug a grave at the foot of a great oak, said prayers over Rita, and filled the earth. The old man then dismissed Carlini. The next day, Carlini found the father suspended from a branch of the same oak that shaded his daughter’s grave, and he swore an oath of bitter vengeance.
Cucumetto’s Ambush Killing of Carlini
Carlini was unable to fulfill his oath, for two days later he was killed in an encounter with Roman carbineers. There was surprise that, though facing the enemy, he had received a ball between the shoulders. The mystery was solved when a brigand noted that Cucumetto had been stationed ten paces behind Carlini when he fell. The chief had followed Carlini in the darkness that morning, heard his oath of vengeance, and—like a wise man—anticipated it.
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