But, to
save time, I am willing to submit to your official requirements. I will
pay you well for the rescue of my friend."
"All shall be done that is possible."
"But if you do not find him at once, and return him to us unharmed, I
will have a regiment of soldiers in Taormina to search your mountains
and break up the bands of brigands that infest them. When I prove that
brigands are here and that you were not aware of them, you will be
disgraced and deposed from your office."
The official shrugged his shoulders, a gesture in which the Sicilian is
as expert as the Frenchman.
"I will welcome the soldiery," said he; "but you will be able to prove
nothing. The offer of a reward may accomplish more--if it is great
enough to be interesting."
"How great is that?"
"Can I value your friend? You must name the reward yourself. But even
then I can promise nothing. In the course of our duty every effort is
now being made to find the missing American. But we work in the dark, as
you know. Your friend may be a suicide; he may have lost his mind and
wandered into the wilderness; he may have committed some crime and
absconded. How do I know? You say he is missing, but that is no reason
the brigands have him, even did brigands exist, which I doubt. Rest
assured, signore, that rigid search will be made. It is my boast that I
leave no duty unfulfilled.
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