He had known me from
boyhood, and hearing of my situation, came to me in secret, and made
such offers that I agreed to enlist myself among his followers. Indeed,
I had more than once thought of taking to this mode of life, having
known several brave fellows of the mountains, who used to spend their
money freely among us youngsters of the town. I accordingly left my
asylum late one night, repaired to the appointed place of meeting; took
the oaths prescribed, and became one of the troop. We were for some
time in a distant part of the mountains, and our wild adventurous kind
of life hit my fancy wonderfully, and diverted my thoughts. At length
they returned with all their violence to the recollection of Rosetta.
The solitude in which I often found myself gave me time to brood over
her image, and as I have kept watch at night over our sleeping camp in
the mountains, my feelings have been roused almost to a fever.
At length we shifted our ground, and determined to make a descent upon
the road between Terracina and Naples. In the course of our expedition,
we passed a day or two in the woody mountains which rise above
Frosinone. I cannot tell you how I felt when I looked down upon the
place, and distinguished the residence of Rosetta. I determined to have
an interview with her; but to what purpose? I could not expect that she
would quit her home, and accompany me in my hazardous life among the
mountains. She had been brought up too tenderly for that; and when I
looked upon the women who were associated with some of our troop, I
could not have borne the thoughts of her being their companion.
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