Nepenthean, when duly roused, confesses to an expert knowledge of
anatomy; he can tell you, to the fraction of an inch, where the liver,
the spleen, kidneys and various other coy organs of the human frame are
located. Blood, the blood of the Sacred Sixty-three, began to flow. At
that sight the women, as their manner is, set up a scream.

The Palace of Justice abutted on the market-place, and up to that
moment His Worship Signor Malipizzo might have been lost to the world,
so deeply immersed was he in threading the labyrinthine mazes of an
exceptionally intricate affiliation case--a warm document, after his own
heart. The sound of the scream suspended his labours. Like a gouty
parrot he hopped down from his seat of judgment, spat on the floor,
limped to the window and took in the situation at a glance. That is to
say, he understood the cause of the disturbance as little as did any
one else; it would have required a divine inspiration to guess that a
box of wax vestas was at the bottom of the affair; but he knew enough,
quite enough, more than enough, for the purpose at hand. He knew, to
begin with, that Apostles were involved in the brawl. He knew, what was
equally important, the provisions of the Penal Code. It sufficed. His
chance for dealing with the Russian colony had at last arrived.
Allowing himself barely time to smack his lips at this providential
interlude he gave orders for the great cannon of Duke Alfred to be
sounded. It boomed once or twice over Nepenthe and reverberated among
the rocks.

In times of yore a certain interval was wont to elapse before the
Militia could be assembled, living as they did in distant regions of
the island. But nowadays, as befitted a laborious rural population,
they were spending their morning in the wine-shops of the town,
gambling, drinking, or playing skittles. This enabled a sufficient