But who would dare ride them at night adown this precipice ?" "I dare for one," answered the young man steadily, "and so shall you all dare.

A broken neck is the worst that can befall us, and I would as lief break mine on the rocks of Sant' Angelo as have it broken by the executioner of Babbiano." "Bravely said, by the Virgin!" roared Ferrabraccio.

"To horse, sirs!" "But the only way is the way by which they come," Fanfulla remonstrated.
"The rest is sheer cliff." "Why, then, my sweet seducer, we'll go to meet them," rejoined Ferrabraccio gaily.

"They are on foot, and we'll sweep over them like a mountain torrent.

Come, sirs, hasten! They draw nigh." "We have but six horses, and we are seven," another objected.
"I have no horse," said Francesco, "I'll follow you afoot." "What ?" cried Ferrabraccio, who seemed now to have assumed command of the enterprise.