The one still held the dagger in his hand, and was unquietly walking
back and forth near his companion, who had calmly thrown himself upon
the ground.
"You did wrong to hinder me, Beppo," he angrily said. "It would have
been best to have finished them at once. The occasion could not have
been more favorable--the solitary garden, the nightly stillness and
obscurity. Ah, one blow would have done the business!"
"Well, and what if the gentleman who sat near her had seized you before
the blow was struck? How then?" asked the other. "You are yet but a
novice and a bungler, friend Giuseppo. You yet lack discretion, the
tranquil glance, the sure hand! You always suffer yourself to become
excited, which is unartistic and even dangerous. We went out today only
to obtain information; we were only to discover and observe the signora,
and perhaps to watch for an opportunity. But to fall upon her in this
garden would have been the extreme of stupidity, for we had all
the servants and the hounds against us, and it is one of the first
principles of our profession to put others in danger, but never to incur
it themselves."
"Wherefore, then, have we come here?" cried Giuseppo, with vehemence.
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