was naturally excited as to what these three men the secret; and so, after a little thrusting and parrying on both sides, the doctor wisely gave it up, resolving to bide his time, but being quite determined to find the trick out; for trick there evidently was, and a clever one too. Supper was barely ended when the doctor was again called up-stairs, and in a short time had the pleasure of announcing to Sims the happy arrival of another'olive branch'-the eighth-to grace and strengthen the family tree. Nor was he suffered to depart until the auspicious event had been celebrated in sundry bumpers of French brandy. Two days after this, the doctor was again in attendance on his patient; but before going into the house, he closely and carefully examined the walls of the mysterious scullery outside; but found nothing but plain hard brick, with not the slightest mark or sign of an aperture of any sort; and the iron bar at the window was firm and rigid. After seeing his patient, he returned to the parlour to lunch. The door of the scullery was wide open, and the sun was shining brightly in. The doctor took another and still more careful survey, this time by broad daylight, but found nothing at all to elucidate the mystery. Every thing was exactly as he had left it. 'Une countable,' muttered the doctor, wholly, entirely unaccountable!' Having despatched his lunch, the doctor was leaning back in his chair, his thoughts occupie entirely with this veritable mysterious chamber, and his eyes fixed upon the old tool-chest, which was in full view through the open door. In the profound silence which reigned around, the doctor thought he heard a slight noise, apparently proceeding from the chest. A thought suddenly struck him; he stepped lightly from his chair and stood aside, but keeping his eye on the chest. What was his astonishment to see the lid very slowly rising, and presently the broad, goodnatured, red face of Sims appear on the edge, After he had paid his visit, he again returned to his comfortable chair, and found a well-gradually followed by the rest of that worthy's appointed supper ready laid. In a few minutes the scullery door quietly opened, and, to the great astonishment of the doctor, Sims entered from within, all smiles and bonhomie, begging the doctor at once to be seated and partake of supper. He made anxious inquiries about his wife, to which the doctor was able to return reassuring answers. Some desultory talk followed, after which the doctor, taking advantage of a brief pause, said bluntly: 'Oh, I say, Sims, where did you and your two men get to when you went into the scullery this evening? You all disappeared in some marvellous sort of way; but as there is neither chimney, nor window, nor second door, I can't conceive how you all managed it.' 'Oh, well, sir,' replied Sims, a broad grin on his good-tempered face, 'you saw us all go in, and you saw me come out. The other two came out whilst you were up-stairs. What more would you have?" 'Ay, ay,' said the doctor; 'that's all very well. But where were you all between whiles? Not a soul was in the place, for I looked it all round carefully.' The doctor perceived by his evasive replies that Sims evidently did not wish to tell portly person! Sims stepped out on to the floor, closed the lid, and turning round, was somewhat disconcerted to see the doctor standing full grin in the doorway. So I have unearthed the badger, have I?' sabl he, extending his hand to Sims, which the other grasped warmly. 'Ay, ay, doctor,' replied Sims; 'I'm done this time, sure-ly. But I know I have nothing to fear from you, sir.' The doctor assured him that his secret was perfectly safe with him and always would be; when he was agreeably surprised by Sims proposing that, as he had found out part of the secret, he might as well know all, and therefore asked him if he would like to see what he pleasantly called the warehouse.' The doctor readily assenting, Sims closed and bolted the scullery door inside; and then raising the lid of the old chest, pressed in what in appearance was simply one of the six screws which secured one of the hinges, by which a catch beneath the bottom of the chest was released. The bottom was then lifted, and below appeared a square trap-door with an iron ring. Pulling this up, a ladder was seen secured upright to the side of the shaft, which the doctor at once perceived had been originally a well. The doctor was directed to descend, followed by Sims, who carefully closed the lid of the chest, then the false bottom, and lastly the trap-door, securing the last by a bolt. After descending many feet, the doctor found himself on firm ground; and Sims, feeling about, drew from a recess some candles and a tinder-box-there were no lucifers in 1810 and having lighted two of the candles, handed one to the doctor; and taking the other himself, led the way through a low narrow passage about five or six feet long, till it opened into a chamber twelve feet square and about seven or eight feet high. In this chamber were carefully stowed a number of 'tubs' of French brandy small bales containing French cambrics, laces, silks, and such like; baskets holding so many bottles of pure Schiedam, and a variety of other things of foreign make which would always command a ready sale in the smugglers' market. The place felt dry and warm, ventilation being carried on through a pipe passing upwards to the roof of the house above, and having the appearance outside, of an ordinary rain-water pipe. " ing through a serious scrape, or devised means to carry out some difficult or hazardous job. Sims then went on to relate how Smith had called his attention to a dry well in the yard close behind the house, which was covered over, but not filled up. Smith had carefully examined it, and found it dry, clean, well built, and about twenty feet deep. He immediately proposed-for his intelligence saw a good opportunity-to construct a chamber at the bottom of this well as a secret warehouse' for smuggled goods, using the well as a shaft for entry and exit; first, however, suggesting the erection of a supposed scullery against the back of the house, so as to cover the well and conceal their operations. Accordingly, with the help of two trusty friends, the work was at last completed, but only after a vast amount of toil and labour day and night, which was necessarily increased by the difficulty of keeping their proceedings quiet. An upright ladder was fixed against the side of the well, and a square hinged trap-door covered the mouth of the shaft. But it at once became evident to Smith's quick perception that this trap-door, unless effectually and permanently concealed in some way or other, might lead to awkward discoveries. What was to be done? Here Smith's That's ingenuity again came to the rescue; he proposed under-to utilise a large old tool-chest that belonged to Sims, and carried out the brilliant idea entirely himself. The bottom was carefully hinged underneath, and shut to with a catch, which was released when pressed upon by a stout wire passing downwards through the side of the chest, and attached at its upper end to what appeared to be merely one of the hinge screws. The whole was so carefully and neatly executed as to defy the closest inspection. There," said Sims, that's our "warehouse," sir; and that's our present stock, which I expect we shall part with before the week is out.' Ay; but how do you manage that? just the trick of your trade I can't stand.' Oh, nothing easier, when you have all your arrangements made out. Up London-way there's a rich firm in Houndsditch who are always ready to pay cash down and a good price too, mind you for any foreign goods sent to them. All we've got to do is to see the goods safely into the hands of their agent at Bradston up yonder [meaning the market-town near]. Well, he counts up the goods and pays us the price down, After that, all further responsibility rests on Tommy Sutton, who' r Well,' said the doctor, when they emerged into daylight, I must confess the whole contrivance is most ingenious, and I congratulate you What exclained the doctor; 'Tommy Sutton, on having so clever an assistant.' did you say? Not the tax collector, surely?? 1 Ah! but that's just it,' said Sims, ruefully Sims nodded, with a broad grin. He collects scratching his head. Smith's gone, worse luck the revenue with one hand, and cleverly cheats-gone as mysteriously as he came. One night them, like winkin', with the other. Ah!' said Mr Sims, relapsing into a highly moral strain, I fear, sir, it's a wicked world! And turning to a recess in the wall, sought to relieve his troubled mind with the spirituous panacea so popular on all and every occasion in these parts. J about two years ago we had had a sharp brush with three pre-wentative men, one of whom suddenly recognised Smith, and called him by the name of Tom Walsh. But in the row and confusion, Tom Walsh alias John Smith disappeared, and has never been seen in these parts since. But,' continued Sims, I read in the paper The smuggler then, without the slightest hesi- some four months back, that a London man, about tation, in reply to the doctor's inquiries, proceeded thirty-five years old, calling himself James Collins, to relate that, on taking the farm some years but whose real name was said to be Thomas before, he had in his employment a wonderfully Walsh, was hanged at York for fraud and forgery, intelligent and clever fellow about twenty-eight and it was stated at the trial that he was implicated or thirty, who called himself John Smith. He in more than one burglary and murder. Now, had evidently been well and carefully educated. whether this was our clever ingenious friend Jack He wrote a fine hand with great facility, was Smith or not, of course I can't pretend to say; a good accountant, a fair draughtsman, and an but the name and the age agree exactly; and admirable mechanic. He played the violin too, it is clear that there was some mystery about and sang very well. But he never could by any him, which he took precious good care to keep chance be got to speak of his antecedents, where to himself. Then, after a pause, he added: he came from, or where his friends lived. Besides Ah! we missed his ready thought and handy certainly very singular in those cheerful ways very much. We shan't come across days he was a 'total abstainer, and never smoked. another like him in a hurry, I can tell you. He entered with hearty gusto into the smuggling Why, it was he who planned and carried out business, evidently appreciating that far more so cleverly Jemmy Bellamy's "warehouse;" and than farm-work; and many a time his quick a smart trick it is too, and one not likely to be intelligence and ready wit had succeeded in pull-discovered.' 10.1 this what was 'Jemmy Bellamy!' exclaimed the doctor; 'why, does he too carry on the old trade?' 'Does he? Why, we all do,' said Sims with a knowing wink. 'How do you suppose that old Phil Bodgkin managed to retire with thirty thousand pounds? You don't suppose all that was made out of farming, do you, though some fools pretend to believe it?' 'By-the-by, Jemmy Bellamy's a patient of mine just now for injured shoulder, which he got going to market last week; and so I' 'Going to market, ho, ho, ho! Landing some tubs, you mean, which he was doing, one pitchdark night, when he got that fall on the beach,' grinned Sims. 'When he goes to Bradston market, Tommy Sutton's his best customer.' 'Ah!' said the doctor, 'I see; that's the game, is it? Well, I'll certainly ask him to let me see his warehouse, as you have yours, the very next opportunity.' 'Yes,' replied Jemmy; 'entirely. He proposed it first, then planned it, and carried it out afterwards, doing all the mechanical and carpenter's work with his own hands. Ah! he was a clever chap, he was; too clever by half to live! You've heard, I suppose, of the manner of his death at York?' The doctor nodded; and Jemmy continued: "It was a sad end, anyhow, for so clever and pleasant a young fellow to come to. All along of bad company, I greatly fear,' added Mr James Bellamy, in a highly moral and deprecatory tone. As the doctor was evidently greatly interested in these very original warehouses,' Bellamy proposed to take him to another farm nearer the coast, belonging to a man named Straker, who had another mysterious chamber,' very cleverly contrived. The doctor and his colossal friend were most kindly welcomed by Straker, who readily consented to admit the doctor to his secret. Adjoining the stable was a long narrow harness-room, built up against a rough bank about sixteen or eighteen feet high. The farther end of this room was lined with deals, and running across it was a row of stout wooden pegs, whereon bridles, hats, coats, &c. were hung." Bolting the door-a wise precaution-Straker unscrewed the last peg, below which appeared a brass stud or button. Pressing this-just as in the other moved on a hinge like a door, disclosing a second one behind it, which led direct into a small chamber cut in the bank at the rear, filled nearly to the roof with goods all ready for removal to the smugglers' market in the usual way. Two days after this, the doctor was again at Sims' farm, where he found a pressing invitation from Jemmy Bellamy to go at once to his house, in the centre of the island. Now, this Bellamyor 'Big Jemmy' as he was always called-was quite a character in his way. He was of enormous bulk and stature, standing quite six feet six inches, and remarkable for his kindness of heart and unruffled good temper, which nothing ever seemed to put out-no, not even the incon-cases-a catch was released, and the deal lining venient and irregular curiosity of the 'pre-wentative man.' He possessed an immense visage, in which the colours of the setting-sun predominated; and his stupendous nose, shaded rich purple, stood out with artistic boldness from the blooming, highly-coloured field surrounding it. But his great point was his extraordinary capacity for imbibing all and any kind of strong drink, which was so utterly marvellous, that it was with difficulty the doctor-when professionally examining him-could be made to comprehend it. French brandy, or Dutch Schiedam, the commonest English gin, or the worst British rum, or whisky from Ireland or Scotland, were all the same to Jemmy; in the most incredible quantities they all went down his capacious maw like water, and produced almost as little effect; whilst as to common beer, he consumed it by the gallon. The doctor was warmly welcomed by Big Jemmy; and after his shoulder had been duly examined, he offered at once to show the doctor his 'warehouse,' as he understood he wished to see it. Accordingly, he led the way to the stable, and going to the stall farthest from the door, laid hold of what appeared to be a common ring-bolt for securing horses; and unscrewing this, the manger and the upright board beneath it were released, and swung outwards on hinges like a door, and disclosed a second door inside. On opening this, a flight of steps were seen just beyond; and these led straight down into a chamber about twelve feet square and seven or eight feet high; ventilation being cleverly contrived, as in the other case, by a pipe leading up the side of an outhouse above, to which it apparently belonged. The 'warehouse' was now empty, as its late contents had been recently cleared. 'All this was Smith's work too, I believe?' asked the doctor. On re-entering the stable, Straker showed the doctor two or three trusses of hay, and informed him that the interior of each had been removed and replaced by tin cases filled with cambric, laces, and such-like articles, which could be closely packed away. The doctor was also shown several pumpkins and large vegetable marrows which were carefully cultivated for the express purpose of being hollowed out, and receiving tin cases for the transport of smaller articles which could be stowed away inside; and even turnips were often employed in the same curious way; for such very ordinary commodities as these would, of course, easily pass unsuspected in a common market-cart going to market on the usual Saturdays. The doctor was a universal favourite wherever he went, and he soon became involuntarily the confidant of all the smugglers round about; but, to his honour be it recorded, he never divulged a single secret that had been confided to him; nor was he ever heard even to allude to the question of smuggling during his residence and practice; and it was not till nearly forty years afterwards, when he had retired from the profession and was residing in London, and when all those connected with the 'warehouses' were either dead or had left the neighbourhood, that he related the cases forming the subject of this paper. Many and curious were the smuggling anecdotes the doctor was in the habit of relating in his latter years, and of the wonderful ingenuity displayed in constructing these secret warehouses on the island, as those we have here referred to were by no means the only ones. Dec. 30, 1882.] Some, indeed, are said to remain unto this day; but as the entrances have been built up, their existence is wholly unknown to the present occupiers of the adjoining houses. SIX WEEKS IN SICILY. Now that war and its consequences have for the present rendered Egypt undesirable as a wintering-ground for those in search of health, or the larger and ever-increasing luxurious class who seek to avoid the cold and bad weather we experience for so many months in the year, there must be many invalids and friends of invalids casting about in their minds with anxious solicitude the query: 'Where shall we go?' If a few weeks of our pleasant experience in the spring of 1881 encourage any to try Sicily, we believe they will not regret following our steps. Anything more beautiful it is impossible to imagine than the entrance to the lovely Bay of Palermo, guarded on one side by the massive Monte Pellegrino, and on the other by Monte Navarino; while the city, bathed in perpetual sunshine, and laved by the calm waters of the Mediterranean, lies at the mouth of the rich and fertile plain, the Conca d'Oro (Shell of Gold); so named, we conclude, from the golden fruit which bulks so largely in the exports of Palermo, whose plain is simply a thicket of many square miles of orange and lemon gardens, stretching up to an encircling amphitheatre of hills, some of which tower to the height of five thousand feet -altogether completing a picture from which any artist might well have drawn as a subject for The Plains of Heaven. For invalids, Palermo is rapidly becoming a favourite winter resort, the temperature between night and day being subject to less variation there than in almost any other known place. favourable seasons yields a return of about seventy pounds sterling; nevertheless, oranges are freely bought at a penny a dozen-oranges which have had the misfortune of spoiling all our subsequent enjoyment of inrported fruit. The vegetation is altogether striking, the Botanical Gardens furnishing an avenue of date and other palms, with fine specimens of bamboo, cane, and other Eastern and Southern trees; while beautiful ornamental fountains and tanks foster an abundant bloom of lilies of the Nile, and a profusion of tresses of maidenhair and other delicate ferns. Some of the creeping plants are lovely beyond description. The exquisite Bougainvillea, with their brilliant blossom-like foliage, were literally masses of bloom and colour. Imagine, if you can, three or four feet in depth of solid bloom, of the richest softest mauve, or the brightest shade of coral, festooning an arch or balcony to the height of twenty or thirty feet! Our visit was in March and April. The private gardens of some of the more wealthy inhabitants are thrown open to strangers and visitors; and a great pleasure we had in visiting the grounds of the beautiful Belmonte, which climb the Pellegrino, where every now and then a rocky seat invites you to rest on your way to the little temple higher on the hill. Here the best view is to be obtained of the magnificent prospect at your feet; or you can gaze and wonder at the magnificent specimens of aloes and prickly-pear which in some places dot, in others clothe the rocky banks around you, every crevice of the rock being filled with the bright pink star of the Saponaria Calabrica, which also creeps down into the meadows beneath, shedding a rosy glowing haze on the feeding-ground of a flock of wild scrambling picturesque goats. What at home would have been carefully nurtured, petted, and coaxed as individual plants, are here treated as denizens of the shrubbery. Geraniums formed a hedge of four feet in width, and of equal height. It was very evident that a good understanding exists between Nature and the gardener, he not interfering with, but only humouring her in her sweet wilful ways. The city itself is beautifully clean. The hotels are comfortable and well managed, if a little expensive from twelve to twenty francs per day according to rooms chosen, or rather, we should say, according to arrangements made before allowing your luggage to be removed Before quitting the subject of vegetation, we from the cab. A note here may not be amiss must not forget to speak of the truly picturesque to travellers-namely, that we always found olive-trees which line some of the roads in the ourselves in a more independent and better outskirts of Palermo. We had been almost position for making a bargain when in a carriage ashamed to acknowledge to ourselves a feeling or cab, instead of the hotel omnibus, which meets of disappointment on our first introduction to you at the station, where, once entered, you are this classic tree. The silver-lined foliage, thin, apt to be considered bagged game. The best and wanting in mass and impressiveness-whathotels scout the word pension; but all are amen- ever great authorities like Mr Ruskin may say able to un arrangement, especially in the case-did not come up to our expectations and ideas. of a family, as we were-or to a stay of some days or weeks. Every one who knows what travelling in Italy means, still more in Sicily, knows how necessary this is, if you wish to avoid the unpleasant companionship of a fretted spirit, a heavy heart, and a light purse. The Ragusa family hold both the Trinacria and the Hôtel de Palmes. We, however, were recommended to the Hôtel de France, and were very comfortable, and illness supervening to one of our party, were most kindly and liberally dealt with by the manager or directeur. The fertility of the land and its value in the neighbourhood of Palermo, may best be realised when one learns that an acre of lemon-trees in Some of these aged olives are veterans that can trace back their infancy to the times of the Saracens, some eleven hundred years ago, and seem to be gifted with an almost supernatural vitality. Their stems, gnarled and knotted, were bereft of everything but the bark, and this in many cases, while frayed and fretted into an open interwoven lacework, yet served as the channel for conveying life and sap to a crown of young fresh fruit-bearing branches. To an artist's eye, the Eastern character of much of the architecture cannot fail to be deeply interesting. Even so late as the time of the Normans, it was customary to employ Arabian architects and artists for the building and decora tion of their sacred edifices. The barbaric less and cutting as the Edinburgh east winds, gorgeousness of the rich mosaics of the cathedral, so graphically immortalised by Sydney Smith, and still more so of the church attached to the and so painfully felt by many a more tender ancient royal palace, is very striking, where pair of lungs since the days of the witty massive silver lamps-weighing two or three divine. hundredweight-suspended from the storied ceiling, rich in Bible scenes, throw the dim religious light upon walls dazzling with gold mosaic -the whole interior is of this gold ground and brilliant with pictures of sacred story. When these mosaics are on a large scale, and viewed at a correct distance, it is marvellous how capable they are of producing pictures of both force and beauty; as witness the head of our Saviour in the tribune of the latter-named church. The many changes of race and nation that have dominated in Sicily, have stamped its people with strange and striking variety. Handsome Moorish faces-living Murillos meeting you at every corner, specially handsome in the case of young boys and children-abounding side by side with the softer Norman type of blue eyes and blond hair; while now and then the straight nose and eyebrow of the Greek tell of the strong hold each race has maintained. We should, however, be disposed to think the Eastern element the most indelible. We were struck by the numbers of well-dressed young men lounging about in street and caffè with a lamentably idle listless air; but an ingenuous youth threw light upon the subject by reminding us that Palermo is the seat of a university! The Oriental love of show is strongly marked by the numbers of elegant equipages that grace the fashionable drive between the town and La Favorita, a royal Bourbon palace at the base of Monte Pellegrino, and built in the rather unclassical form of a Chinese pagoda. Unlike the solid ideas of the proverbial Scot, who no sooner gets his head above water than he makes for land, the first ambition of a Palermian on feeling himself begin to float, is to sport a carriage; his second, to own a box at the theatre; his third, to have a dinner other than herbsthat is, salad and macaroni; and his fourth, to own a private and particulier burying-ground. A drive to the Cathedral and Monastery of Monreale, an early rich ecclesiastical settlement about five or six miles from Palermo, planted high on the crest of a hill, makes a charming excursion. The marble cloisters, containing above two hundred exquisitely formed small marble pillars, each one differing from another, but forming a complete whole of matchless beauty, though now, alas! stripped of its mosaic coating, testify to the wealth of these early supporters of Christianity. Another interesting excursion, though of a different sort of interest, was to Piano dei Greci, an early Albanian colony, whose inhabitants as a body are understood to hold rather loose and heretical views on the binding nature of some of the commandments-the tenth and eighth in particular. The little town stands at the height of above two thousand feet from the level of the ocean, in a sea of hills, or rather mountains; the access to it being by a long winding, yet beautifully constructed road, the increasing altitude of which afforded scope for sudden and unlooked for gusts of cold sweeping winds, almost as merci The cold was so intense, that the weaker but more numerous section of our party threatened to strike work, and incite the driver to turn his horses' heads back to the sunny plains of Palermo. The mutiny was, however, quelled by the chef de voyage, and on and on we went, till at last we found ourselves in the rough steep street of the little ancient town. It was evident they were not much in the habit of receiving visitors from the outside world, as on our turning in to a little caffe for some refreshment, we were presently followed, and the doors and windows besieged, by a crowd of forty or fifty men, who gradually filled the place, taking up their position at every available point of view, back-benches, back-doors, and backstairs, and whose coal-black eyes peered at with a somewhat alarming and insatiable look of wild curiosity-from out of high-peaked Mephis topheles-like hoods, surmounting the short wide brown cloak of the district. On our way back, we were much struck, in the loneliest part of the wild hill-road, by coming upon a shrine of the Virgin cut and incased in the rock, and lighted for the night by the pious thieves of Piano dei Greci. When about half-way on our journey, we confess to have experienced a certain amount of trepidation at the wild-looking figures, sometimes one, sometimes two, and sometimes three or four, fierce, reckless-looking men, mounted on horses or mules, with long blue cloaks, high peaked hats with a jaunty feather, their belts invariably displaying a brace of pistols. These men seemed the very impersonation of our ideas of a real brigand; and our fears were not soothed, but on the contrary somewhat heightened, by the convenient-looking caves recurring ever and again in the limestone rock. The numerous carabinieri, however, stationed at very frequent intervals were reassuring, especially as we saw them taking note of our number, &c. Some of the villages through which we passed gave us a peep into far-back Italian, or rather Sicilian rural life. It seemed to be universal washing-day-a wholesome if unpleasant day; and as nothing reveals more of the habits as well as the resources of the poor than a family wash-that is, when rich enough to indulge in that luxury-we were much interested in the display of linen hanging from bamboo canes-or, to speak more correctly, from the dried stalks of the Indian corn, which grows freely herestretched in a neighbourly fashion from window to window across the narrow rocky street of eight or ten feet in width, whose sole attempt at paving had been accomplished by the roll of winter-torrents. The display was on the whole very creditable, if we except the large number of brilliant red and yellow wadded counterpanes, handsome in themselves, but so large that we fear they told tales of serving as a wholesale family covering. Concerning the fashion of sepulture, we were very much interested, first, by a visit to the Capuchin Monastery, where, in a long, low |
