Thinking of all this, Phil
began to think it probable that he, too, would some day break his
bonds and run away. He did not fix upon any time. He had not
got as far as this. But circumstances, as we shall find in our
next chapter, hastened his determination, and this, though he
knew it not, was the last night he would sleep in the house of
the padrone.
CHAPTER XII
GIACOMO'S PRESENTIMENTS
Phil woke up the next morning feeling lame and sore. His back
bore traces of the flogging he had received the night before. As
his eyes opened, they rested upon twenty boys lying about him,
and also upon the dark, unsightly walls of the shabby room, and
the prospect before him served to depress even his hopeful
temperament. But he was not permitted to meditate long. Pietro
opened the door, and called out in harsh tones: "Get up, all of
you, or the padrone will be here with his stick!"
The invitation was heard and obeyed. The boys got up, yawning
and rubbing their eyes, having a wholesome dread of their tyrant
and his stick, which no tenderness of heart ever made him
reluctant to use. Their toilet did not require long to make.
The padrone was quite indifferent whether they were clean or not,
and offered them no facilities for washing.
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