Mezzoni the Brigand — page 66: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

o8 MEZZONI THE BRIGAND. was in visible mass. And yet, although Naples is full of beggars, and poverty stalks boldly at every corner, somehow the poor did not feel moved to beg at the well-known door of the Corrello palace, and never of its master in person. Beggars have certainly an unconscious instinct by _ which they are governed. They rarely solicit of the wrong man. They may not always be successful, but perhaps they may succeed the next time. Alberto Corrello’s air was cold and repulsive, his features dark even for an Italian, while his smooth and carefully shaven face was classic in its severe beauty of outline; his eyes were large and piercing, and his manner self-possessed and assured. His manner was that of one who had discounted all chances, and who was not to be surprised by whatever might occur. Thus, when his game was watched at the gambling resorts, no one ever de- tected the least expression of elation or depression while he was winning or losing, and certainly no man played with a more lavish hand than he. Alberto Corrello had broken more than one private bank in Naples, but he had also lost the gold which he had thus won perhaps within the next twenty- four hours. There were no tell-tale lines in his face; his hand was equally steady whether in staking hundreds or thousands. ‘‘How cool he is!’’ said one. “Of course.’”’ ‘Why of course?’’ **Has he not that jar to draw from?”’ “Ah, very true.’’ ‘We should any of us be indifferent as to our losses if we had unlimited credit at the Banco Nazio- nale.’’ . GEomichbooks.co