Never have I sat
down to a _bistecca_ which was fit for man's consumption, and, of
course, at the _Concordia_ it would be rather worse than anywhere
else. I persuaded the good woman to supply me with a little broth.
Then I lay looking at the patch of cloudy sky which showed above the
houses opposite, and wondering whether I should have a second
fearsome night. I wondered, too, how long it would be before I could
quit Cotrone. The delay here was particularly unfortunate, as my
letters were addressed to Catanzaro, the next stopping-place, and
among them I expected papers which would need prompt attention. The
thought of trying to get my correspondence forwarded to Cotrone was
too disturbing; it would have involved an enormous amount of
trouble, and I could not have felt the least assurance that things
would arrive safely. So I worried through the hours of daylight, and
worried still more when, at nightfall, the fever returned upon me as
badly as ever.
Dr. Sculco had paid his evening visit, and the first horror of
ineffectual drowsing had passed over me, when my door was flung
violently open, and in rushed a man (plainly of the commercial
species), hat on head and bag in hand.
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