They wore the _carabiniere_
uniform for the mountain districts--a double-breasted coat with two rows
of silver buttons, coat tails bordered with red, two strips of red down
the trouser seams, a visored cap, and high black boots. They were
mounted on magnificent black horses, with rifles hung across their
saddles.
Finally, as the procession started and the hoofs clattered on the hard
road leading up over the mountain, people crowded out on the little iron
balconies, heads appeared at the windows--heads that seemed gigantic by
comparison with the miniature houses, which were painted brilliant pink
and blue, mauve and Naples yellow.
As the road ascended, it turned inward away from the sea, and after a
short distance narrowed into a rocky mountain path that looked like the
dry bed of a stream, winding through the wilderness. After an hour's
ride the character of the landscape changed. The semi-tropical
vegetation grew gradually sparse, and after a while in the distance,
seemingly in the midst of the path, a great rock loomed gigantic and
gaunt, cutting in two the blue dome of the sky. Still farther on, they
came upon stretches of straggling wild peach, olive, and lemon trees.
Beyond again, tangles of hawthorn were interspersed with patches of
dried weeds and grass. But as they neared the mining district the soil
was bleak and barren.
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