But no one found that out, for he had been a barber, as he had been a
monk and most other things. He looked very well in a cowl, and spoke
Neapolitan. I did not know him when he came to the foot of the gallows,
howling out that I was innocent."
"Were you?" asked Arisa.
"Of course I was," answered Aristarchi with conviction.
"Who was the man that had been killed?"
"I forget his name," said the Greek. "He was a Neapolitan gentleman of
great family, I believe. I forget the name. He had red hair."
Arisa laughed and stroked Aristarchi's big head. She thought she had
made him betray himself.
"You had seen him then?" she said, with a question. "I suppose you
happened to see him just before he died, as your man saw the monk."
"Oh no!" answered Aristarchi, who was not to be so easily caught. "It
was part of the dying confession. It was necessary to identify the
murdered person. How should Michael Parados, the Greek robber, know the
name of the gentleman he had killed? He gave a minute description of
him. He said he had red hair."
"You are not a Greek for nothing," laughed Arisa.
"Did you ever hear of Odysseus?" asked Aristarchi.
"No. What should I know of your Greek gods? If you were a good
Christian, you would not speak of them.
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