underneath.

"Do you remember?" he said. "You told me to run away. Well, I have
done it!"

"It is, the little tumbler! The tumbler, Mama!" cried the boys in one
breath, clapping their hands with pleasure.

But the woman stared blankly. "My faith!" she said at last. "You lost
no time in taking the hint. How did you get here so soon? We were
homeward bound when you had scarcely finished tumbling. Now here you
are before us, on foot!"

"I ran," said Gigi simply. "I came not by the highway, which is long
and winding, but down steep streets like stairs, which brought me here
very quickly."

"See the bruise on his cheek, mother!" cried Beppo, the littlest boy,
pointing. The good woman saw it, and her eyes flashed.

"Oh! Oh!" she clucked. "The wicked men! Did they do that to you?"

"Yes. And they will do more if they catch me now," said Gigi. "I
know. They have beaten me many times till I could not move. But if
they catch me this time, they will kill me because I ran away. Will
you help me?"

"Why, what can I do?" asked the woman uneasily, looking up and down the
road. "If they should come now! You belong to them. I shall get
myself into trouble."