"I won't move, sir!" she cried loudly, "I see you have a big gun and I
am all alone." She spoke in Italian, but the Austrian seemed to
understand.

"What are you doing prowling around here at this time of day?" he
demanded angrily, speaking to her in her own language.

"Oh, sir, I am lost," Lucia replied, not daring to look below her. "My
goat wandered away in the storm and I came out to find her, and now I
am very, very far away from home."

She walked towards the man as she spoke. She was terrified for fear he
would discover the cave below her.

"Where did you sleep?" he demanded.

"Oh, I have not slept, sir. See my dress it is wet from the rain,
there is no shelter anywhere, and the wind and the rain frightened me
so I did not know where I was, and I was afraid to stay still."

The Austrian eyed her suspiciously.

"Why didn't you go to the soldiers and ask for shelter?" he inquired
harshly.

"The soldiers?" Lucia's brown eyes opened wide in surprise. "But
there are no soldiers near here. They are miles away with the guns.
How could I reach them? My home is over there," she pointed in the
opposite direction from the cave, "and I think I will go back to it,
now that it is day."