Discipline was strict in the ranks; submission and obedience were rigorously exacted; advancement was slow and painfully earned. The recruit passed a long novitiate. He began in the lowest grade, that of the _garzone chi mala vita_, “youth of vicious life,” in which he was kicked about by his betters and did any kind of dirty work. Then he rose to be a _picciotto_, holding a certain position, but still an inferior. He might pass through years of diligent, even dangerous service, and if necessary be put to the severest trial, that of carrying out a murder at the command of the society, when some bloodthirsty vengeance was sought. If nothing of the kind pressed, it was at one time the rule to throw down a copper coin on the ground for the _picciotto_ to pick up while his comrades stabbed at his fingers with the points of their knives. Promotion might be earned by some tremendous act of self-sacrifice, such as that of accepting the blame for a heinous crime committed by some one else. Cases have been known in which the innocent criminal received and endured a very long sentence, even ten or twenty years at the galleys, cheerfully, bearing the burden of another for the great reward of becoming a full member of the society. This probation might be greatly prolonged, but it was worth it to secure the coveted position of the Camorrist entitled to dictate to others, to take his share of the spoils when divided, and to receive the adulation and cringing respect of the lower orders. He was after that eligible to become one of the supreme chiefs, a post of great consequence and of unlimited power. He became in the argot of the society a _masto_ or a _capomasto_; that is, “master” or “grand-master,”--a personage who ruled over his fellows as a superior being. When an ordinary member met a _masto_ on the street, he was bound to remove his hat and humbly ask for orders. Every member was addressed as “_Si_,” the abbreviation of signore. The Society had a rich vocabulary of slang terms. _Freddare_ was “to kill”; _il dormenté_ was “the dead man.” A dagger, as in ancient days, was the _misericordi_; the _tit-tac_ or bobotta was a revolver; the police were _lasagne_, so called after a kind of macaroni; _l’asparago_ was a gendarme. The Camorrists were loyal to each other, and any treachery was punished with death. They quarrelled among themselves and were bound to fight with knives and to strike in the chest in serious cases. A Camorrist might cease active work but could never wholly withdraw from the society. They received help in old age; their widows were pensioned and their children provided for.