In the fear, well-founded as we have seen, of an attack in the Nebrodes mountains and an attempted rescue of the Piccinino, the authorities at Cefalù had tried to conceal the importance of this capture, and the escort of the prisoners made no display when they set forth. But the same authorities had despatched an express to Catania to ask that a detachment of Swiss troops be sent to Sperlinga to meet the escort, and to say that they would halt there and wait for them. The brigands of the mountain, who were on the alert, had waylaid and killed the messenger; and, having ascertained beyond question, by reading his despatches, that the prisoner was their leader, they had tried, as we have seen, to rescue him from the hands of his escort. The ill success of this attempt did not discourage them. Carmelo was the soul of their lives. His shrewd leadership, his activity, the spirit of justice, now savage, now chivalrous in its manifestations, which governed his decisions with respect to them, and the immense prestige attached to his name and his person, made him no less sacred than necessary to them. It was the unanimous opinion among them, and among a great number of mountaineers, who, while they did not know him and were not immediately under his orders, were very glad to exchange favors with him and his troop, that when the Piccinino was dead, the bandit's profession would become impossible, and that there would be no other resource for the heroes of the mountain than to become beggars. So Malacarne assembled a few of his comrades near Sperlinga, and succeeded in sending word to the two Piccininos that they must represent themselves as being very ill, in order to remain there as long as possible. It was by no means difficult to act upon the suggestion, for Verbum Caro was dangerously wounded, and in the desperate efforts he had made to burst his bonds during the engagement on the mountain, he had reopened his wound and lost so much blood that they had had to carry him to Sperlinga. Moreover, the _campieri_ knew that it was of the utmost importance to take him to Catania alive, so that they might try to extort from him some information concerning Ninfo's murder and the whereabouts of his band. As soon as Malacarne had made his arrangements, he bade his comrades, who were as yet only eight in number, to be ready for action, mounted the murdered messenger's horse, after clipping him so as to make him unrecognizable, and rode across the country in a straight line to Bel Passo, notifying all those persons upon whom he could rely, to take arms and await his return. Seconded by Fra Angelo, he passed six hours on Ætna, collecting other brigands, and at last, on the second night after the arrival of the prisoners at Sperlinga, a score or more of determined men, trained to daring enterprises of this sort, encamped at the foot of the cliff on which it stands.