Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1849-07-23
MISCELLANEOUS,
THE KEY OF DEATH.

In the collection Of cnriosites preserved in the
Arsenal at Venice, there is key Of which the
following singular tradition is related:
About the year 1890, one Of those dangerous
men. in whom extraordinary talent 10 only the
fearful source Of crime and wickedness beyond
that Of ordinary men, came to establish himself as
a merchant o, trader in Venice, The stranger,
whose name was Tehaldo, became enanoured of
the daughter Of en- ancient house, already ATTAIN
ced to another. He demanded her in marriage,
and was Of course rejected. Enraged at this, he
studied how to be revenged. Profoundly skilled
in the mechanical arts, he allowed himself no rest
until he had invented the most formidable weapon
which could be imagined. This was key of large
size, the handle Of which was SO constructed that it
could be turned round with little difficulty. When
turned, it disclosed spring, which on pressure,
launched from the other end needle or lancet OF
such subtle fneness that it entered into the flesh
and buried itself there without leaving any exter-
nal trace. Tebaldo waited, in disguise, at the
door ofthe church in which the maiden whom he
loved was about to receive the nuptlal benedcton
The assassin sent the slender steel, unperceived,
into the breast Of the bridegroom. The wounded
man had no suspicion of injury, but seized with
sudden and sharp pain in the midst Of the cere-
mony, he tainted and was carried TO his house a.
mid the lamentations Of the bridal party. Vain
was the skill of the physicians, who could not d-
vine the cause of this strange illness, and in few
days he died.
Tebaldo again demanded the hand Of the maid-
en- from her parents, and received second refusal
They too persisted miserably in few days. The
alarm which these deaths, which appeared almost
miraculous, occasioned, excited the utinost vigil
lance Of the magistrates, and when on close exam
ination Of the bodies, the small instrument was
found in the gangrened flesh, the terror was uni
versal; every one feared for his own Ifs. The
maiden, thus cruelty orphaned, had passed the
first months of her mourning in convent, when
Tebaldo hoping to bend her to his will, entreated
to speak TO her at the gate.
The face Of the foreigner had ever been displeas-
ing to her, but, since the death Of all those most
dear to her, it had become odous, Gas though she
had presentiment Of his guilt and her reply was
most decisive in the negative. Tebaldo, beside
himself with rage, attempted to wound her thro'
the CRATE and succeeded the obscurty of the place
prevented the movement from being Observed On
her return to her room the maiden felt pain in
her breast, and on uncovering it, she found it spot
ted with ! single drop Of blood. The pain increas-
ed The surgeons who hastened to her assistance,
taught by the past, wasted no time in conjecture.
but cutting deep into the wounded part. extracted
the needle before any mortal mischief had COM
menced, and saved the life Of the lady. The state
inquisition used every means to discover the hand
that dealt these insdous and irresistible blows
The visit Of Tebaldo to the convent caused suspi-
ciun to fall heavily upon him. His house was
carefully searched, the infamous invention dscov.
cred, and he persisted on the giebet.