Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1864-07-12
NARY OF MEDICIs.
Or, Tn. Last stroh. of Fortune.

Or, The Last Stroke OF Fortune.
Twenty years ago an old house was stiIl
standing 10 Cologne, which showed to the
street frontage Of Eve small Windows.-
Ii was the house in which the first painter
of the French school. the immortal Rubeus.
was born, q. d. 1877. Sixty years later
from this date, the ground floor was occu-
pied by two old people. shoemaker and
bis wife. The upper story which was
usua1Iy let to dodgers. at the time We write
OF. Two. however, occupied the eaIrets
The evening was cold aud wet, and the
shoemaker and his wife we're sitting to-
gether il the room below.
You had better 60 up stsirs. again,' paid
the man to his wife, and see how the old
lady 10. The old gentleman went out ear
~, and has not been in since. Has she
not taken any thing
1t V only half an hour since went up
stairs, and be has not come 10. / took ber
some broth up 1T noou, and ohe hardly
touched il. and was up egain at three.
she was asleep then, and at five she said
she would not want anything more.'
Poor lady This time Of year, and
neither FIRE nor warm clothes, and even
not decent bed to lie on; and yet am
noticed the respect with which the old
gentleman treats her
IF she wants anything it is her own
fault. That ricg which she WeArS on her
6ngor would get her the best Of every
thing
Then came Q knock at the door, and the
| women admitted the man they bad just
spoken of, whose griEIled beard fell down
! on his furnished velvet coat: The hostess
sadly wanted to have little gossip with
him, but be passed by, and bidding them
a short good night, CROPPED himself up q
steep and crooked STAIRCASE. One enter.
! ing tbe chamber above feeble voice in
quired the cause Of his Icing absence.
1 could not help it, he said. i have
been copying manuscript, aud as was on
my way here, q servant met me who vas
to fetch me to raise the horoscope Of two
ladies who we're passing through; they
we're ladies whom have known before -
thought I could get little money to pay
for some samples which will be of service
to you
I am cold.'
1t is fever cold. will make you some.
thing which you must take directly
The fame Of g small tin lamp suficed to
heat some water, and the patient having
taken what the old man provided, was dill
igently covered up by. him with ell the
clothes and articles of dress be could fnd.
He stood by her motionless till he percsiv-
ed she was fast asleep, and indeed long
after; be then retired into q small closet,
aud sought repose on the hard door.
The next morning the lady was 90 much
better that her attendant proposed that she
should leave the house for q moment or
two, and be succeeded in getting her forth
as far as the Place St Cecilia. Il vas sell
dom that she left the house, for notwith-
standing the mesnneSs Of her dress, there
was that about her carriage which fendeia
ed it difficult to avoid observation.
DO you see that person yonderP she
said suddenly. If am not much mistaken,
it is certainly the Duke of Guise.'
The Strangers attention had alec been
attracted. and be now approached them.
'ParbleuP said ne, why that is Mascali.
What, are you married =
He does not know me- sighed the
ladv.
/ must indeed be altered
Mascall had, however, whispered sin
gle word in the Dukes ear, and he started
as if struck by thunderbolr; but instantly
recovering himself, be hastily uncovered
his head, and bowed nearly to the ground.
1 beg your forgivness,' be ssid; but my
eyes are growing so weak, and could SO
Little expect to have the homo of meeting
you-'
For tbe love of God. name me not hers3
A title would be too strong q contrast with
my present circumstances. Have you been
very long 10 thiSpls 2
Three days. l am on my way from
| Italy took refuge there when our CON-
mon enemy drove me forth. and all my
earthly goods.
And what are your advices from Francei
Is the helm still in the hands Of that
wretched caitiffi'
He is in the zenith Of bis power.
See, my lord duke. your fortunes and
my OVID are. much alike. You are the son
OF q man, who, If be had not too much des.
| pissed danger, might well have set the
crown upon bis own head, and !, once the
queen of the uightiest nation of tbs uni
verse-and now butb of rs are alike. But
sdieu,' she said suddenly, and drawing
herself up, the sight of you my lord duke,
has refreshed me much, and pray that
| fortune may once more shine upon your
steps
Permit me to attend your majesty
| to-"
AsIight color tinged the lady's fssturA
as she answered with gently commanding
! tone.
Leave us, my lord duke, it 10 our plea.
| sure.
Guise bowed low, and taking the lady's
hand be pressed it revereDtly to bis lips.
At the corner he met some one to whom he
pointed out the lady and then be hasteued
away.
The next morning q knock at the door
announced person inquiriug for Monsieur
Mascali, she had q small packet for him.
and billet. Inside this was distinctly
| WRITTEN
Two hundred louisdors constitute the
whole of my present fortune; one hundred
l send for your use.
GUleE'
And the packet contained q hundred
louisdors. The cum thus obtained suf;oed
to supply the wants Of the two old pair
long years. But the last louis had been
charged. and the lady aud her companion
were still without friendly succor' The
shoemaker and bic wife had undertaken a
journey to Aiz la-Chappelle, to take up
some small legacy. II was on the I3th Of
February, 1912. A low sound or moan
might bave been heard issuing from the
garrett; Withered female form, more like
skeleton than thing of flesh and blood,
was lying on Wretched bed of straw in
the sgonles Of death. The mosus grew
more indistinct; and slight rafting in
the tnrost we ct length the only audible
SQUAD aod this also ceased. An hour 10.
ter. an old man, dressed in rags and tst-
tere entered the chamber. A word only
6a1 escaped his lips as be tumbled up the
taiiIng staircase: Nothing Nothing =
He dew near the bed listIeSsly, but in q
moment he seized 40 arm of the corpse
Win sn almost eonvuisiSe shudder, and
letting It suddenly fall. be cried: Dead,
dead' OF hunger cold and staryationl'
Ano this LADY was Mary of Medic is,
| wife of Henry ". Oman RsOayft of France.