Nebraska advertiser., 1865-03-16

$ most desre."
Z "The leath of the count and the duch
ess9"
"Yes Land if you will undertake to ric
me of thse, you have only to name you
ice"
i "And wiiats tsof, the Duke Ducarrar q
4 "Oh, he must not be harmed p
"I understand" said the brigand
wi b a peculiar look; "the Countess Ci
vanti would wed the Duke Cucarrar g.
"Oh, man, seek not to know every
thing go exclaimed the lady, in slightly
irritated tone. "Come, will you un-
dertake what want done 2"
Il will give you the means to accom-
plish the work YOURSELF" said the out
law. 81 have a colorless poison, that is
slow but sure. 1t needs but few drops
IN a cup of water or wine. 1t produces
no pain, no suffering of any kind, and
its effects are not apparent for two or
three days. Then the patient begins
to complain of weakness and lassliuds,
goes into rapid decline, and dies IN less
than a month. This poison cannot be
detected in the system, and there IS not
a physician that knows its antidote'"
1.-THE very thing % cried the countess
"give me that poison, and ! will accom-
plish the rest"
The countess and the brigand finally
agreed upon terms. He sold her the
poison at a fabulous price, but would not
dispose Of the antidote for any consider
ahop whatever. He told her, however,
that should she discover any friend of
hers suffering from the effects of this
poison. to come to him at once, and ne
wo6ld arrange with her to save the par
ty.
For several weeks longer Rondinelli
remained in that old house. never going
out himself, and now and then receiving
a visitor. There was some talk of ar
resting him again; but there was an op-
posing influence in high quarters, and ii
was not done. 1t would not have been
done. had the police even attempted it
for the fortune-teller, as he was sup
posed to be, was not isolated and alone,
as even his nearest neighbors believed.
He had known the house before he went
to it, and why it was supposed to be
haunted. It was connected with dis
tant point by subterranean passage and
he had been in communication with his
band from the very first. There was
no time that he could not have brought
thousand desperate men to his assis-
tance; but he had chosen rather to be
arrested at first, thinking it might favor
his design, which it did.
And this design of Rondinelli, the
bandit, whose name was a terror
throughout Itlay, was singular one, to
the best. He had come to Naples to be
en0bled-to gain title that should give
him right to an honored seat among the
proudest of the land. And how was this
to be accomplished? Strange as it may
seem, by means of the wonderful poison
he possessed. He understood Aeapo-
Titan intrigue. He knew there were
many among the nobility who wished
wives, husbands, and rivals dead, that
they might change their own wn>conditiOn ;
and he relied upon eventually disposing of
his subtle poison to see parties, who. in
using it, would see the efects-see death
certainly result, in spite of all the med
ical skill of Naples but in no case
for no consideration, would he dispose of
the anudote; and, by retaining this, he
would leave himself the only master of
life.
"Suppose," be reasoned, "that some
one, after having used my poison, should
see its effects upon himself, or some dear
friend-supposs, again, that self or
friend should be among the highest no.
bility touching even royalty would not a
title-ay, even dpkedom-be given in
exchange for life ?'
The result indeed proved that Rondin-
ELI did not miscalculate in many particu-
lars, His general scheme prospered.-
The ambitious and unprincipled Countess
Ciganti, in carrying out her own wicked
design, assisted his materially. She
poised her husband and the duchess, and
saw them both die. and thus became ia
miliar with all the workings of the dead
ly drug. The bandit knew she intended
TO marry the Duke Ducarrar. Now was
his time. By means of one of his secret
agents, who had obtained the position Of
butler in the dukes household, he had
several drops of the poison put into bis
! grace's wine. A few days served to di:
play the symptoms which the COUNTIES.
now so well understood, and in terrible
rage and alarm she haslened to the rob