The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-12-27

@'co' Sha'neu TWO ana TWO, the pro-
cesslons of priests and friars; the
everlasting clangor of bells; the bab-
W OF strange tongue; the singular
lghtness and brightness of the eli
mate-made, altogether, such com
blnatlon of wonders, that we wan
dered about, the first day, in q kind
of bewildered dream, like children at
a fair. Before that week was ended,
being tempted by the beauty of the
place and the iberality of the pay,
we had agreed to take service with
the Turin and Genoa Railway Com
pany, and to turn our backs upon
Birmingham forever.
Then began q new. life-a life so ac-
tive and healthy, so stepped in fresh
air and sunshine, that we sometimes
marvelled how we could have endured
the gloom of the Black Country. We
were constantlyup and down the line,
now at Genoa, now at Turin, taking
trial trips with the locomotives, and
placing our old experiences at the
service of our new employers.
In the meanwhile, we made Genoa
our headquarters, and hired couple
of rooms over small shop in by
street, sloping down to the quays.
Such busy little strcet-so steep
and winding that no vehicles could
pass through it, apG so narrow that
the sky looked like mere strip of
deep-blue ribbon overhead! Every
house in j., however, was shop
where the goods encroached on the
foot-waJ, or were piled about the
door, or hung like tapestry from the
balconies; and all day long, from
dawn to dusk, an incessant stream of
passers-by poured up and down be-
tween the port and upper quarter of
the city.
Our landlady was tho widow of q
silver-worker, and lived by the sale
OF filagree ornaments, cheap jewelry,
combs, fans and toys in ivory and Jet.
She had an only daughter, named
Glanetta, who served in tho shop,
and was simply the most beautiful
woman ever beheld. Looking back
across this weary chasm of years, and
bringing her image before me (as I
can and do) with all the vividness of
life, L am unable, even now, to detect
a flaw in her beauty. L do not at
tempt to describe her. do not be-
lieve there is a poet living who could
find the words to do it, but L once
saw picture that.was somewhat like
her mot half so lovely, but still like
her, and, for aught 1 know, that
picture is still hanging where [ last
looked at it-upon the walls of the
Louvre. 1t represented n woman
with brown eyes and golden hair,
looking over her shoulder into q cir
cular mirror held by bearded man
in the background. In this man, as
then understood, the artist had
painted his own portrait; in her the
portrait of the woman he loved. No
picture that [ ever saw was half so
beautiful, and yet it was not worthy
to be named in the same breath with
Gianetta Coneglia,
You may be certain the widows
shop did not want for customers All
Genoa knew how fair face was to
be seen behind that dingy little coun-
ter; and Gianetta, hirt as she was,
had more lovers than she cared to re-
member, even by name Gentle and
simple, rich and poor, from the red
Cs'PP0o otliiOA. OuJ1uS LIS ehi -IluSS OF
his amulet, to the nobleman, care
lessly purchasing half the filagrees in
the window, she treated them all
alike-encouraged them, laughed at
them, led them on and turned them
off at her pleasure. She had no more
heart than q marble statue, as Mat
and I discovered by and by, to our
bitter cost.
I cannot tell to this day how it came
about, OF what first led me to suspect
how things were going with us both
but long before the waning of the
autumn, q GOODNESS had sprung up
between my friend and myself. 1t
was nothing that could have been put
into words. It was nothing that
either of US could have explained or
justified, to save his life We lodged
together, ate together, worked toge-
ther, exactly as before; we even took
our long evenings walk together,
when the days labor was ended; and
except, perhaps, that we were more
silent than of old, no mere looker-on
could have detected q shadow of
change. Yet there it was, silent and
subtle, widening the gulf between us
every day.
It was not his fault. He was too
true and gentle-hearted to have will
ingly brought about such state of
things between us. Neither do L be-
liave-fiarv as NV potnra ;c fbot ~