The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1867-04-25

sing room as she spoke, and drawn up to
her full height, stared steadily into the
lunatic's eyes. He quailed under the
fixed, stern gaze; he wavered he whis-
pered something to himself; and then
with the air of beaten hound, he skunk
up to Cyrila, and taking her hand hume
bly,, he lifted it to his lips, and kissed it
twice. ssss,sz
Your pardon Cyrilla,' he said s'for
having misunderstood you. The child,
truly, is beneath my notice. Let him
i i've" ~
Spoken like my own Pietro,", said
Cyrilla, thawing suddenly into a very
May day of love and sunshine. GU
were only testing with me: know"
/ "But he-the man who has caused
you so much misery-your husband: you
will not intercede for him. said Pietro,
| gloonlily. "He-he above all men-must
$50 be it" said Cyrilla with little
shrug of supreme Indifference. Ten
minutes past cwelve! Theodore could not
be long now. How her ears strained.
how her heart beat at the slightest sound
from without! If he were to come now,
ne could hardly escape with life, unless
she, Cyrlla were to sacrifice her own life
/ IN the endeavor to save his She was
quite prepared to do that, she said to
| herself.
but pray tell me- she resumed
aloud, what plan you intend to adopt
Tor carrying out your scheme of veng-
ance.
'sAs soon as I shall hear his footsteps.
L shall hide behind those curtains. said
the mailman ''As he steps across the
threshold, shall rush forth, and strik
him dead with my poinard.
"A very pretty scheme-a very pref
ty scheme!" said Cyrilla encouragingIy.
but think know of one bettcr-one
that will avoid all bloodshed, which is
| Objectionable in a lady ROOM
Tel it me, said the italian eagerly.
when he comes in" SAID Cyrilla,
"he will ask for a cup of coffee-he al
ways does. Into his coffee [ will put
few drops out of certain vial which I
have in my dressing room. He drinks
the coffee, and FIVE minutes later he is a
dead man"
''Good, good!' said the mailman rub
bling his hands gleefully "And then,
when he is dead, | will cut off his head,
and carry it to my friend the mandarin,
and he will give me his magic ring-his
cat s-eye ring that is worth kings ran
som; and we will sail across the sea you
and together; and you will be mine, my
own, for ever! Say shall it not be SOP
cit shall my Petro - answered Cyril
much I shall love you. But we have no
time to lose; Thornhurst will be here
presently, and must hide you at once. -
Fastini eagerly.
SSNo ,,o4 l,ob,nI Tho
Cyrilla, because the first thing that Thorn
hurst will do after coming in will be to
draw back the curtains and fasten the
windows Let me- consider, where will
be the best place to hide you?' She
paused, and, with her finger on her lips,
looked round the room, as if in search of
hiding place Fastini was holding her
other hand, and pressing it now and again
to his lips.
''I have it!' she said at last. "Noth-
ing could be better. You shall hide
yourself in this chest; and she ran across
the room, laughing gaily, and dragging
the Italian after her and tiurs open the
lid of the old carved chest ''See-you
have plenty Of room; and there viii be
this advantage in hiding here, you will
be able, yourself unseen, to witness the
whole of my little drama from beginning
to end-from your private box, you know
( A little pun that is it not? | really won't
let you kiss my hand any more You
must keep the lid open about quarter
of an inch-not more, and presently you
will see Thornhurst come stepping in
through one of these windows You
will see him kiss me-for the last time
you know, so you must not be angry.
TIL, n he will go round and fasten the
windows, then he viii yawn and stretch
himself, then he will seat himself in his
easy chair, and ask for his meerschaum
and cup of coffee. But you must not
stir till you see his eyes close. and his
head droop back on the Chair. And now
sir, to your hiding place. IF you love
me don't delay, for Thornhust may be
| ere at any moment. No-not a sing
| lie kiss no. but as many as you like after
wards. Why can't you tie those lanky
| limbs of yours into knot: a little low
er, please. So-that is BETTER
She was just lowering the lid Of the
chest gently over him when he struck it
suddenly with his arm. ''Cyrilla," he
said, something whispers to me that
my friend. the mandarin, would like me
to do this deed myself. Perhaps the Dog
"Hush p exclaimed Cyrilla with
start ''The king of pelicans is coming
this way. [ hear his footsteps. Hide
bids - She tried to press the lid down
on him as she spoke; but his suspicious
ever on the alert, was reused in an in
slant, and with all his strength he strove
to keep himself from being shut in; but
sition in which he then was Cyrilla
flung herself bodily on to the chest, and
in spite of the madman's efforts, little
by little, inch by inch, the lid came down
upon him, his power to struggle against
it in proportion the closer it shut him in
Suddenly he changed his position and
before he could recover himself, the lid
had shut him in completely, and the
same instant the iron staple In the body
of the chest shot up through a slit i'll the
lid. The moment she saw 1t, Cyrila S
instinct pointed out to her the only meth
cd by which Fastini could be retained a
prisoner, for her bodily strength was all
| but exhausted The iron that should have
passed through the hole in the staple, and
have kept the chest fast shut, was brok-
en- away, and all that Cyrilla could now
do was to push her thumb through the
staple and use it as the bar had been us
ed.
The footsteps On the gravel outside
were coming nearer; and presently Theo-
dore Thornhurst, cigar in mouth, and
with a merrier twinkle than usual in his
eye. stepped in through one of the French
windows.
Not one moment too soon. ''Saved !!
saved - Cyrilla as her eyes met those of
her husband, and then she sank fainting
by the side Of the chest. The painter
was cautious man as well as a brave one
he heard Strange noises proceeding from