The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-12-03

ment..
On coming to myself found was
alone. and lay tossing about ina fever
of confusing Of thoughts and apprehen-
sions. Aslumber Of exhaustion ensu-
ed, and probably lasted forseveral hours.
l awoke with start, and saw the mar
chese standing at the foot OF my bed.
He had dressed himself for supper par
ty at Naples. He said it would be pretty
well over before he got there; that he
needed little relaxation and amuse-
ment. Before he went however, he
commanded me to take an oath, the
terms of which he dictated. They were
Of the most impiOus and awful kind, I'M
voking my souls eternal perdition, and
calling upon my Maker to record the
same If / ever broke the oath. 1t was to
the effect 'that / would not, directly, in
directly or in any manner, inform, or en-
deayor to inform, Sebastiano that all was
known, that he was TO die, and by my
hand"
/ sat up in bed, and looking the mar
chese full in the face, refusedto take any
such oath. l said, calmly, notwith-
standing my involuntary shudders, Il
know YOU intend to have us both assas-
sinated in some secret manner and that
il would be delightful to you to inform
me. after had assisted in the death OF
| one love. that my own turn was then
come. | at last know what you are IN
all respects. You are not the sort OF
cruel monster one reads of in some ro-
mances, but one so much worse In sew,
eral respects that nobody ever reads OF
them, because nobody dare paint them
| repeat that will not take that oath'
/ see the unsheathed stilettO uuder your
vest. Kill me without more words"
Saving this, laid myself back upon
the pillow, closed my eyelids firmly, and
awaited the blow. Some minutes-for
minutes they seemed-nOw elapsed.
The marchese then said, in quite an al
tered voice of polite composure, Would
Won do me the favor to open your eyes for
a moment?" l did so. He slowly drew
forth the stiletto. 1t was the one that
Sabastiano had taken up. "You have
seen this before?" 1 closed my eyes
again. and awaited death. The last ma
li9nant pleasure of revenge, and the last
pang of my wretched and defeated life
had transpired But the expected blow
did not come. "Ahp murmured the
marchese; 81 see by my watch that l
shall not arrive at my fair friends sup
per table till daybreak. l must there
fore hurry away. AS for the oath, |
shall find means to bring you to your
senses All that l have willed to be
done shall be done, and perhaps some
thing more. have the honor, madam,
to wish you very good night"
Days passed away, partly occupied, no
doubt, in maturing his scheme. Was he
not, if it were only in his remorseless
and savage patience and self-command,
unlike all we ever. Poor DR., Maur-
izzio, what had become of himp He
often occurred to my thoughts. In the
conversation had which proved so ruin
GUS to him what had most surprised me
was that he did not appear much sur
prised at all | told him. He said that
not only Italy, but Paris, Vienna, and
some other places, contained men like
the marohese. They were the greatest
possible examples of the abuses of the
power given by wealth. He regarded
them as monomaniacs, who ought to be
put under surveillance, if not in con-
iinement, instead of moving at large in
society, and misleading, seducing, or
marrying innocent young ladies', whose
parents deluded, as the young girls them
selves were often dazzled, by their rich
es Besides, who could predicate an in
carnation of vicious extremes under an
elegant person and the most courtly
manners? Alas alas be-. to think of
the divinely human face which Raphael
might have been inspired to dream of,
and to paint even that of my Sc
bastiano-and then to think of the in
human, abnormal, ,gloating calm of theAh-
horred (dbboTit0), by whom had been
insidiously purchased for a slave, and
treated worse than a slave And yet,
again, to think that the worst-yes,
though nothing beyond could be tho't
possible-was still to come
4 =
Where had they dragged me? Was
it dungeon. OF a vault for the dead !?
Or was It one of the cellars under the
house? And | in my night dress torn and
split, and my hair all fyingabout The
three men wore no masks, but their faces
were blackened with broad perpendicu-
lar bars, like a horrid kind of hamlet.
The black skull-cap of one of them fell
of, and | was sure that / recognized the
head of Andrengo. The cellar was light
ed by lamp with shade over it. Be-
neneath it the marchese was seated upon
stone ledge, as in judgment, with his
back against the wall found myself
lying upon the damp flooring, with three
men standing round me, like torturers
or executioners. Two of them had rods
in their lands, of osiers or other dried
water plant, bound together.
"Will you take the oath2" said the
marchese, in a low tone. What Ireplied
| do not know, but it was to the effect
that dared not, would not, could not
take the oath
The marchese then, placing one leg
slowly over the other, began TO relate
how certain Russian noble Of former
years, but not very remote Ito whom the
parents of an unwilling daughter had
given her in marriage), had discovered
that the young lady had committed the
insulting act of loving another. That
private meetings took place. That the
princely husband discovered the dishon-
or, and that his wife even admitted her
criminal preference. That the insulted
noble caused her 10 be stripped and
thrown among his rufiian soldier serfs
(heyduks), and that he then ordered the
insuherable culprit to be hogged with
long whips all the way to her native
town and that when, covered with blood
she sank down upon the road. being
unable to fly a step further he direct
ed. 80.
There is blessed law in nature that
sensations can only be wrought up to q
certain degree so that tortures are often
defeated either by the sense becoming
deadened, the victim becoming quite in
sensible, or dying very quickly. Nc
doubt it became apparent that / should