St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-09-18
The Five Cobblers of Brescia.

Radiant summer WaS reIGning over
the rugged and picturesque old city
of BrcScia L'Armata. Italian SumShiu,
wrought its magic on everything. y
blue clNSian haze encirclcd the town
with gold-grccn acaciaS peeiing SlcepilN
through il. olivc-hued poplarS piercing
1t. and the fairN-likc towers of rock
borne foItreSSes shining rn>ilv across il
ont of the sky. Red roofs and chin
ncys burned: tall. dimgN houses lifted
their painted hrow> ont of black depths
of shadow. and grew brilliant with gaz-
ing at the sun. NarrOWcSt vicolrtti
breaking the blocks of the dwellings
looked like dark tiSSurrS in Il mountain
tre>co pictures on the fronts of the
houses IN the open streets hlaZcd with
almost their original color. aud ole
andcrs in the rusty balconies flashed
ont pink and scarlet and crimson. max
img @aIlani> fire all down the time
darkcned walls.
y Young girl WAS entering the town
10y Il hilly road on the outskirts. Il soil
tary figure. threading the tall poplarS
and surrounded 10y back ground ot
scenery. like one of Titan'S pictures
\ blending of the gay. the fantastic
and the S"mh"r WIS nutirrahlc in th,
| face and apparel nf this maiden. max
| in@ her peculiarly picturesque. a~ >h,
advanced ont of the ethereal blues and
| green's ot the distance. and took hen
WAY through the dccp-rulnrrd street,
ni the town.
1t WAS evidently all new T." her. fol
| she "azrd al everything" az Il foreigner
| ",tIc>. In the market place She peep
rd Gun inu>lN under the great white nm
! brrlla> of the fuit- omen. and >poll,
| in broken Italian when She purchased
Il piece of ripe mclun. to qucnch hcl
! thirst of travel. The two strange mcI
al metal who lIImnaT ont tl, hnur oi
| the t.lcc al the great clock made h"I
start a> they stepped forward /" thrll
work. and the paintings "li the front,
"i the hurl>..~. with THEN curious >tmir>
told in half-hllliIml halt-hl"ttr,l c"l"I>
had Il Fascination t"I her ~ She l"anr'
against Il wall and cnl"Nrd hrI refresh
mcnt. The market WIS gnili" on at TIA,
lime. Carts rolled about. Voices san
and shouted. the yellow curtains ilul
tered ont from the black shadows of tn,
little shops at the side of ihr street
! ii"uIc> Of Noun" Tiil>. OF mothers Will
children. Appeared among hc tir'tl"w
rI> III the balconies and nodded dow
t" other people VIII" were gain" ~
from below. \ stone pierced the "irl'
| shoe. which WIS Worn with walking
and She sat down ou the steps of ::
church and examined it r,IriullN. Ihrr,
WAS an ugly hole: the owner mLir :.
WY face ~ She l"' krd at it. then laugh
ed. and put it on again. Il shall cam
| Il pair of >tInu" ones. before long. III,
! said {" i"-r-''f. though not i" Italian
Il must pick my steps until then. Iu,
shoe Was certainly not Il pca>aut'> shoe
| Vet the "ill WIS dressed like Il peasant
/ Her brown >kiit. black bodice and
/ white chrmi>rttr were nt the roLI>,~t
materials. Bare and sun burnt Wci,
| her pretty. r"umd arms and d"lir:tt,
! hands: Il >cal,.I sash hung round hcl
/ waist. and scarlet Iibhon> tied up hcI
| hair silky dark hair. u little h,nuI"t
at the edges. Hen face WIS plump
| limplrd and c\qui~iIclN m"ldrd: hri
eyes were dark. luminous and full q!
| humnr. \ V htr colt sheltered the cN T.,
at present. and threw Il transparent
tiirkrIIn" shadow all round the !lcc
| Aitrr tine accident tn her shoe the Nouu.
stranger walked cautiously and with 4.
little limp through the city of Hrr~ria
and the people looked after her ~ -h,
| went.
In Il street which dcSrrnh> Il hill. liN,
c"hhlcr< we've sitting IN the open ait
husil, engaged with their wolk. The,
sat on five Wo"d,u stools. " hich Wei,
close together in Il lime. AMI each nar
supported his feet on the rail ot the sea-
4 IL. L
tlIcN rode Il single wnodcn horse dow
the brow of the hill. in :" close IN,
straight Il file had they ranged ihcn
selves. Fm>t on the row was Il very
old man. with white hair and Il ullci,
,oUntcnancr. N"o WaNcd his thIcI,
often. and WAS slow at his work ncNt
his SOILS. two elderly men. SimgularlN
like each other. except that the expires
sion of Tia" one WIS moroSc and all
>trnctcd. while that of the Other Va!
nervous and fierce: fouIthlN. Il good
looking Young man. with lively eye.
and II confident air. who gazrd ahou
the street hctWccm every two of hi
stitches: and. last of all. Il second Noum!
man. with IN earnest. intelligent face
who seemed Ia give all his attention t,
his work. As our limping maiden cam,
down the street she caught sight of thi
group. and. Fastening up to them, point
ed to her broken shoe.
"Ciahattini ," she asked eagerly.
Yes. they were cohhlcrS. answered tn,
men. raising their five heads and gain:
in surprise at the livclncSS and hcaut,
of her face. l'baldo. the old man. look
ed ut her kindly: TritoniuS, the morosc
and Grifonc, the fiery. regarded he
with gludging admiration while tn,
two youu" men. Frisco. the son of 'l'ri
toniuS. and Silvi". the apprentice. gaze,
round ut her over their shoulders will
the livelrSt interest and delight. \
they all stared. with their thread SuS
pended. the Young stranger Suddcnl,
broke into II peal of the most delicious
ly mirthtul laughter. which shook il
the air like the song of Il lark, and mad
the five cohhlcrS also laugh. though the,
did not know what they were laughin,
ut.
"lOu all look So funny ~ cried tin
girl, drawing forth fine white hand
kcichicf and wiping the tears of mrrri
ncnt from her eyes.
This is not business :" growled Tri
!. ionius. Can Nou pay ?"
we 40 not NoIh lof noIllnH. SAT-
Grifnne.
81 have no money at present" sal,
the girl ''hut mean to pay you after
ward"
1T will not do said TlitomiuS.
You can go elsewhere" said Grifone
''Trust her my sons," said Ubaldo
''Shc is il stranger"
The girl looked up and down tn,
street, bending the broken shoe bacI
and forward in her hands, and then sh
glanced wiStfully at the row of mcl
who refused to help her.