River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1875-04-23
OSHKOSH IN the VATICAN.

for J. N. Hyde, of Chicago, in the Overland
for April
Lieutenant Dixon was one of those
rugged youths, full OF muscle and ambI-
ton, whom our great West has con-
trbuted to the roll of officers Of the
United States Navy. His exterior, it
must be confessed, was neither that of a
Beau Brummel nor yet of an Admirable
Crichton. He was, it is true, large Of
limb and tall of stature; but then he had
also red hair, square brows and jaw, a
struggling beard, and wide set teeth. He
spoke the French and German languages
as though he were cracking nuts between
those same teeth, and his appearance in
the dance was highly suggestive of the
motions of the farmhouse in his old home
at Oshkosh, Wis.
When his vessel, the United States sloop-
of-war Maskaloosa, was stationed at
Civita Vecchia in Italy, in the year 1885,
he visited the Eternal City on leave of
absence, and took up his residence in the
Hotel de Rome, on the Corso. He was
assigned an apartment on the third floor
Of that spacious hosiery, and there he
soon forgot the ship biscuit and salt pork
that are as inseparable from sea.cruising
in the Mediterranean as in less historic
waters.
1t happened that his room faced upon
an alley, on the other side of which was a
large stone residence, one of whose win
dows was exactly opposite his own. This
circumstance of itself would hardly re-
quire mention, were it not for the add.
tional fact that twice every day. at ten
in the morning and four in the afternoon
---he discovered he had for vis-a-vis the
girlish face and graceful figure of love-
ly young Italian. The rough stone work
Of the old walls made frame that con-
trasted delightfully."- with the bright pic
ture it inclosed The Lieutenant con-
cluded that he had never seen anything
half so beautiful before. Whether this
was due to that isolation from al repre-
sensations of the sex which is Incidental
to the life Of a sailor, or to the natural
susceptibility of the heart of youth, is a
matter Of conjecture. 1t can only be
said that, with him, to look was to look
long and often, and surprise was soon
succeeded by admiration.
The young lady, Signorina Aliza Cozza,
was related to Monsignore Bella, gen.
tleman well known in political and relig-
ious circles in Rome. He was understood
to have a decided inclination to wear upon
his head the hat of a car.linal. But of
this, Of course, Lieutenant Dixon knew
nothing. He only saw clearly enough
that the young girl was about Is years
old, and mad great lustrous black eyes,
that served double purpose: the nct
only gave forth the indescribable light
that dances in the eyes of youth and
beauty, but they also reflected portraits
of young gentlemen with red cheeks and
incipient whiskers. Her hair was as
black and almost as plentiful Of light as
her eyes. And as to her figure, that was
as graceful and 1.-the as the forms of the
Sabine beauties that her remote ances.
tors led back captive and reluctant brides
to their homes in ancient Rome. Dixon
could hardly blame those old Latin bach
elors.
She did not apparently notice the adj
vances made by her neighbor, but we
may be quite confident that she had a
suspicion of the trouble brewing beneath
the bras buttons that covered his broad
chest, for although, as we have said, he
commenced by looking, it must be con-
fessed that he concluded by actually blow
ing kisses to her across the alley, and
ilinging expensive bouquets into her lap.
hope the fair Eliza, should this chr on
icle ever reach her eyes, will pardon the
publication Of these details. II must be
remembered that she was only a young
lady, and had neither the requisite
strength nor skill to fling the bouquets
back again. On these occasions she rose
hastily from her seat, and thus the flow.
ers fell TO the floor. But somehow they
afterward invariably found the way to
her toilet table; and somehow, also, it
always happened that when he was at his
window she was a. hers. Affairs were
rapidly progressing toward that point
when Il seemed as IL the new hotel and
the old pension were to be on most excel.
lent terms with each other, when
one morning our Lieutenant
heard the young lady singing
Rossini's exquisite cavatina, "Una Voce. "
The voice was that Of sweet and rich
eontralto. and the words Of the native
tongue of the fair Italian seemed to the
American full Of meaning. Il led him to
form a sudden conclusion. He would Sc
cure an introduction to her at all hazards.
He made no delay in his efforts. IL was
easy to discover her name, and he learned
incidentally Of her relationship to Mon