Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-11-23
LANCASTER. WISCONSIN. THURSDAY NOVEMBER %, 1876


made me an old man before my time.
Very sad indeed is all that hangs
about that watch. 1t belonged to
my son; at least it was found upon
him when he was dead"
1t is needless to say how | WINGED
under the old mans words. He con-
tinued, as he passed his hand over
bis sightleSs eyes:
eyes, signor be is dead these many
years past, and perhaps it is as well.
But, all me the way Of it, the way
of it, there's where lies ny grief.
Could it have been that | had been
by, and have known tha' there was
ever so little repentance in his heart,
there would have been little COM
fort for me, perhaps; but as it was,
it is probable that he went unshriven,
unrepentant, suddenly TO his ac-
count"
"TelI me, tell me-" | said quickly,
'the cause of his death p but the
padrone was not to be hurried. He
seemed to like to linger on the pain
his slowly uttered words brought
with them, little guessing how they
were painlng me also.
He went on:
ever prodigal from his youth
upward, my boy grew worse and
worse as he reached manhood. |
had looked that he should inherit
my business aud good name, for they
were both worth inheriting at one
time kept hotel at Bergamo,
and he was my chief waiter, but his
vicious course brought ruin on US
both. He contracted debts which L
had to pay F; ran away in evil com
pany and | heard nothing from him
for years.
"When | did it was, AS usual, with
demand for money. He was then
in Switzerland rs a waiter, | believe
at the hotel Les Trois Sages-the
signor knows il Of course, all the
EngIish know it; and there it was
| afterward heard that he, in the act
probably of attempting some des-
perate crime, fell one night into the
Rhine and was picked up dead rs
appeared. Only by q miracle coul
it have been that his body was not
carried straight away down over the
falls at S3hahhausen but it seems
he became entangled with the chain
of the ferry which crosses the Rhine,
as You know, little below the hotel.
Here again by miracle it CHANGED
that he was seen by some mon who
were early working at some timber
RATS, and was by them carried ashore
as | have said for dead !"
''But was he p | inquired with an
anxiety 1 could i'll disguise, as the
old man paused.
Ono, sigpor; it was not his des.
tiny to be rowned-would that it
had been, for then he would have
been saved from the commission Of
his greatest crime. No; he was re-
stored, to return to me and pile upon
me further anguish"
Gle came back to BermagO year
or two after to q small inn, which !
was keeping, and in a drunken brawl
with some of his loose companions
he used hls knife with fatal result
upon an unarmed man, whose friend
on the instant stabbed my son to The
heart. That is all, signor; but the
remembrance of his career has been
far worse for me than the darkness. y
"And the watch" [ suggested,
with sense of relief quite inexpres-
sibly, "was found in his possession p
eyes, signor but | doubt if be
had come by it honestly, for they tell
me there are device and letters on
the back in no way belonging to him
But still | treasure it for bis sake, or
rather for his mothers, for be was
all that remained to me of her, aud
she idolized him for the five years
she was spared after his birth and,
added the old man, 10 somewhat
more cherry tone, as if the recital Of
his troubles had relieved him, 80
good English watch is useful to a
blind man."
Most assurdly the last thing in my
thoughts was to deprive him of his
treasure. was only too well repaid
for my loss by what had just heard
only too grateful for being able after
all even to look back on what
nevertheless still call My Murder.