The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-01-06


"These ladies are not coming Into tn,
house-Heaven forbidi-they are stayin,
at the Armi d d'Inghilterra, and l must q
and call upon them at once"
"A-ahp and Assunta's tone of relic
| spoke volumes. She briskly inquired il
they were relations of the "padrone."
| Certainly not" responded the Pro
lessor, "a great deal worse. They arr
foreigners, Englishwomen, cousins of {
scientific man to whom l am indebted
for some very valuable memoranda. HI
asks me to do all / can for these ladies'
who intend spending the winter here
Now | ask you, what do I know about
ladies? how can make their stay enjoy.
able, as l am asked to dor And with a
despairing slap to the unwelcome letter
he threw it down on the table, thereby
inticting huge smear on a newly writ
ten page of the elaborate treatise to
which all his spare time had been dedica-
ted for the last two years.
"You must have patience, sir" replied
the housekeeper, with compassionate
shrug. "You can explain to them that
you are much occupied, and-oh, yes!
you might present them to Marchesa G.
and Countess T., and then you would
not have to trouble yourself any more
about them" ~. " ~
"Brava. Assunta; that is bright ideal
Now, If l am to have any dinner to-day,
! had better be off at once" And siezing
his hat and gloves with stern resigna-
tion, he rushed out Of the house with
the air of martyr. '. "' .;.fH|
His thoughts were full of bitterness
as he walked through the town to the
Armi dInghilterra. Why had this in
Fiction come upon him? Had he not
supplied his English friend, Professor
Thomson, with careful details of the
special haunts and hours of flight of the
five varieties of bats that were indigo
nous to the city7 Surely by that means
he had sufficiently acquitted his debt to
his correspondent Visions of all the
most Objectionable British females he
had, ever seen or heard of suddenly
surged through hisexcited brain. Mum
bers of pleasant islanders frequented this
southern city, and must frequently have
passed before our hero's eyes, but at this
juncture he could think Of nothing but
the traditional Englishwoman that Ger
tain Italian journalists delight to depict.
Freckled faces with projecting yellow
teeth, inflamed compilations, red hair,
mushroom hats, green wells, big hands
and clumsy feet began to dance before
his minds eye, and made him feel almost
giddy by the time he reached the door
Of the hotel. AS he walked up the stairs.
preceded by a waiter who had addressed
him in French, it occurred to him that
of course the ladies would know no
Italian and probably little French. He
lad to stop and wipe the dew of terror
from his brow. His own command of
French was slight, and of
English he could not pronounce word,
though he read the language with ease.
While waiting in the reading-room he
;ried to compose a few French sentences,
,ut all that suggested itself to him was
! very inappropriate passage from Rabef-
lis, whose works he had picked up at
,reat bargain few days before. He
eized French newspaper, and was des-
,erately searching the feuilleton for suit
BILE phrases, when the door opened, and
wo of the expectant Gorgons appeared.
hey were, however, SO unlike his dis
ased imaginings, that it was only the
ght of his own card in the hands Of the
der of the two that made him hurried
7 rise from his chair.
Tro BE CONTINUED