The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-05-07

lace handkerchief. / have said that Sil
John was young and brave; Ms a conse.
quence he was impetuous and fiery
whilst being born and bred In free.
thinking, free.spenking country, he was
apt to express his thoughts M they carrie
TO his mind without reelection and with.
out fear. II was not surprising, there
fore, that one night, under the arcades
OF the Procuratie, while relating his loss
TO few friends, he should have said
what he thought of the vaunted secret
police of Venice. They were, he said, q
lot OF stupid fools, very pompous and
very stately, trying to hide their igno-
rihce and incapacitS under very high
sounding phrases but the meauest Lon
don detective was worth the whole lot OF
them. As to the secret council, he did
not believe it existed ut all; or if it did,
1t was no better than the rest.
All, Sir John if you needs must speak
So irreverently of the Serenissima, why
did Won not use your own language:
Why did You express your rash thoughts
in Italian? Did you not know that walls
have ears, and that every stone Of Venice
is spy?
His friends, astonished by this sudden
outburst, attributed il ut first to those
last glasses Of vino santo they had been
drinking together: but knowing full well
the jealous care the Serenissima had for
its reputation, they instinctively shrank
from him as from n dangerous man.
Awaiting themselves of favorable oppor-
tunities, they disappeared around dark
corners, down side alleys and very soon
Sin John found himself alone.
Alone! At least So he thought; but a
silent figure had been following him for
some time, and was now eagerly and
stealthily logging him. So carefully il
walked, so noiselessly it stepped, that for
long time Sir John did not notice this
unwelcome shadow, and even when he
did, he attached no importance to it.
But ut last he began to have some doubts
about this follower. Nothing could he
guessed from his appearance. Complete
ly wrapped up in dark cloak, and with
Il wide hat shading and concealing the
upper part of his face, the man would
not have been recognized by his own
brother. 1t was only the peculiar way
in which he followed, and the ability with
which he availed himself of every nook
and corner that implied danger.
Fearless still, but somewhat ANNOYED,
Sir John pursued his way through the
maze of alleys that led from the piazza
to his temporary home. Determined to
try To throw off his masked companion he
quickened his step; but at the next turn
ing glance back showed that ii was no
H,x-,,,,r Ia. Al. t,,,N.A ,-nnaI,al l,A
Ponte San Moise-one of the innumer-
able bridges that cross the minor canals
of Venice-he stopped on its steps to see
what his shadow would do. Astonished
at first by this new rule the man hesitated
n second, but n second only, and then
disappeared in the shadow of the church.
Our hero vainly strained his eyes in try
ing to find out whether he had really
gone, or whether he was only hiding be-
hind the columns and watching. He GER
tainly began to feel an intense interest in
this new chase, in which he seemed to be
the game hunted down. Then, con-
WINGED that he had seen the last of his
silent friend, he decided on continuing
his way home; and was just going to
move, when a cloak was thrown over his
head and chest, completely gagging him,
whilst several strong arms entwined
themselves round his body and effectual-
ly pinioned him. Before he could re-
cover his senses, voice whispered in
italian in his ear; "You are prisoner
of the Serenissima; resistance is of no
use."
Even after these words, the import of
which ne dimly guessed, Sir John would
have tried to strike one blow at least for
his life or for his liberty; but the clio ak
IN which he had-been wrapped up was
so artistically and 80 securely fastened
that he could not move a muscle nor
utter cry. There was no help for it;
and he doggedly awaited his fate. The
voices round him seem to hold Il short
conference, and then they lifted him
from the ground, and carrying him a
short distance, deposited him in what he
felt to be a gondola. The journey was
not long, though to him it seemed an age,
and very soon the rocking motion ceased.
They evidently had reached their desti.
nation. 4 few moments more and he
was landed In the same uncermonious
manner.
llltI uOpllN vi Ills b"OEu
securing his hands, his captors released
him from the folds of the mantle in which
he had been almost choked. He found
himself in a very small passage, dimly
lighted and intensely damp. The low
ceiling, the strong stone walls, the
massive iron doors that lined it, remind.
ed him at once of all he had heard and
read about the state prisons of Venice
and his heart sank within him. With
out, however, giving him much time fol
reflection, or asking him any questions,
his captOrs opened one of the cells,
thrust him in and bolted the door. LEFT
alone in the most absolute darkness, on
friend CROPPED about as well as his TIED
hands would allow him, until he found 6
stone bench, on which he dropped, com
pletely unnamed by the novelty and the
horror of his position.
He had heard of prisoners being KEEP
In these state prisons for months, even
for years, without light, with just enough
of the coarsest food to keep them alive,
and without the shadow of a Judgment
Others had been tried and executed
within these dark walls, and their friends
outside had never known their fate
Was he too going to disappear without {
struggle from the world? Was his body
going to be dropped into the "Cana
Grande?" Or was he to linger in his Gel
until his youth, his strength, and per
only n wreck of his former self, as ;
warming to others? There were many
in Venice, poor shattered beings, heart
broken, half-crazed, stunned by every
body, who had once been the leaders o.
fashion, of science or politics, until al
anonymous note dropped into the Lion'i
mouth had caused their arrest, and theil
trialess detention in the underground
or rather neutrality-suspicious. Of thu
SerenissIma.
But then, who could have denounced
him? Who could have IN interest in de
stroying him in this cowardly fashion
All the people he knew were above sus
picion; and yet even the Serenissimi
would not have arrested an Englishman
a kings messenger, without some gOot
reason. In that dreadful silence, broker
only by the quiet FLASHING of the waite
on the stone walls in which he was i'm
prisoned, his memory was PARTICULAR,
vivid, and recalled to his mind all tn
incidents Of his stay. At last he remem
bered those few hot, foolish words h
had used that very night; they, and the
alone could be the cause of his presen
condition. This, however, brought N
relief; it aggravated only his fears an
his dependency, since he well knew VIVA
awful punishments were inflicted o
those who, to use the Venetian phrase
"blasphemed the government.
Having settled the cause of his arrest
he gradually fell into dull, drowsy stat
of half unconsciousness, staring blindl
in the darkness. listening vacantly in th