Litchfield enquirer., 1880-11-11
THE SPECTRE OF MILAGGI0.
By THE AUTHOR OF THE ABODE OF SNOW

By THE AUTHOR OF THE ABODE OF SNOW
+ On starting from Munich to proceed to Italy
through portion of the Tyrol and Switzerland,
contented myself with taking only KNAPP
sack, and handed over my luggage to Ba-
varian spediteur, who engaged that it should
reach Florence in perfect safety by certain
| day. But the word spediteur mlst be taken
ironically, and translated .'delayer," not sex
petiter," just as eilwagen should be rendered
''slow coach" Days, weeks, months. passed
after the appointed time, but OF the luggage
| nothing could be seen or heard in Florence.
Vain were all inquiries of the Italian agent
vainly was,my knowledge of German taxed
| to the uttermost in writing letters to Munchen
of every kind, from the threatening and in
dignant to the appealing and pathetic. With
such experience before me it appeared certain
that to- leave Florence would be to lose my eff
,. fects forever; because, though they might
pursue, these pertmanteaus,t in the hands OF
spediteurs, were not very likely ever to over
take their proper owner until he had reached
that bourne where they could no longer be OF
the slightest use to him. There were also
| serious objections to giving up my luggage
altogether and at once, seeing that it con-
tanned some valued manuscripts, letters of in
| PRODUCTION, sketch books, certain mementoes
of affection. and my degree of Pm. d. More
over and here was the great grievance
withoutit scarcely knew how Immediately
to supply myself with money, and SOME cur
ious adventures in Milan had exhausted my
purse. Not expecting any immediate need of
more cash, several manuscripts, and among
others, handbook of German art, which a
London publisher had engaged to purchase,
had been rashly committed to the spediteur,
and were now, for all knew to the contrary,
buried in an avalanche among the Alps, or in
course of being used by banditti for lighting
cigars. 1t was impossible to leave Florence
until small sum was had some way or other,
so there was nothing for but to remain where
l was, and to take up the pen, which. OF all
means of imposing upon the world, most
despise and hate.
One day in the Ufizii when sketching the
sculptures of the Niobe group in small note
book with lead pencil, a dark compact young
man, who might have passed for an italian
but for his loose dress Of. English tweeds, asked
if ! felt inclined TO furnish number Of such
sketches as those on which I was engaged, as
he thought they conveyed a better idea OF
statues than engravings could give. This
proposal, which was not unacceptable at the
time, led to friendly acquaintance with Ben
ton, who presented a curious combination OF
taciturnity with considerable love of compan-
ionship. He often brought to my recollection
d Story WHICH tue lCaiidns tell -OtF Loiu WI
liam Bentnck in illustration of English char
acter That nobleman (afterward one of the
greatest of the Governor Generals of India) !,
according to their account, once spent night
along with brother, in a suspicious inn at
the foot of the Aruzzi. Next morning they
drove On for many miles, without exchanging
a single word, until the younger, being the
weaker minded, ventured to say: "Did you
hotice a dead man under the bed last night,
William ?" To this question William only
deigned to reply, ''Yes, what of it?" and the
brother closed the conversation by saying
quite abashed, "Oh, no:hing!" or, as the
Italians tell it, with most amusing grimace
and emphasis, ''Niente! niente!" Benton
was just the man to have taken part in such
a conversation; but at times on certain sub
jects, and when along with only one compan-
ion, he would talk readily enough. Being
sometimes myself given to intervals of silence
and very much occupied at that time with
speculation on my. portmanteaus as phenome-
ma in time and space, his society was quite
copgenial Though very deficient in general
information, like most Englishmen fresh from
college, and not in good health. there was
something so sincere manly and strong about
him, that even his melancholy was not felt
oppressive. Almost every evening we met,
and sauntered together along the Cascne. or
through the streete Of the town. smoking in
silence, or discussing various matters, but al
ways observing closely.
81 am always coming across that dirty
looking fellow" said Benton sharply on one
of these occasions indicating an Italian who
seemed absorbed in the perusal of his news
paper. ~. h-
s.Ah forgot to tell YOU" was my reply,
''that that profigste-looking youth is the
guardian angel appointed to watch over you
by the Minister of Police. Every. stranger
who comes here at present is closely tracked
for the first few weeks of his stay, unless his
bankers can vouch for his political orthodoxy
and you are 50 very like an Italian, that you
aiay expect to be haunted SO long as you are
in FlorenceV ga " 81 }is sHj5s3'.tt .3jsls edi
"My grandmother, believe was Roman
and therefore am to be logged about! Con
found their impotence they might, at least.
have set some one with clean shirt to look
after me. And this is not the first annoyance
of the kind No sooner had 4 landed at Leg
horn then was arrested an an Italian illegal,
ly using British passport, thought could
not speak two words of the language. But
bow do you know that he 10 q spy upon
me?" sFil
because was told-of the practice and
after that there was no difficulty in discover
ing both your guardian and emine.i Luckily,
myfriend has slackened his diligence of late.
finding that dine regularly at restaurant
frequented by Austrian officers, and converse
with them 10. their own tongue. German
here covers multitude of sins.'' esI @I.a,
1T was about midnight thatI crossed the
Porte Trinita.--the most graceful bridge in the
world in order to- reach my rooms on the
south side of the Arno.,l AS had been before
arranged, fingered little over the third
arch, and was soon greeted by tall man In
loose cloak, who followed me at a little dis
lance, and assembled the hong stairs which led
to the ultimo piano, where my lodgings were,
overlooking the tawny stream, Beyond Lotlr
first greeting, no words were exchanged be.
tween US, and he also kept his face carefully
concealed. Taking parcel from under his
cloak, he laid 1t on the table, and, making me
a low bow, retired as silently as he had come.
| have not the remotest idea who, this indi-
vidual was: and do@not even know what
the parcel contained, though. on that latter
point, various suspicious have suggested them
selves to me. All know with certainty is,
that it was considered of much importance by
the revolutionary party sithat Che risk of car
rying it would have been in case of detection.
much greater to an italian than it could have
been to an Englisnlnan; and that it was most
expedient In Che event of its being seized, that
there should be 40 possibility of tracing it TO
the source from whence it, Acame. Il under
took to carry it partly from private friend
ship, partly for the fun ofthe thing, and
without troubling myself as to iss contents. p
+ On starting next morning. I kept the dan
gerons parcel suspended from my arm. with a
thick coat thrown over it, because all luggage
is examined in entering heghefn; and was
finding myself Unattended by the spia or
mouchard, whose business it was to keep an
eye upon me-. Just as the train was starting,
however he rushed nm in an excited tate and