The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1881-07-14

again. had not forgotten the debt of
gratitude I owed him, but PauIine's fears
impressed me more deeply than [ knew,
and I was glad that he had chosen of his
own free will to avoid us.
son the eve Of our wedding I met
Angelo by chance at the door of my lodg-
ings. He was engaged in conversation
vita the lodge-keeper's daughter a
coarse, low browed Catalonian girl. He
turned sharply as l approached and the
girl retreated in haste. He looked at me
suspiciously and as if he feared I had
overheard their conversation.
''rhe girl is going to Rome to-mor-
row." he said, 81 wish to send a message
by her."
Very good" I returned, ''but by the
way, cousin, [ az. to be married to.mor-
row; will you not be present?"
Salvatore, don't count on any event
until it is accomplished. My words seem
mysterious to you. Well, come to my
lodging with me and will explain"
His old manner gave me a sense of
underlined alarm, but [ permitted him to
take my arm and lead me to his lodgings.
His rooms were on the top floor of an old
building. The arched windows were
shaded by masses of rank vines, and
glazed with squares of stained glass,
--rrT, Il
4 taper was burning on the table, and
near it stood bottle and two glasses.
Evidently Angelo had counted upon my
visit and had prepared to be genial for
once in his life. He invited me to sit at
the table and took a seat opposite to me.
He filed the two glasses with wine.
noticed, incuriously, that he held his
hand over my glass an instant before he
passed it to me.
''To the future" he said as we drank,
"And what is that future to be to you,
Salvador? Not the idle dream of happi-
ness you have cherished 1t must be
what 1 choose to make it. Your life,
Salvatore is in my hands"
81 stared at him speechlessly. Had
the man gone mad?
''In that glass of wine," he continued,
with low, deliberate accent, 'was
subtle poison known only to myself If
l 50 will it you must die and leave no
sign by which to convict me of the crime.
[ do not desire your death, but 1 do de-
sire something from you which only the
fear of death can extract. If you refuse
to comply you have but half an hour to
live. No human power but mine can
save you for L alone possess the anti
dote."
81 looked wildly at his haggard face.
What [ saw there convinced me that he |
spoke the truth.
"What have I done to deserve this?' [
cried. "What do you wish me to dol'
Salvatore" he said, with a harsh, vi
brating voice, lyon forced ne to the bed
side Of Pauline di Porta You tempted
me to visit her afterwards. / warned
you, but you would not heed the warn
ing. 1t has come to this-I love her. [
love her well enough to sacrifice my sal
vation for her. You must yield her to
me or die
"Ihen 1 will die where I sit. Do your
worst"
'He glanced at me with a haggard
smile.
''See what love can do even with one
SO weak as you," he said s'See what it
has done with an iron man like me. [
pity you but I will not yield. I saved
her life and it belongs to me-
"You are a madman as well as a vii
lain. Thank God she is safe from you
whatever happens to me.
Read that paper" he reterned, with
out needing my outburst. cit contains
my conditions"
81 read it by the feeble light of the
taper. Ii was letter to Pauline break
ing our engagement il insulting terms,
and stating that l had left for Rome in
company with my lodge keepers daugh-
ter. When [ had finished he said:
Il have bribed the-g girl to leave Padua.
Copy that letter, sign it and go where
ever you please in safety SO that you
never see or communicate with Pauline
again. On these terms you are safe, not
otherwise"
81 tore the paper into a hundred frag-
ments.
"You have mistaken your man" said
sternly. ''Sooner than bulge foot,
sooner than disgrace my love with such
cowardly dishonor, L would die twenty
deaths-I will die proclaiming your crime
in the streets"
Il arose and attempted to reach the
door, but could not. The fatal poison
had already paralyzed my limbs, and I
sank back into the chair with groan. -
Reflect, Salvatore" he exclaimed,
with a long life yet before you, you
have time to forget Pauline and seek
happiness elsewhere. With death all
human things cease to be. But little
time is left for you to decide. 1t was ten
O'Clock when you drank the wine, it is
now five minutes past the hour. In 25
minutes you viii cease to breathe"
He drew out his watch and placed it
on the table. 1t lay in patch Of the
blood-red light from the taper. I glane-
ed at its hands and saw that they pointed
five minutes past ten. watched it while
the slender bars of steel moved over five
minutes more of my life, and then gazed
up at my destroyer's face.
1t had faded to the color of ashes and
his eyes met mine with look of horror.
Vile as he was he could not see ne die
unmoved.
a.