The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-11-24
A QUEER THANKSGIVING.

cts the loneliest old place in Rom :,
this Palazzo Comparini," said Thor 4,
an American painter, to Giuseppe, the
porter. Giuseppe always lounged at a
door that led from the courtyard into q
darkness and dampness supposed to be
his apartment. Giuseppe was white
haired and bent, and after the fashion
of the italian lower orders, felt almost
past work at fifty, but certainly not past
the pleasures of conversation.
"Certo, signore, the palace is lonely
enough nowadays, but the Oomparinis
used to be rich, and kept up a great
state. No grass in the court then, no
mold on those marble steps, no silence,
no foreign painters on the top floor
without otfense to you, signore). Then
the young count-ah, we'll, he was a
rare here the old porter fell to
laughing" gay one, and a care
less one. He went to Paris, and, whew!
away went the money. The villa was
sold, the property on the Corso was
sold, the palace at Naples was sold, and
back came the count, as merry as ever,
and got married Married young wife,
and then away went her fortune. Paris
again; horses, gambling, betting, and
worse. Five years ago he died-died
merry, too. A pleasant man was the
count F"
Very pleasant man." said Thorn
grimly. Then he squandered every
thing p
Except this palace; and that would
have gone if he had lived"
Hon, ol b.c WITT, ~
"Nell, her father gave hel some
thing more, and then here's the palac,
ct. Wait, signore."
Giuseppe SD. fllAd off toward Young
lady WHO had Just entered, and VIII,
beckoued him frDln the staircase. She
was \ittle person. with low brow al,
wonderful liquid Southern eyes and a
row of small teeth like, as Thorn men
tally remark ed, sweet corn. She had a
dimple ia one cheek only. You couldn't
ask mate in the other cheek, for such
dimple couldn't possibly be repeated.
She had small straight nose anda full
mouth; she was brown, and she vas
quick, yet languid. She talked with
Giuseppe i'll lively fashion, yet leaned
against pedestal, like a weary nymph
in picture. All this Thorn noted
Then he caught Giuseppe's name as she
pronounced il, with that gentle separa-
tion OF the syllables, as if for lingering
more tenderly On each.
What lovely name the old wretch
has !" he thought. AS the little lady
tripped lightly up the stairs he was very
glad to ask the old wretch, and right
eagerly too, "Wbo is the signorina ?"
"The Countess Vittoria Comparini." I"
"Does she live here p
"Of course. On the second floor"
"Does she-does nybody-does she
have many visitors ?" stammered Thorn,
adding, to Limself, "Confound this
what he means"
Giuseppe caught the meaning pretty
surely, for he answered: "Certainly,
signore, the countess sees her own
friends"
"You mean the foreigners-that is,
the Romans"
81 mean the Romans, not the for
eigners. Ladies like herself, and gen.
tlemen like the count, her late hus-
band"
"Like the fellow that spent her
dowry."
81 mean gentlemen-people who
don't work as l do. or as"
cha ha as do" laughed Thorn.
Well-yes, signore," said Giuseppe,
with polite hesitation.
"Here's q genuine old wo'Id crea-
ture," thought Mr.. Thorn, nct little
amused, untouched by epui,licanism,
communism or nihilism. Pray that his
mistress is D'Nr noderr .Onl so, access
ible."
A vain prayer it seemed, for in pay
ment of month of cold sentinel duty
on the marble stairs, often an hour at a
time, Mr.. Thorn had met the Countess
Comparini but twice. Once she passed
him with slight bow and downcast
eyes as he politely lifted his hat; and
one morning she looked up with a
"Grazie, signore," as he restored the
prayer.book that she had let fall on re-
turning from early mass. This wasn't
the American way of getting on with a
lovely woman, so Thorn applied to an
italian fellow at the bankers who talked
English. --.
"Posseeble to know the Countess
Comparibi, my dear fellow? No. The
countessa is of an old house. She likes
not the foreigners. Imposseeble, my
dear boy"
''Is itf" said Thorn, and shut his
teeth in good New England fashion.
"We'll see." .r .4-
Then he lounged about town for days,
making acquaintances among the nobili-
ty. Counts and marquises in plenty he
came to know, for Thorn was only pleas
ing Bohemian fancy by lodging in an
old palace, and could afford to stand
dinners for even the hungriest mobiles in
Italy. But no luck. Invariably he
found the Countess Comparini inap-
proachable, frequenting small circle,
but not inclined to foreign society.