The Columbus journal., 1884-06-25

watched her like cats until Allesio was
well and back in Turin. As his letters
grew regular she regained her appe-
titc and was soon her joyous self once
more.
1t was my plan to join Miss Leslie in
Venice that spring, but before left
Florence 1 bought a wedding present
for Annina, which I confded to Pastor
Comba's care. She besought me to come
to her wedding. which was to take place
in September. and sobbed when told
her that in September hoped to return
to America.
"You will be in Europe again ?" she
said. lifting her fearful face from my
shoulder
..Yes. shall come to Europe again.
1 replied.
"Then you must surely pay Allesio
and ME long visit" She put her
mouth close to my ear. II shall he
his wife," she whispered. Il shall be
Annina Ghiandaja."
"The cab is herer' cried Pastor
Comha, and 1 tore myself free from
Annina's clinging arms.
She wrote me several letters that
summer. She seemed very happy. for
she was travelling with her parents. and
Allesio was with them for awhile. In
September, as l was speeding iowa d
London, an old gentleman in the rail
way carriage saw that l was reading
| Italian, and addressed me in that
tongue. He was very polite to me, in
a benign way, and told me that he was
a banker in Turin so l asked him if
he knew Giovanni Comba, the silk mer-
chant.
..Yes, indeed he replied; Il know
him and his family very we'll. Are you
acquainted with them?'
''With the signora and with An
nina," l said.
/ ..Ah. Annina." he repeated. Il
trotted her on my knee the other day,
and now she is engaged to be mar
ried."
Ito Allesio Ghianda;a," added.
''He is not worthy of her." said the
old banker. '.He drinks and he gam
bles. He went to Paris last spring, and
! returned half dead from the effects of
| dissipation. l hope COmba will break
of the match. Little Annina deserves
better husband"
just before the steamer sailed from
Liverpool received letter from An
nina. She wrote in the gayest of spir.
its, although she told me that her mar
risge had been postponed.
"Dear AllesiO must 60 to Lyons on
business" she wrote. ''but he will soon
return. l have made him little tray
cling cap of blae silk, and you cannot
/ 49, 4. L.. l. L. -. -
that he will not dare wear it. for all the
girls will fall in love with him, and he
will surely be carried of by somebody.
And then, he adds, what would you
do. Annina, naiae" All, what should /
dor'
So she ran on for ten pages-Allesio,
Allesio, always Allesio. 1 answered as
soon as reached New York, and in
the next letter l expected to hear of
Annina's marriage. As the weeks
slipped by pictured the child on her
wedding journey, too happy to write to
me or anybody else. The new year
dawned. clear. frosty day, the sky a
dazzling blue, and the air full of pow
derry snow that blew off the house-tops
On such a day the sentimental traveller
thinks of orange groves, of gray olive
orchards, of the blue, tide!ess sea
breaking on the Southern coast. 1t
was on that day that received my last
letter from Annina; for, although had
written to her several times, She had
ignored me completely. After l read
it brought out the letter that had
reached me in Liverpool, and re-read
that, hardly able to believe my own
eyes. Some day mean to go to Europe
again. and shall certainly look up An
nina. do not know what to think of
her. The letter received in
Liverpool was written in August;
the letter received in New
York was written four months later.
The last letter l will translate as
literally as possible. keeping the original
wonder if she dashed it OFF at fever
heat, or composed it carefully. biting
the pen-hOlder with her white little
teeth, and wrinkling her pretty brows!
If could answer this, should think
that l understood the mystery.
PIAZZA D'AzEGLIo.
TURIN, December.
DEAR Miss PENNIMAN:-Since last
wrote to you, so much has happened
that my poor brain is in quite whirl.
l am the happiest of women, the wife
of the best of men and mistress of the
prettiest house in all Turin. Just think,
a whole house! Mamma, who still
lives in an apartment, envies me, ]
know. 1t is q great thing to be mar.
ried. Everybody treats me with re-
spect, even mamma, but l must except
my cook, Assunta, who used to be my
nurse and who still considers me a
child and scolds me. l was mar
ried in white silk (hand embroid-
eredD and my husband gave me
pearls to wear. He is so good,
SO kind! 1 love him better every
day, if that were possible. Dear uncle
married us, and then went to Africa to
rescue the heather from their darkness.
We all pray that he may succeed in his
labors and that his health may hold
She wore her old gray silk at the we'd
ding, and cried all the time. l never
saw her cry before. but l suppose she
was thinking of Africa.
After the wedding. the journey! My
husband let me plan the route. Icould
not decide, SO he helped me, and we
bought guidebooks and maps. and final
ly we made up our minds to travel
through our own country. had never
been farther south than Florence. We
visited Genoa and Pisa, and finally went
to Rome, and spent two delicious weeks
there, visiting those monuments that
history has rendered so familiar We
both caught cold, and my husband was
i'll for two days and l nursed him, glad
to show my devotion and yet grieved
that he should suffer! He recovered en-
tirely and we were able to proceed to
Naples, where we fingered in rapture
before that beautiful bay SO often de-
scribed in prose and poetry. Then on
toPompeii!I thought of that terrible day
when Fesuvius overwhelmed the smi-
ling country and dealt death to men at
their labor, women with their children
in their arms. My husband bought me
some Pompeiian ornaments for mydraw-
ino room. but thew were so ugly that I