Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-02-08
An arthauake Romance.

sa
Count Jeppi, who possesses and; en-
ormous fortane and one OF the eldest
titles Of the alstit ate. had made a love-
match. His e,ang wife was the 3daugiil--5s
ter of Prince t;inel Ia. et hereal rs q 5Ra-.
phaels andl radiant and blonde asa tit
ian. 1s.. iflss ight nlont rs Of the year
1thss k1ppy COUPE wcie ID the habit of
3iiiiyinsr al Firrenee hen tho crosses
I choleurs began tn - Il ents 10 his coauet
!. llistla villa, arRped with Vine branches,
on the side of lie mountain and near
4 tie sea at;at Casamie One even
ingg last July the Count left lis wife
AFTER dinner to ramble. according to
his custom, along the seashore.. The,
night WAS super b. Il 81 IA
Suddenly ( ito calth trelnblea as if
shaken blythe march Of admissible
army of giants. 'Ehe sky became over.
cast wit. black clouds, and the ground
craei1sI open EN- ittilsg blasts Of sui
1 phureus smoke. IheC Count was thrown
upon: his face senseless, When he be-
.rame conscious his first thought was Of
+ his Young Wife. 1 He retraced his steps
B through the village now 3 mass Of!
smoldering ruins, mangled humanity,
and burnt men and beasts. Cries arose
ON every side: '.Padre! Medre! Figlio!
Jesut Maria Santissimat'' Each stone
seemed to wall and moan. With cold
sweat dropping from histemples Count
Jeppi stepped over dead bodies and
climbed up walls of tottering houses,
will, the sole thought, '''Shall / arrive,
In timsf' At the .ccrner of 9 street 81.
hand, stiH rem1b1liinsg, projected above
was heard crying for help. Count Jep-,
pi dared not stop. He turned his head
aside ard hurried past. After having
missed bis way, and having twenty
times crossed and recrossed his steps,
Count Jeppi at last arrived before Whist
had once been his villa. A marrow end
Of wall was all that remained, stand
ing in the corner of which there remain
ed, quietly hanging from its nail, q
gildel wicker cage containing d young
dove which ltau beea the faverite pet
of the Countess. The Count felt him
self becoming feeble as a little child as
be gazed upon the terrible debris.
:, Suddenly he thought he heard a
voice. 'Ehe voice. seemed to come from
a great distance He strained every
nerve. Thea voice was heard again.
He recognized it as that of his wife. Il
will save her, y said the Count, and at
once went to work. He fell upon his
knees and began to dig into the smok-
ING ruins with his hands. The fine hot
plaster seemed to run through his
fingers like water. He lifted up with
his bleeding and burning hands heavy
stones and blocks that fell back again,
iamnsing and bruising him fearfully.
The distant feeble voice guided him.
Suddenly it ceased. He had been work
ing for nearly an hour. With the ex-
ertions uf despair he redoubled his la
bors. just as he was about to faint
away from exhaustion the debris on
which hs was standing caved in and
revealed an empty space filled with
smoke. Count Jeppi jumped into it,
and stretching out his arms, felt about
in every direction. His hand at last
touched something soft and clammy.
| 1t was the dead oody of his young wife.
He passed his. hand softly over: the
face. The mouth was opened, the eyes
were closed and the hair was tangled
and matted over the forehead. Car
| rcssing in the darkness the golden
! tressrs, he exclaimed: 'If you are still
| alive, speak or make some movement. "
| Being convinced of his wife's death he
tried to lift her out Of the terrible tomb
| in which he had found her. .s,1
Selling her by the shoulders he tried
to raise her up. But she. seemed to
have become terribly heavy, as if an
enormous weight was attached to her
+ feet:t At last. with one supreme effort,
he dragged the body near the opening.
But scarcely had he done SO when the
bereayed husband uttered a cry like
that OF a maniac. His wife pressed to
| her heart the corpse of a nan who had
! his right arm thrown about the fragile
waist, while his left held in its rigid
| grasp white rose that had not yet
Withered. The head was crushed and
no feature was recognizable. The man
wore no ring, and no clue OF any kind
could be discovered. The next day the
bodies were exposed to the villagers.
The Count stated that he believed that
he had found the body Of a long-lost
friend, and he offered $4,000 lire 10
any one who would make known and
prove the identity Of the strangers
corpse. , But all in vain. + The Count
had the bodies buried separately In the
cemetery Of Casamicciola, and is still
seeking to. discover the identity Of the
man. who had, stolen from him his
lwife's heart. re e i