Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-04-22

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etaut.

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In the collection Of curicsities pre-
served in the arsenal Of Venice there Is
key, Of which the following singular
tradition is related: about the year
1890 one Of those dangerous men, in
whom extraordinary talent is only the
fearful source of crime and wicked
ness beyond that Of ordinary men,
came to establish himself as q
merchant or trader in Venice. The
stranger, whose name was Tebaldo,
became enamored Of the daughter
Of an ancient house, already atiianced
TO another. He demanded her hand IN
marriage, and was, Of course, rejected.
Enrsged at this, he studied how to be
revenged, Profoundly skilled in the
mechanical arts, he allowed himself no
rest until he had invented the most
formidable weapon which could be i'm
aeined. This was key Of large size,
the handle Of which was so constructed
that il could be turned round with but
little difficulty; when turned, it dis
covered a spring, which, on pressure,
launched from the other end
needle or lancet Of such subtle
fineness that il entered into the flesh and
buried itself there without leaving ex-
ternal trace. Tebaldo waited in dis
guise at the door Of the church in which
the maiden whom he loved was about
to receive the nuptial benediction. The
assassin sent the slender steel upper
ceived into the breast Of the bride
groom. The wounded man had no sus-
picion of injury, but, seized with a sud
den and sharp pain in the midst of the
ceremony, he tainted and was carried
to his house amid the lamentations of
the bridal party. Vain was all the
skill of the physicians, who could not
divine the cause Of this strange illness.
and in few days he died. Tebaldo
again demanded the hand Of the maiden
from her parents. and received second
refusal. They, too, persisted miserably
in few days. The alarm which these
deaths, which appeared almost miracu-
lous. occasioned excited the utmost
vigilance Of the magistrates, and when,
on close examination of the bodies,
the small instrument was found
in the gangrened flesh, terror
was universal; every one feared for
his own life. The maiden thus cruelty
orphaned had passed the first months
Of her mourning in convent, when Te-
baldo, hoping to bend her to his will,
entreated to speak to her ct the gate.
The face Of the foreigner had ever been
displeasing to her, but since the death
Of all most dear to her it had become
odious las though she had a pre-
sumption of his guilt, and her
reply was most decisive in the ne
gatiye. Tebaldo, beyond himself
with rage, attempted to wound her
through the gate, and succeeded; the
obscurity Of the place prevented his
movement being observed. On her re-
turn to her room the maiden felt pain
III neT breast, anu uhOo'V'h'b !" ""N
found it spotted with a single drop of
blood. The pain increased; the sur
geon who FASTENED to her assistance
taught by the past-wasted no time in
conjecture, but, cutting deep into the
wounded part, extracted the needle be-
fore any mortal mischief had com
menced. and saved the life of the lady.
The State inquisition used every means
to discover the hand which dealt these
insidious and irresistible blows. The
visit of Tebaldo to the convent caused
suspicion to fall heavily upon him. His
house was carefully searched, the in
famous invention discovered, and he
persisted on the gibbet."