The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1885-12-11
CHAPTER I.
THE CARRIER PIGEON.

THE CARRIER PIGEON. II
Trieste, the capital of nlyria, con-
sists of two towns of widely dissimiliar
aspect. One of them-Theresienstadt
is modern and well-to-do. and squarely
built along the shore Of the bay from
which the land it occupies has been re-
claimed the other is old and poor and
irregular, struggling from the Corso, mp
the slopes of the Karst, whose summit
is crowded by the picturesque citadel.
The harbor is guarded by the mole OF
San Carlo, with the merchant shipping
berthed along side. On this mole there
may at most times be seen-and very
often in somewhat disquieting numbers
many groop of those houseless and
and homeless Bohemians whose clothes
might we'll be destitute of pockets, con-
sidering that their owners never had,
and to all appearance never, win have
the wherewithal to put into them.
To-day, however-it is the 18th Of
May, 1s67--two personsges slightly
better dressed than the rest are notice
able among the crowd. That they have
ever suffered from a superabundance of
forms or kreutzers is implorable, unless
some lucky chance has favored them
and they certainly look as though they
would stick at nothing that might in
duce that chance to come.
One of them calls himself Sarcany,
and says lie halls from Tripoli. The
other is Sicilian, Zirone by name
Together they have strolled up and
down the mole ct least dozen times,
and now they have halted ct its farthest
end and are gazing away to the horizon,
to the west of the Gulf of Trieste, as if
they hoped to sight the ship which is
bringing from home their fortune.
What time is it ?" asked Zirone in
italian, which his comrade spoke as
he did all the other tongues of the
Mediterranean.
Sarcany made no reply.
"Whnt fool am !" exclaimed the
Sicilian. lit is the time you are
hungry after you have had no break
fast !'
There is such mixture of races in
this part of Austria Hungary that the
presence of these two men, although
they We're obviously strangers to the
place, provoked no attention. And be-
sides, if their pockets were empty, no
one had reason to think so, thanks to
their long brown capes, which reached
even to their boots.
Sarcany, the youngest of the two,
was about five and twenty, and of
middle height, well set up, and of
elegant manners and address, Sarcany,
however, was not his paptisimal name,
and probably he had never been bap-
tized, being of Tripolitan or Tunisian
origin but though his complexion was
very dark his regular. features pro-
claimed him to be more of the white
than the negro. -..-~
IF ever plysiognony was deceptive,
it was SO in Sarcany's case. 1t required
singularly keen observer to discover
his consummate astuteness in that hand
some, plausible face, with its large dark
eyes, fine straight nose, and well-cut
mouth shaded by the slight moustache.
That almost impossible face betrayed
none of the signs of contempt and
hatred eugendered by constant state
OF revolt against society. If, as physi-
ognomists pretend-and they are not
unfrequently right-every rascal bears
witness against himself in spite of all
his cleverness, Sarcany could give the
association the lie direct. To look at
him one would suspect what he was and
what he had been. He provoked none
of that irresistible aversion we feel
towards cheats and scoundrels and, in
consequence, he was all the more
dangerous.
Where had Sarcany spent his child
hood No one knew. How had he
been brought up and by whom? In
what corner of Tripoli had he nestled
during his early years !? To what pro-
lection did he owe his escape from the
many chances of destruction in that
terrible climate? No one could say
maybe not even himself born by
chance, helped on by chance destined
to live by chance! Nevertheless, during
his boyhood lie had picked up certain
amount of practical instruction, thanks
to his having to knock about the world,
mixing with people of all kinds, trust
ing to expedient after expedient to
secure his daily bread. It was owing to
this and other circumstances that he
had come to have business relations with
one of the richest houses in Trieste.
mat Of the banker, Silas Torocthal,