Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1885-09-11
and taking her hand, c urged her
immadi Ia deuarlu,e

| caused by this astOpsh ne announce
ment; for she now heard for the first
time, that Rodolpho was such char
acter lis own account OF himself
had been indie mite, but satisfactory to
her for the me be ng. and she had no
occasion thus far TO suspect him.
Least of all q d she imagine that her
| fortune had u1t2d her i'm wedlock
with the chief of a band of robbers.
She hcsitated; but Count Donati con-
| tinued to urge her forward.
''Come, Francesca, cOnlide in the
man who has proved himself your
| friend; come. and rely upon tee honor.
the confidence, and the love of one
who never deceived you; come quick
ly! Everything shall be duly ex-
planned But d. not defer this oppor-
tunity to escape from tho peril which
| threatens you
Bcwldered, gr.cvcd. astonishcd, yet
coniiding in the Il ltcmcnt If the person
she had known for years. Francesca
| suffered herself To be led from her
| chamber, through the corridor the
| great entrance hall below. in silence;
for her heart seemed ready to bur st
with the crushing information which
| had been impaired to her. A carriage
| stood in wa ting ut the portal; and as
/ she was about TO emerge from the pri-
vate door of the hotei. her reason
seemed to return TO her, and. with n
| look of unutterable anguish and love
| combined, she turled to Count Donati,
and uttered the name of Claudio.
ado not speak that word here, Fran
| ar ont ha,
panion. "Rcmcmbcr, he is not known
here, save a, the Count Autienne. He
may be disposed to repay the evil he
has done, and he may yet escape also.
But, ha! I go TO confer with him.
"Claud'J! my husband Oh, Sig
nor, sparS me the pain of such a Separ
alton, suoh flight as tn s. bcSeech
you, allie " nc to speak with him one
word, Que single sentence, ut part M,
and viii 20 under your guidance
Willingly"
> mo. Francesca, responded Coun.
! Donati; "ro; that ouch IA course would
be fatal. We haze n time for this
i BE advised by your old guard an.
| Come. You will be borne t. the house
of nsar friend of m,ne, close at hand,
and Twill communicate with YOU again
within two hours"
With these last words. Francesca
j was ur gcd forward, and placed within
/ the vehicle; the door was closed; and
the wife of Claudio. all unconscious Of
Ler destination or her fate, was
/ hurried away from the 10 el to place
/ prepared for her, and previously
! agreed upon between Count Donati
and tho driver who had been heavily
bribed for his service.
All this had cup cd but a few min
utcs of time; and Count Donati immc-
! diatcit afterward made his appear
ancc, d sguscd as we have seen, in the
/ apartment of the Count Aulicnne The
interview of the two robbers succeeded
| this transaction. Count Donati was
secured, and lay pinioned. In the re
cess the letter ha been written by
Rodo!pho, the remainder of the band
had depart d, and Rodolpho went to
seek his wife; but, rs we have stated,
| sho was nowh re to b., found.
Rodolpho could scare il credit or
realize the fact; but h wit Il 4 not de-
scrt him. He fancicd a hundred ways
! to account for her absence. though he
| at once sought for her in cverV direc-
ton. She might have returned to the
garden alone, he thought-though such
was not her custom; he threaded every
avenue there without success. He re-
turned to her room; she was not there.
| He inquired Of TIL ne ht servant; but
no one knew n wo d about the matter
In vain he as ;ayed 10 trace her out.
! Could she have cloped? No. no. lie
was cruel thus to suspect her for a mo
ment. She must have oincd Pierre
and his party, probably through "A mis-
undo standing on his Lieutenant part.
He wandered through the hous', ut
terly forgetful of everything save the
| mysterious appearance of his be-
! loved wife. At last n morn was APP
! preaching, lie met by chance one of
! the attendants who had seen Francesca
as she stepped into the carriage, a all
OF them moved away at about the
same time.
He 50 informed the Count; and il wa
/ but a very few minutes before Rodol-
/ pho, greatly relieved in mind was gal
Looping at full speed toward the rem
/ devious.
| Morning broke ut last; and at a rca-
/ sonably early hour, the attendant who
| had been entrusted with Rodolpho's
! letter. delivered il, rs instructed. into
! his MASTER hands. II was a strange
missivc. and n yer; imprudcnt onc-so
/ thought the landl lrd; bat he lost no
| time in proceeding TO the spot desig-
mated, where he found Count Donati.
helpless and greatly exhausted. and
| whom he caused to be released at
once from his jeopardy aud DURANGO
The old Italian was not seriously in
! jurcd, and his plans had thus far
worked so well that hs spirits very
soon revived, and he told his own
story to the landlord, who at once
agreed to keep qu G, for good and
| valuable cOnsid tration. The chief oh.
! .cct of Count DOnati to wit, the sep
! aration Of Francesca from Claudio,
! and the obtaining possession of his
ward again-had Teen accomplished
and he was well satisfied with his sue
cess thus far. But his enemy and his
clan had es capcd, certainly; and this
he regretted. However, he would
follow them up; there was yet ample
! time to enable him 10 be avenged upon
the man whom hc hal taught to be a
william. and who had for time OBJ
tanned the advantage over him, wicked
and cunning and reckless as he had
/ himself been.
Claudio reached the gorge beyo1d
Vccchia, and quickly communicated
| with Pierre and hi, men; but no word