Daily Republican., 1885-07-27
THE KEY OF DEAThT.

In the collection of curiosities pre
served in the arsenal of Venice, the. "a
IL key OF which the following singular
tradition Ia related -
About the year 1900 one of those
dangerous men, in whom extraord mary
talent Is only the fearful source of
crime and wickedness beyond that of
ordinary men, came TO establish him.
self as merchant or trader in Venice.
The stranger whose name was Tebaldo,
became enamored Of the daughter of an
ancient house, already afffanced to
another. He demanded her hand in
marriage, and was. of course, rejected.
Enraged Mt this, he studied how to be
revengtd.
Profoundly skilled in the mechan ical
arts, he allowed himself no rest until he
had invented the most formidable
weapon which could be imagined. This
was key of large size, the handle of
which was 80 constructed that 1t could
be turned round with little difficulty;
when turned 1t discovered a spring,
which, on pressure, launched from the
other end needle or lancet of such
subtle fneness that it entered into the
flesh and buried itself there without
leaving external trace. Tebaldo waited
in disguise at the door of the church in
which the maiden whom he loved was
about to receive the nuptial benedic.
ton.
The assassin sent the slender steel
unperceived into the breast of the bride
groom. The wounded man had no
suspicion OF injury, but seized with q
sudden and sharp pain in tho midst Of
the ceremony he tainted, and was car
ried to his house, amid the lamentations
of the bridal party. Vain was all the
skill Of the physicians, who could not
devise 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 q second
refusal. They, too, perished mlserably
In few days.
The alarm which these deaths
which appeared almost miraculous
occasioned, excited the utmost vigilance
of the magistrates and when, in 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 pa ,sed the
first months of her mourning in con-
vent, when Tebaldo, hoping to bend her
to his will, entreat5d to speak with her
at the gate. The face of the foreigner
had been ever displeasing to her, but
since the death Of all those most dear
to her it had become odious Gas though
she had a presumption of his guilt, )and
her reply was nc ost decisive in the mega
tive. Tebaldo, beyond himself with
rage, attempted to wound her through
the crate, and succeeded the obscurity
of the place prevented his movem ents
being observed. On her return to her
room the maiden felt a pain in her
breast, and uncovering it, she found it
spotted with a single drop of blood. The
pain increased; the surgeon who has
tened to her ssistance-taught by the
past-wasted no time in conjecture, but,
cutting deep into the wounded part, ex-
tracted the needle before any mortal
mischief had commenced, and Saved
the life Of the lady. The State inquisi-
tion used every means to discover the
hand who dealt these insidious and
irresistible blows. The visit OF Tebaldo
to the convent caused suspicion to fall
heavily upon him. The house was
carefully searched, the infamous inven-
tion discovered, and he perished on the
zibbet