New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1886-07-28

from the very first, and about which
Beppo was always silent. Indeed,
after half a dozen trips we found that
he never looked at it, and, in spite of
our drawing his attention to it and
asking him about it, resolutely turned
his head toward the opposite side of
the canal.
At length we became so importunate
that he answered us:
::'That palace, gentleman, is held by
the greatest prig among all the Aus
TRAN prigs, the colonel OF the army Of
occupation. No, gentlemen, do not
think of landing there, I pray you;
there is nothingto beseenin it. Moth
ng-nothing at ALL
And, before we could insist, q few
rapid strokes had carried us away,
and Beppo was explaining something
else with more volubi]lity than usual
One Of us sketched the little palace,
with it's quaint arabesque arches and
deep balconies, it's escutcheons and its
gaudily painted mooring posts, but
under Beppo's guidance we could get
no farther.
One evening our gondola came along
side with another man in it. Beppo
was i'll and had sent substitute in
his stead.
It was a beautiful evening -one of
those evenings typically known as
Venetian-still. dark, calm, a deep
blue sky above absolutely bright with
stars, a moon shining SO clearly that
one seemed able to see far behind it,.
the still blackness of the water alone
broken by the deep reflection OF the
lights on shore.
Ordinarily the water would have
been alive with gliding gondolas and
the air light with laughter and dis
tant music, but not even the beauty
OF the night could tempt those abroad
who were kept in by the presence OF
the hated invader.
'Down the Grand Canal" we said as
usual. And the man bent to his oar,
past the Doges palace, with it's senti-
mel columns of St. Theodore and St.
Mark; past the hotels, silent and de-
serted, although 1T was midsummer;
past the palaces, for the most part util-
lied as barracks, and displaying more
than their usual signs of animation.
until we camel to what we termed "our
palace" The upper windows were
lighted up, but below all was darkness
save where the moon shone on the bay
onet Of the Austrian sentinel.
We drifted on, stopping here and
there to feast our eyes on the strange,
weird, moonlit scene, and did not turn
the head of our gondola until nearly
midnight.
AS we approached our palace on the
return journey we were aware OF an UNI
usual scene. Acrowd ofgondolas were
about the steps, and up the little rio
which ran by the side OF the building,
filled with men in white uniforms bear
ing lanterns; the entrance was filled
with noisy, gesticulating crowd; lights
fitted to and fro in the upper Win
dows-evidently something extraordi-
nary had happened.
We directed our gondolier osteer in
and ask the matter. He did so, and
hailing a comrade who was sitting in
his boat smoking cigar, received for
an answer:
"The pig Of Colonel has been kill
ed, thanks to the saints.
And so it proved to be, for on the
landing at the square few minutes
later, we found the cafes and arcades
filled with white coats, who were eager
ly and angrily discussing the news.
Another extraordinary thing was
that we had Beppo no more as gon-
dolier during our visit.
ENiffoo,, al o~ooI hoI OF,
bled on my old travelling companion,
and we resolved to visit our love of
other days. The long span OF years
seemed like dream as we found our
selves again in the presence of the old,
ever new palaces and churches under
theglorious sky aforementioned so we'll,
and once again in gondola. But
Venice had put on another face during
this time. The white coats had dis
appeared, there was life and gayety;
but traces Of the occupation were many
and patent in the shape Of windows
stripped Of their iron lattices, Of
their carvings and their embellish-
ments, of palaces let out to
glass and curiosity dealers. Venice
was more herself than she had been
under the Austrian dominion, but she
was still Venice dying.
We did not expect to meet with our
old friend Beppo after a lapse OF so
many years, but we asked after him
all the same. No one seemed to know
anything about him.
We made a trip in the old fashion
down the Grand Canal and paused
opposite our palace. It, too, had
changed with the times. There were
gay awnings over the balconies, deli
cate curtains in the windows, the
stone wall looked much brighter and
cleaner, the mooring posts had been
reprinted, and at the steps foated a
gondola manned by men in picturesque
livery.
We had been told that a man in
Italy by no means looks upon his
house in the light Of a castle. On the
contrary, he takes as a compliment
what we should regard as unwarran-
table intrusion, and more especially
in the case of foreigner. So we re-
solved that after being SO long shut
out We would try and see the little
palace which had so charmed us. Ac-
u. L. 4 L l. u