The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1886-07-29
STORY OF A PICTURE.

A gentleman on { train the other
day, to beguile the weary journey,
told a story which interested num-
bers of listeners. Said he: Il was a
guest of an old friend of mine in Chi
cago recently. and on retiring to the
guest chamber [ found hanging on
the wall picture, and involuntarily
| turned away. but some attraction 1t
possessed caused me to gaze at it
again, and the longer / looked the
more it engaged my attention 1t
was the portrait of a mans face SO
frightful and unearthly in its express
ion though by no means ugly, that l
found myself irresistibly attracted to
look at it. In bed my imagination
was filled with it, which broke my
rest. In the morning my host, seeing
that l slept poorly, asked the cause,
which was told. He exhibited much
vexation, and said that it was his or
der to remove that picture when any one
slept in that room 1t was indeed a
terrible picture. he said. but it was SO
finely executed, and came into the
family III such curious way, that he
could not bear to destroy it. The
story of it was this: My father was
travelling in Europe, and at Hamburg,
while eating at coffee house, observ-
ed a young man ofremarkable appear
ance enter and begin solitary meal
His countenance bespoke the keenest
| mental distress. and now and then be
would turn his head as if he heard
some terrible sound, and then shud-
| der, grow pale and go on with his
meal as before. My father noticed
the same young man IN the same place
daily for nearly week, and at length
became so much interested that he
spoke to him. His approach was not
| repulsed, and the stranger seemed tC
find some comfort from the tone OF
sympathy used by my father. He
was an Italian, poor and living by the
| strictest economy upon the slender
| profits of his art as painter. The in
timacy increased. and, as my father
| had friends in Hamburg, he was able
to throw some business IN the way OF
his new friend.
cat length the Italian, seeing that
my father seemingly wondered at his
| involuntary turning and shudderlng.
volunteered his story. He was ma
tive Of Rome and had been somewhat
familiar with a young nobleman; but
| a quarrel rose between them, and his
patron struck him. Stung to the
quick by the disgrace of the blow, he
| brooded over it. seeking some oppOr-
| tunity Tor revenge. His late friend
| now his enemy, was a nobleman, and
| he could not challenge him, and so he
secretly assassinated him. He fled
from the country and finally reached
Hamburg. One day few weeks after
| while walking In an unfrequented
street, he heard his name called III a
familiar voice, he turned around and
saw the face of his victim looking at
him with fixed eyes. From that time
he knew no peace. While walking,
talking, eating, painting, his attention
| would be attracted by the calling OF
his name in that tone which had
grown so terrible to him. At last, In
a mood OF desperation, when his
ghostly guest visited him In his studio
! one day he looked him squarely in the
face and drew a picture of him. That
drawing was afterward elaborated in
to a painting. The Italian said that
life had become an undurable burden
to him, and he was determined, when
he had obtained money enough, to re-
turn to Rome, give himself up to jus
tice and expiate his crime on the scat
fold. "-IndidnopOhs Journal