Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-06-06

wanted of me. was going south on
Dearborn street, in the direction OF the
postoffice, when / noticed him follow
ing me, as had many times before.
He Jagged behind at the Monroe street
crossing and did not quicken his pace
till he came to the next alley. / was a
quarter OF block IN advance OF him,
at place where the sidewalk was we'll
lighted There 1 suddenly turned. as
IL / had forgotten something, and
walking quickly back. 1 confronted
the stranger before he had time to re-
trace his steps. To my great surprise
/ found him To be my old acquaintance,
Ranaele Nicola He was indeed greatly
changed, though II was easy to recOg-
nize features as marked as his. His
voice, too, was one that a stranger
would always remember, though il
affected my ear very differently from
the way It did the first time heard il.
We know the bell that Is toliing at a
funeral, though we first became accus-
toned to its tone when it was ringing
on the occasion of a wedding. His
hand trembled when he took mine, and
his dark eyes fell when looked him in
the face. lie was speechless, and
was so embarrassed that 1 did not
know how TO commence conversation.
finally asked him how he was. For
answer he stepped before a lighted
window, where / might see his haggard
face and sunken eyes. The sight ex-
pressed more than all the words in any
language can convey Dlsappolnt-
ment, misery, wretchedness, despair
these as words must be slowly repeated
to the ear before We comprehend their
significance. The eye catches them
in an instant.
To say that was norriled does not
express my condition. L finally gained
my composure so as TO ask him il he
then and on other occasions had been
trying to seek or to avoid me. He
spoke now slowly, cautiously, solemnly:
For more than 4 year l have been
trying to find a suitable opportunity to
speak with you. In my condition L d Id
not like TO address you in the street in
the daytime and TO mortify you by
having your acquaintances see you talk
ing with me. y like reason prevented
me from approaching you in the even
ing at a place where the sidewalk was
well lighted. l have followed you
thinking that you might notice me,
recognize me or stop in some doorway
or alley and speak to me. 1 have
something to tell you, something not
pleasant TO hear, not what you would
like to hear of me, but which must be
spoken. y secret of guilt and shame
Furnishes as no eXecutloner can 1t
allows one to remain alive and rational
that it may torture him the longer. /
must relieve my mind of 1t and see
what the effect will be. Tell me when
and where 1 can meet you alone for
half an hour. 1t had better be In the
night, as it is of a dark matter OF which
l am to speak"
l believe 1 am what professional
bruisers, pug uglles and reckless in
diyIduals call a coward. Indeed, 1 am
quite positive that 1 am. have
periled my life several times in trying
dangerous experiments, and once TO
save a friend. l would do the same
thing again. were occasion to require,
but l could never make out how any
being would be benefited by my going
out IN a heavy sea in birch bark
canoe, serving as target for people to
fre at, or shutting myself up in a room
with madman. However, my curios-
ity was excited by the looks, appear
ance and words of my old acquaintance,
and 1 desired to aid him if it was in
my power. appointed the next even
ing at O'Clock as the time, and the
room where 1 ordinarily did my writing
as the place of meeting / slept little
that night, and was very nervous dur
ing the next day. 1 was not az deSir-
Gus OF having the hour of meeting ar
rive as OF having the Interview over.
Punctual to the exact minute he ar
rived at my room, and the door being
ajar he entered without saying word.
He took roll of papers from his
pocket and placed them on the table.
On my pointing to a chair he took 1t,
at the same time tossing his hat into a
corner. Evidently he was ready to
proceed with his narration, and asked
him to do So. Following are the de-
tails OF his story as nearly as remem-
Der them:
started for New York about a year
after you left me. There 1 bought a
ticket on an Italian steamer for Mes
sina, with the privilege of stopping
over at any of the leading ports in
Spain, France or Italy till another boat
came along belonging to the same line
The trip across the ocean was rough
and 1 was sick most of the time till We
got to Gibraltar. Once on the Medi-
terranean and it was pleasant enough
so far as good weather was concerned.
Still the nearer 1 got to my old home
the less I seemed TO care about going
To it. Ihsd a suspicion that something
WAS wrong there, and it grew on me
day by day. All the crew were from
Naples, and they knew next to nothing
about Sicily. The clerk who kept the
~. s,.f,
that NIcolai Pietro had not been q
shipper of fruit for years, and he was
convinced that he was not known In
business circles at Palermo. Then 1t
occurred to me that he had induced
me to go to America simply to separate
me from my wife. Was she In league
with him at the time? Had she during
my absence fallen into his powerp
1 could not eat, sleep, or rest. j
walked the deck nearly all night. The
surgeon informed the captain that l
was threatened with brain fever. Both
of them thought I would be better on
shore. AS we were to put into small
port on the island of Sardinia, L con-
cluded that would wait until the next
steamer plying between New York and
Messina arrived. A week passed before
it came, and during this time 1 had in
a measure regaIned my health and com
posure. On the new boat there were
several sailors who lived at Palermo
One OF them, an intelligent young
fellow said he knew Pietro. He had
not been in business for long time
He had lost whatever property he had
ever had and was leading hard life
There were suspicious that he had con-
nections with the bandits in the noun
tain parts of the island. HIS com
panlons in town belonged to the wors
class thieves and gamblers. 1 hesitatec
about asking the young sailor If ht
knew my wife. 1 knew that another
day would bring me where 1 could
learn about her for myself
we entered the harbor of Palermo
about sunset and anchored at somt
little distance from the docks
This was done in order 10 allow the
custom house officers to come on board
A boat was run to the nearest pie
every half hour for the use of such pas