St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-22

that he was fatal duelist and that the
! scar had been received in a duel in
| Which he had killed his adversary.
| Though altogether untrue, yet this
| story served him in good stead, for at
least it has prevented impertinences on
| the score of his jettatura.
During the few months we spent to
| gether in Italy it was surprising how
many seemed to drop the superstition,
at least as applied to him. People
| would visit him more, and when he
would ask them if they were no longer
afraid OF the evil eye, they would
answer: 80, we believe in it, but we
don believe You have it, The worst
| feature OF the case was that at times
the poor fellow really believed that he
| possessed the dreadful power of bring
ing trouble to his dearest friends. and
again coincidence, which at times
| vince him of the fact. Two or three
! years before we met he had been en-
| gagged to beautiful Russian girl, who
was spending the winter in Naples. Her
parents were delighted with the match,
and, while everything looked most
promising for them both, she suddenly
fell i'll and died with the Neapolitan
fever. which at certain seasons of the
year is so fatal. He helped nurse her
through her last days of illness. and at
her death was accused by her parents
of having killed her by his power Of
eyes" The Russians are as supersti-
tl0uS about it as the Italians. That,
added to his natural grief, nearly killed
him, and when we met him he had lust
commenced to rally from this great
trouble.
CORAL CHARM AGAINST TIE JETTA.
TURA.
Little as we believe In such power,
II was strange to notice how many
things occurred to corroborate the truth
of the stories we heard. Once in sit
ing to walk up the steep hill to the
tableland or plain OH which Sorrento
proper is built, ID. suggested that we
should put my little girl on donkey
which some one had used, and which
the guide was about to lead up hill.
Every one thought it Il good idea. The
child was placed securely in the saddle,
and, just as the donkey started, It's hind
feet sunk above the ee-ioints into
the seemingly solid earth. The other
Italians looked at me and each other as
much as to say: Ibid you see that?
What did L tell you?" OF course, it
could be easily accounted for, as the
water was very near, and might have
undermined the ground just there. Still,
it was curious. The next day, on com
ing to the same spot to join some friends
who always took morning dip with Us
i'll the blue waters of the Mediterranean,
we found the party assembled, and sit,
ting with them friend we had not met
for some time. D.. delighted to see him,
said, "Nly dear fellow, how glad am to
see you," and with the words placed his
hands on his friends head. AS though
the magician in the party had said.
''Presto! Changew the chair crumbled
under him and down went the poor fell
low to the ground. OF course it could be
easily explained. The chair was rickety
and ready to fall to pieces at the least
additional weight.
| could never have understood the
strength of this superstition had | not
witnessed it and known personally one
of the dreaded jettatura. Certainly at
his baptism feast the malicious fairy
must have been forgotten and so ell
dowed him with this fatal gift, which
oyershadows an otherwise happy and
brilliant career.