The midland journal., 1890-08-29
II am going to church said She

Teresa walked with all the speed that
her little feet would carry her. On the
church steps she stopped to collect her.
self, and then, with composed and seri-
GUS face, she entered. She went straight
to the altar of the Virgin, knelt down
and made the sign of the cross; her Pater
and Ave finished, the young woman said
with an air of mutual understanding:
"You know. Madonna mia, it is for
Orlando again!'
Then she took rosary from her pocket,
and rolled the beads between her fingers.
This went on regularly for twenty beads,
after which Teresa began the conversa-
ton:
s:.Madonna =. mia, that is not all. / had
asked you to give me my Orlando for a
husband. and to make him love me as
well as | love him. 1t is true, Madonna
mia, that l have married him; oh! ON
that point there is nothing to be said.
But the other thing, good Virgin-have
you then forgotten it? Yet it was very
important No, Saint Mary, no; my
Orlando does not love me as well as l
love him. You will tell me that am
not as handsome as he is? Why, surely,
l know that. If were as handsome as
he, should not need to ask miracle of
YOU"
Then she began on her third ten beads,
and, when she had finished that number,
she continued:
For instance, would ever have had
the idea of speaking to him of this Val
paraiso that | have seen SO often prir ted
on the posters near the harbor? Without
knowing exactly. I imagine that that
must be in far off foreign lands. Oh! 1
would never, never have thought of
going far away from him."
This time she furiously ended the fourth
and fifth tens at once. Then she kissed
the altar step piously, and, rising, said:
madonna mia, have been asking it
for years; l must have Orlando's love.
In the first place, he is my husband, and
l love him! Oh! l love him! Well, Saint
Mary, you to whom have prayed from
my childhood, you must know me well,
and | have never appealed to any other
madonna. Well, if my Orlando does not
love me as we'll as love him. oh! some
day, not directly, but before long, shall
be forced to apply to the Madonna de
Piedigrotta.'
Again she fell upon her knees.
"You know me we'll, your poor little
Teresa Cardelli. Do work this miracle,
Madonna. Then, oh! then promise, 1
know not what; but will do something
that will please you very much"
The next evening, at the same hour,
Teresa put on her hat. The servant again
accompanied her.
"Where are you going?' asked her
mother.
'To see Orlando answered the young
woman, simply. Good night, mamma;
good night Aunt Mariuccia. Leave the
bolts open; shall return late, as yester-
day."
And her lips half opening with an il
Illuminating smile, she concludes:
"Perhaps later. That depends upon
Orlando"
Her father was in the next room; he
had been waiting anxiously to see what
she would do this evening. His daugh-
ter's words sent the tears into his eyes.
Such is the effect of love ON those dear
beings for whom one has toiled, wept,
lived. Now their just claims no longer
existed their right vanished before the
smile, the caress, the slightest wish of
this man, scarcely known by her six
years ago, not understood by her week
ago.
But although they suffered at the
house, it was radiant evening for Te-
resa.
He was awaiting his wife. How sweet
it was thus to find each other again!
Their love renewed itself; they were like
an affianced couple.
For Teresa, in spite of marriage, had
kept the candor, the timid uncertainty,
the indcscribable accompaniments of in
nocence and youth.
They walked together every evening,
she absorbed and delighted, he JOYOUS,
tender and kind. The placid Ratfaela
followed them; scarcely could they kiss
each other.
"Oh! if you wish, tomorrow, husband
of mine, will come alone, and you shall
escort me to the threshold of the house.
Do not be alarmed" she continued, for
now she could read his thoughts. "Do
not be alarmed, husband of mine; will
not ask you to go in. Now too wish to
live alone with YOU"
"All right" said he. SIT is agreed,
then; till tomorrow, my dear little wife,"
The parents still hoped that Orlando
would come back when his money was
exhausted. For they had inquired of
Tipaldi, and found out that even the
three hundred francs were no longer in
tact on the night of his flight. AT most
two hundred and eighty francs, with his
heedlessnesS and companions like Fe-
rucci, that would not last long. Soon
they would see him, with dropping head,
return to the fold, where moreover they
would receive him with open arms.
They did not know their Orlando.
From the start he had OWNED their
calculation, and even refused the money
that his wife wanted to give him. He
knew how to live on almost nothing,
like every true Neapolitan; furthermore,
he knew all the places where food costs
but little. 1t is the superiority of sober
people, who can live on vegetables or
macaroni, to dispense with wine without
annoyance and smile in idleness. Without
losing any of his good humor and with
out fatiguing the unalterable solidity of
his stomach, Monteforte became tempo
rarily avaricious. His will did not re-
lax a single day, and in this could be
seen the sequence of his ideas, the energy
of his race