San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-23

thought of them before; the daggsr
painted on the lid OF the chest shoul
have guided me to the solution OF tn o
mystery. A red dagger was the recog-
nized sign-manual of q bold and danger
Gus brigand named Carmelo Neri, who
with his reckless gang haunted the
vicinity Of Palermo.
SOP thought. ''This is one Of your
bright ideas, my cut-throat Carmelo!
Cunning rogue! you calculated well,-
you thought that none would disturb
the dead, much less break open coffin
in search Of gold. Admirably planned,
my Carmelol But this time you must
play losing camel A supposed dead
man coming TO life again deserves some
thing for his trouble, and should be
fool not to accept the goods the gods
and the robbers provide. An ill-gotten
hoard of wealth, no doubt;-but better
in my hands than in yours, friend Car
melo!"
And meditated for some minutes on
this strange affair. If, indeed-and l
'<hw no reason to doubt i'll had CHANGED
to find some of the spoils of the redoubt-
able Neri, this great chest must have
been brought over the sea from Palermo.
ITODtUly lOuT StOub ldSIdiS
the supposed coffin in mock solemn
procession, under the pretence of its con-
tanning the body of comrade. These
thieves have high sense of humOr. Yet
the question remained to be solved
How had they gained access to my an
cestral vault, unless by means of false
kew?
All at once was left in darkness. My
candle went out as though blown upon
by a gust of air. l had my matches,
and of course could easily light it again,
but was puzzled to imagine the cause
of its sudden extinction. / looked about
me in the temporary gloom, and saw to
my surprise ray Of light proceeding
from corner of the very niche where l
had fixed the candle between two
stones. approached and put my hand
to the place-a strong draught blew
through hole large enough to admit
the passage Of three fingers. quickly
relit my torch, and examining this hole
and the back of the niche attentively,
found that four blocks Of granite in the
wall had been removed and their places
supplied by thick square logs cut from
the trunks of trees These logs were
quite loosely fitted. I took them out
easily one by one, and then came upon a
close pile of brushwood. As gradually
cleared this away large aperture dis
closed itself wide enough for any man to
pass through without trouble My
heart beat with the rapture Of expected
liberty; | clambered uo-1 looked
thank God! l saw the landscape-the
sky! In two minutes | stood outside the
vault on the soft grass, with the high
arch of heaven above me, and the broad
bay Of Naples glittering deliciOusly be-
fore my eyes! clapped my hands and
shouted for pure joy! l was free! Free
to return to life, to love, to the arms of
my beautiful Nina, free to resume the
pleasant course Of existence on the glad
some earth-free to forget, il l
could, the gloomy horrors Of my prema-
ture burial. If Carmelo Neri had heard
the blessings l heaped upon his head
he would for once have deemed himself a
saint rather than brigand. What did
not owe to the glorious ruffian! For
tune and freedom! for it was evident
that this secret passage into the Romani
vault had been cunningly contrived by
himself or his followers for their own
private purposes. Seldom has any man
UttU ulOIt RIdltlul W D'oO
tor than ! was to the famous thief upon
whose grim head, as | knew, a price
had been set for many months. The
poor wretch was in hiding. Well! the
authorities should get no aid from me,
resolved, even if ! were to discover his
whereabouts. Why should | betray
him? He had unCOnSCiOus.y done more
for me than my best friend. Nay, what
friends will you find at all in the world
when you need substantial good? Few,
or none. Touch the purSe-test the
heart.
What castles in the air / built as |
stood rejoicing in the morning light and
my newly acquired liberty-what dreams
of perfect happiness fitted radiantly be-
fore my fancy! Nina and | would love
each other more fOndly than before, |
thought-our separation had been brief,
but terribe-and the idea of what it
might have been would endear us to one
another with tenfold fervor. And little
Stella! Why, this very evening | would
swing her again under the orange
boughS and listen to her sweet shrill
laughter This very evening | would
clasp Guido's hand in gladness too
great for words This very night my
wife's fair head would lie pillowed on
my breast in an ecstatic silence broken
only by the music Of kisses. All! my
brain grew dizzy with the joyful visions
that crowded thickly and dazzlingly
upon me! The sun had risen-his long
straight beams, like golden spears,
touched the tops Of the green trees, and
reused little flashes as Of red and blue
fire on the shining surface OF the
bay. / heard the ripping Of water
and the measured soft dash
of oars; and somewhere from
distant boat the mellifluous voice OF
sailor song a verse of the popular ritor-
nello: