The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1891-03-20

| cents. "And as Tor what is wrong. j
would soon be right if those shameless
pigs.'' pointing to the beccamorti
.swould let us alone. They will kill ;
man rather than wait an hour-one lit
| tie hour! The girl is dead, your Majest!
and Giovanni, poor lad! will not leav'
her: he has his two arms round he
| tfght:-Holy Virgin! . :. think OF it
! and she cholera corpSe-and do wha
we can, he will not be parted from her
and they seek her body for the burial
And if we force him away, poyerino, hi
will lose his head for certain. One LITTLE
hour, your Majesty, just one, ana TN
reverend father will come ana persuau'
I Giovanni better than we can.
! The King raised MS hand With sligh
pesirre Of command-the little crowd
parted before him-and he entered the
miserable dwelling wherein lay the corpse
that was the cause Of al the argument.
! His attendants followed: /, too, awaited
myself a corner in the doorway. The
scene disclosed was so terrible pathetic,
that few could look upon it without emo
tion-Humbert of Italy himself uncov'
cred his head and stood silent. On Q
moor pallet bed lay the fair body Of girl
in her first youth, her tender loveliness
as vet untouched even by the disfiguring
marks of the death that had overtaken
her. One would have thought she
slept had it not been for the
rigidity of her stiffened limbs, and
the wax-like pallor OF her face and
hands. Right across her form, almost
covering it from view. man lay prone,
as though he had fallen there lifeless;
indeed he might have been dead also for
any sign he showed to the contrary.
His arms were closed firmly round the
girls corpse,-hiS face was hidden from
view on the cold breast that would no
more respond to the warmth of his
caresses. A straight beam of sunlight
shot like a golden spear into the dark
little room and lit up the whole scene,
the PROSTATE figures on the bed, the
erect form of the compassionate King,
and the grave and anxious faces of the
little crowd of people who stood around
him.
See! that is the way he has been
ever since last night when she died."
whispered the woman who had before
spoken-''and his hands are clinched
around her like iron-one cannot move
a iinger!"
The King advanced. He touched the
shoulder of the unhappy lover. His
voice. modulated to an exquisite softness,
struck on the ears of the listeners like
note of cheerful music.
"Figlio mol"
There was no answer. The women,
touched by the simple endearing words
of the monarch, began to sob, though
gently, and even the men brushed a few
drops from their eyes. Again the King
spoke:
'Figlio MIC! l am your King. Have
you no greeting for me?'
The man raised his head from its pill
low on the breast of the beloved corpse
and stared vacantly at the royal speaker.
His haggard face. tangled hair, and
wild eyes gave him the appearance OF
one who had long wandered in labyr-
NTH of frightful visions from which
there was no escape but self-murder.
Your hand, my SOn!" resumed the
King in tone of soldier-like authority.
Very slOwly,-very reluctantly, as
though he were forced to the action by
some strange magnetic influence which
he had no power to withstand, he loos-
ened his right arm from the dead form
it clasped so pertinaciouslY and stretched
forth the hand as commanded. Hum
bert caught it firmly within his own and
held it fast,-then looking the poor fell
low full in the face, he said with grave
steadiness and simplicity:
''There is no death In love, my
friend!''
The young mans eyes met his,-his set
mouth Softened,-and wrestling his hand
passionately from that of the King, he
broke into passion of weeping. Hum
bert at once placed protecting arm
round him, and with the assistance of one
of his attendants raised him from the
bed, and led him INTERESTINGLY away, as
passvely Obedient as child, though
sobbing convulSively as he went.
The rush of tears had saved his
reason, and most probably his
life. A murmur of enthusiastic applause
greeted the good King as he passed
through the little throng of persons who
had witnessed what had taken place. Ac-
knOwledging it with quiet unaffected
bow, he left the house, and signed to the
becCamOrti who still waited outside, that
they were now free to perform their mel
anchOly Office. He then went on his way
attended by more heartfelt blessings and
praises than ever fell to the lot OF the
proudest conquevOr returning with the
SpoilS of hundred battles. ] looked at
ter his retreatlng figure till could see it
no mOre,-I felt that | had grown
stronger for the mere presence OF hero,
"a man who indeed was ''every inch
king" am royaliSt,-yes. Governed
by such Sovereign, few men of calm
reason would be otherwise. But royaliSt
though l am, would assist in bringing
about the dethronement and death of a
mean tyrant, were he crowned king
hundred times over, Few alonarchs are
like Humbert of Italy,-even now my
heart warns when l think of him
in all the distraction of my suffer.
ingS, his figure stands out like
a supreme embodied Beneficent Force
surrounded by the clear light of unset
fish goodness,-a light in which Italia
suns her fair face and smiles again with
the old sweet smile of her happicSt days
of high achievement,-dayS in which her
children were great, simply because
they were earnest Tho FAULT OF all
modern labor lies in the fact that there
is no heart in anything we dove sell
dom love our work for works Sake,-we
perform it solely for what we can get by
it. Therein lies the secret of failure.
Friends will scarcely serve each other
unless they can also serve their own in
tereStS,-true, there are exceptions 10
this rule, but they are deemed fools for
their pains.
AS soon as the king disappeared / also
left the scene of the foregoing incident
had fancy TO visit the little restau-
rant where | had been aiken il. an6
after some trouble found it The -,
stood omen saw the faf landlord, =.