The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-04-27
TO KILL HIS DAUGHTER.
The Desperate Crime Assigned to
Antonio Bagnetto By the
Malta Society.
His Stiletto, Though Driven BY
y Another Hand, Found in
Her Throat.
"Beware the Malta! No m Lives
Who Has Disobeyed an Ordert'
Organized Assassins.

"Many years ago." said a retired rhysi,
dian at the club the other night, II was
practicine medicine IN New Orleans, anG
there [ first learned of the existence of thu
Malta society. 1t is a strange story, and
even now / can scarcely realize that what
saw actually occurred.
'.Mv office was near the Italian quarter,
and | had a number of patients among the
residents of that notorious locality. One OF
them was a swarthy native Of Sicily, An
tonic Bagnetto.
"He lived in two little rooms on a narrow
alley, with his daughter, Il dark-eyed, land
some GIRL of C. The old man earned q
scanty livelihood for himself and daughter
by peddling fruit on the streets. The daugh-
ter had a lover. l learned this by the gossip
/ heard i'll the neighborhood when there on
my professional visits.
Zone night the girls lover, Joseph Mas
terio, was mysteriously murdered. The as
sassin crept up behind him and plunged a
stiletto into his heart. l had a call to the
Italian quarter the day after the murder,
and l overheard some of the jargon the sx-
cited residents were speaking. l understood
enough to know that Masterio was
murdered by order of some secret society;
tho name of it / did not hear at that time.
''Tne same day l learned that Bagnetto's
daughter had reported the murder to the
police. and had given them the name of the
murderer.
sit was almost a month before I visited
the Italian quarter again and then [ re-
ceived q message asking me to CONS at
once to the bedside of Antonio Ragnetto.
! our the old man suffering from the
terrible malarial fever very prevalent there
at that time. He was dellrlons and all his
ravlngs were about the Malta society and
some order he had received from the
orgsnlzs nt con,a nat nnaarst.na ii. wild
rawlings, but after had given him a mild
oplate he talked less incoherently. Then |
gathered from his mutterings that he was q
member of the society: that some one had
been sentenced to death; that the members
had drawn lots to see who should carry out
the sentence, and tie lot had fallen to him..
For some reason he did not explain in
his delirium he had failed to carry out the
sentence of the society. and seemed to have
q terrible horror of dying with his work
still undone. At last he fell into a troubled
slacp, but he dreamed of the Malta and his
unfinished work, and KEEP: muttering: L
must! mustl She must die! 1t is the
doom of the Mafia!'
when the sick man awoke his daughter
was standing by his bedside. AS his eyes
opened and he saw her standing there he
sprang half out and uttered a shrek. the
like of which | never heard from human lips
before or since. Take her awayp he
screamed, and thrusting his han into his
bosom he drew a long glitterlng %stiletto. |
saw he was raving again, and thinking /
would be better able to quiet him with lis
daughter out of sight l led her from the
room.
'As passed through the door leading
out of it | glanced back at Bagnatto and
the face T. saw will haunt mo as long rs |
live. 1--WE wild, cleaning eyes. in which
expressions of murder and fear seemed TO
struggle for the mastery, were watching
every movement of the girl, and the weak,
trembling hand of the old Italian still held
the cleaning s%tlletto.
in an instant | recognized the truth.
Bagnetto's daughter had told the police the
name of the man who murdered her lover.
The Ma1a had doomed the informer to
death. Bagnetto was a member of the
Malta. Lots had been drawn to decide who
should kill the girl and her father had
drawn the black cross. The old man loved
his daughter, but feared the Malta more.
II did not want to alarm the girl, SO !
told her to KEEP out of the sick room for
awhile and would soon have her father
asleep again. l was not away from the bed.
side more than two minutes, but when | re-
turned Bagnetto was dead. | was accus-
toned to deathbed scenes, but / could not
shake OH a strange, nervous feeling that
came over me when the old mans raving
disclosed the terrible secret that had driven
him mad and hastened his death.
Il locked for the stilleto that was in his
hand when | left the room; it was gone. |
searched everywhere about the bed-all
over the room; tho terrible dagger had dis
appeared. ! examined the clothing of the
dead man; it was not there, but in Il little
pocket inside the bosom of his shirt | found
a crumpled sheet of paper. The upper half
had been torn of, but in the lower corners
a skull and eagger-the emblem of the
Maha-had been drawn with red ini.
1.-The paper was y death warrant ISIS ued
by the Malta society. The name of the vic
tim was torn off, but 1t was easy to guess it
after all l had seen and heard. The body of
the document was all there.
1T read: And the member of the society
who draws the black dagger shall follow
his victim day and night until the decree
of the Matla Is enforced. IL he fail tie
penalty is death. Ii he sha! die before his
work is done the doom of the Malta wit
follow his spirit, unless it can return and
do the work left undone by the body.
Death to informers! Beware the Malta,
No member lives who has disobeyed an
order!'
II shuddsrsd as l finished reading the pa
per and then l tore it into fragments. |
made NO further search for the ~stilletto that
had SO mystsriously disappeared, but as
soon as possible informed the girl of her
fathers death, and then after calling in
some Of tAs %neighbors | left the house.
1.-Two months after the death of Bapnetto
was passing through the Italian quarter
late one night and by the dim light of the
few gas lamps | perceived a young girl
walking along the opposite side of the
street. Close behind her saw a shadow
Of nan. tn shadow was lodging the
light as much as possible, but seemed to
DC gaining on the girl, who was appar-
entity oblivious of the fact that she was
followed. """
II looked about for a policeman. b,t
mere was not one IN sight. Again | looked
at the two figures ACROSS the street.-The
Rlri and the mysterious shadow,
I Kept them in sight as they hurried on
down the street, where the darkness be-
came, further on, almost complete. Closes
and cleser the shadow crept to the girl.
Something told me she was in dnnoer
and quickened my pace, intendin , 10
oyertake and warn her, and protect her;
necessary. | saw her pass into the shadow
of a building. Then tbs shadow Of III"
man at her heels made a spring. hear I'd
one faint Cry and all was still.
II hurried to the spot and found the Dir,
lying face downward on the sidewalk. The
shadow had 1isppppora1 ~ iHo