Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-04-15
A P0RPHYRY CASKET.

nese, in a small, beautifully decorated
Shrine affixed to the wall, is a singular OBJ
Ject which has excited the curiosity of all
who have seen it. 1t is a small porphvry
casket, oblOng in shape and fastened with
chased gold bands 1t was made, it is
said, at the signora's order by one Of the
most famous artists in Rome, and is no less
quaint In design than exquisite in finish.
On one side, cut into the stone, is the sin
gle word amor, and a date
For what purpose it was made, what II
contains and why it is placed in the shrine
as II it were sacred relic, few or none Of
the signora's acquaintances know She
has been asked these questions many
times, and her only reply is, Something
more valuable to me than all my other
possessions put together" and the signora
Is very rich woman.
She has never been known to open the
casket, and indeed it is so banded and
bolted together that it would require ex-
traordinary effort to break it apart. No
one Is allowed to touch it. The signora
dusts and cares for it with her own hands.
and 1t has been observed that at such times
her ordinarily naughty air gives place to
one OF mourntul humility mingled with
almost religious reverence.
This is the story of the porphyry casket
The g0sSiP- of society said that Olivia
Antedl had resolved either to marry into a
royal family or die single. Sons of noble
Roman families, merchant princes. foreign
ambassadors, diplomats and soldiers had
sued for her favor and failed She had re
fused offers the very thought of which
had embittered the soul of many Roman
beauty with the gall Of envy. For all the
emotion she had exhibited at the passion
ate pleading Of her suitors she might have
been a statue of ice
She was the only daughter of an ancient
ducal family of Rimini, and the pride and
beauty Of her race had descended to her
undiminished. Her hair, slightly waving.
was of glistening black, save when the
sunlight touched it, when faint copperv
tints and red CLEANS tlickered in its glossy
depths. Her eyes in her calm moments
were dark violet, but changed with her
moods from cold steel gray to glowing
dusk, like the sky in a moonless August
night She was pale, with the pallor Of a
perfect opal beneath whose surface the soft
hues come and go ceasclrssly. Many a
sculptor, catching glimpse Of her figure,
and with its stately grace and voiuptuous
curves had dreamed over it in his studio,
vainly striving to fix some hint Of it i'm the
plastic clay. Many a man had gone from
her presence with a sOrrowful longing at
his heart, knowing fall well that She was
not for him, Yet to look at her face was
to comprehend that if she ever should love
1t would be with a passionate devotion
which few women are capable of and few
men can appreciate.
In the very height Of her reign, when. TO
use scarcely too extravagant a metaphor.
all Rome was at her feet, there came to the
city poor student from the old university
Of Padua. Marco Carnese had the dark, !
handsome features, the brilliant black |
eyes, the 1.-THE figure and the fiery passion
of the Sicilians His fine talents had won
him some fame and a fellowship in his |
college there, and the threadbare suit he !
wore constituted almost his sole posses
sions. His poverty had increased his nat /
ural reserve, and he lived in Rome, friend |
less and solitary, buried in the seclusion Of |
his i'll furnished garrett
1t seemed the merest irony that Marco |
should meet Olivia Anfedi aud fall madiy /
in love with her, but so it was. She, too, |
had noticed the handsome student, with I
his mournful expression and reserved air, J
and had he been Of her own grade of life, |
it is possible that she might have looked /
upon his love with favorable eyes. As it |
was she passed him with cold indifference,
less bearable to his pride than downright
He was not blind to the wide gulf be
tween their respective stations; nor to the
utter hopelcssuess Of his passion But he
did not pause to reflect he could think of
nothing but that he worshiped her with a
worship that was like a consuming flame
He could not keep away from her. 1t
seemed as if he drew his life from her pres
ence; and yet the sight Of her beautiful
face, so near and yet so utterly removed
from him, was a torture.
Denied her house. he followed her at
distance in the street; always with the
same mute, imploring look. He managed
10 introduce himself into the dwellings /
where she visited; and often at night,
ylancing about the drawing room, she met
bis dark, mournful eyes resting upon her
IN passionate alteration.
He had ventured to address her, in low, l
trembling tones. She had replied with
ireezing reserve that would have changed
,he love Of most men into hatred. With
Marco Carnese it merely added fuel to the
lame.
One night he followed her into the Or
lngery of a mansion where they were both
guests, hardly knowing what he wished or
meant to do. Seeing her there alone, he
approached her, and suddenly throwing
himself upon his knees at her feet he
poured out his passion in a torrent Of
words which would have swept away the
of many women. She only looked
Town at him with n curling lip.
you are mad, signor," she said
eyes, " he exclaimed, II am mad--you, so
noble, rich and honored; so poor, humble
md unknown 1t Is madness. But ah,
low gladly / would die for one smile, one
ook of love from you, beautiful onep
you are offensive signor," she said,
With exasperating calmness. EITHER leave
ne or permit me to pass"
He arose with flaming cheek, and stood
With bent head as she swept haughtily
by him as If he had been an impertinent
nenial. He had made himself ridiculous
n her eyesi She despised himi
IN Of baf rvpp1I havra haar, M |