Sierra County advocate., 1892-11-11

not forgotten the date; 1t was Oct.
4, 1866. She was accompanied by
Cardinal Antonelli, the grand old
assistant and Secretary OF State to
the Pontiff.
| remember her well. She was
a grand, noble woman, q typical
Empress, whose simple yet lofty
dignity did not fail to impress me
She was alone, having dismissed
her ladies-in waiting in the throne
hall. She had requested an audi
ence with the Pope, and high noon
Of that eventful day was the hour
the Pontiff set apart to receive her.
AS | was TIE attendant in the ante
room of the Pope's private chambers
naturally | was the first to pay my
respects to ihe Empress. How the
meeting did surprise me. Although
| had often before spoken to her
she did not recognize the priest who
had offered her holy water 80 many
times before in the Church of st.
Mark when she was still a princess,
How sad she looked. Pale and
anxious she nodded in recognition
of my low obeisance. There was
slight twitching of the muscles OF
her face and her eyes had fixed,
vacant stare. opened the audi
ence with the customary etiquette
OF the Vatican, and LED the way up
to the Pope's private chamber.
The Pontitf stood waiting at the
door, and after ! had formally pre-
sonted the Empress she followed
him inside. This in brief WAS the
etiquette of tho Vatican.
Sovereigns visiting.the Pope in
private were received ID this way,
while those whose visits were of
public nature were ushercd into the
throne hall, where His Holiness
was seated III his robes of Office, by
tho prelates of the ante-room.
When the Empress passed into the
private chamber the door closed
behind her. About ten minutes
later heard the ringing of the
Pope's bell and | entered the room,
bowing low, to receive the Holy
Fathers orders. To my utter as-
tonishment he said to me;
Tell the steward to prepare a
luncheon. The Empress has not
yet breakfasted, She is hungry,
therefore command the steward to
make haste"
rose from bonded knee and hur-
ried out. The stewards apartments
were not fur away, and soon | gave
him the order All the while |
could not refrain from wondering
why tho Empress should come to
the Pontoff without having eaten
the morning meal, imagined that
tho trials aud suiler.ngs she had
undergone in the months before
were more than likely the cause of
her pertarbedi state Of mind, AL
though never for moment did |
divine the tragic scene which after
wards occurred at that breakfast
table,
In less than quarter Of an hour
the steward appeared bearing two
silver trays. We entered the pri
vate chamber through the secret
door. On each of the trays was
a bowl Of consomme, two rolls, n
pot of chocolate, pitcher Of milk,
two cuns, Saucer containing sugar
n dish of sweet cakes and platte r
of thinly sliced toast, which, dip
ped in the weak broth, WAS the
Pope's favoritc dish. The steward |
placed tray before each of the
soyereigns, who were seated oppos-
site each other at small table. !
The Holy Father broke the fast by
slowly slipping his broth and from
time to time eating a small piece
IF moistened toast.
Not word was spoken. | stood |
At one corner OF the table awaiting
ina Holy Fathers commands, while
It the other end stood the steward, |
ready 10 attend to the wants OF the
liners.
The silence was impressive. For
several minutes the Empress sat
here gazing intently AT tue dishes
before her. She did not psrtake
If anything.
Suddenly, without any warning,
saw her reach over AMI snatch
,iece Of the toast from the Pope's
ray and dip 1t into a bowl of broth
rom which the Holy Father was
RavenousIy she ate it,
Ike starving wotf, never taking
Ter eyes from the Pontiff, regarded
Ter with calm astonishment. Slow
Y he drew back his chair. The
unusual act took him by surprise,
nd the quickness with which the
hing was done almost took his
,reath away.
II am dong this in order ,hst
-ou may not poison me, exclaimed
he Empress without trace OF
motion in her cold, studied voice.
Ii was evident that the Holy
father was painfully shocked, and