The morning call., 1892-05-01
PAOLO SANH

A week at the hotel was quite as much as
could we'll manage TO stand. Not that
this was in any way the fault OK the 'Pen-
sion Suisse" itself. or of its oblging little
landlord. He certainly did all he could for
hit with the best of wills, was utterly
unable to shut out the noise or moderate
the confusion of hotel traffic. And the
pension" was in those days much fire.
quented, Via Carlo Alberto being a gay
street, the Ministries close at hand and
Turin the capital determined 10 CD into
private lodgings, =. =. - -: - =.
One afternoon bill caught my eYe:.
1.-Two furnished rooms to let. Apply to
Nine. Germanetti, second floor, door 10 the
left" - -:
Nothing could be clearer, so plunged
into huge entry and mounted the broad.
stone stairs, a broad landing with four
doors opening upon it,. To one OF these
was nailed a discolored card intmatlng.
that ELISA Germanetti, dressmaker, lnnao-
ted within" =. III. -. -. =
With a sigh Of rellef-for. was very
tired-I gave tug at the frayed green
cotton cord. winch, passing through hole
bored in the massive sculptured panel,
dangIed down with its well-worn *tassel for
tile convenience of callers. =. K
Ashrill tinkle from within. a minuts's
silence The:shuffle Of slippered feet. Then
the door opened and Elisa Germaueltf
stood before me, - :: r. =:
OF course could only guess 1t was She
=. Yet / was sure Of it. Widow and Ger ma:
netti were TO be read in every feature. :. =.
''See the rooms? oh. certainly. WIl.athe
ignore step imp VIII he also kindlyeXcuse:
the-tempOrGry confusion ?''~@ She tTipped.on
before. turning round to smile as she
tripped 80 =. .-:.>:
! She looked. as il shehsd seen better days:
And so she mad; as 1 later learned Shewas
doctors widow, left early and without
: means to provide for herself and heEdaUgh-
ter ! GU. would have said she was 90 nt:
the least. but, in truth, she was mueh below.
1t. Cares and struggling had aged neT, her.
daughter was not quite 10. 49,. :.-:--*.
-. Just as / was leaving, her daughter en-.
T. tered. A delicate, pleasant-lG0king girl, the
picture Of what her mother must have bee n
at the same age. The. same soft brown
X. eyes, aQuilne nose, fnely-cut mouth Of in
finite sweetness, regular. oval face; but, In
addition. creamy compilation and mass
J. OF dark hairCOlled around her ShapeEy: head.
The next dav / took possession of my.
lodgings at 20 Via BaTbaTOuX. = One cannot,:
De-. even though living .enurely apart, lnhahlt:
under the same roof with. others very: long
without getting initiated into something
relative TO their dOings and belonging =: - -
Before much more than a. week. had
. passed had become aware OF two ciTculn-
' stances, VIZ: that my. hostess had a:haId
time Of il tOmake ends meet and that her
daughter had.R lOVer:@ / he former peeped'
out ID thousand ways, the latter was dis
t!nctly visible in the" sta Ewart person of: a:
- handsome artillery. eOFpOral, who .at..tlmes.
- usPd to visit the hOuse"of an. evening; and,
whom l once surprised i'm tender eonyeTsa-
+ ton with Tulsa upon the stairs. 49,
3. believe the .cOntTetemps. proved, lnhn-
itely more embarrassing to me than.itdid
TO the young couple" - -. -. III. :.
10 due time~I was informed that they
were regularly ged,. that his name was
PaOlo Santi, that. he was native of Pisa;
and that they were to be married as soon. a ::
the term Of his service was. up. =: It had but.
q short time toTUn.:.Wit it'll time; t0o, Il dis:
covered that Luisa h ad something pTeying
upon her mind; some secret JneasnesS that
never left her, and that rendered her absent
and absorbed. she Kept growing. paler and
thinner. till at last she began to-" look
thoroughly III, and ceased to leave the
house. The errands, Hitherto done: by her
were now executed. by OneOf tile wOTk-giTis.
PaOlO, too appeared less often, and his
visits grew shorter and shorter Something
was evidently WRONG, -. -: III =: = =
Then another circumstances struck me: r
Going out and coming in nE0re..than
once came across a handsome: artillery
t~l0uDging atths dOer;:. once, too,
l fancied !" had heard the clatter Of his.
saber upon the stairs. -. -: =, -.
He was handsome enough: yes- but lie
WAS decidedly unpleasant looking. There
was cruelty in his dark eyes and in the
CLEAN Of hlsWhlte teeth; something that
reminded one-me, at least-of a beast Of
prey. ~. -..~ :'....; = - -:
=. .Heneyer took lie slghtest notice of me
as passed. only once or Twice, stepped
politely aside with the courteous grace that
distinguishes all Italian officers. -.
~ had caught.a severe colo, and instead OF
going Quito dine at the Cafe della Perla, y
:. as was my won't, Twas obliged TO have my
dinner sent to tire house,. On such~Oeed--
slons Luisa used. to lay. my simple table
and do the tTIie Of waiting required =
One evening; therefore, att. she, as usual,
brought in he.basket with the plates, etc,
AMI began laying the CLOTH, L happened 10.
look ID at her1Tom my wTiting-table. and
was: surprised. and sorry to sec her eyes. red
and swollen. She had evidently been:
.cfylng. = - -. :
.r.What is the matter. Euisa?"' - =. ;
she did not reply, only her breath came
quicker. could see her bosom heaye with
painfully suppressed emotien. -. -:
Repeating my question, ITose.- She gave
me a look such. as l never shall forget. l.
was the appealing gaze Of a.poor, haunted
animal, -. -. -;
- For a, moment she stood still, then. fling.
ing down. the spoons and forks upon the
table, threw herself upon the: nearest seat,
Ind her face ineboth hands and commenced
all too heavy to bear are HOnt~to do. / felt
dTeadfully i'll at ease. -. .,+..-.. : = "
Ihad the sincerest respect for both Nine.
GeTmdnetti and her daughter, for l had
learned to know their excellent Qualities. L
would gladly have done anything in my
power TO help them; but at the same time
could not:.help wishing myself anywhere
but WhereI was, and inwardly cursed the
cold that confined me tothe house: -. =: :
9 will n0t:tE0uble y0uWith details but
r-~rirrc ling 7iFa hat
was able to gather from the poor girls lips.
The young officer / have already men-
TONED was Lieutenant in SantIs company.
His name was San MarlipO, heWas count
member Of one Of the first falniliesOf LON
hardy, rich andiunscrupulOus.~ He had I'M
luckily seen Euisa in the street one day.
She struck his fancy, he followed her home
and found out that she was betrOthed 70 one
of his own men; which latter circumstance
at once famed what was before, perhaps
merely a.passing caprice into furious pas
sion. ~
Her refusal to listen to him was fuel TO
flame. He vowed vengeance, and from
that moment commenced systematic per-
secuti0n Of poor PaOlO, such as tOrender
his life very hell upon earth = =:
Ia military life-in Italy, at least-an I'M
30 scrupulOus superior has wide field. for
gratifying grudge against a subordinate.
Happily, the cases In which ii is taken ad-
vantage of are few and far between.
Guido San MARITIME did all he could to
provoke and irritate his humble rival
PaOl0 could no longer do anything that was
right He was confined to barracks upon
thesslightest preteXt. The greatest possible
share Of the dirty work of the company was
saddled upon his shoulders. "
SantI had little CT the saint about him,
save his name. He was, like most Pisans,
proud and passionate, and knowing this.
Luisa was living IN mortal and ever