The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1892-11-19

ing against the wall. So they talked
for W. or three hours without caring
for the cold. the rain or the loss of sleep:
they talked without seeing each other,
from a distance Of five meters Of alti-
tude. becoming silent at every sound
Of q passer. then cautiously resuming
their discourse, with the continual fear
that Maria's parents might arouse and
find her in that aerial c~olloquy.
But what did it all matter to them.
They nal within their hearts sunshine,
light. springtime. courage. enthusiasm.
II the king had come they would not
have moved. Instead, the brother Of
Maria. II night when be could not
sleep. arose from his bed and found the
door ajar, went down the stairs. heard
a murmur, and caught his sister in the
act. He unceremoniousiy barred the
'rutters in the face Of Carlo, gave Maria
sounding box on the ear, and brought
her to h-r room. Next morning the
small wlndow on the first floor was
walled up.
Oh. all We faithful lovers, who grieve
amid the pains of thwarted love, imagine
the despair of those two. Their letters
were no longer legible. for tears blotted
the words; rows Of exclamation points,
that looked like Prussian soldiers under
arms followed the daily imprecations
against fortune. destiny. fate and other
impersonal beings incapable of r~esenting
them: a thousand fantastic plans were
created and then rejected. Carlo would
have liked to elope with Maria. but hic
father allowed him no d and il
would have been difficult to put togethe,
the nine lire and fifty centesimi for two
tickets for the journey to Naples; they
thought for q moment Of suicide, but
found that it would not solve the diff
Guilty Then. in the long run. their love
became systematic. the imprecations
were always the same. and they could
not 60 to their beds without having
poured forth upon the faithful paper
the fullness of their grief"
In the town nothing was talked of but
their u~nshakable love and their torments:
they were the objects Of general inter.
est il q Neapoiitan arrived. the towns,
folk took him to see the ruins Of the
a~lnphitheater. and related the case OF
Carlo and Maria. Therefore the young
people. fiattered in their amour propre,
assumed the behavior fitting to the cir.
was always pale,
with . melancholy air. never smiling.
always talking to her girl friends about
her joyless days. refusing to smuse her
self. content to resemble in all respects
one Of Mastriani's heroinea.
Carlo took lonely walks, was always
deeply depressed: At balls. be neve,
moved out Of a corner. content that they
murmured around him, Poor young
man: that unfortunate love affair sad.
dens his lifeI" In society. At small fes-
~tivities. in visits, with the unwarying
m%onotony Of the province. the discourse
always returned upon the subject Of the
two lovers. Carlo and Maria bore with
dignity the burden Of their popularity.
Finally. after | don't know how many
years-four or five. it seems TO me-of
this continual struggle. Of daily weep
ing. Of long. long love maintained alive
by dissensions. the aspect Of things
changed. There was a worthy person
there still are such-who with many eff.
forts Of eloqnence persuaded the parents
that by the lawsuits they were losing
property and much Of it. as witness tho
two advocates who had grown rich at
the expense Of their clients: that those
two young people were pining and would
go into a decline because Of that thwart-
ed love: the houses were side by side
and the estates contiguous: Christ for
gave. and they mast forgive if they
wished to find forgiveness. He said SO
much and so many other persons. moved
BY the example. interpoeed that the
questions came to q compromise which
had as it's first chapter the marriage of
Carlo and Maria.
Here, surely. every q will suppose
the young people were greatly con.
soled. and will suppose truly-but my
obligation as q sincere story teller con-
strains me to say that in their FIRST free
.olloquy reigned a great e1nbarra ,snent.
They were accustomed to see each other
at q distance by stealth; to speak from
q first 1oor window down to the street
in the darkness. Disgusting or smother
ing their voices: they found themselves
quite different, perhaps q little ridicu-
lons: they had no subjects Of converse
lion. they were often silent. fastening
in their thoughts the hour when they
quit each other.
There were no more i~mprecations and
tears TO be mingled with the ink; they
40 longer wrote to each other. Every
hing was free. smooth. easy for their af-
they were not obliged t o think
subtleties by which to evade the vigil
Iance Of their elders; they took no more
in murmuring q few words in