The Press., 1893-10-12

natural that Giuseppe should presently be playing the, accordion for the crowd The same thing had happened before
 many time. and yet tonight Pat felt it all as he had never done before. .s..A fine look'n chap is this young man Rubino. he said presently to the sig
 nora
 Sine shrugged her shoulders.
 And who is 'e?s he pursued.
 Carlo sayce 'ees-a wan good steady
 young man: bud mo, know northern
 'boud who ees-a koep-a comp'ny weeth-a Clotta. :" And the shoulders shrugged
 ayain, a movement so distinctly rerni- niscent of the previous affair that Pat thought it discreet to change the subject. As the evening wore on he grew rest less.
 Well, b'lave I'll thry promenade for me complexion" said he. rising finally. Sure inc left fut is itchin for 8 walk. And with this characteristic al- fusion to the missing member he started down the street.
 He had not gone far. however. when he came upon Q crowd of young men l Italians, most of them-sitting upon the steps outside the closed doors of 8 shop-a common Sunday evening congregation l and as q familiar voice accosted him he had soon seated himself with them.
 Several of the habitues of the Di Carlo shop were present and were bantering one another in Italian about Carlotta
 Pat was not supposed to understand. All went smoothly for Il time until 1 young Tramonetti, ;sn ugly, heavily set I fellow who had been the target of sev- eral sallies on the score of his well known
 unsuccessful sHit suddenly turned in anger.
 .sI could marry her tomorrow if had , money" he exclaimed. with q sheer. .Psh-h-h! You'd have to get new
 face on you first" came q quick retort. Il think my face is just as pretty as
 old Pietro Socola's. and she tried hard
 enough to get him. all the same"
 "You better say he tried for her, yes,
 was the reply.
 i Pat, although talking quietly aside
 caught and understood every word.
 "Tried nothingp' continued Tramonet- ti. "He never wanted her. Married her rich cousin, yes! But Carlotta tried
 pretty hard to get him. Myself saw her every minute pass before him in the shop
 and make sheep eyesr Pat could stand no more. 'An say ye're liurr' he exclaimed, 1 rising and facing the speaker. The effect of his words was magical | A stiffness fell upon the assembly. Aft
 CT an interval an old man. Tramonetti's I uncle, broke the silence. | "Wath-a you knowce 'bouth?' he asked,
 turning languidly to the Irishman with | that apathetic manner beneath which l anything may Turk. .... i ''Sure an do jist happen accidintally I to know that that young man is liur! The object of his accusation quietly lit
 cigarette. "How ees-a you knowce? Socola selve
 ees-a tell everybody neva ees-a Iowa tall. l Wath-a you knowce?' | And now another spoke-a cousin of | Tramonetti
 "Socola ees-a tell all-a mans on Pica- yune tier she ees-a try for 'eem all-a l same.'
 Grunts of assent in several directions
 testified that the story was familiar. "An he's another liur, an I'd tell ut to l is gums, the toothless ould macaroni | suckeri Sure an I've had me two eers | pricked for this same lie this twelve
 month, an bedad I've laid low an kep' ] shtill for utl An did e say she thried to
 catch i'm, the contimptible little river
 shrimp-he that had is two eyes set out
 like yung telescopes afther 'er?"
 "Fo' God sague, don'-a mague-a no I troub'i B'lief Socola ees-a just talk fo' | fad oxa+hop
 'Thin Pm playin when tell ye that
 he thried wud all the iloquent perrsua-
 sion av his money bags to buy er!-of-
 fered the ould man thousand dollars
 down for 'er. an pitched imself in at
 the end O the thrade, like a punkin col
 ored chrono for lagniappe, but the girl ] sure do raise me hat whin do spake CT name"-every h"t followed as he
 lifted his own-"but the girrl wudn't
 look ut 'um! An the night he married
 'er pug nosed cousin sure he kem in the 1 kerridge wud all is crowd for 'erself, ali she shkipped out the window an hid.
 So whin he cudn't get corn e took
 shucks, as mony O yell do afther i'm! | Now putt that in yer pipe an shmoke utr' He turned now again to Tramonetti. 1 "An this yung gas chandelier heer, | who sez @ seen 'er wink at i'm, is dirty
 black"- "Ah-h-h-h! Ged outl M just-a mague l a lila fun," drawled the boy. l ''An ye take ut back, wul ye?' The men were all laughing now at the
 new version of the Socola marriage. 1 ''So the o' man got fooled. eh?'' said l one.
 | "But say. dye take ut back?" per l sisted Pat "Ain't sayce was-a plan? Fo' God
 sague, how much-a mo- you wan'?" And
 he rose to go. l The storm was past, and by twos and l threes the men dispersed. laughing and
 talking as they went. l As Pat moved away an old man, who
 had sat apart in the shadow, stood up,
 and the light from the gas at the corner
 fell upon a visage sinister, one eyed and lowering.
 Pat instantly recognized it as the face
 of man who had been present at the
 Di Carlos on the night of the Socola we'd l ding. Indeed it was he who had been
 sent to Pat as interpreter on this occa-
 sion of the Maia anathema. Pat thought
 of this, but he did not care. l As he turned his back another man arose out of the shadow at the other end l of the shed. He. too. had been guest at
 the wedding.
 l The two Sicilians, wht= were now left
 alone, regarded each other in silence for
 g moment, when the last to rise made l the sign of the Mafa. The answering 1 motion was given, and the two, still
 silent, sat down together again in the l shadow
 They were bound by oath to report this disclosure to Socola. and they knew l what the inevitable result would be. l The Irishman's words would prove his ] ;f1eath sentence