The Press., 1893-09-28
|CARLOTTA'S INTENDED.
By RUTH M'BNERY STUART.

By RUTH M,ENERY STUART. Copyright, 1893, by J. E. Lippincott Company.
 and published by special arrangement with
 them.l
 A short, swarthy, gray haired old man who swung his little legs on opposite sides of the barrel upon which he sat, who smoked a stumpy old pipe, whose one heavy eyebrow ran clear across his forehead, who wore tiny gold earrings and seldom cut his hair, who spoke in monosyll yllables-such was Carlo di Carlo. 'sthe dago."
 A tall, fat, blooming brown creature, loud talking and voluble, full of fun and temper, Iuxuriant to coarseness, whose bust measure and age were both some where in the early forties, who seemed fashioned for laughter and unlimited maternity, who sat every evening on the front doorstep of the shop opposite her husband-this was the Signora di Carlo
 A dainty bit of girl. radiant as pc tite, dark as her father, symmetrical as her mother of 20 years ago, whose 1.-the figure was just throwing out hints of flu ture perfections, whose long black hair was straight as an Indians, but fine as the down upon the head of the babe who lay growing upon the mothers lap, who was reticent like her father, but whose mothers fire flashed from her eye on oc- casion-a girl to love, to hate, to do and dare-behold the sweet daughter, Car lotta di Carlol The discerning eye be- held in her promise of romance, possi- bilities of tragedy, and he who looked upon her once paused to look again.
 A row of little black eyed dagoes of va rious ages and sexes, of various degrees of beauty. but all handsome, healthy, picturesque, noisy lot, quarrelsome with out pugnacity-these were the little Di Carlos.
 A small, square front room, with a low shed around it's two sides over the ban quette, an oyster counter along it's parti- tion wall, a fruit stand spread beneath it's sheds opening on two streets. a red lantern hung out at the corner for sign -see the mercantile house of Di Carlo.
 Within front corner of the shop in winter and out on the banquette in sum- mer, his chair placed so as to command view of the fruit shelves on both sides, sat one legged ~cobbler surrounded by his professional litter of old shoes. tools. strings and scraps of leather.
 Fourteen years ago Patrick Rooney took this chair, engaging to pay for the rent and privileges of the same by doing the family cobbling-a fair arrangement with circle of three when Carlotta was wearing her first shoes; but, to quote from Pat, There's been niver a time since but the madam's been aither afther raisin the rint on me or a-threatenin to do that same, an sure I'd we deserted long since if she'd iver sint me a notifca- tion be an ugly messenger, but whin she shteps out herself bloominer n iver, wud anither wan O thim black eyed beauties forninst her buzzom, do put by fresh batch O little scraps for patches an trate mesilf to dozen on the half shell on the strength O the new customer to the thrade."
 The Di Carlos doubtless knew a good bargain when they had it, and so Pat had been encouraged to remain by per quisites in the way of oysters and fruit.
 This, however, was scant offset to an increase from one to nine healthy shoe wearing boys and girls.
 If Pat had begun to think seriously of the matter some years ago, the christen- ing of newcomer, when Pat hobbled all the way up the aisle at St. Alphonse's one morning and recorded sponsors VOWS for a diminutive little beauty of the name of Patrick Rooney di Carlo al l,s] Ri ,IoS fo,. and then-well, the signora counted on this and became reckless, and there were twins and in year another. There's no telling what discontent might have begun to ferment in Pats breast had it not been that Carlotta began to grow so startling ly beautiful, and young men and old men and boys began hanging about the shop when there was nothing to buy, or buy ing things they evidently did not want and all the time looking at Carlotta
 Pat had petted the child, called her his ''swateheart." trotted her on his one knee and sung her to sleep to ''Lanigan's Ball' from the time he came to the Di Carlo shop.
 Only within the last year, however, since the halo of glorious womanhood was lowering about her, had tender solicitude about the girl entered his heart and although the signora fortunately did not suspect it no added duty would have driven him from his post now
 |: And yet the Di Carlos had not been en- tirely unreasonable. Later concessions had been made. A room, the entire gar ret over the shop, had been placed at Pats disposal, and here he had finally moved his few belongings-a cot, chair or two, 8 huge green box which held his surplus clothing in 9 fraction of it's space (such a wooden bin as the poor Irish emi- grant usually dignifies hy the name of trunk and which one need not be English to call 8 box), a gaudy picture of the Vir- gin Mother with her heart afame, t much framed photograph of Carlotta in her first communion dress, rosary and crucifix, and hanging across the raft CTS the moth eaten remains of bright uniform and broken torch lamp, for before his accident Pat had been an