The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-07-15

In the morning the old woman gave II
some water in a pan, bat not morsel
of food. Another day went by. Sen1il-
lante, weak from hunger. slept. The
second morning her eyes were lustrous.
her hair bristled, and she pulled at her
chain with all her might.
But the old woman refrained from
feeding the deg, which, growing furi-
Gus now. barl1ed hoarsely. Another
night passed by.
On .he third morning Mother Saveri-
nj repaired to neighbor and asked for
few bundles of straw. She took
some old clothes, left by her husband,
and stuffed them with the straw in imi-
tation OF human. body. Then she
planted stick in the ground before
Semillante's improvised house, and
nailed the manilzin TO it in an upright
position. The dog regarded the straw
man with surprise, and though suffer
ing pangs of hunger remained quiet
for awhile.
These strange preparations all being
completed, the old woman went to q,
butchers shop and bought long blood
that she built in the yard near the bar
rel to which the dog was chained Sem
illante, almost wild, bounded forward
and foamed at the mouth as she beheld
the frying sausage, the fumes of which
filled her nostrils.
When the old mother had finished
her work, she fixed the -steaning
sausage like necl,tie around the throat
of the lay figure, interlacIng it tightly
with the straw. This done, she un-
chained the dog.
With one bound the animal clutched
the throat of the manilrin, and, with
her paws resting on its shoulders, she
began the work of destruction. The
ravenous brute fell back with piece
of the sausage in her NAV, only to re-
turn again to the attack, each time
burying her fangs in the fastenings
and tearing the neck into shreds.
The old woman looked on in silence,
her eyes burning with excitement
When the sausage was eaten-the les
son concluded-she chained her dog
again, starved it for another two days,
and resorted to the same strange pas
time.
For three months she trained the an
imal to this kind of sport-to this savage
means of procuring food. 1t was no
longer necessary to chain the brute, a
simple gesture suficed to set it upon
the man of straw. She at last taught
the dog to attack the manikin even
without putting the meat around his
neck, and as a reward for this trick
gave it a smoking sausage afterward.
AS soon as Semillante would catch
sight of the straw man, she would
tremble and turn her eyes upon her
mistress. who, with Kissing voice and
finger held aloft, would cry: ''Gor'
When Mother Saverini thought the
proper time had come, she went to
church one Sunday morning, and, with
ecstatic fervor, confessed and partook
of communion. Then, disguised in
mans clothes, and looking like de-
crepit tramp, she went away, accom-
panied by her dog, and Sandman
fisherman rowed her across the straits.
In linen bag she carried large
piece of sausage. Semillante had been
fasting for two days. Every now and
then the old woman held the odorifer-
Gus meat under the animals nose.
When they reached Longosardo, she
repaired to a bakers shop and made
inquiry as TO the whereabouts of Nico-
las Ravolati. He had resumed his old
trade of carpenter and was at work all
alone in the rear end of his shop.
The old woman pushed the door open
and cried aloud: Hey, Nicolas
The man turned round. Lashing her
dog, the woman yelled: $50. Go. Tear
him to piecesI"
The brute sprang upon tho unsus-
pectipg man and seized him by the