Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-11-17
TILE STORY OF CRILLO.
Ry Elizabeth CavaZza.

w
priest, went over in his mind all tina
he came to know while he watche
that night by the bedside Of Cirillo, tn
frog-seller. who died at dawn, he a
ways crossed himself and said: .'Tha
poor fellow went straight to Paradise
let us hope; for Purgatory he had her
below on earth"
This was what Don Giuseppe hear
from Cirillo, and he kept it to him
self like q confession:
Thirty years before, day for day
there was q great festival On the es
tates Of the baron because an heir wa!
born to him. Squibs and muskets were
fired all day in the piazetta; cask!
of wine, of the kind that rich people
drink, We're tapped for whomever wish
ed to take a glass; in the evening thu
lads and girls danced to the music Of
the town band, and rockets and benga
lights dashed UP through the air while
the people stood staring with open
mouth, to see them burst into a rain
of gold and silver and colored fires
Only the wife of the baron, poor lady,
the women had said beforehand, she
was as fragile rs glass, and, indeed,
a few days after her child came into
the world, she went out Of it, gently,
like a lamp that lacks oil. The bishop
himself came to confess her, although,
said the women, she was such Il saint
that to give her dissolution was like
f.lnD nj fn n
be washed The baron was in despair,
and turned his shoulders to the Ma
donna del Carmine, who had done him
such a bad turn, after the two candles
that he had given to her, tall as the
sacristan's boy and Of pure wax.
Meanwhile the little baron screamed
for hunger, in his fine cradle all Iaces
and silk 50 that they were obliged
to send to the mountain for comare
Bibiana, the carriers wife, who had
a little son Il fortnight Oh, to come
to the great house to take the SignOrlnO
away to nurse him. She came in her
husbands cart, handsome and healthy,
dressed for a holiday, with many neck
laces, and rings up to the joint of the
Ilca WHALE put the baby into her
arms, she said that it was beautiful
as an eye Of the sun, so that it ap-
peared like the child Of q king; and
that, even if her own little one had
to be stintcd, she would always content
first the Signorino At the sight of
the poor dead lady on the bier be
ana wept, and began to tear her hair
with one hand, holding, meanwhile,
the child upon her neck with the other,
and to shrek, as is the custom on such
occasions. But Don Luca Vitale put
his hands upon her shoulders and
pushed her, with good manners, out
Of the room, saying: "Think of the
little baron, think of himn'
Then the housckcepcr, Donna Sabina
Mosca, with her handkerchief at her
ewes led comare Bibana into another
room, and made her eat something from
the table where the cunSulatu was
spread, all the good gifts of heaven,
while the women Wcpt in a group at
one side They they showed comarc
Bibiana down the staircase and out of
the great door, under the escutcheon
draped with black cloth; and she,
with awe and with pity for
that poor mother who had to go away
to stay with the saints, leaving her
little creature OH earth, climbed into
the cart MaSo handed her their own
child, that they were obliged to bring
with them: she accommodated Il baby
on each shoulder. AFRICA" cried
Maso to his mules; and 50 the little
baron went away from his house, far
upon the road that leads from Cosenza
to the hills of the Jassi.
Indeed, it was q pity that the baron
had it against his son. poor innocent,
for the child was fine and robust
so that it was Il consolation to see
him. But the baron, every time that
MAESTRO Gaetano Starace, the steward
of Dorna Sabina NoSca, ventured to
hint as much, answered.: THAT one ]
will not see, for he cost me the mother"
Neither would he think Of taking an-
other wife, not even if She were a
king daughter. beautiful as the moon
ard the sun. and rich rs the sea.
THAT saint" he would say, 'prays
for me in Paradise"
And, for her sake, he took thought
to make his soul so much so that he
caused two candles, larger than before,
to be lighted in honor Of the Madonna
del Carmine; and since it is the bust
ness Of the Beautiful Mamma, to for
give, he in his heart did not doubt
of pardon for the former slight
Meanwhile, the little baron, Cora
dino. and Cirillo, the son of the car,
rier, were always together, in the era
die, or under 4 hedge when comare
Bibiana worked in the fields. Each
was Drettier than the other: there was
no choice One day. however, by Ill
luck, it happened that as Bibiana sat
in the doorway spinning, with the
little baron on her knee, While her
baby rolled. like Il chicken in the dust
stretching his hand toward the foster
brother. the poor little noble lost his
balance and fell on the fiat door-Stone
He cried but little, then; afterward he
whimpered always, with open eyes, rs
if somebody had taken away his sleep
anu BibiaEa kissed him the more, be
cause every vail was like a reproacf
TO her for that fall on the stone. The
Sor. of the baron seemed to pine slow
ly. while the carriers baby grew fl
as a little pig, and slept like spindle
Finally the baron forgaye his child
that he had not seen since the mothe
died-becauSe it was no use to hav