The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-29

But when the people who had
throngcd densest where Batista had sung,
fallen and fled, began to dispere, there
lay giant FabianO as stark as a great pros
trdte statue cast in Greek bronze BATHS
I Ia S stilleto had been sure and there was
scarcely a spot of blood upon the dead
goatherd to sicken those who looked.
For time none ton he'd him; for the
folk Of LucCiana were thinking of the
vendetta which in all honor must
follow, and wondering ,who will first
fall at the fash Of Borgo gun or the
plunge of Borgo knife.
Finally the pOdesta came, summoning
the bravest and safest of men They bore
! the body to the edge of BorEo village;
sent for the cure; truthfully told the
priest the manner of the goatherd's
death, and offered reparation in gold TO
his family, hoping to mitigate the ven
detta's curse.
The cure called the men of Borgo about
him and related ali Miracle in Corsica
There was no savage murmur for the i'm
memorial blood revenge"
"Fabiano has no friend in Borgo Fa-
biano has no living kin none put his
witch-hke daughter, Aguese, beautiful
| but wild as a mountain sheep" they
said
So together they took the body to the
winter nut, where Agnese sat beside a
black, tower like structure of stone
standing upon a black crag above the viii
lage, where the goats were herded in
readiness for the summer Journey to the
nights of Monte Rotondo
"Dio mic ~ said the maiden with dry
and burning eyes, Il knew he would not
return from the fiesta. The stregha
(witch) read it to me from the scapua;
from the left shoulder blade of a dead
monk and this does not lie. Dio mic, /
am alone!'
Tho c11pare Z ifiot1e mon Of ,c,;,,, ,,,I
Borgo took off their bareJti and crossed
themselves with uncovered heads, while
the cure frOwned upon them: but he
turned TO the girl and said kindly enough
After the grido the house lamenta-
tions) FaDianO shall have Christian
burial
She seemed not to hear him, but said:
picture to me his SLAYER"
"An-an uucouth wanderer, uIcunningly
answered one from Lucciana; "a stroller
of no station, whom Fabiano foully in
suited and attempted to harm
That is not enough. He killed my
father How did he look! What is his
stature2 Has he a beard What is the
color of his eyes, Curse him! Let me
see him in picture, so ! shall know him in
the mountains, where | shall find and kill
him."
She said this wildly, fercely, but with
out tears or sobs.
YES, yes eloquently persisted the
man from Luciano, as his companions
dolorously rolled their eyes, and the cure
turned thoughtfully away TO the village
He is little and dark and speaks hoarsely
and uncouthly. He wears cubes of gold
in his ears and walks widely, Ike the
tailors of Bastia. He"
That is enough, file shall not return
from Monte Rotondo. Lay Fabiano upon
the tola (the death table, and leave me
alone. Were / Fabiano's brother or Fab
lanO's son, the towards of Borgo should
revenge themselves upon the towards of
Lucciana, or | would quickly bring the
corteo (the funeral escort) to the doors of
Borgo. But they have not left in them
the blood of my Diterico and Ottone!"
As she spoke these names, two of her
scraggy, ill-fed goats ran to her She
threw her arms about their necks and
kissed them impetuOusly as though they
were human comforters and alone knew
her utter desolatlOn and misery.
Then as the giant dead had already
been stretched upon the creaking tola.
which well nign fell beneath its weight.
she imperiously waved them all begone;
and as they filed down the dark pathway
with many shoulder shruggings anu les
lures of relief, the orphaned herd girl
covered the body with shaggy goat skins
and then sat alone with the dead until
the shadows of the night came behind
the mountains into the peaceful valley;
never moving from the still form, save
to now and then examine the locks of a
rusty double gun or sharpen to keener
edge the blades of savage knives.
In almost the very center of the island
of Corsica rises the vast and beautiful
hight of Monte Rotondo, TO the lofty alti-
tude of 5000 feet, Slumberous villages
nestle among luxurious fields and orange
groves at its base. Above these, circling
all the fair mountain, are plantations
and paesetti half hidden in masses of
olive, which are in turn overtopped by
forests of chestnut and walnut; while
the primeval larch and pine reach from
these in emerald-purple swaths and fur
rows to the misty, mighty nights above
Between where the pine and larch be-
come gnarled and stunted and the gray
black crags upon which rest the Chostlv
eternal SHOWS, is region of pockety hol-
| lows, tremendous amphitheaters, vast
| ravines, awful gorges and crag-toppled
! plateauS, lnterSpered with uneXpiOred
and uneXplOrable caves and grots
II is here that wild sheep and the ban
! dltu OF Corsica roam at will, prey only at
infrequent intervals to the starving fox
or the greedy sbirri or officials who risk
their lives for the price of the outlaws
| heads.
III is mere, TOO, that the millions of
| goats of Corsica thrive in the long sum
! mer upon the rich grasses which spring
beside the fountains 1000 feet above the
sea. BY foamy torrents, in shadow
| glens, at gloomy cave-mouths, or again
! perched like eagles nests at the edge of
mighty precipiceS, are the huts of the
| gOatherus, made of stone upon eternal
stone, gray black and forbiddiug within
and without, and squatting close to earth
as the beehive huts of prehistoric man.
A strange, wild, harmless, hospita BILE
! folk are these goatherds of the nights
| There is no household stun in their homes.
no chair, nor table nor bed. Their hearth
stone is the mountain rock, against
| which lies the burning log; their
! food is milk and curd and
cheese strips of dried goat flesh and
the wild fruits and nuts of the mountains.
| their touches are the bare black rocks.
and their sole ambition is to avoid the
vengeance of the bandltti and TO multiply
| their herds.
One great philosopher, another has said
| had learned the art of sitting stiu. Either
| the goatherds of Monte Rotondo are. as
was the almost voiceless primitive man.
or, IN the presence of the mighty tongues
Of the torrents, the thuuderings of the
mountain tempests, the Walpurgis night
! plants of horrid witches or warlocxs or
the more deadly tutelege Of the bandits
! gun or knife, they have learned the su.
U "a |..aH