The Portland daily press., 1894-07-16

wont, she raised the sweet smelling bios
SONS to her lips and kissed them, with a
sigh.
From that moment Valsassina felt he
had conquered, and the lovers lost no op-
portunity Of being together Soon the
neighbors began to gossip, and those who
had at first pitied the girl, condemned to
Five a solitary and loveless life, with
strange Inconsistency now blamed her Sc
verely for her disobedience to her father
Her companions, the village maidens, be-
gan to experience the pangs of jealousy,
for the handsome smuggler had won other
hearts besides that Of the Mountain Rose
while the men felt wounded because each
imagined that in past days she had shown
some preference for himself, and hated his
victorious rival accordingly. While they
had all felt that she could be the bride of
none of them they had been resigned To
their fate, but the sight Of the new conner
Sne aovenJurer, winning the prize over
their heads, was too great strain on their
generosity of feeling, and at last his daugh-
ter's weakness was revealed to the fero-
cious and vengeful Manila. At first he
refused to believe the report for already
certain young men, whose advances had
been gently but frHaly repulsed by the
young girl, had enIeavored to ealumniate
her. No, he would not give credit to the
idea that his pure and stainless Rosa could
be enamored of q desperate after having
refused the offers of SO many respectable
young men, any one of whom would
have made her a good and suitable hus-
band. He either could not or would not
entertain such an unlikely and humiliat-
ing idea. Once he mentioned the subject
to his daughter, who laughed merrily at
the tale, and bossh then turned the whole
affair into jest and ridicule-
But one evening when M1hilla passed
the border with his smuggler's sack on his
shoulder the guard who had hitherto
thanks to the charms of his daughter
feigned not to perceive him fired at once
and was near woundiAg the old man. The
ball pierced the bag, but hastily throwing
down his burden he luckily had time to
escape. But what an awakening from his
false dream of securityi He doubted no
more the tale of his daughters disobedi-
ence, but with his habitual caution he
kept his own counsel, breathing not a
word of his suspicious to Rosa, for he
wished to ascertain the bitter truth for
himself, determined that when he had
done so his vengeance should be swift and
certain.
The two lovers, entirely engrossed by
their passion, had gradually relaxed their
habit of watchfulness, and having been so
far fortunate in lulling the old mans sus-
picions had become somewhat imprudent
and careless. To surprise them in one of
their stolen interviews was therefore an
easy task for the willy old smuggler. He
informed his daughter that he should be
absent on business for three days and then
craftily returned in the middle of the first
evening of his pretended absence. Rosa and
Valsassina were supping happily together,
although from long habit the latter still
kept his loaded weapon by his side. When
they least expected it, a knock was heard
at the door.
"Ah," cried Rosa, seized by an over
towering sense of impending misfortune,
sit is myfatherp'
"Open, Rosal' cried the old man.
"Open Immediately. I am hotly pursued
by the officers.
Rosa at the same time was supplicating
her lover to hide himself. This he at first
refused to do, but at length, yielding to
her entreaties, he retired to her bedroom
and closed the door.
SAT last, cried the enraged father as
he entered the house and looked around
him. Then he added in tone Of fury,
''Where have you hidden him?'
Hidden whom? In Che iend's name,
what do you mean?" replied Rosa, striv-
ing, as usual, to laugh the matter of,
though she grew as pale as death.
"Ah, you think to deceive me- do you?
You will see, for If you love him now is
the time to utter q prayer for his soul. -
Quickly approaching the door of the cham
Der, he burst it open with one blow. But
the hunter was prepared for him. Two
shots were exchanged almost simultane-
ously, and with fearful oath Manila fell
dead at the feet of his young antagonist.
And thus it was that the courageous
and devoted lover of the beautiful Rosa
became the murderer of her father, W lie
the terrible shock had such fearful effect
upon the sensitive soul of the daughter
that reason tottered on it's throne, and the
maniac we had watched scaling the dizzy
heights was no other than the sweet Noun
tain Rose, whose tragic fate had been
caused by the selfishness of her father and
the cruel malignity and jealousy of the
people among whom her lot was cast.
Nevertheless, as looked on the soft
eyes and pale, intelligent face of this hum
BILE heroine OF the mountain, could not
help asking myself the questions; Its
Rosa Manila indeed bereft of reason, or is
her supposed madness only assumed for a
purpose? Is it certain beyond the posi-
bility of doubt that her outlawed lover in
deed lies crushed beneath the rocks at the
foot of the precipice? Is it the madness of
love which leads tEGt poor creature up
those giddy heights and strengthens that
slight form to endure those almost super
human tolls? Or is it a true, heroic love
which thus enables her to brave every dan
ger and to endure obloquy and disgrace
for the sake of that one beloved obiect?''
But if the hypothesis of the death of
Valsassina be a false one and her madness
only assumed, how could he possibly exist
on those mountains or in those forests
during the frost and snow and amid the
fearful tempests of winter without being
obliged to descend into the valleys and
thus expose himself to the danger of dis
covery by the officers of justice? But was
it indeed necessary that he should return
to the italian territory? Could he not de-
scend on the other side and under an as
sumed name dwell unknown in some re-
mote viI1aue of ttT,a Ra1Ja G1iccapt