Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-06-13


one who had long wandered In a
labyrinth Of frightful visions from
which there was no escape but self
murder.
your hand, my son. resumed the
king, in a tone of soldier-like au-
thority.
Very slowly-very reluctantly-as
as though he were forced to the action
by some strange magnetic influence
which he had no power to withstand,
he lcosened his right arm from the
dead form ii clasped SO pertinaciously
and stretched forth the hand as COM
handed. Humbert caught II firmly
within his own and held it fast; then
looking the poor fellow full In the face
he SAID with grave steadiness and
simplicity:
There is no death in love, my
friend!'
The young mans eyes met his-his
set mouth sOftened-and wrestling his
hand pa~ssiOnately from that Of til.
king, he broke into a passion OF weep
ing. Humbert at once placed a pro-
tecting arm around him, and with the
assistance OF one Of his attendants
raised him from the bed and led him
INTERESTINGLY away, as passiyely
obedient a. a child, though sobbing
conyulsively as he went. The rush of
tears had saved his reason, and most
probably his life. A murmur of en-
thuSiastic applause greeted the king
as he passed through the little thrOng
OF persons who had witnessed what
had taken place. Acknowledging IL
with a quiet, unaffected bow, be left
the house, and signed to the becca-
mOrti who still waited outside. that
they were now free to perforII their
melancholy offiCa. Ue then went on
his way attended by more heartfelt
blessings and praises than eye fell
to the lot OF the proudest conqueror
returning with the spoils of a hundred
battles. / looked after his ~retreating
figure till / could see IL no more l felt
that l had grown stronger for the
mere presence OF n hero-a man who
indeed was every inch n king" I
am a royalist-yes. Governed by such
a sovereign, few men Of calm reason
would be otherwise. But royalist
though l am, / would assist in bring
ing about the dethronement and death
Of a meal tyrant, were he crowned
king n hundred times over! Few mon
archs are like Humbert of Italy. Even
now my heart warns when l think of
him; in all the distraction of my SUI
ferings, his figure stands out like a
supreme embodied Beneficent Force
surrounded by a clear light of unset
fish g~Codness-a light in which falia
suns her fair face and smiles again
with the old sweet smile of her happi-
est days of high achievement-days in
which her children were great. simply
because they were earnest. The fault
of all modern labor lies in the fact
that there is 10 heart in anything We
do; we seldom love II work for
works sake-we perform il solely for
what we can get by it. p Therein lies
the secret OF failure. Friends will
scarcely serve each other unless they
can also serve Il cir own interests;
true, there are exceptions to this rule,
but they are deemed fools for their
pains.
AS o o as the king disappeared I
also left the scene of the foregoing in
cident. l had a fancy 10 visit the
little restaurant where ! had been
taken i'll, and after some trouble l
found Ii. The door stood open l saw
the fat landlord, Pietro, polishing bis
glasses as though he had never left
or; and there in the same corner was
the very wooden bench on which I
had ~lain-where / had, as was gener-
ally supposed, died. / stepped in.
The landlord looked up and babe me
good-day. i returned mis- salutation.
and ordered some coffee and rolls of
bread. Seating myself careiessly at
n Of the little tables I turned oyer
the newspaper, while he hustled about
In haste to serve me. AS he busted
and rubbed up a cup and saucer for
my use, he said briskly:
you have had a long voyage,
AMIGO? And successful fshlngT"
For a moment / was confused and
knew not what to answer. but gather
ing my wits together l smiled and an
swered readily in the Affirmative:
And your said gaily. How goes
the cholera"
The landlord shook his head dole
fully.
"Holy Joseph! do not speak OF it!
The people die like flies in a honey
pot. Only yesterday-body of BAG
chus-who would have thought it,"
And he sighed deeply as he poured
out the steaming coffee and shook his
head more ~sorrowfully than before.
why WHAT HdI ptutu yesterday |.
I asked, though I knew pei fectly well
what he was going to say. 81 am a
stranger in Naples, and empty of
news"
The perspiring Pietro laid a fat
thumb on the marble top Of the table,
and with it traced a pattern mcdita-
lively.
you never heard Of TIL rich Count
Romani?' he inquired.
/ made a sign in the negative, and
bent my face over my coffee cup.
"Ah, Welt" he went on with a half
gToan, 'it does not matter-there is no
Count Romani any more. 1t is all
gone-fnishedi But he was rich-aS
rich as the king. they say-you see
how low the saints brought him? Fra
Cipriano Of the Der edictines carried
him in here yesterday morning-he
was struck by the plague; in five
hours he was dead,"-here the land
lord CO ught a mosquito ard killed it.
"as dead as that %zanzara! Yes, he,
lay dead on that very wooden bench
opposite to you. They buried him De-
fore sunset. 1t Is like a bad DREAM"
1 affected 10 be deeply engrossed