Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-06-06
and Nina. I WIS, aware of a great

light; occasionally, too, an icy SILVER
ran through me that made my teeth
chatter. But l recognized these symp-
toms as the after-effccts of my nearly
so fatal Illness and paid no atten-
tion to them. A few weeks rest under
my wifc's loving care, and l knew l
should be rs we'll us ever. stepped
on brayely. For some time met no
one, but Mt last overlook n small cart
laden with freshly gathered grapes.
The driver lay on his seat asleep; his
pony meanwhile cropped the green
heritage by the roadside and every
now and then shook the jingling bells
on his harness as though expressing
the satisfaction he felt at being left
to his own devices. The pilcd-up
grapes looked tempting, and l was
both hungry and thirsty. laid a
hand on the sleeping mans shoulder;
lie woke with a start. Seeing me his
face assumed an expression of the
widest terror; he jumped from his
cart and sank down on his knees in
the dust. imploring me by the Madon-
ma, st. Joseph ana all the saints to
spare his life. laughed: his fears
seemed to me ludicrous. Surely there
was nothing alarming about me be-
You'd my paucity of clothing.
Get up. mani" said. II want
nothing of you but few grapes, and
for them l will pay And ] held out
to him a couple of francs. He rose
from the dust. still trembling and
cycling me askancc with evident Sus-
picion, took several punches of the
purple fruit and gave them to me
without saying a word. Then. pocket
ing the money | proffered. he sprnng
into his cart, and, flashing his pony
until the unfortunate animal plunged
and reared with pain and fury, rat
tied off down the road at such
brcak-neck speed that saw nothing
hut whirling blot OF wheels disap-
pcaring in the distance. was amused
at the absurdity of this mans terror.
What did he take me for. wondered?
4 ghost or a brigand? ate my grapes
leisurely as l walked along; they were
deliciously cool and refreshing; food
and Wine in one. l met several other
persons as l neared the city. market
people and vendors of ices: but they
took no note of me; in fact. avoided
them all as much as possible On
reaching the suburbs l turned into the
first street l saw that seemed likely to
contain few shops. 1t WAS close and
foul-smelling; but | had not gone far
down 1t when l came upon the sort Of
place l sought-l wrctched tumble
down howell. with a partly broken Win
dow. through which Il shabby array
of secondhand garments were to be
dimly perceived strung up for show
on pieces of coarse twinc 1t was one
of those dirty dcns where sailors re-
turning from long voyages frequently
go to dispose of the various trifles they
have picked up i'll foreign countries. so
that among the forlorn specimens of
wearing apparel many
quaint and curious objects were to be
seen, such as shells. branches of rough
coral, strings of beads. cups and dishes
carved out of cocoanllt. dried gourds,
horns of animals. fans. stuffed para
kects and old coins, While Il grotesque
wooden idol pcered hideously forth
from between the Stretched-Out por-
lions of Il pair of old nankecn trousers,
as though surveying the miscellaneous
collection in idiotic anlIZemcnt. An
aged man sat smoking mt the open
door of this promising habitation, a
true specimen Of q Neapolitan grown
old. The skin of his face was like a
piece of brown parchment scored all
over with deep burrows and wrinkles,
as though time. disappearing of the
history he had himself penned upon it,
had scratched over and blottcd out all
records. so that no one should hence
forth be able to read what had once
been clear writing. The only anina-
ton in him seemed to have concen-
tratcd itself in his eyes, which were
black and bcad-likc. and rovcd hither
and thitler with Il glance of everest
less and eversuspicious inquiry. He
saw me coming toward him, but lie
pretended to he absorbed in pro
found study of the patch of blue sky
that cleaned between the closely-lcan-
ing houses of the narrow street. ac-
costcd him, and lie brought his gaze
swiftly down to my level, and stared
ut me with keen innuisitivencss.
II have had long tramp" l said
briefly, for he was not the kind of man
to whom could explain my recent
terrible adventure. land l have lost
some of my clothes by an accident on
the way. Can you sell me Il suit?
Anything will do. l am not plrticu-
lar"
The old man took his pipe from his
mouth.
do you fear the plague?" he asked.
II have just recovered from an at
tack of it," replied coolly.
he looked at me attcntivcly from
head to foot. and then broke into a
Sow chuckling laugh.
'lla. ha" he mut;cred half to him.
self. half to me. "Good-good. Here
is one like myself; not afraid. no,
afraid. We are not towards. We do
not find fault with the blessed saints:
they send the plague. The beautiful
plague! love it! buy all the clothes
can get that are taken from the
corpses; they are always excellent
clothes. l never clean them; l sell
them again at once; yes, yes! Why
not? The people must die; the sooner
the better! l help the good God ms
much as l can" And the old bias
phemer crossed himself devoutly.
looked dows upon him from where
l stood drawn up to my full height,
with Il glance of disgust. He filled me
with something Of the same repulsion
had felt when touched the un-