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

glass admitted light enough TO see all
that there was TO be seen, and close TO
this extemporized window hung the
mirror alluded to-a beautiful thing,
set ia silve; of antique workmanship,
the c~ostliness of which / at once rec
ogniZed, though into the glass itself I
dared not for a moment lcok. The old
man showed me with some pride that
the door TO this narrow den of his
locked from within.
Il made the lock and key. and fitted
II all myself" he said. Look how
neat and strongI Yesl i WIS clever
one at all that wcrk-it was my
trade-till that morning when / found
her with the singer from Venice then
i forgot all l used to know-it went
away somehow, / could under
stand why. Here Is the fisherman's
suit; you a take your time to put it
on-fasten the door-the room Is at
your service"
And he nodded several times In a
manner that was meant to be friend
ly, and left me. I followed his advice
at nee and locked myself in. Then /
stepped steadily TO the mirror hanging
on the wall, and looked at my own re-
Election. A bitter pang shot through
me. The dealers sight was good, he
had said truly. I was old! III twenty
years OF suffering lad passed over my
head they could hardly have changed
me more terribly. My illness had
thinned my face and marked IL with
deep lines Of pain: my eyes had re-
treated far back into my head, while a
certain Witness of expression in them
bore witness to the ttrrors / had suf-
fered In the vault, and to crown all,
my hair was indeed perfectly white.
/ understood now the alarm Of the
man who had sold me grapes on the
highway that morning-my appear
ance was strange enough TO startle
any one. Indeed, / scarcely recognized
myself. Would my ~wife-would Guido
recognize me? Almost I doubted IL.
This thought was so painful to me
that the tears sprang to my eyes. i
brushed them away in haste.
"Fie on thee, Fabiol BE a manr' I
said, addressing myself angrily. "Of
what matter after all whether hairs
are black or white? What matter
how the face changes, so long as the
heart Is true? For a moment, per-
haps, thy love may grow pale at sight
OF thee; but when she knows OF thy
sufferings, wilt thou not be dearer TO
her than ever? VIII not one Of her
soft embraces recompense thee for all
thy past anguish, and suffice to make
thee young againT"
And thus encour8 ging my sinking
spirits, 1 quickly arrayed myself In
the Neapolitan coral-fisher's garb. The
trousers were very loose, and were
provided with two long deep pockets
convenient re~ceptacles which easily
contained the leathern bags Of gold
and jewels / had taken from the brig
and's coffin. When my nasty toilet
WAS completed l took another hasty
glance at the ~mirror-this time with a
half smile. True, I was greatly al
tered but after all I did not look so
bad. The f~isherman's picturesque
costume became me well; the scarlet
cap sat jauntily on the snow-white
curls that clustered so thickly over my
forehead, and the consciousness l had
Of approaching happiness sent a little
Of the old fearless luster back into my
sunken eyes. Besides I knew I should
not always have this careworn and
wasted appearances: rest, and perhaps
a change OF air, would infallibly re-
store the roundness to my face and
the freshness to my complexion. Even
my white locks might return to their
pristine color-such things had been
n supposing they remained white
well! there were many who would
admire the peculiar contrast between
a young mans face and an old mans
hair.
Having finished dressing, / unlocked
the door Of the stuffy cabin and called
the old rag-picker. He came shuifiing
along with his head bent but raising
his eyes as he approached me, he
threw up his hands In establishment,
exclaiming:
'Santissima Madonra! But you are
a fine mana fine man! Eth, Ell!
Holy Joseph! What height and
BREADTH A pity-a pity you are old;
YOU must have been strong when you
were young!"
Half in a joke, and half to humor
him I'm mis- fancy for mere muscular
force, / rolled up the sleeve OF my
jacket To the shoulder saying lightly:
"Oh, as for being strong! There Is
plenty OF strength In Inc still, you
see."
He stared; laid his yellow fingers
or my barred arm with a kind of
ghoul-like interest and wonder. and
felt the muscles OF IL with childish,
almost maudlin admiration.
Beautiful! beautiful he mumbled.
Like iron-just think Of 1t, Yes. yes!
You could kill anything easily. All! I
used 10 be like that ono I was clever
at sword play. / could, with well-tem-
| pered steel, cut asunder a seven-times
folded piece OF silk at one blow with
M fraying out a thread. Yes, as
neatly as n cuts butter! You could
do that. too. IL you liked. 1t all lies in
the arm-the brave arm hat kills at a
single stroke"
And he gazed at me intently with
bis small bear eyes as though he
would know more OF my character
and temperament. / turned abruptly
from him, and called his attention to
my own discarded garments.
"See," ] said eareIessly, s.you can
have these, though they are not of
much value. And, stay, here are an
other three francs for some socks and
shoes, which / dare say you can lind
to suit me-