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

whom ne nae SPOKEN 80 oilcu anu 30
cordially. For when / visited Rome,
as / was accustomed TO do annually,
there were few more welcome guests
at the halls OF the Quirinal palace
| than Count Fabio Romani. i began TO
wonder stupidity who Fabio onan
was; the gay gallant known as sach
seemed no longer to nave any ex-
istence "a "white-haired fisherman
usurped his place. Put though !
thought these things I refrained from
addressing the king. Some impulse,
however, led me to follow him at a
respectful distance, as did also many
Others. His majesty strolled through
the most pestilential streets with as
much as though he were
taking his pleasure in a garden or
roses; he stepped quietly into the
dirtiest novels where lay both dead
and dying; he spoke words OF kindly
encouragement to khe igrief-stricken
and terrified mournerJ wtho stared
through their tears at the monarch
with establishment and gratitude; sill
yer and gold were gently dropped
into the hands Of the suffering poor,
and the very pressing cases received
the royal benefactor's personal atten-
ton and immediate relief. Mothers
with infants in their arms knelt 10 i'm
plore the kings blessing, which 10
passify them he gave with a modest
hesitation, as though he thought him
self unworthy, and yet with a parental
tenderness that was infinitely touching.
One wid-eyed black-haired girl flung
herself down on the ground right in the
kings path; she kissed his feet and
then sprang erect with a gesture Of
triumph.
II am saved" she cried, 'the plague
cannot walk in the same road with
the king"
Humbert smiled and regarded her
somewhat as an indulgent father might
regard a spOilt daughter; but he said
nothing and passed on. A cluster OF
men and women standing at the open
door of one OF the poorest looking
houses in the street next attracted
the monarch's attention. There was
some noisy argument going on; two
or three baccamorti were loudly dis
cussing together and crying bitterly,
and In b centre OF the excited group
a coffin stood on end as though
waiting for an occupant. One Of the
gentlemen in attendance on the king
preceded him and announced his ap-
proach, ~whereupon the loud clamOr Of
tongues ceased, the men barred their
heads, and the women checked their
sobs.
What is wrong here, my friends o.
the monarch asked with exceeding gem
tleness.
There was silence for a moment: the
beccamorti looked suIlen and ashamed.
Then one Of the women with a fat
good-natured face and eyes trimmed
redly with weeping. elbowed her way
through the little throng to the front
and spoke.
May the Holy Virgin and saints
bless your majesty" she cried in shrill
accents. And as for what is wrong,
1t would soon be right If these shame
less pigs, pointing to the ~baccamOrti,
would Let us alone. They will kill a
man rather than wait an hour-one
little hour! The girl is dead, your
majesty, and Giovanni, poor lad, will
not leave her; he has his two arms
round her tight:-Holy Virgin. . think
OF il! and she a cholera corpse-and
do what we can he will not be parted
from her, and they seek her body for
the burial. And IL We force him away,
poverino, he will lose his head for Ger.
tain. One little hour, your majesty,
just one, and the reverend father will
come and persuade Giovanni better
than we can"
The king raised his hand with a
slight gesture Of command-the little
crowd parted before him-and ne en-
tered the miserable dwelling wherein
lay the corpse that was the cause Of
all the argument. His attendants fol-
lowed. I, too, awaited myself n corner
in the doorway. The stnne disclosed
was so terribly pathetic, that few could
look upon 1t without emOtion-Humbert
OF Italy himself uncovered his head
and stood silent. On a poor pallet bed
lay the fair body Of a girl in her first
youth, her tender loneliness as yet I'M
touched even by the disfiguring marks
of the death that had overtaken her.
One would have thought she slept had
1t not been for the rigidity of her
stiffened limbs and the wax-like pallor
Of her face and hands. Right across
her form, almost covering II from
view, a man lay prone, as though he
had fallen there lifeless; indeed he
might have been dead also for any
sign he showed to the contrary. His
arms were closed firmly around the
girls corpse,-his face was hidden from
view on the cold breast that would no
more respond to the warmth of his
caresses. A straight beam Ok sunlight
shot like a golden spear into the dark
little roo and lit UP the whole scene,
the PROSTATE figure on the bed. the
erect form OF the compassionate king,
and the grave and anxious faces of the
little crown Of people who stood around
him.
See! that Is the way he has been
ever since last night when she died."
whispered the woman who had before
spoken-"and his hands are clinched
around her like iron-one cannot move
a finger"
The king advanced. He touched the
shoulder Of the unhappy lover. His
voice, modulated to an exquisite soft
ness, struck on the ears OF the listeners
like a note of cheerful music.
'Figlio NOR
There was no answer. The women,
touched by the simple endearing words
+. @hg@aBO