Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-08-29

duke, paying to both, but especially TO
Ferrari, that absolute attention which
is the greatest compliment a host can
bestow on those whom he undertakes
to entertain.
We had reached that stage OF the
banquet when the game was about TO
be served, the invisible choir of boys
voices had Just completed an enchant-
ing stornello with an accompaniment
of mandolineS, when a stiffness,
strange and unaccountabie, fell upon
the company-a pause-an ominous
hush, as though some person supreme
In authority had suddenly entered the
room and commanded "SilenceI' No
one seemed disposed to speak or 10
move, the very footsteps of the wait
ers were muffied in the velvet pile of
the carpet; no sound was heard but
the measured plash of the fountain
that played among the ferns and flow
ers. The moon. shining frostily white
through the one uncurtained window,
cast a pale green ray, like the extend
ed arm of an appearing ghost, against
one side Of the velvet hangings-a
spectral effect which was heightened
by the contrast of the gaTish glitter of
| the waxen tapeTs. Each man looked
at the other with a sort Of uncomfort-
able embarrassment, and somehow,
though / moved my lips In an en-
! deavor to speak and thus break the
spell, / was at a loss and could find
no language suitable to the moment.
FeTTari toyed with his wine glass me-
chanically; the duke appeared absorb
| ed in arranging the crumbs beside his
plate into little methodical patterns,
the stiffness seemed to last so long
that it was like a su~frocating heavi-
ness In the air. Suddenly Vincenzo,
in his office of chief butler, drew the
cork OF a champagne bottle with a
loud sounding pop. We all started as
though a pistol shot had been fired in
our ears, and the Marchese Gualdro
burst out laughing.
"Corpo di RaccoI'' he cried. AT last
you have awakened from sleep! Were
you all struck dumb, amici, that you
I stared at the table cloth so persist
emily and with such admirable gray
ity? May st. Anthony and his pig pre-
serve me, but for the time l fancied /
was attending a banquet on the wrong
side of the Styx, and that you, my
present companions, were all dead
men,
~hAAh llAlN lhtA AsAsA W. AAA'O 'pANs
your tongue. which is quite an unac
| countable miracle in its way" laughed
Luciano Salustri. "Have you never
heard the pretty legend that attaches
TO such an occurrence as a sudden ST.
lence in the midst Of high festivity?
An angel enters, b~estowing his bene-
dlction as he passes through"
''That story is more ancient than the
church, said Chevalier Mancini. ut
is an exploded theory-for We have
ceased to believe in angels-we call
them women instead"
bravo, mon vieuX gaillardr cried
Capt. De Hamal. Your sentiments
are the same as mine, with a very
trifing difference. You believe women
to be angels-I know them to be devils
mails ii ny a gu, un pas entire les
deuXl We will not uarrel over a word
"a rotre sante mon cher!
And he drained his glass, nodding
to Mancini. who followed his example.
Perhaps" said the smooth, low
voice Of Captain Freccia, our silence
was caused by the instructive con-
sciousness of something wrong with
our party-a little inequality-which l
dare say our noble host has not
thought IL worth while to mention"
Every head was turned In his direc-
ton. what do you mean:' What
inequality? p Explain yourself! Choir
used several voices.
Really it is a mere nothing" an
swered Freccia lazily, as he surveyed
with admiring air of a gourmet the
dainty portion OF a pheasant just
placed before him. 81 assure you only
I, N