The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-09-23
ORGAN GRINDING.

the girls thought SO. But what they
thought Nanni did not care. He was true
to his sweetheart, La Nina
Nina was not SO beautiful as her lover.
Italian women rarely have chiseled fea-
lures. She was a Tuscan, of that type
which charms you at once solely for tho
intensity Of expression in the pale face.
You notice the harmony Of movements,
the softness of the dark eyes, the golden
shades Of the brown hair, characteristics Of
the race, only when it is too late to resist
their influence, and when that golden
hair has entwined itself round your heart.
Nanni and Nina loved each other pas
sionately and faithfully, as Italians can
love-When they do love.
So they married early, "too early" the
wise heads of the village opined He was
earning little. She, an orphan alone with
two little brothers, had no money at all
They married on a bright April morn
ing, and Nanni, whose heart was as big as
his love for Nina, brought home with his
young wife her two brothers, Doro and
Gigino.
They were all happy together, but sor-
TOW came soon enough to them, as it does
to every one else. 1t came in the shape of
poverty, when Nanni, through the failure
of the firm which employed him, lost his
situation.
Nanni was a brave fellow, and he went
on struggling with his misfortunes, trying
by an odd job here and there TO earn the
daily bread of his family. La Nina, too,
in her great love for her husband, strove
to bear up cheerfully, and often, under the
broiling July sun, as, with her babe in her
arms, she went about hanging her wash
ing to dry on the green hedge, she would
sing her old songs at the top of her voice.
She would sing them that Nanni might
not notice how hungry and faint she felt
hon fhc5r midday f7innnY h7Tf
was hard struggle.
One day, to buy bread, Nanni had to sell
his watch. He parted from it with only
a sigh, but he nearly broke down when,
few weeks later, he was obliged to pawn
the coral necklace of his beloved Nina.
Then he came to decision. He made
up his mind to go away. He would go
far, to that big town London, where many
of his friends had gone and from which
several had returned with money enough
to open a small shop.
Before leaving MONTENEGRO Nanni took
the boys 10 the old church on the hill He
was pale when he knelt and kissed a good
by to the marble steps of that altar where
his love had been blessed but two years be-
fore
Bowed with awe and emotion, Doro and
Gigino kept quite still. Then Nanni, in
trembling voice, said, you will take care
of Nina while I'm away, won't you?''
Eyes, - Answered the boys simultaneous
ly.
"And, F." continued Nanni in more steady
tones as he rose from his STOPPING posture,
you promise by that sacred image yen
will see that no trouble comes to herr"
7 swear, - replied DOrO.
81 swear - echoed Gigino, and the i'm
FASHIONED voice of the little boy sounded
strange amid the silence of the peaceful
house of prayer.
So it came to pass that on one of those
beautiful NOvemD Ger days, which in his
country are Piously called 1.-THE summer of
the dead, - bidding adieu to his people and
to his birthplace, Nanni started for Lon
don, the big, faraway town
Long after the cart which bore him to
the sailing port had disappeared down the
long, winding road of Leghorn, Doro and
Gigino remained staring vacantly at the
spot where Nanni, with his blue handker-
chief, had waved to them his last salute.
For many weeks after her husbands de-
parture Ia Nina felt like one stunned.
Then. pressing her baby to her heart, she
made an effort to master her feelings and
said to herself she would be brave for the
axe of her child's father. Thus she went
about her work apparently in her usual
way, the boys trying to help her in it. To
please them she strove to be cheerful, but
she never sang her old songs again.
Later on a man came to the village. No
one but himself knew his name. He wore
clothes of English cut and seemed to en-
courage the belief that he was an English
man. But his gait and his manner belied
that nationality. Moreover, Italians are
of keen perception. The peasants of Mon
tenero did not speak Of him as Gin
gIese;" they called him II Signore FOres-
tiero'' (the foreign gentleman).
But how much Of . gentleman he was
he alone knew He knew that his life was
spent chiefly at Monte Carlo, and that Of
Monte Carlo he was one of the mysterious
characters. He had come to Motenero by
chance, travelling lazily, without aim or
object, as he was wont to do at the end of
the Riviera season.
He could paint, and he liked to paint
pretty faces when they came in his way.
When he first saw La Nina, the sad ex-
preston on her smiling countenance struck
him as beautiful. But he did not say so.
He came again to her cottage and admir-
ed the baby
''She is lovely" he said ''She will
grow to be like you
"Oh, no., - answered the fond mother.
"She is exactly like her father.
Then he painted the baby.
La Nina, whose pure mind and heart
were devoted to her Nanni, far away, never
thought for a moment that the SignOre
Forestiero meant Irritation.
When he told her, she grew pale, and,
looking straight at him, she said: Get out
of that door, please. Get out, quickl'' she
AIDED. the lines Of insuIted pride marking
her white face.
He came back one morning. "May
say goodby to youP 1 am going away,
he said.
Nina spoke in freezing tone Il am
glad you are going" she said, and she
stood there erect, looking down at him, tall
though he was.
For one instant he seemed abashed.
Then the very idea of her contempt mad
dened him II will kiss you all the same, "
he Missed, and he took a step forward.
The next moment he fell, stabbed to the