The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1896-10-14

my mother brought back her repeti.
tion of my fathers warning, "that l
was never to put foot in Sicily" Yet
there 1 was, in direct defiance OF it.
1 turned to my pocket almanac, and
found that it was a new moon on the |
following morning at O'Clock, so that =
according to the old DANES prophecy,
that friday evening was my time Of
peril. l am not nervous man, but l
must confess that when pnt all the
incidents together felt q Bit creepy.
had never told Atwood of my
mothers word; in fact, had almost
forgotten them until the thought of
my birthday recalled them to me.
Now, as we sauntered along under the
shade of some trees and inhaled the
perfume of the growing lemons, I re-
lated the incident to him, and told
him that it had been my twenty
seventh birthday yesterday and that
tonight was the eve of the new moon.
If anything, my friend Arthur was
less nervous and more phlegmatic than
myself, but he seemed strangely agi-
tated.
"Let us leave here at once, old fel.
low," he cried. 81 don't hike it |"
"Pshawl" returned. "What can
there be of it ALP The old woman
had heard my name, suppose, and
any one would make up few enig-
matical words about q new moon and
a dangerl"
We we're, OF course, talking in Eng
lish. Arthur understood enough Ital-
ian to catch the meaning of any one
speaking it, but he could hardly utter
word correctly himself, and he al
ways relied upon me as his interpre-
ter, 80 that strangers thought he was
totally unacquainted with the Ian
guage.
"But-" he began, when two Ital-
ian gentlemen who were staying at
the same hotel passed us, conversing,
as they did SO, in low tones.
Arthur bent his head and reduced
his speech to whisper.
"But the two men T." he said. "I
did not think anything of it at the
time, but those two fellows who are
now in front we're talking last night.
Nobody thinks that understand the
lingo, and they took no notice OF
me. / saw they were throwing
dice. They had no stakes, but the
winner said to the loser: Then you
must do itl' Verify I WILL replied
the loser but it will not be cafe in
the day time-the consul will be on
the track.
"Now, what were they referring
toP" asked Arthur. depend upon
it, there is more in the old woman's
warning than you think. Why should
they mind consult Because you are
a British subject They are your enc.
mics. Let us begone at oncel"
We returned to the hotel, engaged
paid our reckoning, and started off.
Just as we were driving away the two
Italians Whose names we had ascer.
tanned from the hotel book we're
Giuseppe and Guillemo Ferrari)
strolled up. 1t may have been our
fancy, but they looked surprised at
seeing us going away, and they imme-
diately began to talk and gesticulate
one to the other.
As we drove through the town the
old fortune teller Is pretty granddaugh-
ter sprang out from somewhere sud-
denly and hailed the eoachman, who
palled up. Running to the side of
the carriage, she whispered to me:
Grandmother says, your enemies
are upon you. Beware?'"
And she few off and disappeared as
suddenly and mysteriously as she had
come upon the scene.
SIT is an enigma" cried. "Why
should these men wish to do me harmP
They don't know me-"
81 tell you what it is" said Att
wood. 'I've heard of Sicilian ven
dettas, and I'll bet any money this is
one."
Several blood curdling tales 1 had
read upon the subject occurred to me.
"My mother said that some great
danger awaited my father if he re-
turned here. Perhaps he killed re.
lation of these fellows at some time or
the other, and they are seeking my
life in turn" said.
"That's just about it, I expect" he
replied. "I shall be glad when we
are we'll out of it,"
When we reached Messina we were
half famished, and at once went to
the hotel at which we had previously
stayed, and had some dinner. Then
we went down to the harbor to see
about getting to the mainland, but
there was no boat which could take us
to be had for an hour.
Leaving our portmanteaus in the
care of the official at the pier, we
strolled back towards the town. The
evening was closing in, and as we
wended our way up the narrow, irreg-
ular street my companion ciutched me
tightly by the arm. Coming towards
us were.the two Ferraris. They must
have followed us from Catania, and
they no doubt caught sight of us, for
they turned into little wine shop.
Acting on a common impulse, we
followed them and took our seats at
another table. They converesed under
their breaths for awhile, and then
Giuseppe. whom Atwood recognized
as the loser at dice, got up and came
towards us as if to leave the place. 1t
was very dim inside the shop, and
probably they had not seen us, for as
soon as he came near us he went back
and, after whispering few words to
his companion, turned again and took
his departure.
1t was clear they had been drinking,
as he reeled perceptibly when he