Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1897-10-28
Continued.

che nuns are delighted to see me, and
yop will be made heartily welcome
when YOU come. l think of you on
stantly-how happy | felt this morn
ingr You seemed to love me so much;
why are you not always 81 fond of
your faithful Nina
crlmpled this note fiercely in my
hand and flung 1t into the leaping
flames of the newly-lighted fire. There
uas a faint perfume about it that
s;ckened me-a subtle odor like that
of a civet cat when it move stealthily
after its prey through a tangle of
tropical heritage. | always detested
scented note-paper-I am not the only
nan who does so. One is led to
fancy that the fingers of the woman
who writes upon it must have some
poisonous or offensive faint about
them. which she endeavors to cover by
the aid of a chemical connection. l
would not permit myself to think of
this so faithful Nina" as she styled
herself. resumed my reading, and
continued it even at dinner, during
which meal VincenZo waited upon me
with his usual silent gravity and de-
rorum. though | co Id feel that he
watched me with a certain solicitude.
suppose | looked weary certainly
felt so. and retired to rest unusually
early. The time seemed to me so long
would the end never come? The next
day dawned and trailed its tiresome
hours after it, as a prisoner might
trail his chain of iron letters, until
sunset. and ~then-then, when the gray
of the wintry sky flashed for a brief
space into glowing r%ed-then, while
the water looked like blood and the
Clouds like ~fame-then a few words
sped along the telegraph wires that
stilled my Impotence, reused my soul,
and braced every nerve and muscle in
my body to instant action. They were
plain. clear, ard concise:
From Guido Ferrari, Rome, to II
Conle Ceasale Olive, Naples.-Shall be
with you on the oath inst. Train ar
rives at $50 p. m. VIII come to you
as you desire without fail.
CHAPTER Xxi.
Christmas-eye, The day had been
extra chilly, with frequent showers of
stiiuging rain, but toward five O'Clock
in the afternoon the weather cleared.
The clouds, which had been of a duh
gray, began to break asunder and dis
close little shining riffs of pale blue
and bright gold; the sea looked like a
wide satin ribbon shaken out and
shimmering with opaline tints. Flower
girls trooped forth making the air
musical with their mellow cries of
"Fiori? chi yuol fori," and holding
up their tempting wares-not punches
of holly and mistletoe such as are
known in England, but roses, lilies,
jonquils, and sweet datfodils. The
shops were brilliant with bouquets and
baskets of fruits and flowers; a gilt
tering show of '~etiennes, or gifts to
suit all ages and conditions, were set
forth in tempting array, from a box of
Juubons costing n franc to a jeweled
tiara worth a million, while in many
OF the windows were displayed models
of the 'Bethlehem," with babe Jesus
lying in His manger, for the benefit
or the rCund-eyed children-who,
after staring fondly at His waXen
image for some time, would run off
hand in hand to the nearest church
where the usual Christmas creche was
arranged, and there kneeling down,
would begin to implore their dear
little Jesus" their own little brother"
not 10 forget them, with simplicity of
belief that was as touching as it was
unaffected.
/ am told that in England the prin-
e-pal sights on Christmas-eve are the
shops Of the butchers and poulterers
Luiug with the dead caTcases of ami
mails newly slaughtered, in whose
mouths are thrust punches of prickly
molly. at which agreeable spectacle
iae passers-by cape with g%luttonous
pproval Surely there is nothing
graceful about such a commemoration
ot the birth Of Christ as this? nothing
picturesque. nothing poetic?-nothing
even orthodox, for Christ was born in
the East, and the Orientals are very
small eaters, and are particularly
,Farlng in the use of meat. One won
GERS what such an unusual display of
vulgar victuals has to do with the
coming Of the Savior, who arrived
.lnoug us in such poor estate that
even a decent roof was denied to Him.
rEhaps. though, the English people
read their gospels in a way OF their
'"E and understood that the wise men
~. me East, who are supposed to have
Drought the Divine Child symbolic
gifts Of gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
really brought joints of beef, turkeys,
ana 'plum-pudding," that vile and in
sestible mixture at which an Ital-
Ian shrugs his shoulders in visible dis
gust. There is something barbaric, l
suppose, in the British customs still
something that reminds one of their
ancient condition when the Romans
AQuered them-when their supreme
i4ea OF endowment was to have an OK