Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1897-06-24

must Lave been brought over by sea
from Palermo. Probably four stout
rasoals had carried the supposed coffin
in mock solemn procession, under
the pretense of its containing the
body of a comrade. These thieves have
a high sense of humor. Yet the ques-
ton remained to be solved-How had
they gained access to my vault, unless
by means of false key? All at once
| was left in darkness. My candle went
out as though blown upon by a gust of
air. | had my matches, and of course
could easily light ii again, but was
puzzled to imagine the cause of its sud
den extinction. | looked about me in
the Temporary gloom and saw, TO my
surprise, a ray of light proceeding
from corner of the very niche where
| had fixed the candle between two
stones. | approached and put my
hand to the place; a strong draught
blew through a hole large enough TO
admit the passage of three fingers |
quickly relighted my torch, and ex-
aiming this hole and the back of the
niche atteutiyely, found that four
blocks of granite in the wall had been
removed and their places supplied by
thick square logs cut from the trunks
of trees. These logs were quite loosely
fitted. | took them out easily one by
enc, and then came upon a close pile
! of brushwood. As | gradually cleared
this away large aperture disclosed it
self wide enough for any man to pass
through without trouble My heart
| beat with the rapture of expected lib
erty; | clambered up-I looked--thank
God! | saw the landscape-the sky
In two minutes | stood outside the
vault on the soft grass, with the hisr
arch of heaven above me, and the
bread Bay of Naples glittering ielrci-
cusly before my eyes! clappe1 my
! hands and shouted for pure joy, | was
/ free! Free to return to life, to love. 20
| the arms of my beautiful Nma--free
10 resume the pleasant course of exist
ence on the gladstone earth--free 20
forget, if | could, the gloomy horrors
! of my premature burial. If Carmelo
| Neri had heard the blessings | heaped
upon his head--he would have for once
! have deemd himself a saint rather than
/ a brigand What die / not owe the
/ glorious rutliau! Fortune and freedom!
! for 1T was evident that this secret
passage into the Romani vault had
| been cunRlngly contrived by himself
or his followers for their own private
purposes. Seldom has any man been
moIe grateful to his best benefactor
than | was to the famous thief upon
whose grim head, as | know, a price
/ had been set for many months. The
J poor wratch was in hiding. Well! the
authorities should get no aid from
me, | resolved; even if ! should dis
cover bis whereabouts. Why should |
/ betray him? He had unconsciously
done more for me than my best friend.
Nay, what friends will you find at all
in the world when you need substan-
t tiaf good Few, or none. Touch the
purse-test the heart!
! What castles in the air | built as |
stood rejoicing in the morning light
and my newly acquired liberty--what
dreams Of perfect happiness fitted
radiantly before my fancy! Nina and
! would love each other more fondly
! than before, | thought--our separation
! had been brief, but terrible-and rhe
idea of what it might have been would
endear us to another with tenfold fer
vor. And little Stellal Why-ths very
evening | would swing her again un-
/ der the orange boughs and listen to
| Eer sweet shrill laughter, This very
evening | would clasp Guidos hand
in gladness too great for words!
This very night my wife's fair head
would lie pillowed on my breast III an
ecstatic silence broken only by the
music of kisses. All! my brain grew
dizzy with the joyful visions that
/ crowded thickly and dazzlingiy upon
met The sun had usen-his long
straight beams, like golden spears,
! touched the tops of the green trees,
and reused little flashes as of red and
blue fire on the shining surface Of the
bay heard the ripping of water and
/ the measured soft dash of oars; ana
somewhere from distant boat the
mellifuous voice of sailor sung a
] verse of the popular ritornello-
"Sciore d'amenta
/ Sta parotella mia tieul Armenia
Zompa llari llira
Sciore limone,
lie voglio ia mort de passione
Zompa llari llira!"t
| | smiled-"Mori de passione," Nina
and ! would know the meaning of
those sweet words when the moon rose
and the nightiRgales sung their love
songs to the dreaming flowers Full
/ Of these happy fancies, | inhaled the
pure morning air for some minutes,
/ and then re-entered the vault
CHAPTER V.
! The first thing did was TO repack
1 all the treasures | had discovered.
This work was easily accomplished.