Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-10-14
Continued.

IIlcItly, anu asking no Qu9SLlOnS. fOT-
tunate is the servant VINO, accustomed
to see his master drunk every night.
sWnaIs to all outsiders that he has
never served so sober and discreet a
gentleman! That is your character,
Vincenzo-keep to it, and we shall not
quarrel" He smiled grayely, and
poCketed my piece of gold without a
wcrd-like . true Tuscan as he was.
Tie sentimental servant, whose fine
feelings Will not allow him to accept
an extra Trip" is, you may be sure, a
humbug. | never beneycd in such
che. Labor can always conn and its
price, ana what 50 laborious in this
age as to be honest? What SO difficult
as to keep silence on other peoples
affairs? Such herculean tasks deserve
payment! A valet who is generously
bribed in addition to his wages, can
be relied on; if Underpaid, all heaven
and earth will not persuade him to
hold his tongue Left alone at last in
my sleeping chamber ] remained for
some time before actually going to
bed | took off the black spectacles
which served me SO well, and looked at
myself in the mirror with some cur
iosity. | never permitted Vincenzo to
enter my bedroom at night, or before
I was dressed in the morning, lest he
should surprise me without these ap-
pendages which were my chief dis
guise, for in such a case | fancy even
his studied comIosure would have
given way. For, disburdened of my
smoke-colored glasses, | appeared what
| was, young and yigoI Gus in spite of
my white beard and hair. My face,
which had been worn and haggard at
first, had filled UP and was healthiIy
colored; while my eyes, the spokesman
of my thoughts, were bright with the
clearness and fire of constitutional
strength and physical Well-being. I
wondered as I stared moodily at my
own reflection, how it was that | did
not look i'll. The mental suffering |
continually underwent, mingled though
it was with eel tain gloomy satfsfac-
ton, should surely have left more in
delible traces on my countenance. Yet
1t has been proved that it is not al
ways the hollOW-eyed, sallow and de-
spalring-looking persons who are
really in sharp trouble-these are more
often bilious or dysp2Ptic, and know no
more serious grief than the incapacity
to crafty their appetites for the high
favored deliCacies of the tables, A
man may be endowed with superb
physique, and a constitution that is in
perfect working order-his face and
outward appearance may denote the
most harmonious action of the life
principle within him--and vet his
nerves may be SO finely strung that he
may be capable of suffering acuter
agony in his mind than if his body
were to be hacked slowly to pieces by
Jagged knives, and it will leave no
mark on his features while youth still
has hold on His flesh and blood.
So it was with me; and | wondered
wat she -Nina-Would say, could she
benCld me, UamasSed as it were, in
the solitude Of my own room. This
thought reused another in my mind
archer at which | smiled g1imlv. 7
was an engaged man! Engaged to
marry NY own wife; bCtrothed for the
second time to the same woman! What
difference between this and my first
courtship Of her! Then, who so great
q fool as who 50 adoring passion
ate anC ,eyoted! Now, who so darkly
instructed, who so cold, so absolutely
pltlleSs! The climax to my revenge
was nearly reached. | looked through
the coming days as one looks through
q telescope out to sea, and | could
watch the end approaching like a
phantom shlp-neither slow nor fast.
but steadily and silently. | was able
TO calculate each event in it's due or
der, and | knew there was no fear of
failure in the final result. Nature it
self-the sun, moon and stars, the
sweeping circle of the seasons-all
seem to aid in the cause of rightful
justice. Mans dupIicity may succeed
in Withholding truth for a time, but
in the end It must win its way. Once
resolve, and then determine to carry
cut that resolve, and it is astonishing
to note with what marvellous ease
everything makes way for you,
provided there in no innate weakness
in yourself which causes you to hest
tate. | had formerly been weak, |
knew, very weak-eIse I had never
been fooled by wife and friend: but
now, now my strength was as the
strength of a demon working within
me. My hand had already closed with
al iron grip on two false unworthy
lives, and had | not sworn never to
relax, never to reIent," till my ven
geance was accomplished? I hadi
Heaven and earth had borne witness
to my vow, and now held me to its
stern fulfillment.
CHAPTER Xxx
Winter, or what the Neapolitans &C.
oept as winter. came on apace. Fol-
some time past the air had been fill OF
that mild ahi11 ond vaporOus murki
ness, which, not cold enough to bt
bracing, sensibly lowered the system
and depressed the spirits. The care.
less and joyial temperament of the pee
pie, however, was never much affected
Ivy the change of seasons-they dranl
r1ore hot coffee than usual, and KEEP
their feet warm by dancing from mid
night up to the small hours of thu
morning. The cholera was a thing o
the past-the cleansing of the city. tn
sanitary precautions, which had beer
sc much talked about ard recon
mended in order to prevent another