Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-07-01
COnLIuued.

u leu, III d SlIlll ZONE. I'll, he. OuE
can see you know nothing Of Naples
You have not heard of the rich Ro-
mani? See you, | wished him to live
He was clever and bold, but | did not
grudge him that-nO, he was good to
the poor; he gave away hundreds Of
francs in charity. | have seen him
Often-I saw him married" And here
his parchment face screwed itself into
an expression of the most malignant
cruelty. "Pah! | hate his wife-a fair,
soft thing, like a white snake! [ used
to watch them both from the corners
Of the streets as they drove along in
their fine carriage, and wondered how
it would all end, whether he or she
would gain the victory first I wanted
him to win; | would have helped him
to kill her, yes! But the saints have
made mistake this time, for he is
dead, and that she-devil has all. Oh,
yes! God and the plague have done a
foolish thing for once"
| listened to the old wretch with
deepening aversion, yet with some
curiosity too. Why should he hate
my wife? [ thought, unless indeed, he
hated all youth and beauty, as was
most probably the case And If he had
seen me as often as he averred he must
know me by sight How was it then
that he did not recognize me now? Fol
lowing out this thought, [ said aloud:
What sort of looking man was
this Count ROmani? You say he was
handsome he tall or short-dark
or fair?"
Putting back his struggling gray
locks from his forehead, the dealer
stretched out a yellow, claw-like hand
as though pointing to some distant
vision.
"A beautiful mani" he exclaimed;
"a man good for the eyes to see! AS
straight as you are!--as tall as you
are!-as broad as you are! But your
eyes are sunken and dim-his were
full and large and sparkling. Your face
is drawn and pale-his was of clear
olive tint, round and flushed with
health; and his hair was glossy black
-ah! as jet-black, my friend, as yours
is snOw-whitei"
| recoile1 from these last words III
a sort of terror; they were like an
electric shock! Was | indeed so chang
ed? Was it possible that the horrors
of a night in the vault had made such
dire impression upon me? My hair
mine! | could hardly believe
it. If so, perhaps Nina would not recOg-
niZe me-she might be terrified at my
aspect-Guido himself might have
doubts of my Identity Though for
that matter, | could easily prove N.Y.
self to be indeed Fabio Romani-even
if l had to show the vault and my own
sundered coffin. While | revolved all
this in my mind the old man, uncon-
scious of my emotion, went on with his
mumbling chatter.
"Ah, yes, yes, He was a fine fellow
a strong fellow. | used to rejoice that
he was so strong He could have taken
the little throat of his wife between
finger and thumb and nipped it-sol
and she would have told no more lies
| wanted him to do it waited for it.
He would have done it surely, had he
lived. That is why I am sorry he
died.
Mastering my feelings by violent
effort, forced myself to speak calmly
to this malignant old brute.
why do you hate the Countess
Romani so much?" l asked him, with
sternness. Has she done you any
harm?"
He Strengthened himself as much as
he was able and looked me full in the
eyes
See you!'' he answered, with a sort
of leering laugh about the corners of
his wicked mouth. Il will tell you
why | hate her-yeS-I will tell you
because you are astrong man. I like
strong men-they are sometimes foOIed
by women, it is true-but then they
can take revenge. 1 was strong my
self once. And you-yOu are Old-but
you love a jest-you will understand
The Romani woman has done me nc
harm. She laughed-Once. That was
when her horses knocked me down II
the street ] was hurt-but | saw her
red lips widen and her white teeth
slitter-she has a baby smile--the
people will tell you-so Innocent
was picked up--her carriage drove OF
her husband was not with her-ht
would have acted differently. But il
is no matter-I tell you she laughed
and then I saw at once the likeness.
The likenessi" I exclaimed, im
patiently, for his story annoyed me
what likeness? -
Between her and my wife" tn
dealer replied, fixing his cruel eye
Lpon me With increasing intensity o
regard. oh yes. I know what love is
know too that God had very littl
to do with the making of women l
was n long time before even He coult
fnd the Madonna. Ye1-yes, ] know
l tell you l married thing as Oeauti
full as morning in spring time-wit
little head that seemed to droop lik
a flower under its weight of suEbeaT
hair-and eyes! hike those of a tin
child when it looks up and asks 20
for kisses. was absent once-I re
turned and found her sleeping trar
quilly-yes! on the breast of blacl
proved street-singer from Venice
handsome lad enough and brave as
young lion. He saw me and sprung
my throat held him down an
knelt upon his chest-she woke an
gazed upon us, too terrified to speak
SCI eam-she only shivered and made
little meaning sound like that Of