Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-01-06
Continued.


hfe than hers. Brave Wyvis-goot
Wyvisl He had done his best-he ha
tried to tear her dainty flesh; his hon
est instincts had Led him to attemp
rough vengeance on the woman he ha
felt was his masters foe. And he haI
met his fate, and died in the perform
snce Of duty. But I said no more OF
the subject. The dogs death was no
alluded to again by either Nina or my
seaf. He lay in his messy grave I'm.
aea the cypress b0ughG-his memory
untalnted by any lie, and his fidelit,
enshrined in my heart as thing goot
and gracious, far exceeding the self
interested friendship Of so-called
Chrtstian humanity
The days passed slowly On. To the
jewellers who chased the flying steps
OF carnival with shouting and laughter.
no doubt the hours were brief, being
so brimful of marriment; but to me.
who heard nothing save the measured
ticking OF my own time-piece of re-
Venge, and who saw naught save it's
hands, that every second drew nearer
TO the Last and fatal figure on the dial,
and very moments seemed long and
Faden with WEAKNESS. | rOamed the
streets of the city aIfhiessly, feeling
more like deserted stranger than a
Well-knoWn and envied nobleman,
whose wealth made him the cynosure
OF all eyes. The riotous glee, the
music, the color that WhfrIed and
reeaed through the great street of To-
ledo at this season bewildered and
panied me. Though | knew and was
accustomed to the wild vagaries of
carnival, yet this year they seemed to
De out of place, distracting, senseless,
and all unfamiliar.
Sometimes [ escaped from the city
tumult and wandered out to the ceme-
terry. There | would stand, dreamfIy
looking at the freshly turned sods
above Guido Ferrari's grave. No stone
marked the spot as yet, but it was
close to the Romani yault-not more
than couple Of yards away from the
iron grating that barred the entrance
Ia that dim and fatal charnel- house
l had drcar fascination for the place.
and more than once | went to the open
ing of that secret passage made by the
Drlgands to ascertain if ell was safe
and undisturbed. Everything was as
had left it, save that the ta1gIe of
brushwOOd had become thicker. and
weeds ana brambles had sprung I'D.
making it less visible than before. and
probably rendering it more impassa-
Die. by fortunate accident [ had Sc
cured the key of the vault. | knew
that for family burial-places of this
Kind there are always two keys, one
left in charge Of the keeper of the
cemetery, the other possessed by the
person or persons to whom the mauso-
leum belongs, and this other | man
aged TO obtain.
On one occasion, being left for some
time alone in my own library at the
villa, | remembered that in an upper
drawer Of an old oaken escritoire that
stood there, had always been a few
keys belonging to the doors of cellars
and rooms in the house. l looked, and
found them lying there as usual; they
all had labels attached to them, signi-
Tying their use, and I turned them
over impatiently, not finding what
sought. l was about to give up the
search, when | perceived a large rusty
iron key that had slipped to the back
OF the drawer; | pulled it out, and to
my satisfaction it was labeled "Mauso-
leum.' | Immediately took posses
sion of it, glad to have obtained so use
full and necessary an implement: |
knew that | should soon need it. The
cemetery was quite deserted at this
FESTIVE seaSon-no one visited it to lay
wreaths of flowers or sacred memen-
toes on the last resting-pIaces Of their
friends. In the joys of the carnival
who thinks Of the dead? In my fire.
Quent walks there l was always alone;
| might have opened my own vault
and gone down into it without being
observed, but | did rot; l contented
myself with occasionally trying the
key in the lcck, and assuring myself
that it worked without difficulty.
Returning from one OF these excur-
sions late on a mild afternoon toward
the end Of the week preceding my
marriage, l bent my steps toward the
Molo, whore | saw a picturesque group
OF sailors and girls dancing one of
those fantastic, graceful dances OF the
country, in which imprisoned move
ment and expressive gesticulation are
everything. Their steps were guided
and accompanied by the sonorous
twanging OF a full-toned guitar and The
hnkling beat OF tambourine Theil
handsome, animated faces, their flash
ing eyes and laughing lips, their gay
many-colored costumes, the glitter o
beads on the brown necks Of tn,
maidens, the red caps jauntily perchet
on the thick black curls OF the fisher
men-all made up a picture full OF
light and life, thrown up into stron,
relief against the pale gray and ambe
tints of the February sky and sea
while shadowing overhead frowned tn
stern dark walls of the Castle Nuovo.
1t was such a scene as the Englis
painter Luke Fildes might love to &c
pict on his canvas-the one man OF tC
day, who though born of the land c
opaque mists and rain-burdened cloud:
has, Notwithstanding these disadvar
tages, managed to partly endow h
brush with the exhaustless weo'
glow Of the radiant Italian color.
watched the darce with a faint sens
OF pleasure-it was full of so MUG
harmony and delicacy of rythm. Tt
w fI1,>I,,