The herald., 1898-09-04


for leaving the country IL death. and
that the same penalty awaits the
stranger who intrudes himself upon us ?
During the last four hundred years.
know Of no one besides thyself who has
made the descent alive; and well wot
that thou art the only one who ever
came up. Have not then done well
thus to destroy the evidences of thy
crime?"
MY amazenlent was great as I list
ened to the old man. Here was q pret-
ty situation. I could see no immediate
way OF getting down without killing
myself, and would be killed by these
hospitable people If I stayed where l
was. 1t was a fine nest that I had
climbed into. But my resolution was
Immediately formed. 1 had been taken
by this old driveller for Prince Timoteo,
and come what might, Prince TimOteo
must remain.
But these enemies Of my house!" l
objected. "Peradventure they have
still the same kind intentions toward
me which they had formerly. By my
halidome, fear them not; but would
1t not have been we'll to keep this
means Of escape. as a last resort?"
NAY. Timoteo. The present ruler
Of Firenzalino, the Duke Castruccio
degli Albizzi. is an ancient dotard, who
Is tottering to his fall. He has lost the
martial instincts of his ancestors. his
time Is spent in tournaments in dane
Ing festivals and drinking bouts. Per-
dio, put thyself at the head Of thy true
adherents and win back the princely
throne which was wrested from thy race
three generations back by the Albizzi.
an hoN 81 70 -6nv
presence becomes known, is a chance
ponents. For the which, recommend
that thou shouldst straightway invest
thyself in suit Of mail or plate. either
of which. in good assortment, thou wilt
find in the wardrobe Of thy noble faith
er. And that remindeth me that we
must hasten to his bedside, for, as
have informed thee, he Is veritably in
extremis. God forgive me for babbling
at such a time"
| OF necessity followed the old man,
though. as may be supposed, I had lit
| tie wish to meet the illustrious sire of
the runaway Timothy. The place where
| found myself was a garden or pleas
ure ground, Of about an acre in extent,
and enclosed on all sides by high stone
walls. A small house, surrounded by
| a veranda and built of white-washed
| brick, stood at one end of the close.
| and the grounds were laid out in green
sward, gravel walks and flower beds,
and We're shaded with olive, lemon and
orange trees. A fountain played re-
freshingly in the midst. From which
I argued that this island. or country,
Of Little Florence, or, as Jacopo called
it. Firenzalino, was not fiat and even,
as 1 had before supposed, but that 1t
abounded in hills and valleys and run
ming streams. Without these there
would have been no fountains.
| Following my guide, now came to
the house and passing through COR
ridor. entered, with fear and trembling,
the chamber of the princely patriarch.
Upon a bed lay the emaciated yet noble
| figure Of man of seventy years. His
long and snowwhite beard flowed down
upon the coverlet, his aristocratic and
hawk-like features were waxen pale,
and his eyes were closed. Clan Jacopo
fastened to his side and seized his
wrist and bowed down and listened for
his breathing. Then suddenly crying
out. Holy Virgin. he is dead!" he
dropped upon his knees and buried his
| face in his hands. Then presently he
arose and turning to me sadly. said:
| 1--WE are too late. We are too late.
Look upon him. Timoteo; look upon the
last of thy father, the noble Arnolfo
del Pazzi. Eccelentissma." he contin-
ued, 1--WE must eftsoons seek out and
| inform Father Sylvester, the old and
worthy priest. who for many years has
been the confessor Of thy good sire,
that he may arrange for to-nights
watch over the corpse. Fortunately,
his grace was shriven and absolved by
him yesterday, so that his passage
hence must have been straight and
easy. After I have found Father Syl-
vester, 1 will put into thy possession the
princes strong box. that thou mayest
examine its contents and reckon thy
| Inheritance"
where is the strong box, of which
| thou speakest?" 1 asked.
| Marry, 1t is here my master. upon
the floor, under the princes bed, con-
cealed by yon valance of embossed
leather; and the key will doubtless be
| found under his pillow"
The old servant dragged the box
from it's hiding place and lifted it with
some difficulty upon a heavy oaken
table in the centre of the apartment.
While he was feeling under the pillows
for the key, l was examining the box
itself. 1t was not much over a foot in
length and something less than foot
in width, being wrought out Of iron,
| and at the same time was Of great
strength and worked so curiously and
beautifully as to be a fortune in itself.
Never had 1 supposed it possible to file
and hammer out Of iron such leaves
and flowers and tiny human figures as
appeared in high relief upon all its
sides, and upon the lid.
"Jacopo," I demanded, docs the
workman live who fashioned this box?'
mo, perdio, illustrious signor; nor
has he lived these four hundred years.
The trinket was made for one of thy
ancestors by a young artisan Of ancient
Florence. Thou canst read the maker S
name within the medallion upon the
lid"
looked, and my surprise and Won
der were great, when l beheld the
name and date: Leonardo da Vinci,
1477. Talk of your Cellni vases and
your Pallisy pottery" thought 1, "here
is a treasure which surpasses all of
them together"
Jacopo had now found the key, and
we opened the casket without difficulty.
1t contained a large number of pre-
cous stones, of one kind and another