Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-03-10

cIucifix cIasped in those little waXen
fingers dazzled my brain-and with a
f antic cry of unreasoning terror, :
rushed up the steps with a maniac
speed-Opened the iron gate through
which she would pass no more, and
stood at liberty in the free air, face
to face with a wind as tempestuous as
my own passions. With what furi-
Gus haste l shut the entrance to the
vault! with what fierce precaution [
locked and dOub,e-locked it, Nay,
SO little did 1 realize that she was
actually dead, that [ caught myself
saying aloud afe-safe at last, She
cannot escape-I have closed the Sc
cret passage-no one will hear her
icries-she will struggle a little, but
lit will soon be oversize will never
laugh any more-never kiss-never
| love-never tell lies for the fooling Of
men!-she is buried as l was-buried
alive!"
| Mutterlng thus to myself with sort
of sobbing incoherence, [ turned to
meet the snarl of the savage blast of
night, with my brain Keeling, my
limbs weak and trembling the
heavens and earth rocking before me
| like a wild sea-with the flying moon
ring aghast through the driving
| CiOuds-with all the universe, as it
were, in broken and shapeless chaos
about me; even so 1 went forth to
meet my fate-and left her!
x \ * *
Unrecognized, untracked, | departed
! from Naples. Wrapped in my cloak,
and stretched in a sort of heavy stu
por on the deck of the "Rondinella,"
my appearance apparently excited no
suspicion in the mind of the skipper,
old Antonio Bardi, with whom my
friend Andrea had made terms for my
voyage, little aware of the real iden-
tity of the passenger he recommended.
The morning was Iadiantly beautiful
the sparkling waves rose high ON
tiptOe to kiss the still boisterous wind
the sunlight broke in wide smile
Of spring-tide over the world! With
the burden of my agony upon me
with the utter exhaustion of my over
wrought nerves, | beheld all things
as in a feverish dream-the laughi g
light, the azure ripple of waters-the
receding line Of my native shores
everything was blurred, indistinct
and unreal to me, though my soul,
Argus-eyed, necessarily peered, down
into those darksome depths where she
lay, silent forever For now | knew
she was dead. Fate had killed her
not [. All unrepentant as she was,
triumphing in her treachery to the
last, even in her madness, still I would
have saved her though she strove to
murder me.
Yet it was we'll the stone had fallen
who knows!-if she had liHed-I
strOve not to think of her, and draw
ing the key of the vault from my
pocket, l let it drop with a sullen
splash into the waves. All was over
no one pursued memo one inquired
whittier l went. | arrived at Civita
Vecchia unquestioned; from thence L
Travelled to Leghorn, where I en-
barked on board a merchant trading
vessel bound for South America. Thus
| lost myself to the world; thus | be-
came, as it were, buried alive for the
second time. | am safely sepulchered
in these wild woods, and seek no es-
cape.
/ Wearing the gu.se of rough settler,
one who works in common with
others, hewing down tough parasites
and poisonous undergrowths in order
to effect clearing through these path
less sOlitudes, none can trace in the
strong stern man, with the care-worn
face and white hair, any resemblance
to the once popular and wealthy Count
Olivia, whose disappearance, so strange
and sudden, was for time the talk of
Italy. For, on one occasion when
visiting the nearest town, [ saw an
article in a newspaper, headed "Mys-
FERROUS Occurrence in Naples,' and
| read every word of it with a sensa-
ton of dull amusement. From it |
learned that the Count Olivia was ad-
vertised for His abrupt departure,
together with that of his newly-mar-
ried wife, formerly Contessa Romani,
on the very night of their wedding,
had created the utmost excitement in
the city. The landlord of the hotel
where he stayed was prosecuting in
quiries-so was the counts former
valet, one Vincenzo Flamma. Any
information would be gratefully re-
ceived by the police authorities. II
within twelve months no news were
obtained, the immense properties OF
the Romani family, in default of exist
ing kindred, would be handed over to
the crown.
There was much more to the same
effect, and l read it with the utmost
indifference. Why do they MOI
search the Romani vault?-I thought
gloomily-they would find some
authentic information there! But
know the Neapolitans well; they are
timorous and superstitious; they
would as soon hug a pestilence as ex-
plore a charnel-house. One thins
gladdened me; it was the projected
, disposal of my fortune. The crown
the Kingdom of Italy, was surely a!
noble an heir as a man could have,
returned to my woodland hut with
strange peace on my soul
: AS / told you at first, am a deaC
: mantle world, with its busy life AM
aims, has naught to do with me- Tn
! tall trees, the birds, the whisperin!
2 grasses are my friends and my com
panions-they, and they only, ar
7 sometimes the silent witnesses of tn
;, torturing fits of agony that every nov