The herald., 1898-10-23

tIldi Tie lfculclldul was u iiidii VI
weight. 1 understood that two mer
were now ascending. and I got ready
to receive them with proper and ade'
quate welcome. From my point OF
view, the door was hinged at the left
outside of it there was landing OF
about three feet in breadth, and the
stairway, which was SO narrow that II
admitted of but one man at a time
went downward to the right. All hat
to do was to stand by the partly oper
door, and to pass my sword through
whatever appeared in the aperture
Now the lieutenant was an exceedingly
fat rogue, and the first object which
presented itself past the jamb of the
door was his stomach. In this I made
two or three swift, strong jabs. and he
fell upon his face, and lay on the floor
of the landing, as dead as a mackerel.
The second rascal at this moment per-
ceived me, and, turning round. made
such a hasty attempt to get down the
stairway, that he turned a complete
somersault and landed at the bottom.
by Saint Dominic" he cried, "but
there be q dozen men at arms in the
room"
At this moment, urged on by my
over-confidant and somewhat too val
liant nature, 1 did a very foolish thing
Thrusting my head around the corner
of the doorway, called down to them:
Thou 1iest, thou bastard and chick
en-hearted caitiff! Pardy. I am but
one man, and 1 scorn and defy ye all
Marry, come up here. any that are a
weary of this life. and eftsoons will
give we passage to the unquenchable
fires which ye SO we'll deserve"
At this moment there was a lull In
the proceedings, and the rogues seemed
to retire to some place at distance
from the stairway. and to consult with
low voices upon the matter. While
was attending to these gentlemen, Ip-
polita had been busy with some af-
fair, in the further corner of her apart
ment. 1 now had leisure to observe her
and I noticed that she had procured
from somewhere in the room a small
brazier's furnace, of much the same
size and shape as that which a modern
tinsmith is wont to carry with him
through the streets. She had lighted
a fire of charcoal in 1t, and 1t seemed
to me likely that the poor child was
endeavoring to prepare something in
the way of repast, having been now
almost a day without food. She pre-
sented a charming spectacle as she
bent over the furnace, her sweet face
aglow with the flame OF 1t, and
thought what a dainty housewife she
would make, and looked forward to the
time when this goddess would preside
over my own menage.
"And a score OF years AFTER" said
she, 'it came to pass"
What dost thou say?" I exclaimed
with a fear upon me that the gentle
creature had gone insane with the ex-
tent of her misfortunes.
II do but proceed, fair sir, with the
tale which 1 did commence erstwhile. u
"Ahn' said I, wondering much at the
nerve which enabled her so unconcern-
edly to continue her narrative at the
very moment when we were threatened
with sudden and violent death.
And it came to pass that, after q
score of years, when thy grandfather
Sigismondo led the unsuccessful revolt
against the Albizzi, his followers hav.
ing been dispersed, did besiege him In
his own house, the castle of the Pazzi
where we now are. And they did force
the entrances thereto, and Sigismondo
fleeing before them, took refuge in the
cellar. And when all the men at arms
took torches and followed him dowr
into these underground vaults, 10. he
had vanished utterly away from them
and they did behold two small, black
devils, of the stature of a cubit, with
horns, hoofs and tails. and with eye:
from which came dartings Of fire; ant
one was old, but the other was mucf
older. And these tive hends did st