The times., 1899-09-17

/ his remarks he did NOT lake the trouble
TO mend his broken sentelice.
AS | was saying" he continued, II
don't find fault with you for believing in
religion, and saints, and all such things.
| Tor IL you want to be children you have
right TO suit yourselves But that you
should believe in ghosts. and be afraid of
them, is trying 10 my temper. Consider
little. How can a ghost hurt you? He
! never carries knife; no man ever yet
pretended to have seen a ghost with a
knife. He can't hit you, for he is as thin
| as SO much smoke, and you might as we'll
expect a whiff of Toni's cigar to hurt you
which is strong enough in all conscience
to hit you between the eyes and knock you
down. If there are ghosts, they are as
harmless as so many girls, and for my
part should as soon think of being afraid
CT -months-old girl baby.
Wait till you see a ghost" said old
Bartolo; you will sing a different song
then. II ghost were to appear TO you
| tonlght-and 1t is an excellent nigh for
ghosts-1 believe that you would be the
worst frightened man in Venice"
You think l would be frightened,' cried
Sandro angrily. You are an old man,
and am a peaceable one, or I should have
something to say TO you on that question
of being afraid But 1 will tell you what
| should do if were to see a ghost.
should welcome him as IL he were my old
est friend. l should say to him. Come and
have bottle with me, and tell me all about
the place where you live Then | would
put my arms in his, and sing him some
thing to raise his spirits, and unless he was
as solemn as Bartolo, we should have as
Jolly an evening as can be had in Venice
The door opened and gondolier entered.
He was evidently a gondoler, and a very
wet one. 1t was quite natural that he
should be wet, since it had been raining
torrents for the last half hour, but he had
apparently had an unexpected bath in the
canal, for bits of seaweed were clinging
to his beard and hair, and the thick blue
mud of the lagoon was everywhere plas-
tered over his clothes
Come int shouted Sandro. Come and
drink glass with US, though to be cure
what you need is a little brandy, for l can
see that you have been overheard"
The stranger did not speak, but he bowed
polite acquiescence in Sandro's invita-
tion, and tossing his hat into the corner,
sat down opposite Sandro, where the other
guests made room for him. AS they locked
at his face. now that it was no longer OBJ
scured by his hat, they one and all crossed
themselves, with the solitary exception of
Sandro. For the newcomer was no other
than Nardo, the dead man. There could
not be a shadow of doubt as to his iden-
tity. The face and the figure were unmis-
takably those of Nardo; besides, there was
stain on the left breast which might pos
sibly have been mud, but which everyone
believed TO be blood. And 1t was precisely
in the left breast that Sandro had been
obliged to stab Nardo. ~
Not a word was said either by the strang-
er or by any one of the guests They sat
in profound silence, except for the chatter
ing of the teeth of Antonio, who, had it
been possible for his bronzed face TO change
color, would undoubtedly have been as pale
as marble Presently old Bartolo rose UP
and walked silently and softly from the
room, waving farewell to sSandro that was
full of despairing pity. The other gondo-
liers lost no time in following him indeed
they crowded through the door as if a fire
had broken out in the Osteria, and they
were in imminent danger of a horrible
death. Sandro and the stranger were left
alone each apparently waiting for the other
to speak
Very well, Nardo," exclaimed Sandro,
when he saw that the stranger was obsti-
nately SILENT 80 you've come back 10
Venice again What was the matter in
purgatory? Did they turn you out because
you were not sympathetic-an you know,
Nadro, that you were never sympathetic
person--or did you break out, the same as
you did when you were locked up in the
prison at Treviso for stealing from your
brother?'
This allusion to form of theft. regarded
among all honest gondoliers as nothing less
than dishonorable, was well calculated to
draw an angry reply from Nardo; but he
still remained silent.
Il never believed in ghosts resumed
SandrO, "but now that | see a very dirty
ghost sitting before me, and refusing TO
drink good wine, l know that there are
not good comrades. Drink your wine, Mar
do, and speak up like a man. I'm not afraid
of you now that you are dead any more
than / was when you were alive; but l
don't like to sit over my wine with one
who does not open his mouth even to
speak,
The ghost was not to be taunted into
breaking silence, and gradually that 81
lence oppressed Sandro. The latter spoke
the truth when he said he was not afraid
OF Nardo, but anyone will admit that it is
not cheerful to sit at table with a ghost
who is soaking wet and disgracefully mud
dy, and who will neither drink nor speak,
but sits staring rudely as If he were
German tourist. Sandro was irritated by
the ghosts conduct, and in the circum-
stances no one can blame him. The best
man who ever lived would be irrtated if
the ghost of man whom he had the mis-
fortune to kill should come back in a
dragging and dirty dress, and do nothing
but stare and drop water on the floor.
IF there is anything that you want,
Nardo," said Sandro, perhaps you will
mention it, If you don't want anything
perhaps you will go away and let me fin
ish my wine in peace. Nobody invited
you to come here, and it was just a little
impertinent for you to thrust yourself
among dinner party of honest folk But
you always were impertinent That was
the reason, if you remember why l was
obliged to spoil my knife against your
ribs"
The stranger gazed steadily into San
dro's eyes, but he made no sound Just
then the door opened the breadth of a
hand, and the scared face of Antonio was
visible through the opening. He had ven
tured back to see if Sandro was still alive,
and If so, whether he was as badly
frightened as the rest offthe gondoliers
had been. Sandro saw and read the mean
ing Of Antonio's face, and seized the op-
portunity to show his utter fearlessness of
ghosts. 81
"See here, Nardo," he exclaimed, 81 will
do anything that a man can do to please
you tonight What would you like to
have me to do? Say the word, and l am
at your service" ~
The stranger rose up, and moving to-
ward the door, from which the terrified
Antonio had already vanished, beckoned
slowly to Sandro to folIow him
Certainly" said Sandfo. Perhaps
you have forgotten that it, is still raining
dogs. but no matter A little rain will NOT