Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-09-24


doubt understand"
| Il shall be there As earnest that /
| intend rewarding you for this service
| done to the State, take this"
So saying, he losses gold coin upon
the table, which the scrivener takes up,
and, with bow and addio, withdraws;
| his cadaverous countenance paling and
! disappearing in the tobacco smoke, Like
| that of some evil genius Guardiola's
imaginings had for the time sum
moned to his side.
| Soon as gone, the Gardiner captain,
springing to his feet, exclaims:
Praise be to him nameiess! Now,
Camilla Buonofanti, you'll not much
| longer elude me- Another day, and
you shall be mine-mine to do with as
l will-take your life, if it so please
mel"
Again grasping the decanter, he re-
| fills his goblet, losses it off, and falls
back into his chair in a state of half
maudlin, half-devilish delirium.
+
The stranger in Rome DESTROYS of see
ing the Italian contadini, or country
people of the peasant class, without
going beyond the confines of the city,
may gatify his desire by promenade
! to the Piazza Montanara. This square
| is reached from the Corso, by the Capt.
| toll, and on through the Via de Ger
! chiari. Sunday is the correct day to
visit it, since on that day the peasantry
| flock thither from all parts of the Cam
pagna, their weeks work being done.
They are not all Campagna people, but
! most of them from the mountain VII
lagos, having come down to the Agra
Romangra, where they are employed
I during the seasons of seed-time, har-
vest, and vendemia, or vintage.
Chiefly on Sundays do they visit the
city itself, the Piazza Montanara being
their favorite place Of resort. There
assemble crowds of men, women and
children of all ages, and in every va
riety of costume peculiar to the States
of the Church, and the "Regno"-as
they call the Neapolitan kingdom.
Great staIwart fellows, of dark COM
plexion, darker by dirt than sun-tan,
go lettering about or standing In
groups, dressed in homespun coats OF
blue, with long white stockings or
shaggy goatskin leggings strapped up
to their knees; when cold, having a
large capped cloak hung over their
shoulders; the women in scarlet Dust,
with snow white panni on their heads.
Here and there may be observed a
family group, the donkey alongside, on
which they ride by turns, as they go
back to their rural tasks. Some also
are seen with their rude implements OF
husbandry and spare clothes carried in
bundles; those having finished the job
upon which they have been engaged,
and now in quest of a fresh one In
the Piazza Montanara they transact
their business with employers or their
agents, make their little purchases and
seek recreation and amusement In the
osterias, marionette theatres, and other
exhibitions with which the adjacent
neighborhood is amply provided.
Not the least interesting objects OBJ
served in this piazza are the scrlYanos,
or public letter-writers, who ply their
strange calling at desks-usually OLD
deal tables set sub Jove in the street.
AS but few of the italian peasantry
have been taught penmanship, these
professional scribes drive good trade
in writing out their contracts OF Ia
( Dor, as also letters to be sent to friends
and relatives left at home in their
mountain habitations-not few OF
these being billets deux dictated, if not
in very choice phraseology, in the
warmcst terms of affection-of which
the Italian nature is so capable. But
the friendly scrivano puts it all ship
shape for couple of bajocci, and for
like sum interprets the answer on its
return.
One of these epistolary go-betweens
claims our special attention, being the
same who bargained with the carabi-
neer captain to procure him an inter-
view with Camilla Buonofanti. He is
seated under the shadow of huge pile
of building. With Doric columns set
into its facade wall-the ancient theatre
Of Marcellus, afterwards palace of the
Orsinis, but now caravanserai of shad-
dy shops and lodging houses, with
hucksters' stalls of all sorts in front.
The scrivano sits, with his huge IRON
trimmed spectacles on his nose, behind
a rickety table, on which is an ink
stand. some sheets of common writing
paper. and a box of old-fashioned red
waters. The pen, of goose-quill kind,
is behind his ear, for he is not at the
moment engaged in any CORE sponc ence,
but ready to commence. The day is
r. Il