The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-06-08

friend. AS for myself. would just as
| soon live among the hills"
| lie called the priest To his side, and
| pointed across the square TO the large
house at the corner.
There Carlo Giammarchi lived twen-
~ years ago. Twenty years ago-it was
| just such another summer evening as
this Father-I was at supper with Car
| 10 In that house, when the news was
| brought that old Montalt, Angeles
father, had stabbed Giammarchi's son
In a tavern at Calvi. Carlo leaned his
head on his hands and said not sim
| gle word Carlo was fifty. 1 only %;
| so L kept silence. too After a while
Carlo got up very softly from his chair
| and took his rife; then as softly he
| went out or the house and took the road
| up past Belgodere TO the Col Colom-
bano, where two days afterward he fell
In with Montalti and shot him through
the lungs. Carlo took refuge i'm the
maqui. about Mount Padro and SO liv-
ed securely for the next ten years.
Montalti. however. left behind him
| sister or his own age, and a son, An
| gelo, who was fourteen years old when
his father died. Have you not seen
them. Father. walking together by the
sea, among the orange trees, among
The olives. the sister always talking.
the boy listening? Angelo learned but
one lesson during those ten years.
| while Carlo Giammarchi lay hid on
Mount Padro. and that lesson. that he
must avenge his father. Not that I
blame Montalti's sister" he added sim
ply: ''she only did her duty"
| Joseph" cried old Father Andrea,
lifting his hands in expostuation, "do
| you say that?"
Serafino laughed
! Yes. even I. Say that my blood
claims me i'm the end. j am no French
man. ] hate them, like any other Cor
| sican. for all my fine schooling at Aiac-
| clio. Look. Father. at the gendarme
| there. lounging on the bench before the
inn, i could dash my fists i'm his face
| with the greatest good win. Angelo
| turned gendarme. That's why he de-
served dogs death. not because he
killed Carlo. Besides. he was cur"
and Serafino told the rest Of his story
\ The old priest listened with frowning
face until Serafino stopped.
And you have hidden this for ten
| years. he said severely.
Il make Ii known now" said Serah-
no. and at that the old mans severity
softened into sadness
| True, my SON" he said ''it must be
made known now" and, with a sigh. he
| fetched sheet OF paper and his ink
| pot. and set them before Serafino.
Write" he said.
this is what he wrote:
On the eighteenth day OF March. ten
years ago the nigh, ,eing wild and
! stormy, Carlo GiammdrChi came down
| from Mount Padro to Isola Rossa- and
supped with me, as he had often done
before He left my house an hour be-
| fore dawn. The next afternoon a boy
stopped me at the door and, asking
whether i was Joseph Serafino, thrust
letter into my hand, and ran or. The
ltNter, written by friend OF Giammar-
chi, informed me that Giammarchi had
peeen shot at daybreak, four miles from
| the town. He now lay at deaths door
anu IN sore need or a priest. / was
entreated, therefore, to bring a priest
with me and come To a certain spot
among the vineyards after sundown
This did, and bringing Father Andrea
with me, was met by the man who
wrote the letter. He led us to a little
hut In a thicket OF shrubby oak trees
where we found Carlo stretched upon a
mattress of boughs, and as ft seemed
at his last breath Father Andrea. how
ever refused him ebsolution until he
should swear that IL, by any chance he
got wei OF his wound. he would never
again lift hand or weapon against
fellow mah. For a while Carlo was OBJ
durate
1T was Angelo Montalti who shot
Serafino and lay in wait. II | get well
and let him go. the very children will
sing the Timbecco as | pass"
You weigh your soul against a rim
becco? asked the priest. and he plead
ed with Carlo until the outlaw took the
oath But God send / die" he added.
and turned his face TO the wall
Yet Carlo did not die and as soon as
he could be removed his friends carried
him to a little village remote among the
hills, and there tended him. Meanwhile
Angelo Montalti, believing that now he
had killed Giammarchi. crossed to
France. and, thinking to make for
tune, most deservedly lost what he had.
A year later he came back penniless
TO Isola Rosa, and. hearing that Carlo
was still alive. enlisted as Il gendarme
being this privileged 90 kill Carlo and
suffer no disability himself.
However. he had 10 find Giammarchi
first and there was but one man i'm Iosla
Rosa. who could show him the way.
and that man was the least disposed Of
all to help him. for Carlo Giammarchi
was my friend. However did show
Angelo the way. for IL was my habit To
visit Giammarchi I'm the Village where
he lay, still weak from his wound. and
Angelo set spies TO follow me. ON my
last visit | found To my surprise than
the village was deserted, except for a
few women and children.
There is a fiesta in the next hamlet"
Carlo explained. "But 81 is unlikely the
gendarmes will on this one day come
here 20 search for me-
But even while he spoke a child came
running up the hillside. crying that the
gendarmes were coming. / Snatchel up
my rife, Carlo picked up his. but with
a certain hesitation, as though his
oath weighed upon him.
Il must needs live in the forest" he
said. and we hurried our OF the cot
tage and up the slope behind the VIII
lage. We had only climbed two hun
dred yards when Carlos breath failed
him.
II can go no further" he said. and
dropped u the ground. I sprang onto
a hilloch and looked downward Half
a mile below | could see the shoulder
belts and rifles flashing among the juni-
pers Ike so many mirrors. and then ]
heard q shout. IL seemed TO come from
much nearer. from the very borders W
the village. | looked that way and saw
a gendarme standing In front OF a cot
tage. I remembered his shadow on the