The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-10-19

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too much money in. masses and Other
Another crash that sounded as II thu
Osteria itself had been struck 81 smashed
Into a million pieces. interrupted sanlro
and when he was able to continue his re.
marks he did not take the trouble to memo
his broken sentence..rt y.
"As 1 was sayfny,,- he continued, .]
don't find fault wftR yo6 TORI befiev,fng III
religion and saints. aad ak such things
Tor II you want to be children you have q
right to suit yourselves. But that yor
should, believe In ghosts and, be afraid Of
them Is trying to my temper. Consider
little. How can q ghost hurt you! He
never carries knife; no man ever yet
| pretended to have seen ghost with a knife
He can't hit you. FOR he Is lis thin as sc
much smoke; and yeu might as we'll expect
Whit on TOMS cigaroto 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 of two
months old girl baby"
wait till you see a ghost" said old
Bartolo; you will sing a different song
then. If ghost were to appear to you to-
highland 1T Is Fan excellent night for
ghosts believe that you would be the
worst frightened man in Venice"
You think 1 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 would tell YOU
what should do il were to see a ghost.
l should welcome him as if he was my
Oldest friend. l should say to him: Come
and have bottle with me, and tell me all
about the place where you live Then I
would put my arm in his and sing him
something 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 a stranger entered.
He was evidently a gondolier, 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 unexpected bath in the
canal, for bits of seaweed were clingine
to his beard and hair, and the thick blue
mud OF the lagoon was everywhere plas-
tered over his clothes. -p. <--,-f,t>s1
Come in" shouted Sandro. "Come and
drink glass with us. though to be sure
what you need is little brandy, for I
can see that you have been overheard"
The stranger did not speak, but he
bowed polite acquiescence in Sandro's
Invitation, and, tossing his hat into the
corner sat down opposite Sandro where
the other guests made room for him. AS
they looked at his face, now that it was
no longer obscured by his hat they one
and all crossed themselves, with the soli-
tary exception of Sandro. For the new
conner was no other than Nardo the dead
man. There could not be a shadow of doubt
as to his identity. The face and the figure
were Enthusiastically those Of Nardo; besides,
there was stain on the left breast which
might possibly have been mud, but which
every one believed to be blood. And it was
precisely in the left breast that Sandro
had been obliged to stab Nardo.
Not word was said, either by the
stranger or by any one of the guests They
sat in profound silence, except for the
chattering 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 Bar
tolo rose up and walked silently and softly
from the room, waving farewell to San
dro that was full of despairing pity. The
other gondoliers lost no time in following
him, indeed, they crowded through the
door as if fire had broken out in the
Osteria, and they were in imminent dan
ger of horrible death. Sandro and the
stranger were left alone, each apparently
waiting for the other to speak.
Every we'll. Nardo. exclaimed Sandro,
when he saw that the stranger was obsti-
nately SILENT 80 you've come back to
Venice again. What was the matter in
purgatory? Did they turn you out because
you were not sympathetic-and you know,
Nardo, 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 a form of theft regarded
among all honest gondoliers as nothing less
than dishonorable, was we'll calculated to
draw an angry reply from Nardo; but he
still remained silent.
Il never. believed in ghosts" resumed
Sandro, but now that 1 see a very dirty
ghost sitting before me and refusing to
drink good wine 1 know that there are
ghosts, and that they are not good COM
rades. Drink your wine, Nardo, and speak
up like man. I'm not afraid of you now
that you are dead any more than I was
when you were alive; but I 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 tainted into
breaking silence, and gradually that silence
Sandro. The latter spoke the
truth when he said that he was not afraid
OF Nardo, but any one will admit that it
is not cheerful to sit at table with ghost
who is soaking wet and disgracefully
muddy, and who will neither drink nor
speak. but sits staring as rudely as if he
were a German tourist. Sandro was irri-
tated by the ghosts conduct and in the
no one can blame him. The |
best man who ever lived would be irritated
IL the ghost of a man whom he had the |
misfortune to kill should come back in a |
1raggled and dirty dress and do nothing |
but stare and drip water on the floor
IF there is anything you want, Nardo,"
said Sandro. perhaps you will mention it.
II you don't want anything, perhaps you
will go away and let me finish my wine in
peace Nobody invited you to come here,
and it was just a little impertinent for you
10 thrust yourself among dinner party
of honest folk. But you always were i'm
pertinent. That was the reason, IL you
why 1 was obliged to spoil my
knife against your ribs
The stranger gazed steadily into Sandro's
Eyes, but he made no sound. Just then the
loor opened the breadth Of a hand and the
scared face of Antonio was visible through
he opening He had ventured back to see
I Sandro was still alive, and, If So
whether he was as badly frightened as the
est of the gondoliers had been. Sandro
raw and read the meaning in Antonio's