Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-03-22

word from Ffance"
"Will not bring the dead to LIE again.
put in tho secxStary.
My Godl" burst out, she il not dead r
Worse than that" he said; at was dont
by Cesare's orders"
"Thcn Cesare Borgia will nay with hi,
hfe for this" exclaimed.
At this moment there was q knock at the
door, and BURN entered, bearing . silve,
6agon, the stopper Of which was made d
q quaintly-carved dragon.
"Your eninence ordered this with The
second SERVICE" he said, placing it befors
DAmboise and retiring.
Il pledge you my word, your excellency,
that will not rest until full reparation has
been made for this outrage on an ally Of
France" said D'Amboise. II could almost
end it in my heart to let loose open war fol
this"
eve are not ready, your sminencs. Rest
assured of my thanks, and will gladly 90.
cept your aid; but at present We can do
nothing. This, however, has not decreased
my zeal for the measures We are planning,
and with your permission we will now dis.
cuss taese, and put aside my private
trouble"
For me, I could hardly breathe. A hun.
dred feelings were tossing together within
me; all that could think of was to throw
aside everything, to gallop to Perugia, to
save her at any cost. The cardinals voice
came to Inc as1rom distance.
II agree-one glass each of this all round,
and then-cavaliere, would you mind hand
ing me those glassesY
Three peculiar-shaped, straw-colored We.
netian glasses were close to ME; these l
passed EDWARDS mechanically to D'Amboise,
and ho went on, filling the glasses to the
brim with wine from the aason, as he spoke.
II admired the rare workmanship Of this
fagon last night, ana his holiness sent it
home with me, full to the brim with this
Falernian, which Giulia Dslla herself poured
INTO it. The wine is Of priceless brand,
and our lord was good enough to say that if
I liked it he would send me all in his cal
lars if only let him know"
eve will drink this, then, with your emf
nence's permission, to the success Of the un.
dertaking," said the secretary, posing his
glass in the air.
Right" said D'Amboiss. Gentlemen,
success to our venture!"
He raised the wine 70 his lips. I silently
lid the same.
"Hold on!"
We stopped in amaze, and MachiavelN,
who had spoken, quietly emptied his glass
into bowl beside him.
t'What does this mean?" said the cardinal.
This, your eminence," and Machiavelli
held out his hand, on which an opal was
flashing moment before. The stone was
still there, in the gold band on his finger;
but it was no longer an opal, but something
black as jet, devoid of all luster.
Startled by the movement, DAmboiss
bent over the extended fingers, and fol-
lowed his example. The red on the cardi-
nails cheek went out, and his lips paled a. he
looked at the ring.
Poison! Heart Of Jesusi" he muttered
through pale lips.
eyes" said Machiavslli slowly, with
drawing his hand, "the ring tells no lies.
Diavolo! Was ever 20 grim . Jest? Asking
you to tell him il your eminence liked the
winel"
It was too near matter TO b pleasant,
and the hideous jest, and the treachery Of
Alexander, filed me with . hot anger. II
had the effect, however, Of pulling me TO-
gether at once, the sudden presence Of death,
and the danger, recalling me to myself, for
all my thoughts Of Angola. I breathed q
prayer of thanks for our escape. Il was q
good omen. My luck was not yet run out.
D'Amboise sprang to his feet. "By CT"
he said, bringing his clenched Est into the
palm Of his hand, "the Borsia will rue this
day; here, give me those glasses" BE seized
them, and, drawing back the curtain, dung
them out of the window, where they fell
into the court outside, breaking to splintera
with little tinkling crash. Then he
emptied out the contents Of the aagon, and
h,,rl lad I sx,t4 kha u = l.. "a.
fine work crushed and denied, the two EN-
blinking at US wickedly. This outburst
made D'Amboise cslmer, and it was with
more composure that he struck mall gong
and reseated himself at the table. A. hs
did 90 BURN entered the room.
eve want a clear table" said the cardi
nal; remove these things and hand me that
map"
By the time BURN had done this, his emf
hence showed no further trace Of excite
ment, except that his lips were very firmly
set, and there was slight frown on his fore
head as he smoothed out tho roll of the map
One corner kept obstinately turning up, and
as Machiavelli quietly put his hand on it t.
keep it in position, he said: "Seel Thu
| ring is a. it was before"
We looked ct the opal, and, sure enough
the poison-tint was gone, and under The
pale, semiopaque blue Of its surface light.
of red, of green, and of orange, fitted to and
| fro.
at is wonderful" 1 said, and DAmbois,
smiled grimly to himself. The cardinal
placed his finger on the map, whore the peri
of Sinigaglia was marked.
els it here he lands"
Yes" replied Machiavelli ".nd ths1
straight to Rome"
"You have sure informatioat"
"Yaanss >.