The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-10-14
PAQLTNA. :
BY RIccARDo STEPHENS.


standing at my door with a basket "
G.ld strawberries on her back. her
blue.and-whitc head-covering framed
and half shaded the dark oval Of her
llt,le face, and her big, solemn, dark
eyes, Her short. fiutterlng skirt dlQ
not hide her bare. brown, ahapely feet
and ankles. When she told mo the
price Of her strawberries. thoss har'
bingers OF spring in Malta, her voice
was soft and pleasant to hear. and even
now / do not wonder that told her
90 come again daily while Strawberries
lasted, and that made point Of go
ing down to the door myself In the
early morning to bargain for them and
try to make Paollna smile.
Soon 1 gave up bargaining, for /
found that PaolIna ana her people had
only lately come to live near valletta,
from the far side of the island, and had
not yet learned the art Of asking twice
for what they expected 70 get. After
she had once walked of from my door
step in dlgnlfled silence, carrying her
fruit with her since suEgested lower
terms, I haggled no more, and. indeed.
tried an apology In broken Maltese the
next time she came around.
At that time !. by reason Of poverty,
lived over in vlttorioIa. the pilots and
fishermen's quarters Of Malta, on the
Grand Harbor. opposite vaiietta- From
my window I could throw a criimpled
ball Of paper over the bastlon Into the
deep blue water below the Blight Sally
port. Soon I found that could see
PaolIna's little home alone at the wa
ter's edge. on the opposite side Of the
bay, perhaps half a mile away, with
a tiny balcony. Just the breadth of a
window, oSerhanging the tideless Medi-
tertanean.
Hot spring matted into hotter sum-
mer; stili Paollna, barefooted and soft
voiced, brought fruit for my breakfast,
though the small, sweet strawberries,
which tasted so good at breakfast with
lemon Juice and sugar, had given place
to great fresh figs honey-bags at q
penny the pound and three-quarters.
Now it was SO hot that one quilted the
cool. stone-walled, green-shuttered
rooms very little. except in the early
morning or after sunset. would sit
on the balcony. with books and the gull
tar near at hand, sometimes Joining in
the talk Of the pilots and boatmen who
lounged and smoked upon the broad
wall beneath the window. and watched
the steamers that churned in and out
through the mouth Of the Grand Har-
Dor.
AT night would perhaps go for a
long. lonely swim, or hail 'Cenzini. as
he sat dangling his feet IN the water ut
the side of his green-painted dghaisa.
Then NE would go gliding away, in and
out OF the little bays of the Grand Har-
Dor. or hugging the coast outside, re-
turning when the stars were out, and
eeores Of boat-lghts fitted over the
sleepy sea that Just whispered where It
met the rocks
oae hot gasping night had the gull
tar in the boat with me. I had put 1t
down, and lay back in the stern, star
ing up at the sky and thinking the
vague thoughts that most people have
at such times, when 'cenzInl asked
leave to strum.
Take it!v I said, lazIly, noddlng at
the guitar. and letting the oars swing.
he sat sIlhouetted against the bow-light
and sang into the darkness:
Sweetheart. am going away.
sigh that take you not with me-"
That strange. hIgh-pItched song. with
its melancholy cadences and repeated
lines. is. suppose. the most familiar in
the Maltese tongue, had heard it
scores Of times. but had never liked Itso
much before. It matched the night and
the tapping deep water under our keel.
"BTavo," said, "cenzIni, you sing
well" and I turned from staring over
the side Of tbs boat and saw. for the
firSt time, where we had drifted. We
were not fifty yards from the shore, to
which 'Cenz,ni looked. and that lonely
small house, with the single gleam OF
liKht coming from little balconied
window. was the home Of PaoIina's peo-
ple-And that was probably Paollna
ftom the balcony and closed the great
BhutteFB-throuBh which, remember
ed, II she were so minded, she could still
watch US quite well.
/ said no more and 'CenElni sang no
more. He turned 10 his oars again, and
took me swiftly across into the shad-
oWs about Bighi Sally port.
Goodnight and good dreams, Cen
zini." I said gravely. as / touched his
shoulder in stepping out Of the boat;
but thought from his voice that he
was laughing under his breath as he
answered. a quarter Of an hour later.
as drew the mosquito-curtains about
me, heard the Bamn voice rise from
the water beneath my window:
Sweetheart. am going away.
! sigh that take you not with me. T"
'cenzlni was keeping vigil after his own
fashion, and light sim Ehone from the
little balcony across the bay.
H.
Grapes were In season now, and the
next morning went down to the door
and chose great purple punches from
the basket on Paolina's back, AS did
80, hummed softly to myself:
Sweetheart, am going away"
II was unfair. and stopped short as
saw her hush even TO her dropped eye
lids. ] emptled the chlld's basket MS
compensation, Mt the modest cost Of
about a smiling. and sent her oil with
out trying To discover whether she
knew had been with her serenader the
night before
q