Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1901-12-14
"END OF A EEUD."

lend Uf A FEUU.
or all the girls that lived in Mulberry
Bend. Lucia Monteyrcchio was easily the
most beautiful. And, being so beautiful
she was cordially and consistently hated
by the other girls of the neighborhood
To balance this hearty unp0pularity
among the women, she was very much
the rage among the men: but whereas the
hatred of the girls was so consistent, the
love of the men was fairly inconsistent.
A all events il was more emotional than
intellectual Nicolini the bootblack, for
one, would aave died for Lucia, but
Lucias good nature would never permit
her to resort TO heroic measures. Glu-
Seppe LAHORE, the proprietor of the mae
arOni establishment on the ground floor
of the tenement, had given her locket,
q pair of bracelets and rhinestone ring
and he was the stingiest man IN Little
Italy.
Policeman Mulliean was heard to de-
clare that he'd ''turn haythen like her
dear silf. if she'd only have me- and
PietrO Benefit had twice proposed an
e0pement-and he had wife and three
children. But as for Lucia, she neither
encouraged nor repealed her band of ad-
mirers. She seemed pleased to have them
visit her, listened sympathetically 10 thelr
tales of woe, in,partially accepted ihvi-
tatiOns to excursions IN the summer anu
dances i'll the winter; in short, treated
them all alike, for Lucia was Il woman,
perhaps consequently diplomat, ana, be
sides. she liked company.
There was much lively discussion
among both the men and the women aS
10 whom she really loved best, and as
the race for her hand grew more and
more spirited discussion waXed more and
more intense. Every act and move OF
the maiden Penelope was feyerlShly no
tlCed by the rival suitOrs, and when iu.
Cia mt length dropped her tactfulneSs anu
showed each iii turn how utterly nope
less his particular case was there was
much pain in the hearts of the disap-
pointed ones, and they proceeded TO do Il
number Of foolish things. Cheap whisky
was the favorite liquid in which they
drowned their grief, but Pietro Benefit
took 60 water. He felt so downright.
cut up over his tilt as TO make bee
iiue for the East river bridge and plunge
suicdally therein. But the water being
exceptionally cold. and Benefit not being
used 10 bodily contact with the same,
hot or cold. he instantly came to his
senses, screamed loudly for help and
was ANONYMOUSLY hShed out by some
c0mpatriots on board passing garbage
scOw. Whisky had caused young Nick.
the b0otblack. to shoot himself in the
arm. and the maCar0ui man to dcmoliSh
most Of the movcables in his shop; water
for. aside from slight palcncss and
great wetneSS, he became III a few hours
the same old Iight-hearted Bennett. Six
weeks later. moreover. he left his wife
and children and married the grass wild
0w of an incarcerated Counterfeiter.
The occasion for this perempt0ry dis
uisSal of the suitors was the arrival on
the scene nj dapper little Sicilian
named Luigi Palermo.
Luigi and Lucia had known each 9th.
or many years before in pleasant Sicily
They had spent their childhood together
Their families were HrighhorS in the pie
turcSquc little coast village, but they
dwell together. not as ueighborS should,
but i'll b!ttrt cnmity. -Four generations
back Luigi Palermo drove his stiletto
through the rccb of bcid MOntcyecchio
who had veuture6 to doubt his word
And from the Palermo point OF view.
could any love be bestowed on n family
that doubted the honor Of the Palermos?
And how. said the Montevecchio. could a
MonteNecchio be kindly disposed to the
descendants CT man who was SO unre-
Ssca!ned rs II knife fellow man? No.
40: both families had very fully decided
that they could never he friends.
But they bad failed to take one cir
tumStanCe into aScoCat, and that is that
although heredity is often very strong
factor in shaping Il persons likes and dis
Fixes. it can ALWAYS be overcome by an
other factor. which is love. And so in
this ease it happened that by the time
Luigi was Ii he discovered 20 his salts
faction that no child ~ the district was
so beautiful ana SO loving as brown-eycd,
olive-sk:uned Lucia Mouteyecchjo. Lu-
Ella was II. That was FIVE wears age
Lucia was not too young to discover that
Luigi loved her deeply, and her father,
Diego. was not too old to discover that
they both loved each other This u.-
ELI A,s H.
a plan which had for some years lowered
in Diego'S mind. He was discontentt i
with his existence, At best he could
Scrape hut a skinny livelihood from his
miserable patrmony. Now that he was
we'll along in years and there was no
prospect OF Improvement for himself or
his children. he concluded to sell his
wretched estate and sail for America
His cousin, a man once rs poor rs Diego
had left the old country three years hc.
fore for New York, where he established
himself in Il Fruit business AT a Bowery
street corner. Twice he had rrturuet
to Sicily on short vacations, the Serout
time more prosperous than the first. an,
tempted many ot the natives across tn,
Atlantic To better themselves in this rca
EldOrado. The cood fortune OF thi'
cousin and the thought that Lucia woul,
probably marry Luigi Il Palermo. ban
ished further ludeciSiou from Diego
mind. In SiX days he had sold every
thing that he could not carry with him
and was sailing the course that another
Italian had taken four centuries before
The departure made quite stir in th
little village, but to all but two it wa
not much more than a matter for idl
gossip. Luigi was quite distracted. Hi
unexpected separation from Lucia com
ing SO suddenly made him feel even NOR
strongly how dear his sweetheart was L
aim. Before they parted he swore 20 h
little CIR, that he would never marry IN
body but her, that he would work eve
So hard and save up. and that as SOoL n
he would be man he world follow ne
10 America and claim her for his bride