The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1902-02-07

she must have some curiosity ana Aat
times must surely ask herself what / am
doing and why never go out. Perhaps
she has already noticed me notwithstand
ing my awkwardness, possibly precisely
on that account. She may even have d.
vined that I love her She may expect
me to declare myself, and, seeing that /
dare not do so, perhaps she will make
the first advances But how can man
age that she shall not delay doing 500"
And Giacomo, still astride his chair,
continued his reflections. Suppose he
were to write her letter and push it I'M
der the door? He had often thought of
doing so. But then, would the girl have
read it? And, even admitting that she
had, would not the very first words have
wounded her? Should he try and get her
to speak of some one? But of whom,
then? They had no friend in common.
No, no. All these means were decidedly
Objectionable or impossible. There was
nothing to be done but to wait. But, oh,
how long would he have to do so?
Meanwhile it was growing late, and
Carlotta in her little room was making
the needle fly rapidly. She had decided
to finish the piece of work begun that
night, and in order not to fall asleep she
was singing.
Giacomo naturally sat up likewise, still
in the same position, listening and me-
chanically keeping time with his body to
the measure of the melody. When the
tune was a slow one, all went well, but
when it was accelerated his motions be-
came dangerous for the poor, trembling
boic r,,I To ia
nastics far beyond its strength. The re-
pertory of the beautiful brodeuse was
most extensive and hours thus passed by,
Giacomo truly enchanted with this con-
cert which he was thus privileged to en-
joy.
After awhile, however. the girl began
TO grow weary, and the grand arias
which she had been singing from the first
to the last notes were followed by frag-
ments of songs interrupted now and
again, while the tones of her voice grew
lower and sweeter. and TO cavatinas sue
ceeded ''romances' and ''reveries" Gia-
como. still seated upon his chair was not
getting drowsy, but continued to stay
there, listening to the songs as in a sort
of dream, mechanically keeping time by
the swaying of his body to the measure
/. of the music. Carlotta also was falling
asleep, but then decided not to 80 to bed
till her work was quite finished and so
made a supreme effort to shake off the
drowsiness that was overpowering her
and in order to do so suddenly began to
sing waltz with all her might "Waltz
of the Roses" by Metra. Giacomo was
now dreaming. OF course he was dream
ing of walt2ing and so moved himself
about, keeping time to the music, but to
this final proof of its strength the chair
refused to respond and, with fearful.
screeching sound, gave way, dragging
down in its fall the unfortunate cavalier
This caused such terrific crash that
Carlotta, overcome with fright, uttered a
loud cry. but Giaconio was silent. for the
poor fellow in falling had struck his head
against the bed and now lay stretched
upon the floor in deep swoon.
When he finally regained consciousness,
he found Himself lying on his bed with
his head bandaged, and there beside him,
watching over him while embroidering
and seated upon chair that was neither
old nor shabby, he beheld a lovely young
girl, and whom should it be but Carlotta.
"How is this?" he exclaimed. you here,
signorinaT .H ... ..t.
Yes, sgnor. Last night after the
commotion caused by your fall, not hear
ing any further sound, feared that some
misfortune had befallen you and SO came
here and found you in a faint. Now,
however, you are much better, and in a
few days you will be quite yourself
again. But, tell me. how in the world did
you ever happen to fall off your chair in
so strange a manner"
Giacomo did not reply and blushed
deeply But women are quick to divine
the sentiments that they inspire, and
Carlotta was not long in reading the
young mans heart.
And now Giacomo and Carlotta are
husband and wife and as happy MS it is
possible to be in this world. Carlotta is
no longer compelled to embroider, The
. sale of some of her husbands pictures,
for he is now beginning to be known, is
sufficient to provide for them both They
are living in simple but pretty apart
ment tastefully furnished and are held in
high esteem by all who know them.
One thing, however, causes their
friends to wonder. In the place of honor,
in the center of their tiny drawing room,
there stands great ugly cane chair
which is in so rickety a condition that in
order to maintain it in an upright posi-
/ ton Carlotta has been compelled to bind
it together with cords.-Translated From
! the Italian For New York Commercial.