The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-05-28

NoNta. Will tIIG ftIN PiNtotSSitS
beauty ui the Venetian women: and
her luycy. who held an appointment
rgdvrthe Venetian Government rs it
existed ;hcn. mad gone 10 England on
pOiitita, business. and there had been
iou!lv and UeachcrOusly murdered.
For this -lSsunta hated the English
and England with L deadly hatred.
She prayed morning and night for ven
geance upon the pe!'tidiouS and &c
cursed country: she would have seen
an Englishman die OF hunger 1t her
feet rather than have relieved nm
with even q crust OF bred. She was
twenty years o.;;er thah G!JLIa, ,iJ;,l;,
and every year grew hittercr. Ihelf
parents had died when she was
i,y"utv-Six ana The little GOLDEN,
haired Giulia only six. They hao
biz; little money: the gloomy Old
p"!arc. with It's faded hangiugS, its
wurm-eaten furniture, its air of decay,
was theirs. but the incpUe left tothem
w>S but scanty. AsSunta brought up
her little sister to hate England.
PRAY, child" she would say, that
Heaven may bless every land except
England. Pray that the sun may shine
and the dew fall on every land except
that. Il is accused, for innocent blood
was shed there"
But Giulia could not learn to hate:
when she had finished her prayers. she
would say in a low voice that Assunta
could not hear-"Heaven bless Eng
land TOO.
Assunta watched the little Giulla
grow until she became one the lorelleSt
ma!denS in Venice: but. when Jasper
Brandon came from the land which she
held accused and asked for her treasure
she would not give her to him. she
drove him away with stern, cruel
words: she told him she would rather
that her beautiful Giulia lay drowned
and dead in the waters OF the cana!
than that she became his wife. He had
met her only five or six times when he
asked hert0 be his wife-he had not
writtcn home about her. His whole life
had been absorbed in his love. lie had
forgotten his country, parents. frlends:
the swift. keen sudden passion had
taken possession of him: he had no life
outside it. and he came Of a race that
never heSitated in love nor faltered in
war. When ASsunta drove him from
the threshold with bitter words. he
made up his mind what to do: Looking
into the face Of the girl ne loved, he
said
Il cannot live without you. Send me
away. if you Wilt will not live. Come
with me, and l will make this world
heaven for us both
She aSsented. He married her un-
known to every one, and took her away
to 4 little place on the Mediterranean.
Assunta redoubled her prayers. Evil
should. evil must, come to the country
which CALLED such monster sons of men.
vowed Solemnly never in life to see or
speak to Giulia again-and she kept
her word.
On those sweet Southern shores Jasper
lived on love one entire happy year.
and Giulia dwelled for one year. They
There were times when Jasper reused
himself, to wonder what his parents
would say when he took his young bride
home. He had no time to ask for their
consent to his marriage, and when he
was married he had miSgivings. He
knew that they had great hopes as to
his marriage-that they wished han to
wed Lady Marie Naldoraine: so he felt
that perhaps. it would be better if he
said nothing about it until he took his
young wife home. Then. when they
saw her. when their eyes dwelled on
the beauty Of her most fair face, they
would forgive him and love her.
So for this one happy year. they lived
on beauty and loye-on sunshine and
flowers. And they were so unutterably
happy that it seemed as though the
ordinary doom Of man was not to fall
on them.
There has never been a love SO
strong, so beautiful as ours he would
say to her.
So amid the olives and the vines,
amid the gorgeous flowers and the
starry blossoms on the shores Of the
sapphire sea, under the light of the
golden sun and shining stars, amidst
the music Of birds and the laughter OF
sweet blossoms, they lived and loved.
Only one year and then the little child
whose coming was to have crowed their
was born: but its birth cost
its mother her life, and the same day
on which the little Veronica opened
her eyes. her mother, the beautiful
Giulia, closed her own
forever.
Swift to love and swift to hate were
the BrandonS Of Queens Chace. He
had loved the young mother with keen.
intense paSSiOn-he hated the child
with swift, keen hatred.
Take it from my sight" he said to
weeping women. Let me never see
it. 1t has cost its mother her life"
And they carried it away, weeping
womanly tears of compassion.
He could not forgive the child be-
cause OF its mothers death-he could
not look at it. The nurses said the
babe had its mothers eyes: and he
thought to himself that to see Giulla's
eyes in another face would kill him.
He was more than half distraught
when he bade Giulia'S chief attendant
write 70 ASSunta to tell her Of her Sis
ter'S death. She came at once. Per-
haps the sight of the beautiful home
he had prepared for his lest wife
touched her heart. for, though she
sternly refusedto see Jasper, she de-
clared her intention of adopting the
child. She would not exchange one
word with him. All business was
transacted through the kind friend
who had stood by Giulia'S death-bed.
ASsunta promised to adopt the child
if Jasper would renounce all claim to
her-if he would allow her to bring her
up after her own fashion, in perfect
ignorance Of him and all belonging &c
him. believing that her parents were
dead: moreover. he must promise never
to claim her.
He was kneelingby his dead wife'S
side when these conditions were
brought to him. and the dumb white
lips could not open to say, Love her
because she was mine" the cold hands
could not be clasped in supplication TO
him. the mothers heart could not
speak in the closed eyes. The only hu-
man being who could have saved the
little one lay there. "StOne dead ana
Still:" and as he looked at the beauti-
ful face. so calm in the majesty OF
death. he turned TO the bearer OF the
message and said