Rocky Ford enterprise., 1903-03-27
CHAPTER XIII.


This chapter is OF the nature of an
IntcrJection. IL contains. without any
reference to the chain of events In
which ! was nm actor. the story OF
Henry Thorlane. This cleaned from
him in bits during the few days i'm
mediateiy following the death OF Ma
iigni. the prcfetto. and the Count di
Pordino.
The story OF Thoriane which Nut
terclli had told me- concerning the
arrest and Imprisonment OF sAe inno-
cent man for conspiracy and the con.
fiscatlon al his estate. was true. He
had been inearccrated In the monas-
terry of The Saints. The truth was
this: ThorlaEe. during his days of
liberty, had. as Muttcrelli had in
formed me. been an open enemy OF
the monks OF The Saints. but his
cnmity was not directed toward the
entire body. nor against the superior
of the monastery. but against those
monks whose practices he believed TO
tc corrupt ard who. he believed. were
In league with the prcfetto and the
Count di PordlEo In their cStortion
and brisandage. In this he had found
secret friend In no icss u pcrsonasc
than the superior of the monastery
himself. who. though n good man. was
weak and unable to successfully cope
with the combination for evil which
he krcw existed.
lie did. however. develop enough
backbone To help his friend Thorlanc.
and soon after the imprisonment OF
thc Engilshman. the superior succeed.
ed. In some way. In making the pre-
fctto believe that the prisoner would
be more secure In solitary confinement
In the monastery. The prefctio readily
asScatcd. aud Thoriane was removed
from the Tore dell Eleiantc to the
monastery.
From ths mouaAtcry he Was assist.
cd TO escape by the superior. who con.
tinuaily reported to the preictto the
security and safety of his prisoner.
Thorlauc lived for n time In the
marble grotto. and one day he met.
while hurtir. moufion. disguised be-
yond recognition. his old comradc and
university companion. Muttcrelli. to
whom he made himself known. Nut.
dinla. with the four mountain lions
who Md been his companions in the
grotto. and with thcse he resolved to
seek his fortune In, America. until he
had amassed enough money to enable
him to legally and successfully com.
bat the charges against him and re-
gain his conHscated estates.
He reached America successfully
and exhibited his lions In n small way.
adopting the name Maubikeck as he
Ing ore not likely TO lead to Identified.
tion.
Then Pacho Maligni. the brother of
the man against whose life he was ac-
cused of conspiring. began operations
collecting the materials for his circus.
Pacho Maligni. although he may have
known of the change of ownership of
the villa di Thorlano. keeping abreast
OF the affairs in SARDINIA. he did not
know Maubikeck. and the lion.tamer
resolved to link his fortunes TO those
OF the Sandman. with the hope that
In some way the connection might
lead TO some discoveries that would
be advantageous to himself.
At the rehearsals he met and loved
Nita Barlotti. and she returned his
love. To her he told all the story of
his misfortuncs. and found In the
beautiful trapeze girl n ready sym
pathizer.
What occurred In New York to stir
and start afresh the adventures OF
my remarkable friend has already
been set forth in these pages.
When Thorlane. or. as knew him.
Maubikeck. was left behind on the
sinking Queen, he did not go tamely
to heroic death, as | supposed. but
resolutely set to work to save his he
roic life. He managed. by the aid of
two others. to set raft together be-
fore the ship went down. This was
furnished with n sail and supplied
with food. Upon 1t they launched
themselves upon the waves.
They were fortunately driven to the
Azores, where. after stay of week
or so, they were taken on board n
sailing vessel which was bound for
Lisbon, and which had stopped at the
Azores for water. From Lisbon he
came to Italy. and at Genoa sought
his old friend Mutterelli, whom he felt
he could trust implicitly. Being in
formed that Mntterelli was in Cagliari
with Signor WilDerton of New York
Thorlane made all preparation to en-.
ter the country where his life and lib.
erty were not safe, and the day he saw
me wounded by the wayside was his
first day in Cagliari. He had found
Mutterelli, and these two at once en-
tered into a secret compact, the re-
suits of which we have seen.
Mutterelli was q member of a secret
order in Italy and Sardinia, into when
he initiated Brother Michael and 1t
was the authority this membership
gave him that enabled the putative
monk to compel the band of Count di
Pordino to withdraw just when they
held victory in their grasp
Thorlane, as Brother Michael, be.