The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-27
Our Daily Sport Story

streets 10 lead With her a Joyous anu eternally toil-free existence. What did 1t matter that the year had passed. and again. and that his body lay limp and near iifeiess very far from Itaiyf He could still see her clearly. as on the last evening when he had bidden farewell to her and she had promised to walt out the year without so much as looking at big Pietrone, the copper smith. Clearly he could see her, as when she had met him coming up the path in the evening glow walking like a queen. for all she was barefoot and carried a water Jar on her head. She had set dawn the jar and laughed for joy as she held out her hands to him, but the tears had followed quickly when he told her Of his departure. Now the year had long ago passed by. for many months he had heard nothing of her, and Pietrone-
 Here occurred the miracle. The long train of "empties." which the balance of trade required whisked posthaste southward to the rescue of a perishlng fruit crop. having pushed steadily across the plains and labored slowly over the Glorieta, was now rolling southward down the valley of the Rio Grande. At a watering tank on the bank of one of the infrequent tributa- ries of the Great River. the engineer miscalcuIated the grade, and only 1 avoided slipping past the pendant sup | ply pipe by a sudden application of the brakes, which brought up the train with | a Jerk. The door of Alessandro's pris- | on was in some way jolted open--only | q few inches. but thereby was unrolIed | before his wondering eyes the scroll of | his fate.
 At little distance from the red scar | of the railway embankment. tiny
 river flowed gently. bordered by mead. | ows gay with the purple blossoms oi | the wild verbena, and shaded at inter- | vaIs by the low branches of the flow | erlng willow. Beyond. the terraced vine | wards rose gradually to hillsides dotted | here and there by the dark green oi | the junipers. From houses half hid | den among the close set trees, thin lines | of smoke rose straight upward Tn the | clear air, toward sky whose prilliance | the spreading flames of sunset could not l augment.
 with no thought that this was other | than some fantasy of oncominR delir- | ium, 'Sandro stumbled to his feet and | stretched out his arms toward the l opened door in the extravaEant gesture | of his race. crying out in a voice that could not rise above whisper; | Wal D'Arno, Val DArno, ecce Il Val | D'Arnot
 Yet the vision did not fade. and in- | spired by a half incredulous hope, he | struggled out of the car and down | the embankment The unwonted effori brought him back to the real world with | horrible access of anguish. The | RnawIng in his vitals returned thous- | andfoId, and recurrent waves of hoi | agony seemed to surge out from hi | body and flood through his benumbet | limbs, whipping them back to life bS | the pure pain of the awakened nerves | Every starved muscle of his body crieC | out against the endeavor, but he ben | them to his will and tottered feebl! | forward His knees trembled and hii feet strayed unaccountably from sid'
 to side; sometimes he fell and would | crawl for a distance on his hands anC
 knees, before he could again force him
 self to his feet, but always there float
 cd before his burning eyes this visior | of old Italy, beckoning him onward Near the brink of the little river h'
 fell for the last time. and unable tc | even crawl further. lay staring hxedlS
 up the slope
 The flames in the western sky spread | to the zenith. and for moment hill- side and vineyard lay steeped in a
 shadowless red glow. Faintly the | evening breeze came down the valley | rare and keen with the subtle scents
 of spring. Across the stiffness came | the sound of a little bell, and with
 homeslck eyes. Allesandro watched a l straggling file of goats, following theif | patriarch down to the river. The glory | of the sky had almost faded when
 'sandro. conscious of a presence, turned
 and beheld a girl coming slowly uI
 the path toward him. walking like a
 queen for all she was barefoot and car
 ried a far of water on her head. The
 earth seemed to rock beneath him, but
 he rose to his knees, babbling ineoher'
 ently:
 Maria, Maria. Al. Maria mia!"
 This Is in substance the story tolC
 me by old 'Sandro Manelli. who lives l with his wife Maria, In a queer thatch' l ed house beside a tributary of the up l per Rio Grande. His language is { | strange and striking Latin polyglot l or a still stranger English, and hi 1 ways, like those of his Mexican frlend l and neighbOrs, are those of the ol' 1 world <Ie seems very happy, for al
 ways, by his discourse anent the crop
 or the weather, or the evil ways of hi
 burro team. he will close 1t thus witt
 large and inclusive wave of hi l hand:
 "En zls Americ' ees zere house fo | all 5e worr, hut--et ees to fin heem."
 Entertainment at MonteVallO.
 Montevallo. Feb. 26.--(speciaD-A
 "Evening with Dickens" was given i | tha chanel of the Aiabama Girls In