Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-01-08
A GOOD PLEA

I;rcretzie. three travellers. When they |
rose to go, one, Venetian. thus ad-
dressed their hostess:
Excellent lady, may we leave under
your roof for day or two this bag OF
gold?'
You may" she replied gayly. But,
remember, we fasten only with a latch
Bars and bolts we have none in our
village, and, if we had, where would
be your security
'In your word, lady"
..But what if I died tonight? Where |
would it be then?" said she laughingly, |
"The money would go to the church, |
for none could claim it."
perhaps you viii favor us with an |
Acknowledgements
IF you will write it,
An acknowledgment was written ac-
cordingly, and she signed it before
Master Bartolo, the village physician.
who had just called by chance to learn
the news of the day, the gold to be de
iyered when applied for, but to be de-
|. Hvered fhese were the word9 not to
one or to two, but to the three-words
wisely introduced by those to whom it
belonged, knowing what they knew of
each other The gold they had just
released from a misers chest in Peru
gia, and they were now on scent that
promised more. '
They and their shadows were no
sooner departed than the Venetian re-
turned, saying, 'Give me leave to set
my seal on the bag, as the others have
done'' And she placed it on table
before him, but in that moment she
| was called away to receive a cavalier
who had just dismounted from his
| horse, and when she came back it was
| gone. The temptation had proved ir-
| resistibIe The man and the money
had vanished together.
"Wretched woman that l am!' she
cried as in an agony Of grief she fell
on her daughters neck what will be-
| come of us? Are we again to be cast
out into the wide world? Unhappy
| child would that thou hadst never been
] bornv' And all day long she lamented,
but her tears availed her little. The
! others were not slow in returning to
claim their due, and there were no It'd
ings of the thief. He had fled far away
with his plunder. A process against her
was Instantly begun in Bologna, and
| what defense could she make, how re-
lease herself from the obligation of the
bond? Willfully or in negligence she
~&oI 70
should have kept it fol-. all, and inevita-
BILE ruin awaited her.
"Go. Gianetta,'' said she to her daugh-
ter. s'Take this veil which your moth
er has worn and wept under and i'm
plore the Counselor CalderinO to plead
for us on the day of the trial. He is
generous and will listen to the unfortu-
nate; but, if he will not, go from door
to door, Monaldi cannot refuse US.
Make haste, my child, but remember
the chapel as you pass by it. Nothing
prospers without a prayer"
Alas, she went, but in vain! These
were retained against them. Those de
| manded more than they had to give
and all bade them despair. What was
to be done? No advocate and the cause
to come on tomorrow!
Now. Gianetta had lover, and he
was a student of law, young man OF
great promise, Lorenzo MartelG. Ht
had studied long and diligently under
that learned lawyer, Giovanni Andreas
who, though little Of stature, was grea
in renown and by his contemporaries:
was called the arch doctor, the rabbi O
doctors, the light of the world. Unde
him he had studied, sitting on the SAM
bench with Petrarch, and also unde
his daughter, Novella, who would Otter
lecture to the scholars when her fathe
| was otherwise engaged, placing hersel
behind a small curtain lest her beaut.
should divert their thoughts, precau
ton in this instance at least unneces
sary. Lorenzo having lost his heart t
, another.
: To him she flies in her necessity, bu
, of what assistance can he be? He ha
Just taken his place at the bar, but n
has never spoken, and how stand u
alone, Impractical and unprepared
he is, against an array that woul
= alarm the most experienced?
+, "Were I as mighty as I am weak,
. said he, ''my fears for you would max
me as nothing. But I will be there
!, Gianetta, and may the Friend of tn
: friendless give me strength in ths
o hour. Even now my heart fails me
- but. come what will, while have
: loaf to share you and your mothe
a shall never want. will beg throug
the world for you"
, The day arrives, and the court a
q sembles The claim is stated and tt
It evidence given. And now the defens
e is called for, but none is made. Not
IS syllable is uttered, and after a paus
e and a consultation of some minute
d the judges are proceeding to give jud