Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-02-24

up above, where, first on one pretext
and then on another, the direttore kept
me going until smelled rat. He was
not given to exacting overtime. this
direttore, whose only fault was his
servile subsection to our common boss.
1t seemed pretty obvious, therefore.
that he. was acting upon some secret
instructions from Corbucci himself,
and the moment suspected this ask
ed him to his face il it was not the
case and it was. He admitted il with
many shrugs, being a conveniently
weak person whom one felt almost
ashamed of bullying as the occasion de-
manded.
"The fact was. however, that the
count had sent for him on finding he
had to go to Rome and had said he was
very sorry to go just then as, among
other things, he Intended to speak TO
me about Faustina. Stefano had told
him all about his row with her and,
moreover, that it was on my account.
which Faustina had never told me,
though / had guessed as much for my
self. Well. the count was going to take
his jackals part for all he was worth,
was JhSI NAdItlg Nhdt l. tABtNl-
ed him to do. He intended going for
me on his return, but meanwhile l was
not to make hay in his absence. and so
this tool of direttore had orders TO
keep me at it night and day. 1 under
took not to give the poor beast away,
but at the same time told him had
not the faintest intention of doing an
other stroke of work that night.
at was very dark, and l remember
knocking my head against the oranges
as 1 ran up the long, shallow steps
which ended the journey between the
directories lodge and the villa itself,
but at the back of the villa was the
garden 1 spoke about, and also bare
chunk of the cliff where it was bored
by that subterranean stair. So / saw
the stars close overhead and the fisher
mems torches far below. the coastwise
lights and the crimson hieroglyph that
spelt Vesuvius, before l plunged into
the darkness of the shaft And that
was the last time l appreciated the
unique and peaceful charm of this out
landish SPOT
"The stair was In two flights, with
an air hole or two at the top of the
upper one, but not another pin prick
till you came to the iron gate at the
bottom of the lower. AS you may read
of an infinitely lighter place, in finer
work of fiction than you are ever likely
to write, Bunny, it was gloomy at
noon, dark as midnight at dusk and
black as the ninth plague of Egypt at
midnight 1 won't swear to my quota
ton. but j will to those stairs. They
were as black that night as the inside
of the safest safe i'll the strongest
strong room in the Chancery Lane de-
post. Yet / had not got far down them
with my bare feet before heard some
body else coming up in boots. You may
imagine what a turn that gave me. 1t
could not be Faustina, who went bare
foot three seasons of the four, and yet
there was Faustina waiting for re
down below. What fright she must
have had, And all at once my OWE
blood ran cold; for the man sang Ike
kettle as he plodded up and up. IT
was. il must be, the short v.ncesi
couns himself, whom we all supposed
to be in Rome,
Higher he came and nearer, nearer,
slowly yet hurriedly, now stopping to
cough and gasp, now taking few
steps to elephantine assault. | should
have enjoyed the situation If it had not
been for poor Faustina in the cave; as
it was l was filled with nameless
fears. But / could not resist giving
that grampus Corbucci one bad mo-
ment on account. A crazy hand rail
ran up one wall, so 1 carefully fiatten-
ed myself against the other. and he