The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-11-03
Lugi's Lady
In White.
BY LULU JOHNSON.
Copyrighted, 1908, by Associated
Literary Press.


aristocracy.
Luigi was not one of those swarthy !
SONS of Italy who 1aboriously drag a
street piano over the hot asphalt of the
city's byways. Much less did he be-
long to the lesser lights who, with
wheezy melodeon, huddle in corners
and mechanically grind out "In the
Sweet BY and By or the "Miserere"
from I'll Trovatore." The first Luigi
scorned, the latter he despised, for was
he not the proprietor of horse out
fit?
Every morning except Sunday he
drove into the suburbs, his wagon gay
with red and gold, on which was
swung one of the largest and best of
the mechanical pianos. There was a
lad to turn the wheel, and all Luigi had
to do was TO lead the white mule and
collect coins which showered upon the
outfit For Lugis white teeth flashed
beneath a mustache as black and flow
ing as any that ever graced the lips of
his brigand ancestors. and Lugi's smile
made him many friends, even among
the householders.
AS for the servants, many rural
policeman glowered upon him and en-
We'd his conquests, for Luigi in his
smart Neapolitan costume, was good
to look upon. His red sash with its
gilded stiletto, his ruffied shirt and
rakish hat were all in keeping with
the swarthy complexion and flashing
eyes.
To be sure, the stiletto was but
toy, a hilt and scabbard without a
blade, in Difference TO the absurd
prejudice of the police, who knew
nothing of a more businesslike weapon
sheathed in the collar of Lugi's velvet
coat. and his clothing had been OBJ
tanned from a theatrical costumer, but
he cut a most romantic and pictur-
esque figure.
Sundays. when the law forbade his
plying his trade, Luigi sought the Ital-
ian quarter in eminently correct Amer
lean dress. His top hat and yellow
gloves were the establishment of the
half naked "bambinos" playing on the
/ dirty sidewalks.
| Their mothers turned mute in his
august presence as he picked his way
! fastidiously toward the tenement
owned by Gaetano Camera. Presently
he would emerge, proudly escorting
Paulina of the house of Camera, than
whom there was no prettier girl in all
Little Italy.
For more than q year Luigi had
wooed Paulina, but her father had in
sisted that his son-in-law should be a
property owner. A year must elapse,
figured the thrifty Camera, ere Luigi
might hope to wed.
And on his part Luigi did not tell
them Of the good luck that had be-
fallen him in the winter before, when
servant in one of the great houses
offered him tips on the stock market
that she had wheedled from the butler.
Great coups had been planned over
the dinner served by this particular
butler. as the rich forget that their
servants are human beings, and much
valuable information had been drop
ped. Luigi profited by the tips, but he
had not told the Cameras. It was
pleasant to spend the Sunday after
moons with Paulina. but then, too
there was the Lady In White. and be
cause of her Luigi was silent
He told no one of the dreams that
burned in his busy brain None guess
ed the high hopes that he nursed. But
since early spring he had hurried the
piano cart along his route until he had
come to the great house on the hill
Sometimes he found only the gardener
spraying the lawn or clipping the
plants; then Luigi led away the mule
silent and morose. Oftener there were
golden days with a fash of white
through the trees, and she came-hiS
Lady In White
Tall and fair she was, with eyes
more sweetly blue than the summer
skies of his beloved Italy and hail
that shone like FURNISHED gold. She
leaned across the hedge and questioned
him as to his life, and Luigi told hel
all-and more, for to hold her interes
he drew upon a vivid Imagination foi
q vendetta and an earlier career as ;
brigand.
He loved to see her eyes grow round
with wonder at his adventures. and
like a modern Othello, he wooed he
with his tales As the summer pro
crossed he saw her more and NOR
often. and sometimes there was
!. whole hour during which little Pietr
could rest his weary arms and tn
wheel of the piano moved not
OF course it would not do to lie
Paulina know of the Lady In White
for Camera had declared that whel
Luigi had made enough money the,
would go into business together. tia
ian fathers had their own ideas O
honor too. Once married to Pauline
his piano sold. Luigi would no longe
see the obliging serving maid. she O
the tips.
But If he could swell his fortune {
such respectable proportions that b
would be no mean match even for tn
Lady In White. what might not haI
pen? They would go to Italy, wher
70 with a few hundred lire he could pul
chase a patent of nobility and liv