Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1909-09-01
knight Grant

hands together.
WAS it not clever? The first idea
was a note of invitation from the Eng
ish captain but then there would
have been the danger of the hand
writing not being right The tele
gram was my notion, and the sending
if in English made it doubly safe; il
was only because had thought of il
that | was given the charge OF the
whole affair, for, after all, am young
for such work. Dio! what sport IL
was! The watching for the yacht,
and dogging your steps everywhere,
while all the time you were so happily
ignorant; then the breathless race to
Pozzuoli to send the telegram, and the
anxiety of the afternoon when we did
not know whether, perhaps, you might
not. after all, refuse to go. How
happy / was when l saw you by the
Grotto of Posilipo. And you, too,
looked happy. All, l shall never
again have a better bit of SPORT"
Carlo shuddered the unblushing
ayowal made him recoil as from. some
hellish thing. He did not say a word,
but Lionbruno noted his expression,
and never forgot 1t.
Gomez" he said, his toe suddenly
changing. 81 can't stay all day in this
dull hole. We viii see what the
others are up to-"
Can / not stay here In quietg'
pleaded Carlo.
But Lionbruno was memorable. A
prisoner must be watched day and
night, and Carlo had to endure as best
he could the long hours Of that weary
day, while his young guard whiled
away the time with cards. mol 4, and
idle testing with the elder men Of the
band
At length night came, and once
more prisoner and jailer made their
way through the winding catacomb to
the inner CELL Lonbruno, who had
slept at intervals through the day,
took up his carving once more, and
Carlo, wearied with the noise and
confusion which for so many hours he
had had to bear, and still suffering
from the effects of the blow he had
received, stretched himself again on
the heap of shavinss.
my last night, he reflected; then,
turning to the young Corsican, asked
what time the messenger would arrive
the next day.
Possibly not till midnight replied
Lionbruno, pausing in his work to
look at the prisoner; "but you win be
placed in readiness at eleven. After
all, / would as soon not see you muir
dered. though | know you think me a
sort of devil"
a think you nothing Of the kind"
said Carlo, with yigor of denial
which startled his companion The
pity of it is that YOU are a man, meant
for something very different, and yet
willing to do the DEVILS work.
4 am only taking by force the share
Of property that the world won't give
TO me fairly" said Lionbruno, dog
gedly IF all things were equally di-
vided there would be no need of ban
ditti. AS for your devil. don't be
lieye in him, nor in your God ether
and that, too.'' he pointed to the cru
cifix-"it is all fable, If 1t were
true. why, instead Of paying a hundred
lire for a carving like this, to put in
private oratory, men would be dy-
ing on crosses themselves!
Iionbruno, with his school recollec-
tons. and his angry bias against ~
erything connected with the church
would certainly have had the best OF
il in an argument. but Carlo was too
well accustomed TO living with PEG
PIE who despised all that he most re
yered, to feel moved TO speak: he had
| learned long ago that, as a rule
words do but stir up strife, and that
he at any rate must keep TO deeds
He was quite silent now. and through
the long. quiet hours the vehement
words that had last sounded in the
| cell kept ringing In his ears. Partly
from the strain of physical and
mental suffering partly from a grow
| ing sense of nearness TO the unseer
world, he had all along found It very
hard to realize his surroundings; tbs
old Roman building, hidden away be
| low the earth's surface, tie mdins
| cntacomb, the gloomy little cell witt
! the carvings leaning against the rock,
wall, all seemed 10 him more like
scenes that he hal read about thar
! actual places where he was now living
! Brancaleone, too. and his followers
seemed to him like people in dream
that is over, though he had listened al
day to their foul talk, and wearied o
their noisy quarrels. But sometime
in the words which his companion hat
last spoken reused him to a create
feeling of reality; he made an effor
| 10 realize to himself the sort of lii,
that this mere boy of eighteen wa
living. and the more he realized 1t tn
more he pitied him, and the more h
felt drawn TO him Again and agail
his eyes turned TO the dark, rosolute
handsome face @. the young Corsican
il had not yet acquired the cold wicR
edness of Branoale0ne's face, 1t wa
too young and boyish for that, too flu
OF mere animal delight in existence
but another year or two OF this viii
life would make him merely a younge
land more headstrong edition of hi