The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-15
CHAPTER XXXI.

CHAPTER XXXI.
 Some Astounding Documents
 That afternoon was gray and over cast.
 In a small front sitting room in a house in Scarsdale Villas, Kensington, I was seated with an elderly. bald headed. rather undersized man. named Gfeaves, who had been recommended to me by the keeper of medieval manu- scripts at the British Museum as an expert paleographist. With heavy. steel-rimmed spectacles on his nose. he was seated at his table near the win dow. intent in his examination of the three yellow dusty parchments which I had submitted to him. They were written fin brown. half-faded ink, in grabbed hand. of which I could de- cipher scarcely a single word.
 While sat in silence at his side he had been pouring over line after line. apparently deeply interested in what he had read.
 At last he turned to me, saying:
 "I do not know where you obtained these from, but from both a paleo- graphic and historical view they are of great value. All of them have at come time or other been abstracted from the Italian state archives in Venice. The earliest is this" and he spread out before me the largest of the parchment rolls-a piece about five inches in width and seven in length. square at the top. but cut in g. wavy manner at the bottom.
 It was headed
 %DIE XIV. DECEMBRIS. 1527. Not without difficulty he succeeded in deciphering the whole document. It was the actual recipe for making the secret poison used by the Council of Ten of Venice. One passage ran: "The powder if in haled from certain flowers--the tube rose especially--or if placed upon the lining of the cap. will cause death. Its first successful trial was made at the order of the council, by one Babon de Nardo,, upon the Due de Bourbon. It was in that case placed upon a bunch of tuberoses handed to, him by his lit tie daughter.
 ttSo potent is it that the greatest care should be exercised by any one manufacturing it or having it in his possession"
 This" exclaimed Mir. Greaves. tap ping the document with his skinny foref1nger "is the first time that the actual formula of the secret and ter rible poison of the Council of Ten has come to light. It is a most important document, and certainly most danger ous if in interruptions hands. Where ever did you obtain it? I am most interested to know"
 "At present that is confidential matter I said q am not yet at lib erty to inform you"
 He therefore turned to the secohd document. which. smaller than the first, was written in darker ink. in a. rather bolder heavier and more ornate hand.
 '"This, you will observe.' pointed out the old gentleman, ''is an actualfrecord of a sitting of the Council of Ten on May in the year 1927 in reference to the offer of a certain person called Babon de Naldo to poison the Duke of Bourbon-the crime recorded is the previous document. Most extraordi- nary!' he exclaimed. "There is abso- lutely no doubt about their genuine ness. I made studies in the state archives at Venice during two years for the history of the doges which am now writing; therefore. I am we'll acquainted with their form and char acteristics They could never be irni- tated." :. .=5
 "Not by clever forger?''
 "Impossiblei The ink. the handwrit- ing, the contractions. the age of the parchment and the gloss upon it's back are all too perfect My eye would de- tect fraud in an instant" he de- cfared. "No. sir. these are most inn portant, extraordinary and hitherto unknown documents, wherever you ob- tained them. I beg you will allow me to take copies to include in my history of the administration of Andrea Gritti, who wass doge from 1923 to 15ss. and some of whose original records are now in our British Museup''
 q will give you an answer in a few days" I said "But what is the na- ture, of this third parchment?"
 'It is a letter, as you see, for it has been folded square at one time, or other-a dispatch from his excellency Pier Antonio Marioni charge d'af- faires of the republic of Venice in Florence addressed to the inquisitors of the state.'' 1es The old expert sin -medieyaE nnanu- |sscripts sat in silence staring at the dispatch spread on the plotting pad before him.
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