The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1909-02-12
THE KEY OF TEBALDO
Curious Messenger of Death In
vented by an Italian.
TRAGIC LEGEND OF VENICE
Unique Weapon With Which the Man
of Mystery and Murder Sought to
Slay His Way to the Hand of the
Woman He Loved.

| woman ne LoVeos
The chronicles Of Venice tell that In
the earlier part OF the seventeenth cen
tury q certain stranger, man Of dark
and sinister aspect, arrived In the city.
| His name was Tebaldo. He appears
| TO have been a man Of unruly passions,
| Of great intellectual power, but one
whose talents found their chief outlet
| In crime.
One day he observed beautiful girl
leaving church, attended in a manner
which showed she belonged to family
of high degree. She was, In fact, the
| daughter of an ancient and noble
house. He fell violently In love with
her. Though far removed from him In
station, his blind passion took no count
of this fact, and he determined to sue
for her hand.
There proved to be, however, more
insuperable obstacle to his suit. The
| girl was already betrothed to another,
young nobleman OF almost equal
rank and fortune. The knowledge did
not deter Tebaldo, who boldly present
ed himself before the girls parents I'm
| the capacity Of a suitor for her hand.
| AS might have been expected, lie met
with curt and unceremonlous rebuff.
The repulse ranked in his mind. En-
ragged beyond measure, he shut himself
up in his own house and there secretly
studied a means of revenge. Pro-
foundly skilled in the mechanical arts,
he allowed himself no rest until he had
! invented most formidable and death
dealing weapon. This was a large key,
the handle OF which was 50 construct
ed that 1t could be turned at will.
When it was thus turned secret
| spring was disclosed, which, on being
pressed, launched from the key head a
fine needle or lancet. The latter was
OF such delicate construction that 1t
penetrated the body Of the victim and
buried itself deep I'm the flesh without
leaving any external trace.
| The marriage of the betrothed cou-
pie was fixed to take place in the prin-
cipal church I'm Venice on certain
day. Before the ceremony Tebaldo
cunningly disguised, stationed himself
at the church door armed with his dia-
| bolical weapon. AS the bridegroom
was about to enter the building the
concealed watcher pressed the spring
and sent the deadly steel lancet into
the breast of his victim. The young
robleman had no suspicion of Injury
at the moment. In the midst Of the
ceremony, however, he was seized
| Lnr of N
| fainting on the steps of the altar. He
was hurriedly conveyed to his home
where the leading Venice physicians
were summoned to attend him. In
spite of their unremittlng efforts he
sank and died, nor were they able to
| discover the nature of the mysterious
and fatal seizure.
With the removal OF his rival, Te-
baldo once more presented himself be-
| fore the girls parents and renewed his
| request for her hand. Their refusal to
| listen to him sealed their doom. In
| what manner he accomplished It is not
known. but within a few days both
had been done to death In the same
sudden and mysterious fashion.
The exalted rank of the victims Gre
ated q profound sensation, and when,
on examination OF the bodies. fine
steel instrument was found In the
flesh terror became universal. The cit
liens feared for their lives. The ut
most vigilance was exercised on the
part Of the authorities, but as yet no
suspicion fell upon Tebaldo.
The bereaved girl retired to n con-
vent, where she passed the first months
OF mourning In sorrowful seclusion
Tebaldo, however, sought her out In
her retreat and begged to speak to her
through the gmtng
His dark, evil face had always been
displeasing to her, but since the death
OF her betrothed and parents 1t had be-
come repulsive. When, therefore, in
| the course Of the interview he pressed
| her to fly with him he met with an in
slant and indignant refusal. Her scorn
stung him to the quick. Beside him.
self with rage, he brought his deadly
weapon once more into play and sue
ceeded In wounding the girl through
the grating, the obscurity OF the place
preventing his action from being OBJ
| served.
On her return TO her room the girl
felt n sharp pain In her breast. Exami-
nation of the spot showed that 1t was
dotted with single drop Of blood.
Physicians were hastily summoned.
Taught by past experience, they vast
ed no time In vain conjecture, but cut
into the flesh and extracted the slen-
der steel. thus saving the girls life.
The dastardly attempt occasioned n
public outcry. The visit of Tebaldo to
the convent became known and caused
suspicion to turn upon him. The en-
issaries Of the law descended suddenly
upon him, his house was searched, and
there the abominable invention was
discovered Swift justice followed,