The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-04-28
BY ]. L. Careno
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Some ten miles from the Eternal
City, Rome, across the Campagna, are
hills on which the Romans for GEN.
turtles have been accustomed to spend
their summers. The sides of these
hills are dotted with villages, villas and
the ruins of villas. In one of these
small towns, Frascati, I was born.
There Is or was in Italy very little
opportunity for a young man to make
his way, and at the age of eighteen, the
only field open to me being the army, /
chose rather to go to America.
Chance led me to become telegraph
operator, and yet possible scientific
tastes may have had something to do
with the matter. At any rate, l fan
cied the work partly because it was a
science. saved money, and when the
telephone was discovered l subscribed
for some shares In the company then
organizing. These shares made me
wealthy, and within ten years after
leaving my native land returned to 1t
and my home
Archaeology became a passion with
me. | devoted myself to digging for
those treasures in art which lie buried
IN such profusion In and about Rome.
My field lay at my very door, since the
range of hills on which / lived were
the ancient Romans when the wealth
of a conquered world was flowing in
upon them.
In my investigations 1 went about
wherever / suspected an archaeology
ical treasure might lie hidden. The
lower grade of Italian people in that
region are a dangerous class A few
miles back of my native village there
Is a small town In which there are
about 400 people, all belonging to the
criminal class. On this account In my
tours through the country 1 invariably
went armed. The wisdom of doing so
was apparent from the fact that |
heard one day that an American gen
tleman who had come out from Rome
to visit Frascati had disappeared. He
had climbed the hill back of the town.
visited the villa of the Aldo Brandinl
family, one of whom was pope, then
wandered farther along the road lead
ing toward the village of criminals of
which l have spoken. He did not re-
turn.
One day l started out to visit some
graves of which l had heard among
the Alban hills. In one of them l
found relics dating back TO a period
beyond the foundation of Rome.
was so delighted with my find and
buoyed by hopes of discovering more
such treasures that I pursued my In
vestigations till 1t was dark. Then
started to find some place in which to
spend the night. The region was not
thlckly settled, and l was obliged to
go some distance before coming to
a house. Seeing a dim light ahead.
pushed on and came to large stone
building that bore evidence of having
been some gentleman's villa. 1t was
now a ruin and only partly occupied.
/ knocked at the door. / could hear
plainly a quick moving about of per-
sons inside, and it was some time be-
fore my summons was answered. Then
a woman appeared, one of the lowest
class, and, although she stood with her
back to the light, could see enough of
her face to assure me that this was
no good stopping place for me. How
ever, / told her what l was looking
for, and she asked me to come in
There were two men there of the same
grade as the woman.
was puzzled what to do. II went
elsewhere these persons might follow
me to rob me; if l stayed in the house
/ might be murdered in my sleep. In
either event / must rely on my arms.
which I had not on this occasion neg
lected to bring with me.
Having had nothing to eat since
morning, / sat down at table and
ate some luncheon had with me.
would have called for a glass of wine,
but knew these people would have
only the worst, and, fearing poison, l
refrained. While / ate l considered.
/ determined to ask for room, and
If found it capable of being held in
case Of an attack l would stay there;
If not, would go on. To my surprise,
WHICH, aohtd iOi Il piaNC W oASNP ONS
of the men spoke up and said gruffly:
"There is no room for the gentle
man"
This looked as If he would like to
force me out, so I concluded to stay.
Every WE'LL" / said. 81 will remain IN
this room. 1 will sleep In a chair. ]
shall be Off by daylight anyway"
The two men consulted in low voices,
and one of them, taking up a light,
told me to follow him. did so and
was led to a dingy room with one win
dow in 1t. / threw up the sash and
saw that was about thirty feet from
the ground. The lock on the door was
on the inside. Altogether / consider
ed the position favorable for defense.
/ concluded to stay In the room. even
If / did not sleep, till dawn about 3
o'clock. So l told the man l was sat
fshed and said good night to him, and
he set down the light and went away.
was too tired to keep awake, but
did not dare even to lie on the bed
with my clothes on for fear of falling
asleep. / sat in a chair, but even
there I found myself nodding 1t was
II o'clock when heard tapping. Be
ing at the time half asleep, / was not
fully conscious of 1t. Presently the
taps seemed to take the shape ct the