The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-20


 way station he had an fee
 and read the pape: in cafe Then he went back to the hotel. dressed for dinner. and dined with good appetite After din. he fingered in the hall (there were chairs and tables there) smoking his cigar talked to the t tie daughter of the Primo Tenore of La Scala thea ire, and exchanged few words with that "amable lady,. the wife of the Primo Tenore. There was performance that evening and these people were going to the Villa also They went out of the hotel Very we'll
 Blu. at the moment of following their example- 1t was half past nine already-he remembered he had a rather large sum of money in his pocketbook He entered. therefore. the office and deposited the greater part of it with the bookkeeper of the hotel This done, he took caravea and drove to the seashore- He got of the cab, and entered the Villa on foot from the Largo ,di vittorio end.
 He stared at me very hard And I understood then how really jmpressionable he was Every small fact and event of that evening stood out in his memory If endowed with mystic signf. If he did mention to me the color of the pony which drew the caravella and the as pect of the man who drove, it mere oversight arising from his agitation. which he repressed fully.
 He had then entered the Villa Nazionae from the Largo di Vttoria end The Villa, Nazionale is a public pleasure ground laid out in grass plats bushes and flower beds. between the houses of the Riviera di Chiaja and the waters of the bay Alleys of trees. more less parallel. stretch its whole length-which is considerable. On the Riviera di Chiaia side the electric tram close to the rafinss Between the garden and the is the fashionable drive. broad road bordered by low wall beyond which the Mediterranean snlashes with gentle murmurs when the weather is fine
 As life goes on late in the night at Naples, the broad drive all astir with brilliant multitude of carriage lamps moving in pairs, sore creeping slowly. others running rapidly under the rather thin. motionless line of electric lamps defining the shore. And 8 brilliant multitude of stars hung above the land. hu inning with voices piled up with houses all astir with lights and the silent fiat shadows of the sea
 The gardens themselves are not very well lit Our friend progressed in the warm gloom with his eyes fixed upon distant and luminous region extending nearly the whole width of the Villa as if the air had glowed there with it's own cold. buish but dazzling light This magic spot behind the black trunks of trees and masses of inky foliage breathed out sweet sounds. bursts of brassy roar with sudden clashes of metal and grave. vibrating thuds
 As he walked on all these noises combined to- monfous phrases came persuasively through . great dsorderly mnrmur of voices and shuffing of feet on the gravel of that open space An enors nous crowd immersed In the electric light as if in bath of some radiant and tenuous fluid shed upon their heads by luminous globes drifted In it's hun- dreds round the bano Hundreds more sat on chairs, in more or less ooncentric circles recetv Ing without finching the great of sorority that ebbed out into the darkness. The Count pene- rated the throng. drifted with 1t in tranquil en- joyment listening and looking at the faces
 Withdrawing from the throug. the Count shared little table in iron. o: the cafe building with a ycung man of South Italian type Our friend had some lemonade The young sitting mood fly before empty glass. He looked up once and then looked down again He also tilted his hat for ward Like this The Count made the ges ture Of pulling his hat down over his brow and went o1.
 "f think 10 myself: he Is sad Something Is wrong with him Young men have their troubles q take no notice of him, O. course pay for my lemonade. and go away"
 Strol'ing about in the neighbcrhood Of the band the Count thinks be that young twice tn the crovc He alone Ouce their eyes met 1t must have been the same young man. but there were SO many of that type there that he could not be certain
 Presently tired of the feeling of confinement one experiences in crowd. tho Count edged away from the band. An alley, very somher by contrast pre- sented itself invitngi> with it's promise of solitude and cooness He entered It. walking slowly on till the sound of the orchestra became distinctly dead ened Then he walked back and turned about again He did this several times before he noticed that there was somebody os the benches
 The spot being midway between two lamp posts. the light faint
 The lolled back in the corner of the seat his legs stretched out with his arms folded and as though he had fallen asleep there. but when the Count passed by. he had changed his attitude He sat leaning forward His elbows were propned on his knees. and his hands were rolling a cigarette The Count continued his stroll away from the band He returned slowly. he said 1 imagine him enjoying the full but with his usual tran. quility. the ta!miness of this southern night and the sounds of music softened delightfully."- by the distance
 Presently he made out the the garden seat still leaning forward with his elbows on his Knees It was 6 deiected pose In the semoh scurfty of the alley his high shirt collar and his cuns made small patches of vivid wilderness The Count said that he iret noticed him in casual way getting up brusnuely. if to walk away but almost before he aware of it. the man stood 'hArnrA him ~alri-~ t- i~- -i-~~~A ---l---a-,-