The Springfield herald., 1912-06-21
flckleness. by the riches of the men

who sought her.
But arrivons! In the end OF the
January of last year. l. struggling to
embrace career in which have
failed because l have genius and no
talent. obtained a commission from the
Dominican monks to go to the valley
OF San Bernardo. and to take up my
residence there while retouched some
of the more modern and more faded
pictures in the sanctuary of Nostra
Signora di Misericordia. The shrine
and village lie in the mountains five
miles above Savona. The former is
now regaining Its splendor, though
grievously pillaged by the French and
by later vandals. The work would
have been recreation to me had 1t not
been for Pauline, whom I left to the
persecution OF fat and soulless ira
der, and to the solicitations of her
father that she should marry him.
''lt was at the end Of the third week
that my thoughts were ardently re-
called to her by a circumstance which
cannot fail to appear remarkable to
you. I was walking in the late after
noon of the Sunday In the path which
leads one high amongst the mountains,
here rising green and purple. and afar
with snowcaps above this lovely spot;
and. CHANGING to turn aside from the
road and to plunge into shrubbery.
sat at last upon the log Of tree
perched at the side of as wild glen
as have seen in Italy. Below me were
rocks OF marble-black. yellow. red-all
colors; aloe trees flourished abundant
ly. springing from every Granny of the
dell; and though the reign Of winter
was not done. flowers blossomed
everywhere. and multitudinous shrubs
were rich In green and buds. Here
sat for an hour buried in my musings.
and when at last I left 1t was by an
overgrown path across the dingle. l
found then that the opposite side Of
the place was vastly sleeper than the
one by which had descended; in
fact, 1 mounted 1t with difficulty; and
when near to the summit. l clung to
the saplings and the branches for
sheer foothold. This action brought
all my trouble. for Of a sudden. Just as
had come to the top, shrub to
which was holding gave at the roots
and, giving sent me rolling to the bot
tom again with a great quantity Of soft
earth all about me and my bones
aching indescribably.
For some minutes sat, being dizzy
and shaken, on the soft grass. When
could look around me I saw a strange
thing. In mound Of the mold which
had fallen there was crucifi1 Of gold.
Thickly covered with the clammy
earth as 1t was, dulled and tarnished
with long burial. the value Of the thing
was unmistakable. Rubies were set In
the hands for blood, there was a crown
of diamonds for thorns; the whole was
ornamented with sprinkling Of jew
els. whose fire was brilliant even
through the pasty clay which clung
upon the cross. l need scarce tell you
that all the curiosity which Is part Of
me was whetted at this unexpected
sight; and believing that I had come
upon q very mine of treasure. shook
the mold off me and went quickly by
the easier path to the hilltop and the
place of the landslip.
Twilight was now rushing through
the mountains. and a steely light. soon
to turn into darkness, fell upon the
ravine; yet l was able still to see
clearly enough for my purpose-and
for my disappointment. 1t is true that
the slip of the earth from the hillside
disclosed a cavernous hole which had
been dug. no doubt. many years ago;
but of the kind of treasure whose i'm
age had leaped into my mind l saw
little. The few bright things that lay
about in the part of the trough which
remained We're entirely such vessels
as serve priests in the mass. There
was pyX in silver, a paten in gold,
and two smaller ones; n monstrance
with some exceedingly fine diamonds
and the topaz in it, and gold chalice
much indented. l judged at once that
these things had been buried either
when the French plunderers came to
Italy, or after the trouble of 10. 1t was
equally clear that they were the prop
erty of the Dominicans whose house
was hard by; and either that their
present hiding place was unknown, or
that they had been left in concealment
for some reason of diplomacy. In any
case, the value of the stones in the
monstrance was unquestionable; but
am an Italian, as you see, and l be-
lieved then, as now, in nothing but
omens. For a long while no thought
of touching these things, scarce even
of handling them-so strong In human
flesh is the grain of early superstition
came to me- l sat there gazing at
them and watching the light of the
topaz sparkling even above the radi-
ance of the smaller diamonds-sat, in
fact, until 1t was quite dark and the
miasma rose from the valley. Then, in
one of those flashes of thought which
often mean much to a man, l had 1t in
my mind that both the diamonds and
the topaz above them would sit well
upon the arms of Pauline; I even saw
her in my fancy coquetting to me for
the present. l began to laugh aloud
at the other thoughts, to call them
echoes of childish schooling, to handle
the chalice and the ring of Jewels, and
to tell myself that there would be no
bigger fool in Europe if did not take
them. Need tell you that the reason
ing convinced me? and quickly, as the
cold of the mist grew more intense, l
took the baubles in my hand, still lack
ing the courage to secure the chalfce
and the crucifix. and rose to leave the