Evening journal., 1912-07-15
sAAWoman' S
Vengeance
BY BLANCA CARROLL

The Italian women Of the middle
ages were, some OF them. as much
given TO adventure as the men. Abcrt
the middle Of the sixteenth century
the Aancini, family were prominent
and rich at Venice. A brother and n
sister in the family were devoted TO
each other, the brother being a deli
cate young man given TO study rather
than 10 arms. Blanca. his sister, was,
unlike him, fond Of manly sports and
constantly regretted that she had not
been born a man that she might In
dulge In them without restraint. Pos
sibly this dssimilarity Is what united
the brother and sister. The one was
gentle, refined, intellectual, the other
naturally. aggressive and without much
mental cultivation.
3 Nevertheless Blanca possessed a fair
face and figure and had a number Of
suitors. Among them was Leonardo
Donadio, a man with bad reputation
and therefore undesirable. Blanca told
him, as she had told all the others, that
she would notsmarry because she did
not wish to be separated from her
brother.
4 One afternoon, when she was loung-
= ing with the social magnates, as was
= the custom on st. Marks square, look
ing down the Grand canal she saw q
}. gondola approaching, and when II
y came nearer she recognized her family
colors. The gondola was pulled up
near the pillar bearing the winged
= lions of st. Marks. and. Blanca, under
= presentiment that something had
gone wrong, went to meet 1t. As the
boat came up, there, lying In the gon-
= dola, his cloak red with blood, was the
\ dead body OF her brother. She stood
gazing at Il for some moments para
lyzed. she did not faint; she did not
!. cry out. Her nrst words were:
y "Who has done this murder?"
Z Leonardo Donadio. signorina," re-
piled the gondolier. "He met your
. brother on the Rialto and said to him,
You will not stand long between me
: and your sister They fought and
your brother fell pierced to the heart
Z He was no match for that rufiian, who
= Is the best swordsman In Venice"
: Those were queer times. and Donadio
: had a faint hope that even after what
he had done he might still win Blanca.
a sac was not seen abroad after her
= brothers death, and finally 1t was
learned that she had left Venice.
= Where she had gone or what she had
!, gone for was not known.
"a Six months passed. during which
time nothing was seen or heard OF
- Blanca Donadio. who was wildly in
love with her, seemed crazed by her
withdrawal. Had she remained In
) Venice and lashed him with torrent
Of invective he could have borne up
under It, but this vacancy she had left
this nothingless, was agonizing. He
=. shut himself up In his house ane
80 would not go out OF It,
~, One day while gondola was pass
- ing under his window he heard two
an men in It speaking OF young mar
az who had recently arrived from Naples
and had opened a fencing academy
III AS they were passing out of hearing
he heard one Of them say, "Not ever
h the skill Of Donadio could prevail
against him."
at This was the only thing that could
ae, have aroused the recluse from his de
to spondency. He would go and see thii
$50 fencer. and II he appeared TO be wor
ne thy Of his steel he would insult hin
a. and, by killing him, would show tina
In Donadio's match had not yet appeared
l. The next day he left his house 70
rer the first time, not by water, but b.
d taking one Of the narrow interior pas
sages. He had scarcely closed tn
$. door behind him when the narrow wa,
was blocked by a young man, who's
black beard covered his whole face
- The beard contrasted with the man
4. complexion, which was soft and clear
"a more like wax than flesh and blood.
- 'How now, Signor Donadior sal
Or the man. where are you going afte
he your long stay shut up in your homeI
nd Donadio. thinking the man some on
ON. he had met, but forgotten, told hiI
voa that he was going TO new fencin
nos school he had heard had been openeS
,sv "You do not need to go there to NEE
if the new fencing master He stand
10 before you"
em Putting or the beard, the strange
uId displayed the features Of Blanca MAJ
cinl Donadio recoiled. for with th
other hand Blanca drew her rapier.
"You got rid of what you considere
the only barrier between you and me-
~ my brother. You now see another ba
80 80 rier, myself, which you are to dispos
Va OF in the same way. ] have been ed
Gated under the best masters Of the a
~. OF fencing in Rome and Naples Draw
returned to meet you, but since 70
WI never left your home l have bee
obliged TO draw you out by stratagem
Donadio could not go aside NJ
straight ahead. the passage beir
ID blocked Thinking to dominate the W
man, he drew his sword. resolving
da. disarm her FIRST and talk with her af
erward. He was soon astonished
the skill with which she parried b
- - ihrusts. She did not at once assun
: the offensive. evidently feeling a vi
nictive relish in playing with hi
Then suddenly she began TO press hi
IL with rapid and well executed thrust
y & Donadio, who had not handled a swo
pers since he had killed her brother, -four
o1] himself no match for this fury, who
blade glittering before him dazzled hi