El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-01
Trapped
A short story.

~ little town OF san Se' elliiO Tue
L \ government provided no official
residence, and the apOthecary Of the
town, who was the only man who had
any apartments to let, had an old
grudge against all representatives OF
In this dilemma Signor CapanO. to the
surprise Of everybody, came TO the as
him possession of the top floor IN MS
splendid villa thus winning the instant
gratitude Of the judge
They soon became fast 1rienCs,
spending all their evenings together,
smoking drinking Chianu wine. and
talking politics until after midnight
A year had passed when a case came
before the judge which embarrassed
him painfully. His dear friend and
landlord was accused Of a serious Of
fence. punishable by at least eight days
Imprisonment, and his hope that the
accused might prove himself innocent
failed. for SignOr CapanO did not ap-
pear in court at all The case went
on, SignOr CapanO was convicted, anu
he himself asked to be permitted to
serve his sentence Immediately
The Judge was seriously annoyed as
! he felt sure this conVlctlOn would put
an end to their friendship, but his sup
position proved to be wrong. for haV-
ing served his week in prison, SignOr
CapanO came up to the judge apart
ments as Jolly and jOviaI as ever and
never said a word about what hap
The judge learned to like Capano
even more than before he was a
splendid fellow and an ideal friend
But he did not like his evident con
tempt for the law, so decided to lind
out the reason for his peculiar ideas
This was not very difficult The
Oldest juryman, who had lived in San
SeverinO all his life, told him as soon
as he asked him about it.
Why 1t does not surprise anybody
here" he said. We are quite used to
seeing SignOr CapanO going TO jail for
a week every year But as for the
reason for this strange habit, you must
ask somebody else If SiSnOr CapanO
we're eccentric in any way this might
explain it, but he is the most level
headed and practical man I know"
The surprised judge examined the
records of the court and found that
the story was true If he continued
like this however, his reputation would
be ruined. so the judge decided to find
the cause, and If possible, cure his
friend Of his fOOlishness.
SignOr Capano was once more charS-
ed with an offence, worse than any
Of his previous ones The Judge was
seriously annoyed and wondered il his
landlord were not the victim OF in
termittent attacks Of insanity. This
time he resolved TO help him, no mat
ter what 1t should cost
He sent for him an hour before the
court was set pretending that he had
something OF Importance TO talk with
him about SignOr CapanO came and
his friends eyes rested searchiEgly on
his face
You are a psychological riddle" the
judge said This business may have
been easy enough to my predecessors.
I but to me. il is a sad duty. / have to
pronounce judgment on man whom
/ honor and respect for an Offeuse
which is absolutely against his nature
and character
You, the most Deace-lOving and
kindest man I have ever met. assaulted
an innocent man in the street without
the slightest prOTOcatiOn- The testi-
mOny showed that you were absolutely
sober Then you broke several win
dows, also while perfectly sober. and
now you openly, in the middle OF the
day-break every WfRdOW-pane in the
court house in the most cool and sys-
tematic manner
''FindinrN that this is your fourth
offence really ought TO sentence you
to hard labor, but / cannot do this as
long as I am in doubt as to the state
OF your mind It looks TO me like in
/ termittent insanity. and as a friend,
beg you to give me an explanation II
you have one"
SignOr CapanO. TO tell the truth. did
not look the least bit repentent while
his friend the judge addressed him. but
rather seemed TO enjoy the whole mat
/. ter immensely. The last words evident
" impressed him, however. and he
took his friends hand and saidi:
I feel I must tell you. that there is
a reason for my apparently insane es-
capades and breaches of the law,
which do not care to explain in open
The name suits her to perfection for
she is really an angel. She is not quite
we'll however. and when her health
began to fail I could not make her see
a specialist. Her sickness takes the
form that occasionally she is subject
to an attack OF bad temper, and for
about week she is perfect shrew.
1t IS simply impossible to live together
with her while the attack lasts Sew
eral years experience has taught me
that her attacks are always preceded
=Harfr tom p a-H
OF what is coming
From my childhood I have always
loved my native town and hated trav-
cling. so Z could never make up my
mind to leave san Severino. rather
spend a week in Jail here than stop the
same length Of time in the finest hotel
in Naples
Vow this is the true reason why I
do something to get into prison once
a year and now beg you to do your
duty"
The judge smiled.
And when do you expect your Fife's
attack to begin. 1t is about a week
since you broke our windows, you
Il feel it will come tonight"
Then please follow me into the
court room
When the procedure was over the
judge said
Knowing as 7 do that -signor Ca
DanC'S domestic affairs are such that
his offences viii not cease II I simply
sentence him TO Jail. I herewith sen
tence said SignOr Capano to eight days
arrest in quarters. that is to say be-
ginning tonight, followed by eight days
in the common jail"
Trapped" said Capano, as he emery
ed from his prison cell two weeks later
and shook hands with the Judge ''YOU
have cured me- he went on. ''and I
have made up my mind that one whole
years happiness is not too dearly
bought with one weeks troubles"
boot, whene'er there was a storm. No
telephones then made men curse; if with
a neighbor you'd converse, You hoOfed
- fo,r-x,o,, h