The herald., 1913-08-28
A Tragedy Of
Naples
By F. A. Mitchell

tanned in the museum, ana When one
has done" the museum and the buried
cities he must confine himself to look
ing out upon the beautiful bay. One
| morning | climbed the high ground
| back Of the city TO get a more COM
prehensive view, including Nesuvius
| and the islands of Capri and lschia.
| Coming to q suitable spot, / threw my
self on the grass to regale myself in
what to me Is the most attractive view
| in the world.
Presently heard voice behind me,
which / took for that Of q woman's
deep contralto.
| "Parley vous Francois, monsieur"
I turned. and there stood young
man apparently about twenty years
old He was evidently not Italian, for
| his hair bespoke one of the north. i
speak French indifferently and appris-
ed him Of the fact. He asked me to
what country ! belonged. and told
him America.
"You are the very man l wish to
see," be said. Il am thinking Of going
to America. and you can tell me how
to get there"
"The shortest way is to sail from
this port for New York or Boston"
do steamers go from here direct
without stopping at any European
port?"
81 think not. Some OF them go to
Genoa before turning westward, and !
think nearly all stop at Gibraltar.
Then there are the Azores and Ma
deira, out in the Atlantic"
He seemed disappointed at this-at
least he looked so, though he did not
express his disappointment in words.
when does the next steamer sailP
he asked.
81 don't know. One sails q week
from today. l so in her myself"
"a week from today" he said, evi
IDENTIFY thinking of something else be
sides the starting AT what hour?'
l told him that l had not yet learned
the sailing hour; he could find out by
applying at the offices of the line. He
asked what stops the steamer made
and | told him only one on the Euro
pean Observation-Disclosures. When
INQUIRED If he would be a pasSengel
/ with me he said he couldn't tell; h'
didn't know if he would be ready
After some information / gave hin
about America. to which he did no
seem to be listening, he made an abrup
adieu, with thanks, and went on hi
way down the declivity.
The houses climb the steep hills bacl
of Naples. Sometimes the front doc
0 on the street is in the second or thir
story. 1t made me dizzy to look dow
, into the back yard Of my pension
Beneath me was hotel with var
in the rear off the fourth story.
gentleman evidently of high ranl
judging from his attendants-used
Z walk every afternoon about o'cloc
in this yard. He appeared to be an II
Q valid and chose that hour because b
got the sunshine, for the shade in Ital
:. is very chilly. | noticed that he wa
quite regular in taking his outing, an
1 used to watch him and the attentio
= he received from his servants.
u The afternoon Of the day sailed
was sitting at my window enjoyiD
a. the view of the bay when heard r
port as Of a gun or pistol. Leanin
forward and glancing down into Ii
nj yard of the hotel, l saw the invalid !.
ing on the ground. Then half a doze
persons ran out Of the hotel to whel
he lay. Presently two servants toe
, him up and carried him into the hote
His fall, coming so soon after the r
port, caused me to think that he ha
been shot, as could easily have bee
done from any of the back window
Of houses on the street above the OIL
D. on which the hotel faced.
/ sailed the same evening withol
q. getting an explanation Of what / ha
seen was inclined to think that IL
u gentleman had tainted. 1 could res
v Italian sufficiently well to extract Il
gist of an item and took a newspap,
aboard the ship with me. Before &c
: ting into my berth / looked 1t owe
One of the first articles l read state
~ that Russian nobleman who had bee
the governor of Finland had been sh
d that day while taking exercise in Il
n yard Of his hotel. The assassin W;
supposed to be Russian. The
p ceased had been prescribed by the re
= olutionists. Considering the positiC
from which the shot was fired, escaI
for the assassin was easy. He had n
. been arrested.
- i had seen a Russian political ASA
a sination without even suspecting
Somehow the matter got on my nerve
After passing the Azores, where v
made our last stop. I noticed sitting
a steamer chair on deck girl who
face was familiar to me. Where hi
I seen her? l was sure l had Sc,
her somewhere, and that very recent
While passing her l scrutinized her. s.
- returning my gaze with a stony stal
The next morning, lying awake
9 my berth. when, after a good sleep, t
y brain is in perfect working order.
b suddenly came to me that the you
II man with whom / had conversed
the heights back of Naples and ii
a girl were one and the same person.
What should j do In the matte
w Nothing. | had no relish for Mkt
myself up in a foreign affair th
y, might bring me no end of troub