Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-07-07
AN ANCIENT GHOST STORY
The Tragedy of the FIorentine House
of De- Medici.

the De- Medicis, powerful Floren'
tine family, which, If not true, a.
least accords well with medieva
times. This mani think he was
Cosmo de- Medici, first duke or Ius'
cany-was as near satanic as 1t is pos
sible for a man to be. One Of his
sons, while hunting, in a quarre
wounded his brother, and Cosmo Kill
ed the offending boy with his OWE
sword. The dukes daughter fell 1T
love, and her father, who claimed the
right to dispose Of her hand, slew heI
also. His wife did not long survive
these tragedies, and Cosmo gave him
self up to so fiendish a career for the
rest of his natural life that he shock
ed even his contemporaries. The
above statements are historical. The
story is as follows:
There stood in the environs Of Flor
ence during the seventeenth century
near the spot where Duke Cosmo
killed his son, a villa which in his
time had been a hunting lodge. 1t Is
we'll known that the dukes's consci-
ence tortured him, and it is supposed
that his profiigate life after his wife
death was to drown it's voice. The
hunting lodge, where it was supposed
he was staying when he killed his son,
after his demise was for many years
unoccupied. The story goes that In
the dukes will that clause which re-
ferred to the lodge read, THE lodge
where L sojourned when 1 found it ne
cessary to maintain my authority as
head of the house of De- Medici by
Furnishing my son, 1 bequeath to the
devil
No one could be found who was will
ing to buy the place under such a
title, and for years after its owner
passed away, so great was the horror
of his memory that no one would rent
it, At last, however, an Italian gen
tleman, Signor Cavalli bought it for a
song and converted it into villa He
was a young llldH just iloiiiSN ~ Z.
young and beautiful wife.
One evening shortly before dinner
it was during the cleaning, before
candles were lighted-Signor Cavalli
was in the library trying to read in
the dusk. Signora was in her room,
directly above, making her toilet.
Suddenly the husband heard thump
directly over his head as of a body
falling on the floor. He ran upstairs,
and there lay his wife inanimate be-
fore her dresser. He took her up,
carried her to a lounge, placed her
on it and sprinkled water on her face.
Thus revived, she looked at him with
an expression of horror.
What is it, carissima?" he asked.
She closed her lids as if to shut out
some horrid picture, then opened them
and said:
1.-The duke!"
What duke?"
"Cosmo, Cosmo and the devil-one
or both The features were those /
have seen of the first duke of Tus-
cany, but they were also those of the
devil. They looked at me from the
mirror"
Some one must have come upon
you to frighten you"
That awful face did not belong to
any human being. 1t was dead Cos
mo turned Lucifer."
The wife clung to her husband dur
ing the rest of the evening and passed
the night ith him in a chamber at
the other end of the villa. The next
morning she begged him to take her
away from the place, and he was
obliged to do so, though he returned
the same afternoon. He clung to the
idea that some one had purposely
frightened his wife and for a motive.
He knew that certain persons, Duke
Cosmos heirs, were interested in get
ting possession of the property, and
he believed they were taking adVan-
tage of the clause in the will respect
ing it to frighten away any one who
should buy it, hoping to secure it for
q nominal price.
Cavalli slept on the night of his re-
turn in the room where his wife had
been so terribly frightened. If any
one could scare him out of the house
he had bought he was welcome to do
so. He was indignant at the outrage
that had been practiced upon him and
placed under his pillow rapier and a
pistol with which to take care of any
one attempting to disturb him. He
went to sleep with his hand on the
pistol.
Nothing unusual occurred during
the night. He slept in the room sew
eral nights and before going to sleep
for the last of them resolved that on
the morrow he would go to Florence
and endeavor to persuade his wife to
return with him. He was awakened
at midnight by seeing light shining
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