Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-20

,ibout TO take his instrument NONE
when a couple--man and OBVIOUS VII
asked to be allowed a peep ne
.,yner obligingly consented, ana hau
,aniaced the telescope for mounting,
when a man, attracted by the laih oI
the three pushed himself forward ana
nut a foot on the ladder. The coupe
stepped back, and the owner, not any
TOO willing, told him 10 STAND Oh tle
adder rung that best suited MS eye
level
For a half minute the man seemed
absorbed, then he began TO make sus-
,,estionS.
SAY. can't you screw this concern
:, tritIe higher and turn her a little to
the right"
The telescope man explained that
the instrument was properly adjusted
and that no change could improve the
view
But I can't get the right focus
when l have to stoop over.
The owner advised that he step
down to a lower rung OF the LADDER
The waiting man growled QUITO ms
Yife-that ne step down ana out.
There ought 10 be two lenses 10
this thing / can't see out OF one eye
unless l put my hand over the other
one"
Then why in blazes don't you put
Your hand over the other one
1t was the waiting man VINO al
lninistered the remedy. Inc woman
gave his elbow an admonltory JeiA
The telescope man said nothing.
Even a trip to the moon must come
10 an end some time, so the man VINO
couldn't get the right focus and VINO
had TO put "A hand over one eye De
tore he could see out OF the other got
off the ladder and treated those pres
emf TO a mouthful of science IN part
ing:
Il knew it was all tommyrot about
the moon being inhabited. dloh
see d soul, You can't stun me up
with poppycock theories-l'Ne got 10
have facts"
And without a word of thanks TO the
telescope man who had been his host,
the American edition of Mr.. TRAD
grind of Dickensiand walked away
a convincing illustration of how salts
factorily some people can get along
without common sense.
X * X
LIE was jazzing along in the moon
L light. If it had been waXed
floor with pink lights and a band, IN
stead Of deserted asphalt and one
relieved danger signal to guard On
excavation, he might have looked as
il he We're doing something extra
fancy in the Charleston line-but there
was nothing fancy about that man. lie
was what you might call scoffla"Fef'
and he was zigZagging toward the hoie
with every intention of falling IN,
when another man CHANGED that way
Or. perhaps, he was Intentionally sent,
YOU never can tell how things are run
for US in this world, but anyhow, the
man grabbed Scott by his coat and
Sanked him back.
"Say, old man, why don't you look
where you are going? If you had
7umbled down there, you wouldn't
have needed to save the pieces-brace
up"
The old man braced up. Then he
announced that he had been-er scot
ling law In plain words he was
q something you mustn't put in print.
You bet you are, What you want
20 do now is to go home and sober
up
1t was good advice, but the old man
didn't want to go home and sober up.
lie preferred to do something else,
though at that precise moment, he
couldn't tell just what.
That being the case, III have to
run you in
Thassallri-pleeshe, are you? 1
f-rather be run in than run over. Les
lock arms ann s-sing-'
And having decided on his program,
he zigzagged jovially on.
X K X
nNE time a young woman was pray
" ing in the Cathedral of ST. Mark.
Two men waited until she had risen
from her knees and, then, without
word of explanation took her away.
She was never seen again.
Her friends suspected the cause of
the tragedy, of course. but as a thing
like that was liable to happen to any
one unlucky enough to have incurred
the jealousy of a rival. it was safer to
keep quiet and hope for personal es-
cape.
That happened centuries back. when
the dread Council of Ten ruled Venice
with such sinister secrecy that any
man or woman who wanted to get rid
Of another had only to write an anony-
nous charge of disloyalty, put it in
the mouth of a stone lion projected
from a wall of the ducal palace, and
what would happen to that victim no
man would ever know.
The duCal palace now wears a scar
Of rough stone on its polished surface,
due to the removal of the lions head,
though a slit in the stone still bears
testimony TO its once tyrannical uses.
The sight of it gives you a feeling that
eli the splendor of the once home of
the DogeS of Venice cannot diSpel.
You go up magnificent. Wide-bra nch-
ing marble StairwayS; along Sumptu-
Gus corridors, each a gallery of art,
and into rooms so decorated with
seemingly immortal splendors as to
fairly make you gasp; and in the gor-
EeouS painting S-nany of them por-
=
peror, pagan and Christian, with acres
of CanvaS-carnage on land and on the
.Adriatic Sea-you almost forget that
scar of rough stone with the slit in
the center, until
Until you come to n vast, august
apartment-the council chamber OF
the Council of Ten. The walls are
crimson, and, inclosed at one side by
n low railing, is great table of shin.
ing wood huge chairs. and, in con
trast to the general magnificence, an
atmosphere of business simplicity that
would have made your blood run cold
had the date of your visit been some
centuries earlier. But of all the ter
ror imagination could conjure up
nothing was so real as one small slab
of bronze on the opposite wall. The
guide lifted it to show a CLEAN of day
light that came from that slit in the
stone, and to reveal a recess as
big as a cigar box. where the ancient
letters of complaint could be reached
by whoever had it to do, and laid on
the table before that Council of Ten
The prison is connected with the
ducal palace by the Bridge OF Signs
YOU know what an artstically pretty
water color that bridge makes, with
the glow of sunset touching its stone
rosette in the middle and the water OF
the lagoon-well, sir:
You GO over that bridge, once, and