Evening Star Newspaper, January 16, 1897, Page 15

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1897-24 . PAGES. MARIA PERRONE MURDERESS AND SAINT. Se BY S. R. CROCKETT. (Copyright, 189 S$. R. Crockett.) Written f wening Star. It was year after we of Italy had final qui nee of ne Austrians and their cursed yellow and black. I had just been made a general—younger by twenty years than they make generais nowadays, but, with a deal more experi- I was no diplomat then, though I en ay it nor I oughts of sitting in coun cil r of war. But, nevertheless, I general, still unmarried, and clad the cavalry light blue and with great er spurs, which Is he sming of all uniforms; and in of all this I was well self. ar little fighting save of dangerous, ungracious sort which « n seouring the country- side after brigands of one’s own race and bringing m to the market place of a conve town to be tried and shot by squads. Pah! the work, though necessary enough, an ill taste in my mouth after Mente and Solferino, and, what was best of all, clearing-Sicily with Garibaldi’s redshirts. After the government had “quitted” polished up the heel sins they made me and a dreary job it Apulia and generally of the boot, for my inspector of prisons was. It was like this: A bowing, obsequious syndic, welcome. a meal fowl drowned in speech of rice sheep's fat, but bootlaces when you got at the bird, worse wine, and more speech Then came a_fiy- blown town hall, a malodorous prison, from * tried all his arts to de- long as pos- were the usual prisoners. Then there petty larceners mostly, the great ones be- engaged in filling syndic’s chairs, a ay brigand or two, lambs thrown to welves to save their more clever com- rades. But all, brigand, brawler. drunk- jailer. syndic. had each their own aint to make, to which at first { used en patient were Innocent—all innocent. The y Virgin knew it, the blessed saint, too, i would one day make it plain. And then—ah, then, the false witnesses against the guiltless would have conviction brought home to them—with a knife presumably. All, all was the same—dull repetition, hateful to one who loved the camp and the fierce light which gleams along the fighting line, when each man fs go! in to strike till he dies for your fatherland. But I forget: you happy islanders have never been trodden down for centurt never seen the tyrant’s flag flaunt hatefully from your fortress and set up on festal days in your squares. er the deliverance, I, who had without being shamed, ‘was sent ‘ f a subaltern to inspect I heard afterward that some on in authority considered me a young comb would not be the worse But it was cursedly dull work ew, 7 interesting, not so pretty girl crossed my pat within arm’s length as I worked m southward a eastern seaboard 1 on pri ne dreary proce day I came to neient and distir 1 serve t ward of the prison T saw lz which, r thou t forget. sor, as he opened a sharp word called who stood up eves. The on he gh the high barred Her hands were clasped in front Her tall, lithe figure showed round- eful, even through the sack-Hke assionate, stormily the thunder cloud ‘aranto up from the an, So seemed to me the eyes an who stood before me. Perrrone, wife of Leo Perrone, for murder in the second degre: announced the warder, saluting with a ike a_m: face “Whom did she murder?" I asked of him Giovanni mill Lupo, a soldier of the of her own province. countr, I looked keenly at the woman, whose dark eyes had never swerved a moment from mine since the opening of the cell decor revealed her to me. Are you Innocent of the crime?” I asked . expecting the usual denial. I killed the man!” she replied impas- ely, standing like an angel carved in the niche ‘of a duomo. 1 turned to the jailer. there any extenua 1 asked of him. ke a murderess.” id that the soldier insulted her, husband entered and attempted fere, whereupon the soldier had the best of it, and when he had overcome the . the wife, this Maria Perrone, stabbed ting circum- ‘She does not ‘That is a lie.” woman, calmly, without any ma n of heat, “no man who lives could overcome Leo Pei rone. The -d his shoulders. ever,” he said, “but e heard, there was some was Leo Perrone himself The veil of indifference dropped instanta- y from the face of the woman. Her $s blazed yellow fire. She clutched the palms of her hands, driving her long finger nails i very moment she seemed spring upon the warder. Maria Perrone,” I said, hand, while my escort “I killed th she replied im- passively, standing Hke an angel in the niche of a duomo. her instant- “i will hear all, and see you nor your husband shall wron: woman ca s effort and stony im: med herself with an ob- pped back into her pre- sivity “No man can accuse my husband of shedding blood,” she repeated. “Have I onfesse Have I not been tried? Have I not been condemned? Am I not w enduring my punishment? Aye, and ndure it till the day I die!” nded with a wave of her hand like that cheers a well-beloved flag when © victorious troops are coming in. The weman interested me vastly. She also Spoke like one who had fought and tri- umphed. The warder spoke again. “Her husband goes free. truth. He is indeed suspected of being a free companion—but that is small crime amcng these barbarous hills till a man is caught. I saw him tn the market place today with a contadina—a country maid- en— shrieked the She speaks “What? Say that again! woman, springing forward. Her eyes were deadly and defiant all at once, Pica man went on without taking any no- ic “With a maiden of ten or eleven years— very beautiful; in truth, a Madonna child.” “Ah, my little Margherita!” cried the wo- maan, laughing a little, but with the tears running down her cheeks, “‘why did I fear? It was my own little lass—but ah, miseri- cordia, they will not come and see me— the prisoner, the murderess.”” She dashed her bare hanés up to her cheeks, and with the sallow, prison-blanch- ed fingers she hastily brushed away the running tears. “But it is better not—a felon mother—ah. Ged, one forsaken of the saints. She will think me that, and she will not even re- member me in her white prayers.” 1 mctioned the warder to shut the door. I could not abide her grief. The inspector dragged me on to its close. Tier after tier, corritor after corridor, I passed in review: but do what I could, it was not in my power to shut out that lovely tear-stained face, into which had not yet come that look of quick-coming age which arrives so early fer our southern women. The eyes haunied me, and I caught myself wishing that I might again behold Maria Perrone, the murderess, wife of Leo the bandit and free companion. However, I resisted the desire to return to her cell, being well aware that the ofti- cials of an Italian prison would set my in- terest in the woman down to another mo- tive than a disinterested desire to investl- gate a prisoner's complaints. Presently, weary of the babble of syndics and councillers, I excused myself and saun- tered out into the town. Groups of broad- hatted country folk were scattering home- ward. Every road out of the little city was filled with the small wide-horned Apulian oxen. dragging slowly the ox carts, with their straw tanks like great cups mounted upon them, into which beribboned girls and laughing lads crowded with jest and infi- nite laughter. As I proceeded I saw that there was a great stir in the direction of the cathedral. Women stood chattering about the doors, beggars were edging and elbowing for Places nearest to the entrance, vergers were striking at them with their official staves, as often as the unlicensed encroach- ed on the sacred pavemented space of the porch. It was evidently a great cere- monial, and, though mostly I am of the soldier's religion, which, they say, is that of the girl he is courting, I had not lost my people thronged and whispered. The priests muttered one to the other as thew moved to and fro, The cardinal summoned ore to his side and conferred with him. But still the man did not move. There he lay, face downward, on the marble stairs, when the procession swept past him on its way to the sacristry. Slowly the people dispersed The syndic had slipped out quietly and sent for the officers. The vergers began to go hither and thither puttting out the lights. Presently, as I stood and watched, the man raised his face, white and tense with agony of soul. He heaved himself to his feet, as if his muscles had lost their power and moved only by a strong effort of will. He went slowly and painfully down the aisle, the few townsfolk who remained shrinking from him as from a madman. In the matter cf Giovanni Lupo, had not his wife been condemned, he cl-ared? Wky, then, should he thus accuse himself at the high altar? Why, even if the thing were true, could he not quietly confess to some easy father, and work to buy masses for the soul of the dead soldier, who doubtless richly deserved the knife thrust he got. Leo Perrone walked stiffly to the great door of the Duomo, leather padded, swing- ing on noiseless hinges. He groped his hands a little before him, like one whose eyes are dim, whose nerves have received a shock. He opened the door. “In the King’s name!” cried a voice as he went out into the darkness. Half a dozen bare blades were at his breast before he could move. The man lift- ed his hands and held them toward the gendarmes with a gesture which said clear- ay will go with you whither you will! “March!” cried a voice from the street. “Halt!” said another—my own—out of the dusk of the porch. With the instinct of obedience the men halted. Their officer came threateningly to- ward me, with anger in his eye. So soon, however, as he saw my uniform of general, his sword rose and dropped again in the salute. “Pardon, excellency? I failed to recog- nize you in the darkness. What shall I do with this man who has accused himself of murder?” “Send him to my lodging, and bring his interest In the noble and impressive pomps of Mother Church. AGAIN AND AGAIN SHE MAD! Dofling my soldier's hat, I went in. The evening sun streamed through rich and an- cient lozenges. Colored marble of deli- atest inlaid work glittered with gold and | lazuli and veined porphyry why travertin! bride's nec ion was sweeping up the altar—the Cardinal Car- prince of the church, nephew of the bowing etic, church- | carlet. Foster valleys as I = the red shirts oft son of the heretic Walder was, Gailio in any religion of Sicily had made me, I soon found my- self on my knees. Ah, I am wiser now. I think more of religion’ and its utilities now than I did in the sixties. Religion comes to most healthy men with the stiffening joints, or the first touch of lumbago in the back. | I leaned against a pillar and watched. As the sun sank, it shone more directly in through the great western window. The broad golden stream put out the candles, so that It was only in the chapels that one could see them dot the gloom with their pale silver flakes. The organ pealed out. The young voices in the choir mounted higher and higher, each as it were climbing up on the shoulders of the other till they seemed to break a way through the seven heavens up to the throne of very God. Then deeper voices somewhere in the dusk behind chanted the “Miserere,” and a wind scented with incense passed over the bowed heads of the worshipers. All these pomps passed me by, like a tale heard when one is half asleep, till my eyes rested on a man who stood by the next pillar to that against which I leaned. Accustomed to command as I was, I knew as soon as my eyes rested upon the man that here before me stood a man accus- tomed from his youth to the mastery of his fellows. A mere peasant he seemed—tall, swarthy, with strongly arched, well-based, rather thick Roman nose of the provinces, dark eyes that flashed dangerously from | beneath bushy eyebrows which almost Joined in the midst, strong hands which grasped the pillar as though, like Samson, to bring the Temple of the Philistines about our ears. He was dressed in dark cordu- roy and in the hand nearest to me he held a plumed hat, whose eagle feathers swept the floor. When once I had permitted my eyes to rest upon the man I could look at nothing else, so greatly did his personality impress me. But as I continued to gaze I saw that the strong, rugged face outlined against the pillar was convulsed. He was not watch- ing the priests as they moved to and fro before the altar. The red-robed priest of Holy Church sat throned above him, and he never glanced his way. But the man’s eves were on the great hanging cross and on the agonized figure of the Cruelfied on the altar. His lips moved. His hands twitched con- vulsively. His plumed hat dropped une noticed on the floor. Clearer and clearer rang the voices of the choristers. The Duomo darkened. The night was set- tling in gloomily, with cloud and. wind, from the gulf. The splashed purple and scarlet from the west window had been quickly dried up. The tawny travertine darkened to brown. A hundred wax lights shone upon the reredos. There was yet deeper gloom behind, where the prince care dinal and the white and golden priests were shrined in a mellow glow, ‘which shone out also softly down the aisle and lay upon the heads of the kneeling worship. ers All the while never did I for a moment lift my eyes from the man by the pillar. I could sce the great drops of sweat swell and break on his brow. His hands worked convulsively. What could the man be? Was he a peasant, unaccustomed to the pomp and processioning of a great Duomo @ conscience-stricken penitent, perhaps, though of a truth he looked little Nke one m the dusk of the choir a voice rose 7What was that they were singing? I who know so little of either music or church- crate could not tell, but I knew that I loved sound ot thi vee! brought the tears to my eee eee Some one was telling, so it seemed, of pity for the sinner—pardon, a : erhaps, the contrite. ‘*Miserere” chorused tHe treree ren in united, sonorons bass. “Miserere, miserere,” came sighing back from the folks in the aisle. “Confess your sins—make confession— make confession. He is faithful and just to forgive iniquity!” Words hike these the strong, clear voice sang in the dusk, rising up through the lew, chanted misereres like a dove soaring on strong wing. Suddenly I saw pillar was vacant. pesition. He strode that the place by the The yg left his toward the high altar. The kneeling crowd lifted their heads and Jooked at him. Some started away in fear. Could it be that he would kill the Prince of Holy Church as he sat in his high seat? Would he commit sacrilege in the very place of prayer? He stood ror a moment at the foot of the altar steps. The clear voice ceased. The choristers almost forgot to continue their chorus. Suddenly a stronger voice than any was heard over all the Duomo. It was that of the man by the pillar. “I confess,” he cried, Hear me, holy fathers} Hear me, O people of Atrani! I am Leo Perrone and a mur- derer. I, and not my wife, killed the sol- dier Giovanni Lupo!” groveling And he threw himself down, The service went on to its close. The “I am @ murderer. with his face on the altar steps. wife, Maria Perrone, directly from the pris- on. I would confront them the one with the other 1 “You hear what your wife testifies?” I said to the man. “Do you still adhere to the open confession you made in the Du- omo tonight?” | ae “Corfession in the jomo,”” almost shrieked the woman, turning to her hus- bard, “you made mo confession—say you made ro confession!" +1 The man drew a long breath, swallowed hard, so that I sew $pe apple in his throat first rise and fall, apd then swell as if it would ckoke him. Then hé began to speak in a broken voice. *¥ xcellency,”” he said, “it is true—all that id wken the musi¢ made me cry out in agony—up in the church yonder. And now I desire the punishment of man, that I may escape the vengeancé' cf Cbd for the shed- ding of blood. I wist to lide the truth no lorger. I will not lie to Ged any more, nor let this innocent ome undergo the doom wich ought justly to be mine.” You are mad—madé—mad, Leo Perrone! Hold ycur peace. is ‘beside himself, great general. Do not listen!” cried the woman, coming swiftly round the table be. {cre any could prevent hervand kneeling at my chair. Stephano, who did not approve of such familiarity, would have thrust her back, but I motioned him to his place with my hand without speaking. The woman set her hand quickly to her head, as if her wits were in danger of leaving her, and she desired to recall them. With the hur- ried movement all her fine dark hair fell below her waist in risps and waves of shining blue-black silk. The soldiers about the room gasped with astonishment, di- vided between duty and admiration. “Do not believe him,” she pleaded, clasp- ing her hards. ‘He but desires to save me even at the cost of his own life. For, you see, he loves me—yes, he loves me. I iknow him well. He would die to save me, his My imprisonment has driven’ him But listen, most illustrious, hearken. It was ry hand, my desire, my knife which slew Giovanni Lupo for the insult he offered to the wife of Leo Perrone. I-I alone did the deed. Do not listen, excel- lency. Send me back to the prison and let him go free!” She wailed rather than spoke the last words, and, creeping nearer to my chair, she clutched my hand in both of hers and strove to look into my eyes to read my decision there. Stephano came nearer. ‘This was too much. He took her by the wrists roughly and flung them from him as though their touch had been defilement. “Get back to your place, woman!” he said, sternly. The woman rcse without a murmur and walked back to the side of her man, with flowncast face. “Now, Leo Perrone, what do you say to this?" I asked of the man, whose strong, piercing eyes dwelt steadily upon my face. “Excellency,” he said, “Maria, my wife, E THE SIGN FOR SI r again saluted with infinite ry s he not an officer of police and pector of prisons and general— scarce less than a king to him I strolled to my rooms in a strangely ex- ant frame mi I was about to witness a curious sight—two accusers » murder. One lied—it was my bus- s to dis over which! two dragoons of my escort who were luted as I entered. At the top of r I found Stephano, my orderly, in e of wild consternation. There was talk of brigands in the town, he said, and I had not been seen since 4 ¢’clock. But I comforted him with a cheerful word, told him that before supper there rertain prisoners to be examined. He must, efore, make such preparations as might seem most impressive and official. So 1 went to my bedroom and threw myself down on the couch to think the matter over. Presently some one came and tapped gen- tly at my door. Who is there?” I cried. It is I, Stephano!” said the orderly, “Ah, Stephano, enter!” Then the faithful one told me quickly that all was ready—the man waiting, the syn- dic himself present, and the feet of the guard who brought the woman already cn the stair. Stephano swiftly buckled on my sword and threw the silken gen -al’s sash cver my shoulder. Then he irew his own sword, opened the door, at d announced me formally. “His most general For Stephano magnified his own office and, incidentally, mine also. It was a curious scene which I wit- nessed when I entered the great room of the old palace, which In the troubles of the great Napoleon had become the chief inn of the sadly reduced city of Atrani. My escort, all save the sentries at the outer door, were disposed in full uniform on either side cf the gloomy apartment. A long table stood in the midst with candles and papers upon it, the latter for show merely, being mostly regimental dockets of Stephano and a few draft repo my own. The syndic had seated him: the side of the table, but at the b announcement of Stephano he had and stood with bowed head while I waiked to the red-and-gold chair of state reserved for me at the upper end of the room. Then, as they were bringing forward the prisonér, Stephano came again to my side, and, unbuckting the sword of honor which the king had given me, ne laid it with in- finite dignity on the table in front of me. “We are in an fl town, and among an untrustworthy folk, at once turbulent and bandit-ridden,” he whispered, as 1 moved my hand impatiently. “It is well to let the cattle know it when a great man deigns to ceme among them.” For Stephano was also of the north and the illustrious excellency, the despised the canaille of the southeastern sea, 1 looked up and saw Leo Perrone -stand- ing at the end of the table furthest from me, His hands were bound behind him. He looked on the floor, but his face was no longer as I had seen it, shaken with emotion. It was gray and stern rater, but very qviet withal. ‘There came the tramp »f soldiers on the stone stairs, and a file of carabineri en- tered with a woman. It was Maria Per- rone, the dark woman wjth the handsome $$ whom I had seen in the morning. hey brought her to the table end and sat her beside her husband. pee glanced up and her eyes fell upon him. “Leo!” she cried, fiercely. “Leo! A pris- ener ob my Leo, what have you done now And she raised her arms and clasped him about the neck. The loose, coarse prison sleeves fell back from the white, rcunded arms, and I saw her fingers clasp and knit convulsively behind the man’s head. He turned his eyes toward her, and pain and love struggled together in his eyes. The muscles of his arms twitched ve Prats like ls bell-pulls as he struggled ‘© get his arms free. But the stzel wrist- Aaiiecneias he steel wrist “Maria! Mother Maria! Beloved o: age said huskily, looking at her a moment. = And then, as she clung yet closer to him, he pushed her gently away with a proud little movement, as one wh’ would say: “Shame, shame, beloved. This is no time and no company for the showing of love!” But in spite of these Maria Perro: wwist- fully kept her eyes on him. But h not look again at his wife, but as if, lared us to think ill of it, he fronted us all de- flantly, and yet with a certain grimly watchful respectfulness which won upon me. Slowly the woman’s hands unclasped themselves as she noted the uneasy shrug of her husband’s shoulders under her touch. Her white arms grew suddenly lax and fell heavily to her sides. She faced about, Icoking at us one by one inquiringly. I paused awhile before I oke, turning over in my mind how I should best arrive at the truth. “You are guilty of this murder for which you were condemned?’ I said to the wo- man. “T am truly guilty of the man’s death! I, and I alone, did it!” she answered, firmly. “I ‘know not of what my husband is ac- cured that he stands here bound; but, as God is my judge, of all. part in the killing of ae soldier; Glovannt Lupo, he is inno- cent!” I nodded and turned to her husband. The woman's €yes were steady as truth itself. loves me—as you have seen. She has done this for love—foresworn herself, confessed the thing which she never did, taken the punishment which was mine—all because she knew that for such a crime the judge would hang a man, but only imprison a woman. Maria Perrone, my wife, did this thing for my sake, and I, crawling rat that I was, permitted it. But all the while God had me in his grip, and tonight in the Duemo, He sent me a message that only in making an open confession lay any hope for my sinful soul. So now I accuse myself. I wiil tell the whole truth here and now. It was a night when I had been far aw to me I returned to my house eager my wife, to clasp the little Mar- gherita, the sweetest and the most inno- cent lass in all the quarter of the Hedge- hog. As I came up the stair I heard angry voices—then a scream of pain and fear from my wife, Maria. At two bounds | Was at the door, another and I was within. There stood Giovanni Lupo in the act of offering insult my wife. Then fortn- to with the madn came upon me, would have come to you, excellency, ing your wife thus, and your little ter weeping on the floor. keting knife lay at har where she had be xing the supper stuff. I lifted it iy that wolf will never insult wife nor children any more forever. I sent black Inferno Leo Perrone cea sted his head proudly, so that his locks stood out about his head like a stone pine grow- ing on a mountain top above the se himy hurtling to h own Again the woman would: ha self at my feet. But:Step! enough. He took her by the arm and led ber into the middle of the room, at a dis- tance both from the'table where stood her husband and from niy chair. He gave her arm a little shake, as if to say: “Tell lie or tell truth, but tell it. where you stand, and not elsewhere.” z Then Maria Perrone-fell.on her knees on the polished wood of the floo! “Believe him not,” she cried, yet more earnestly. “It is but his mind which has given way. He has often had such seiz- ures. I have seen them come upon him a hundred times. Listen, great general, I swear it by my soul's salvation, upon the blessed cross, upon the relics of the saints. I—I alcne struck the blow, and I alone killed Giovanni Lup: As she spoke she lifted up a cross in which was a fragment of iron nail, and made the oath which to an Apulean seals eternal destruction if the oath be false or broken. I looked from one to the other. Leo Per- rone stood with his strong, stern look fixed upon me. The woman clasped her hands before her and looked at me dry-eyed. For a moment I was at my wit's end. Stephano nudged me gently. “The child, the little Margherita,” he whispered from behind. “She followed her father when he was taken. She is below at this moment. Shalt I bring her up?” I nodded to him. Presently between the file of dragoons, standing at attention, there came, walking with quick, uncertain steps, a little maid, Margherita, pale of face, dark locks all a-tangle about her brow. She looked very lov: She dashed her hair away with her hand as Stephano placed her between her father at the ta- ble’s end and her mother still kneeling on the oaken floor. “Margherita,” I said gently, “tell all you know of the killing of Giovanni Lupo. You were there, your father tells us.”” "little maid looked from one to the otuer of us. I saw her mother make the gn of silence, and from that moment 1 was sure. “Look at your father,” I said, more stern- “and do as he bids you.” “Tell the truth, Margherita Perrone!” said the calm voice of the self-accused at the table end. “Must 1?” she said, looking all about, “must I indeed tell all “No, no, Margherita: you saw it not; it was I! It was I,” cried Maria. “Tell them it was your mother, child, who killed the man, or, as I live, I will curse you with the curse of a mother—the curse that God will hear; the curse that can never be taken off!” “Speak the truth! All the truth,” Leo Perrone again, sternly and quietly. “It was Lupo, the soldier,” at last the little irl spoke out, looking very modestly at me, “and he had come often to our house. My mother hated him. My father warned him not to come. But one night when my father was among the mountains on his business, Lupo the Wolf came and first spoke ill words, and then at last he tcok hold of my mother to hurt her. Whereupon my mother cried out: ‘Leo, Leo, my man, my man! Help me!” “Yes, yes. And I struck at him with my own knife, Margherita, did I not? Speak, child of my heart,” cried Maria, bending all her will into her eyes to make the child say the thing she desired her to say. But with her eyes on my face the child went on: i “Then, when my fothef cried ‘Help? my father opened the deor, 4nd his face was very white and angzy, sd! that it was not good to look upon at.’ And he never took his eyes from the dyes ef Lupo the Wolf, who began to makelexcuses and to laugh and jest, saying that he«did but play. But my father, being vdvy angry, came forward very slowly, and, listing the knife from my mother's cutting boand, hie took Lupo by the throat, and tellingchim ‘first that he was about to kill him for the émsult he had done to his wife, drove the paint to his heart. And so Lupo died!"hi 3b ‘The woman's shriek rang through the room at the last words."She had risen to her feet while the ‘tale was being told, und new only the strong,armijof Stephano kept her from leaping upon Margherita. “Ye have lied, lieg in your throat, devil's spawn! It was not Leo who killed him, but I. Have I not¥sworn it’on the reli- quaries of the saints? .Have I not pledged my soul's salvation” for ‘the truth of it? He accuses himself, he says, for his soul's sake. Body and soul both have @ not given for him?” She paused and gazed around. And as she looked she read unbelief in every face. Then all suddenly she flung up her arms, “Oh, there is none of you all that will be- Meve me! And I have told you-so often.. I have done all I could, and they will hang him—hang my Leo! Qh, God, God, kill me, thrust me down to lowest hell, but let them not take away my-Leo, my man Leo.” And she fell all her length upon the floor. The strength of hen,strong soul.had given way at last. ae ‘Then while Stephaiio and one Of the sol- diers lifted her up, I’bethought mé deeply. “Let Pros be ~—— A Re one room of the prison—tl t a ent; that, I think, Ries ly, said ~ 15 keep the contrabands when any lodge with you.” But as they were in the act of carrying the woman out she turned her head toward me, and like one that speaks out of a deep sleep she said: “You will not hang my Leo?” “Go, rest in peace,” said I. “I promise to speak to the king himself for you and your Leo, More I cannot promise. That night I slept vilely, and so, some time after midnight I rose and cast. my cloak about me. Then I opened the door. Across it, so close that I wellnigh had step- ped upon him, siept Stephano on a bundle of mats. “Excellency!” he cried, leaping up in- stantly and rubbing his eyes, “whither are you going at this time of the night? T ; ot cated ‘aleeh Testa ST ee arin he absolutely pure the night air.” “To drink the poison of these accursed eastern swamps more like,” he growled. “Abide, and sleep will come in time.” 5 But I stepped out and away across to the prison. Presently I was thundering at the deor, and after an interval the jailer ap- peared, swearing most volubly and callite ROYAL —the most celebrated of all me all the sons of pigs and asses that ever the baki d in th ld 1 blighted the wholesome earth for disturb- akin, owders in world—cel- ing him out of his first sound steep. a A P : z é % But when he saw me stand on the door i glep his curses sank to abjectest apologies. ebrate ‘or its great le opened the great creaking portal wide, yeni as for an army, and as I stepped within leavening strength and lo! there was Stephano behind me, armed 2 i 6. to the See ; = purity. It makes your “I did not bid you come,” said I crossly hee enough. cakes, biscuit, bread, “Neither did you bid me stay, my gen- i eral!” answered the rascal, grinning. etc., healthful, it assures Without answering him 1 told him to lead ; me to the large room I had ordered the you against alum and all Perrone family to be kept safe for the rH f adul night. or i noe oemtered the woman held up her ms of adulteration inger. She did not move, but her dark i eyes looked unutterable things. Her hus that go with the cheap band rested on the single straw paliasse, his head reclined on her shoulder, his tan. brands. gled hair falling over his brow. ‘The little Margherita lay, breathing softly, on a fold of ker mother's dr The man's feet were wrapped in his wife's petticoat, which she had taken off on purpose. Very gent- ly she stroked the damp hair back from his brow, crooning over him the while like a = — mother with a fretful child that may wake FRENCH PRISONERS. the chief of tive police to visit ac any moment. = sia ete ga - : . s eal aes cused per: azas once a week and aietene Benes eee ee How Thoxe Accused of Crime Are | talk matt hem. I have as- us with wet eyes, a ee Treated by the Parisian Police. sted Sey Mondays in pris- And I could see that the breast of her | From Cascell’s Magazine, Tp age thee fifa he F aioe Fey ars a Secannccnutee Bree iy The prison premises at the depot of the | quite friendly, al interviews. All the woman and her man. prefecture are very insufficient, and it is | sit closely together, th “<4 olga * : . . s]a blot on Paris that such a place con- | PCIe. cigarettes are pro ral. Bat The end? Why that is the end. But} tinves to exist without improvement. Any lac ae ake cclasene whe ste a, his Se ee a a eee 2 Fou ve-| Ore Bimost might be obliged to pass | gcard: a simple hunt, a word dropped can- member the Tremiti Islands, which rou sce|turcugh the ordeal of a night at the | ually, e change of face when some doubt- oe vem ee a en see depot. Mistakes have been made before | fil detail in the affair is mentioned, will from the Venice liner before you raise 5 : jserve to give strength to mere suspicion, Monte Gargano going south: there is a|now by the French police; persons of un- jand perhaps complete the -c At one lighthouse there. Well, as I passed the last | doubted respectability and perfect inno- om si ware Ennahoreeee ad time I saw Leo Perrone out in his ucat | cence, foreign visitors in particular, have | nod. fee ane person cont ob- pena, coca cn she pepe ea andi been arrested, and when once in custody | stinately dumb he was given a cell com- steamer. The king made they cannot go free until all the formad- | Panicn, a false friend, some other y isoner thatullghtiouse akon tcasiamin ties have been fulfilled. In France an | known in slang talk as the mouton, or la and He ee: Gatos acevsed person is deemed guilty until he | Musique, whose role is that of the spy to Sth ey ge oo proves himself innocent, and as this prin- | Worm himself Into the other's contidenc standing up aloft, sometimes polishing the | Clele may press very hard at times, bet- cig enc Raye Aa brasses and anon setting her hand to her | tf arrangements should be made at t “i ag Peg acon <4 brow to look over the sea for her man, as|Prefectvre. There is one little room set Seung aaty, eaainya tie his oars flashed and his boat's prow po apart for the better dressed of the cap- ng French Judges are found who dis- eee tures brought by ihe black maria; this 1s degen : poe Aye Moen The little Margherita. Oh to her, 1/Called the “Salles des habits nos,” the sriok, Tue Gauls cele auak Gar Ok ave heard that she had married the light-| 700m for decent coats, to which are sent | If ever. tried. The double Cells us of fe Keeper on the cape which looks out | ihe outwardiy respectable; those favored | Purpcse. still exist, put the as ed for Ao wn athe Miser sik - San ,| folk who have the privilege of being | t¥? prison . 8 ‘d the Tremiti, and that she and her = “45 riot thirty or forse | cases Wkere one of them shows suicidal o children spend almost as much time on the | ftCwded tot iphigite ane Te Aeeieed mania. poles) Soon oe eters mother would rot |¢harged with fraud, seeming swells who = ken 5 . z e re adves fi embe: ers ' ae have done that—but then some women are | 8¥¢, Teally, adventurer Hees = goatee pubis eee a4 = such fools about their men cells, ix for males and as many ics aint Shao at AEcbenONet SR for t apart for the top sawyers < asa DUEL TO THE DEATH. in aE Sromeht in unde a t week after their grea essed ——— judge’ but the rest of the 5 ng oyal party. T ince Spider and Wasp Fight a loutrance, | “ta are herded together, sometimes of Wales were most ous, Unconscious of «a Spectator. to the number of 20 or more, in one great .d to their young hos: hos’ a von Wesaia: arched hall, with stone floors and wooden visit. chess F i big, dreary and ill-venti- 10W € © of our gre host- Grant Allen was once so luc 0 wit- hamber, rly always crammed | S, and that at a youthful time of lfe ness a duel to the death between those two dirty, ragged mass of wretched | tor such a po: 1. Throughout the week of vermin, a spider and a humanity One or two harrow = reisir of the royal visit she wore mourning nd ; ee : i sressions | ¥atds give some relief, but in bad wed Was never out, as was stated A Bree BY Be eet tetas "Sl the hall is always full and at night i She was annoyed that she should in words which bespeak the depth of his | tyisorers lie closely hacked on mgt have: tebis Srektinn gone: interest in the fray. on_the floor. t thought on hearing of her “I've no great sympathy.” he says, “for| The prison system in Paris improves ai- | death to have asked permis- sithe hee one They've both done | Tectly the depot is done with. An accused | sion to allow the royal visit to pass very Chetoe Sultes gs ee ee Ne both eee | ak nee a ee ee quietly, but other considerations had mn: me So many wad) turns athat 2 done twenty-four hours or sent to Mazas, the | sarily to pi ‘The fire which occurred teud to regard them as deserving of ex-| “trial” prison, where all thus committed | at the palace last week was, happily. soon ceptional pity—but I must say Eliza's way | await appearance in court. The improve- | got under control, but it is ared that the of going at them was unduly barbaric. She jaentieneane Reergel tte ee ee ceiling in the salon has Boe en TReTa: Cet G reo eae een ian hls tall vooates iaey (have mcoees koi hins ~— tee — - T wouldn't. treat an cneimy tivecty 2 tem. | and he may prepare his defense. Only in A Telltale Object. I wouldn't treat an enemy myself as that | nd be may prepare his defense. Only in spider treated the wasps when once she | Solute isolation thet tls co say, seeing no | From the Cleveland Pain Dea ss x ay of the pro.| tice is thus heavy upon him, for fear he | front porch of an uptown house and a Kept cautiously out of the way of the pro-| shcatd escape conviction by, slanning some |ecaller poticel it as ee vam the Gheeite truded sting, began in a serolling the wacp | Subterfuge or manufacturing an alibi and fashion at the head, and, rolling t fecloce, | false evidence to support it. Whether “au you are acquainted with the round! znd round with her legs and! feelers, | -ecret” orinot, he As continually: hars she remarked to the hostess, swathed him rapidly and effectually, with |7\ the judge, who “structs” or prel Mumms?” echoed the surprised incredible speed, in a dense network of web | (¥, (He iuage. WhO “istructs” or prepa poured forth from her spinnerets. In less | by repeated queationings, to elicit conf. “Why, yes; I saw their card as I came than half a minute the astonished wasp, | sions or admissions of guilt. This, to En- | in. 3 accustomed rather to act on the offensive | push ideas, is taking an unfair advantage | And the puzzied matron didn’t know than the defensive, found himself helpless-| Gr him, but in France the system is car- | what in the world she meant until she her ly inclosed in a perfect coil of tangled silk, | rie still further, and it is the custom for |relf went out and found the cork, wiheh confined him from head to sting i without possibility of movement in any di- | —————— = == = wea rection. “The whole time this had been going on,” continues Mr. Allen, “the m, sirug- gling and writhing, had been pushing out its sting and doing the very best it knew how tu deal the wily Eliza a poisoned death blow. But Eliza, taught by ancestral e: perience, kept carefully out of the way; and the wasp felt itself firally twirled round and round in those powerful hands, and lied about as to its wings by a thousand- iter. Jailer, In which you | screws.” fold cable. Sometimes, after the wasp was secured, Eliza even took the trouble to saw off the wings so as to prevent further struggling and consequent damage to the precious web, but more often she merely proceeded to eat it alive without further formality, still avoiding {ts sting as. long as the creature had a kick left in it, but otherwise entirely ignoring its character as a satient being in the m inhuman fashion. And all the time, till the last drop of his blood w: sucked out. the w. would continue viciously to stick out deadly sting, which the spider would s avoid with hereditary cunning. “It was a horrid sight—a duel a Youtrance between two equally hateful and poisonous opponents; a living commentary on the ap- palling but o'er true words of the poet, that ‘Nature is one with rapine, a harm no preacher can heal.’ Though these were the occasions when one sometimes felt as if the cup of Eliza’s iniquities was really full and one must pass sentence at last, without re- spite or reprieve, upon that lifelong mur- deress.” eS QUEEN VICTORIA. The Men in Public Life ang Service Whom She Has Outlived. From the London Public Opinion, 1. All members of the privy council who were alive in 1837. 2. All the peers who held their titles in 1837, except the Earl of Darnley, who was ten, and Earl Nelson, who was fourteen in that year. 3. All the members wko sat In the house of commons on her accessicn to the throne except Mr. Gladstone, Charles Villiers, the present Duke of Northumberland, the Earl of Mexborough and the Earl of Mansfield and John Temple Leader. 4. Her majesty has seen eleven lord chan- cellors, ter prime ministers, six speakers of the house of commons, ‘at least three bishops of every see and five or six of many sees, five archbishops of Canterbury and six archbishops of York and five com- manders-in-chief. 5. She has seen five dukes of Norfolk succeed each other as earls marshal, and has outlived every duke and duchess and every marquis and marchioness who bore that rank in 1837. 6. She has outlived every member of the Jockey Club and every master of fox- hounds that flourished in 1837. 7. She has seen seventeen Presidents of the United States, ten viceroys of Canada, fifteen viceroys of India, and France suc- cessively ruled by one king, one emperor and six presidents of a republic. ————_ + 0+___. Her Estimate of Him, From Harper's Bazar. “May I give you a Christmas present, Miss Mary?” . “Why, yes, if it is of little or no value.” “Er—I—er—thought mebbe you'd accept— er—me?"- “Oh, John, this is so sudden, but—but I do.” “Wiggins’ carriage, with that awful pair ef horses, always suggest modern man- sof-war to me.” “How's that?” “Because it’s How it came about that the rival provided with twin . 2 wald were united.—Life. icinyioukh of ubaxentarbecgueteld end -Wagho-