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ENJOY, AND SPARE.

BY M. EDESSA WYNNE.

 

The winds of chance blow through the trees
And drift the blossoms to our feet;

tf we had reached and toiled for them
Their fragrance were not half so sweet.

We giance athwart the shining stars,
And sideways many a Jight doth gieam
That, if we straightway gazed at it,
Would hide from us its wondrous beam.
If we, despising hints of bloom
Which all creation doth convey,
Must pluck each flower we come acress,
How soon earth’s beauty would decay!
And did we cage the sweet wild birds
fo hear their songs forevermore,
How soon would we behold them droop,
An@ beat upon each prison door—
To die in voiceless agonies;
When, had we only passed along,
They might have sported out their lives
And cheered the forest with their song.

And life is full of scattered joys—
Nights full of stars, days loud with song.
The hint alone is meant for thee—
Take thou thy fill, and pass along.
Ab! canst thou wish to drain the fount
Because thou hast enough to drink ?
Have mercy on the thirsting souls
Who yet may kneel upon its brink!

Thou seekest for the joys of life,
And they retire; thou canst not woo
One pleasure to remain with thee,
And they will fiy if thou pursue.
But, sit thee down in pure content,
And they will steal up unaware;
The breeze will fan thy fevered brow
And drop its fragrant kisses there;
The bird song and the murmuring fount,
The perfume of the workd of flowers,
May waft unto thy wondering soul
Dreams of a happier world than ours.
Enjoy the rich, the fragrant bloom
That dwelleth in each flowret, and °
Let them linger on the stem,.
Nor wither in thy fevered hand.

 

-Mezzoni The Brigand:

shite’: C8 Wks * Secale:

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS.

By Lieutenant Murray,

Author of RED RUPERT THE ARKANSAS
RANGER; SPANISH MUSKETEER; SCAK-
LET FLAG; ITALIAN CONTRABANDIST;
CHILD OF THE SEA; BUCCANEERS, etc.

{‘‘Mezzoni the Brigand”? was commerced in No. 3. Back num-
bers can be obtained of any News Agent in the United States.)

CHAPTER XI.
A BLIGHTED HEART.

We have had no glimpse of the inner life of Alberto

~ Gorrelio, Let us observe him for a moment as he gat alone

in his own apartment reading that singular letter from the
Countess Amadeo.

He read the letter more than once, then sat still gazing
upon the lines, ubtil finally he started up and walked the
room with undisguised emotion. He was now looking
far back into the past, and a bitter smile wreathed his
handsome lips.

“| had never thought,’? he said, half aloud, “to recur
to this matter again, but I will do 80 for her sake, and let
ber Know for once, how dearly and fondly she was loved,
when I was as innocent as lierself and worthy of hert”?

We can do no better than to give the reader in full the
peculiar letter, which he dispaiched to Signora Amadeo,
in reply to that which she had written to him. It will
give a Clearer lea of this singular and mysterious man
than apy description of him by the pen:

SIGNORA: I need hardly tell you how far back into the
past the words which your note carried me. To the days
When you and I were boy and girl together, and lovers!
You then commanded all of my.tenderest affections—you
were tome an idol. I never dared to express to you one-
half the power of my love. I was disinclined to do so,
because this sentiment had become so extravagant and
absorbing in me, that you would. have been frightened
had I given expression Lo its earnestness.

Then came the harsh injunction of your parents, I was
ae their daughter must mend the fortunes of their

ouse by a wealthy alliance. Your husband must be rich.
I did then plead with your father, and avowed to him that
if he separated us he would render my life a biank. I toid
him that I would win fortune, that he need have no fear
on that score, only let me hope that by and by, when I
came to him, ana showed that I was worthy of your love,
and that I had the necessary means to meet ail reasonable
wants, that then he would give me your hand,

It was useless. His mind was fixed, and at that time I
fancied, and I think rightly, that you cared far less for me
than 1 did for you. You wereallinalltomethen. I had
no object in life unconnected with you, and a happy future
for as both together. So intimately had this idea inter-
woven itself with my hopes that it became a part of my
very existence. Such love is destined neariy always to
disappointment, and rarely escapes a fatal end. 80 in my
instance. It wastomeruin! 1 could not bear the disap-
pointment that followed. Ambition, self-respect, hope,
everything abandoned me.

Ah! signora, 1 was innocent then, and really worthy of
your love and trust, but despair gradually led me, step by
step, to dangerous ways. The downward road@ is so
easy! The backward track so nearly impossibie! I be-
came &® gambier. Some one passion must root out the
other maddening one. Since that day, like Hamlet, 1
could accuse myself of such deeds that lt were better I
had never been born. You know what I was, Heaven
only knows whatlam! There is no room for love in my
heart now—that place is usurped by the demon of play.

ALBERTO,

ah cs i

He spoke truly in those lines. Twelve years before he
had been a worthy representative of the noble house
whose name he bore, and of which he was the last scion.
He was but nineteen years of age when his heart had
been literally broken by the san disappointment to which
his letter referred. There was every promise of a proud
and happy career before him then, and all of his instinets
were those of a noble and chivalrous character, but all
had been blotted out, and misanthyopy took possession of
his soul.

The Countess Amadeo sat over his answer to her letter,
and as he had done when he received: hers, she read and
Te-read it until she was nearly blind with tears and disap-
pointmest, She was wonderfully beautiful even in those
tears—there seemed to be no mood which did not suit

her.

“Oh, that he werehere at this moment,’ she exclaimed.
“Is thig really tobe the end? Is my awful sacrifice for
naught? Does Alberto refuse my love at last? He did
loveme. I knew that always, but how deeply he loved |
did not know. Ah! it was not until after years of disap-
pointed wedded life that my eyes came to see him in the
light which has brought me to this. What care I for his
sins and peccadillos? He cannot be more guilty than I!”

As she talked thus hall-aloud to herself, she wrung her
hands and walked nervously back and forth in her private
apartment. Then she sat down and read those lines again
until she could have repeated everysyllable. Despair was
clearly depicted upon her beautiful face, and there giowed
& spirit of desperation, now and then, in her eyes that
was startling to behold. She pressed her hands upon her
heart to still its wild and painful throbbing, but it was in
vain; she seemed almost stifled, and gasped for breath.

Suddenly she staried to her desk, and said, aloud:

‘I will see him once more at all events,”

And she scrawled a hasty note, pleading with him to
come to her for a few moments, if for thelast time. “You
must come,’ she said.

Alberto hesitated. He had never been inside of the
Amadeo palace since her marriage with the count. He
aaa an instinctive dread to meet ‘her alone, but at last he
Baid:

“She has a right to demand a last interview. I will go,”
and he went at once to meet her. ;

He was shown, asshe had directed, into her private
boudoir, and found the aes Sitting there as she had
been when she dispatched her last hasty summons to hin,

‘I have come as you desired.”?

“Oh, Alberto, how ean you cast me off?}?

“Nay, signora, my letter tells you all.”

“It is killing mel?

“Can you bot understand how I felt, then, years ago,
when eg hg filled my heart? Ay, and made me
What I aml’ he said, gloomily,

. knew not that you loved me in those days so earn-
estly.

«frue,)?

“But if Thad I could not have averted the fate which
was marked out for me,”?

“True, again.”?

“But now, Alberto,’’ she said, rising and approaching
him, ‘‘we are free!’

“You are free, but lam bound more closely than as
though my wrists were hung with chains.”

“J do not understand you,”

‘“My letter was very plain.”

“But these cords ??

“Our sius bind us as surely as iron chains,’ he replied,
ee:

‘Whatever those sins may be, Alberto, they weigh as
nothing beside my love.’ a ; . :

Asshe said this she looked pleadingly at him, with her
very soul in her eyes, and held out her hands toward bim.
Strange emotions swelled Aiberto’s breast for a moment.
Both stood thus silent, and both were more visibly moved
than at any other period of their intercourse. At last Al-
berto’sighed bitterly and turned to leave her, as he said:

 

 

LHE

 

“You only show me, signora, what might have been!’

“What can he mean by being bound by chains so close-
ly ?? asked Signora Amadeo of herseif, as he thus left
her. “Can he be entangled with any woman? I would
put a dagger into her heart without one moment’s hesita-
tion if such were the case.’?

She chafed like a wild beast at the very idea. She was
in a dangerous mood now, and capable of any act, how-
ever violent,

Alberto Correlio went thoughtfully toward his own resi-
dence after leaving Signora Amadeo. His eyes were upon
the ground, and he seemed entirely lost within himseif
or he would otherwise have observed that he had been
followed by a man, both on his way from home and now
on his return toward it. The stranger had no strong in-
dividuality of dress or manner, but seemed to an unob-
servant person to be merely strolling through the streets
with the carelessness of an idler.

A careful observer, however, would have noticed that
the man’s eyes were never off Alberto Corrello.. Just as
the latter was about to enter his own door he looked up
and caught the eye of this man upon him, and he remem-
bered haying seen him once or twice before, at different
places, aud particularly in one of the gambling hells
which he frequented nightly. He did notseem to notice
him very Carefully, and yet he wondered who the man

be. He was astranger in Naples and a foreigner he
thought by his appearance, as he strolled along.

When Beppo admitted his master, Alberto said to the
servant:

“Notice that man just crossing the street yonder. Here,
this way.’

“TI gee him, sir.’?

‘Have you seen him before?!

“Yes, sir.??

“Where ???

‘“‘T have seen him walking up and down before the gates,
but I only noticed him as a stranger.”?

“Walking up and down before tiie gates!’’ muttered
Alberto to himself. “What isin the wind now?”

Ten minutes afterward the man who had been follow-
ing Alberto Corrello wasrun against by a lame beggar, who
asked his pardon for the carelessness and took his post hard
by to solicit alms of those who passed that way. Thestrar-
= swore a good round English oath at the annoyance,

r the beggar had put his crutch upon hig foot, which
must have caused him some pain for a few minutes, as
he limped along, visibly lame from the contact.

The Jame beggar seemed to pay no attention to the an-
ger of the stranger, though any one near to him might
have heard the ragged-looking fellow mutter to himself:

“An Englishman. I thoaght so.”

As the stranger had so lately watched Alberto Corrello,
80 now the lame beggar slowly followed and watched the
Stranger, keeping him cleariy in sight along the crowded
Strada di Roma, untii he saw him enter into the Piazza del
Piebiscito, and pass from there into the Strada St. Carlo.
Here he saw the man, after he had lingered for a few mo-
Ments gazing at the busy scene exhibited in the grand
square, at last enter the shop of Woolf & Co., the Jewish
dealers in gold and silver ornaments and precious stones.

The jame gar seemed to have accomplished his pur-
pose, for he now turned away, and soon after disappeared
among the crowd who were wending their way toward
the National Museum.

As the beggar Jeft the grand square one might have
heard him say, significantly:

*T thought so.”?

The stranger was the English detective, as the reader
will have surmised. He had some theory which he was
testing, and he had for several days been shadowing Al-

berto Correilo. —
CHAPTER XII.
A RUNNING FIGHT.

The preparations which Walter Hammond had noticed
as being made for some special event by the robbers at
the cave were quite significant and not to be mistaken.
So at last he was informed that the band would depart in
a body on the following afternoon, to be absent two or
three days. Two men would be leit in care of the strong-
hold, and the Levanter was told to make himself handy
in case there should be any necessity for his services.

“Whereis the captain ?”? asked Walter of the lieutenant,
who had just given him this information.

“He will meet us below.”

“#In the valley 7?

“Yes,”

Then I shall not see him.”

“Not until our return,’?

“T want to see Mezzoni.”’ :

“Few people say that,’? answered the other, significant-
ly, as he jooked sharply at the Levanter.

This departure of the band was just the occasion which
Walter had been waiting for, and it had come in good
time, so be at once set himself to work planning the man-
ner in which he should proceed. That night Marion was
informed of the circumstances of the case by means of a
scrap of paper, thrust as heretofore under her door. She
was tohito hold herself in readiness at any moment.
Walter had taken the first opportunity to get his revol-
vers and dirk-knife, and to secrete them on his persona;
nor did he forget a certain small flask of brandy. He
also succeeded in purloining a pocket-compass which he
found iu the cave, consideripg the latter as important as
his weapons.

He had hard work to suppress his own impatience until
the gang should start, but he knew that the least indiscre-
tion would betray him, and so he carefuily sustained his
well-feigned indifference to the movements about him.
Indeed he appeared to be asleep most of that day, and
was even joked for his chronic laziness.

It was jate in the afternoon when some eighteen men,
under the command of the two lieutenants, filed away
from the plateau in front of the cave, on their destined
excursion. The Levanter was heard to regret that he
could not join them, and was told that next time, doubt-
less, he would be permitted iodo so. The cave was thus
left with two members of the band and the woman, the
Levanter being looked upon as a sort of supernumary,
thengh abie to render important assistance if necessary.

Waker had selected a spare suit of ciotles, belongip
to one of the smallest members of the gang, and had
piaced it where he could put his hand upon it when
wanted inahurry. This he designed for Marion to wear,
for she couid make no headway with her long skirts in
those rugged mountain paths, besides which the dress
would serve partially for a disguise if required. This he
had informed her of in the usual way, and told her to lay
aside all false delicacy, and when he should throw the
clothes into her cell to put them on instantly.

Finally the gang had disappeared, the coast was com-
paratively clear for the young American to carry out his
weil-digested plans for escape.

it was nearly dark when the two robbers, with Walter
and the stewardess, sat down to their supper. Walter
said, bunteringly, as the meal progressed, that when they
brought him in they did not search him very closely, for
he then had a pocket flask of brandy on his person, and
that he had it still, These mountaineers have a passion
for brandy, a liquor which they rarely see and seldom
taste, 80 when they heard this they were eager for a
draught immediately. The Levanter said that he didn’t
mind sharing it with them, now their members were so
small, but thought that he bad the first right, so uncork-
ing the flask he put it to his own lips first, and snowed
evident signs of relish at the taste of the liquor. With a
caution a8 to moderation, he passed it to his next neigh-
bor.

Walter watched them keenly. $

The robber who had received the fiask from him took
two or three hearty swallows, and so did his companion.
The woman looked as though she would like to do the
saine if she were allowed to, and at Walter’s suggestion
she also took a couple Of swallows clear, from the flask,
There was but very little left when it was handed back to
Walter, and he took, or pretended to take, another ample

jak

“Talk about wine, that’s the stuff for me,” said one of
the men.

‘“Warms you up 80,” added the other.

“But it bites a little,’ said the woman, who had, like
the others, taken a stiff portion.

“Any left?’ asked the robber next to Walter.

‘A drop.”

‘‘Let’s have it,’?

“Divide it fairly between you two,”) said Walter.

They swallowed the balance eagerly, while the young
American went on eating a hearty meal, but soon ob-
served his companions nodding their heads, and one de-
clared that the brandy was good, but dused strong. In
fifteen minutes after partaking of the liquor the two men
and the woman were sound asleep, with their heads upon
the table. He made sure of this.

The morphine had done its work!

Time was very precious—there was not one moment to
lose, Walter now hastened for the suit of clothes, and open-
ing Marion’s door, for the first time since her conflnNRement
there, he saw the young English girl, and spoke to her.
She instantly gave him both her hands, still pausing long
enough to assure herself that it was really Walter Ham-
mond under that strange and puzzling disguise. He
kissed the hands she had given him, while tears ran down
her own cheeks, He said:

‘Quick! No ceremony, Marion. I will leave you fora
moment. Put these on at once.”?

“To will”?

She obeyed like a child, and when Walter came back to
her, a few moments aflerward, she was dressed and look-
ed like @ boy. Stopping aninstant to thrust some pre-
visions into his pocket, Walter seized Marion seized
Marion’s arm, looked sharply at the sleepers, and together
they stole away from the plateau. A momentary observa-
tion was taken, and Walter laid his course by means of
the pocket compass, saw that his revolvers were in per-
fect order, ready for instant use, and gave the dirk-knife
to Marion, saying:

“Put this in a handy place about your person, as a last
resort, if the worst comes to the worst. Do not shudder;
we must be prepared.’ 2

“Frightful thought,’ she replied, but did as he had di-
rected her.

Even at that critical moment they could not fail to ob-
serve the beauty of the night. The moon was at its fall,
and blazed down on the blackened and volcanic ground
in marvellous contrast. Broad day could hardly have
been lighter, and to start with, while Walter knew that he
was unpursued, this brilliant accompanymeat of the
heavens was a favorable escort for their purpose.

By the secret paths and cut-offs, known only to the
robbers, they could pass over the mountain in one quar-
ter of the time that would be required by strangers to ac-
complish the same distanee. Walter knew this very wel!,
but he also knew that their ignorance of these paths
might in one sense prove to be their means of safety,
as the pursuers who should start out for them
would not know what route totake. If they followed the
shortest route to which they were accustomed, they would
miss them of course. The portion of narcotic which had

 

been introfiuced into the brandy, he felt satisfied would
hain the brains of those at the eave until morning, when

 

  

he expected thatthe two men would dgoubtedly start
afterthem, But by that time he hoped fo put a long dis-
tance between them and his fair charge.

“We must travel all night, Marion.”

“I feel that I can do so,”’ she replied.f

“And then if we are not ina safe,
must keep hidden during the day.”’

“That certainly seems to be wise.”

“TY hope by the middle of the second
to place you in safety.”

“Ohl Walter, for she had come to/call him that, ‘1
already owe you my life. What abugthen of indebted-
ness have you placed me under.”?

He took her hand, and pressing it to fils lips Jooked elo-
quently into her eyes, but said nothing} Surely hearts do
not require audible language. {

On, on the two youpg people struggied, and it wasa
hard struggle, as they followed no beaten path, but went
over rocks and down steep declivilies Until they were both
nearly exhausted. Atlast Walter sajy that Marion was
ready to fall down with fatigue, so he reluctantly deter-
mined to pause for rest. He gathered a pile of moss,
Jeaves, and whatever might serve to farnish a temporary
bed, and arranging these in a sheltered nook, he bade her
lie down and rest. For himself he oo a@ spot not far
away, and placing his back to a reck, he soon slept,
though lightly. :

Marion Bray, with ail the ost anata contidence of

ighborhood, we

ght, at all events,

a child, dropped to sleep almost instantly after her severe
exercise. This was very necessary in Order to enable her
to endure the fatigue which was bef@re her, As to her
gallant companion he too was beifg refreshed, and thus
enabled to meet the severe call upon his physical strengti.

It was Marion who rose first, and seeking Wailter’s rest-
ing place she accidentally awoke him by treading upon a
dried stick, which broke beneath herfeet. It was already
daylight; so the two ate a few mouthfuls of their provis-
ious, and drank from a clear cold spring of water hard by,
then once more resumed their flight, thoroughly refresh-
ed and in excellent spirits.

“Fortuue favors us so far, Mariop,’’ said her guide, as
they pressed forward. '

“It does indeed. Iam so thoroughly refreshed it seems
as though I could walk all day.”

‘You are a brave girl, Marion.”

Walter Hammond did not much fear the twomen whom
he had left behind at the cave, though they were able fel-
lows and trusted ones, or else they would not. have been
left in charge of the stronghold, and of so yaluabie a pris-
oner. Still he thought the chances, as against these two
men, were in his favor. True they had rifies while he had
only revolvers, but he must not Jet them take him at
long range. So far as pistois would prove effective, he
knew that he was a good shot, doubtless much better
than they were.

On leaving the cave he had at first selectea a good
rifle, and the proper ammunition to serve it, but, upon re-
flection, he realized that it would prove to be a serious
impediment to his progress, He had wandered for days
among the paths, or rather pathless spots, and felt that

 

his revolvers were all the weapons that he could carry
with advantage.

His greatest fear was that these two men might be
able to bring back a portion of the gang who bad de-
parted, and thus hunt them in numbers. Of course, if
this was the case, his chances of escape would be greatly
lessened. However, he kept these speculations to him-
self, and to Marion’s questions he only replied that they
would hope for the best, and go on as rapidly as possi-
bie. The sleeping potion would hold them until sunrise
he felt sure, but that hour had already arrived, and the
robbers might be able to make as much. headway after
them in one hour’s time as —— accomplished during
the first part of the night, before pausing for rest. All
this Walter discussed within his own breast, not aloud.

And so the two cheered each other onward, and were
full of hope for the best.

Suddenly Walter heard a shout behind them, ap among
the rucks! They were pursued, and that cry was one of
the robbers calling to the other. He hastily drew Marion
behind the shelier of arocky projection aud at the same
time hid himself from view. -

“The fellows must have come down the mountain like
the wind, to have reached us so quickly as this,’’ he said.

“They have come probably by known paths, while we
have climbed all the way,”? said Marion; ‘‘that must be
the reason.’*

“Very true.’?

“Must we stop here ?””

“For a few moments.)

Walter could see one of the robbers whom he had left
at the cave, now examining the rocks in all directions, as
he came along, but his companion was not yet in sight.

“fT wish I had doubled that dose of morphine, but I
ean Want to take their lives, if I could help it,’ said

alter. ,

The young American was very coo], and was calculating
exactly how far his Wesson revolver would prove effective.
The robber was now nearing them very fast, when Walter
realized that it was time to stop his farther progress. lt
bea ao with reluctance that he took deliberate aim and

re q

The robber dropped instantly, at the same time giving
a@ long, peculiar cry to his comrade. This cry he had
heard before, and understood its signification to be a
Cali for assistance.

Walter Knew that he would not probably be followed
again for some time at least, and so he hurried Marion
down the rough way once more, turning momentarily
to see that the second robber did not draw a ‘bead’ on
them with his rifle. The other outlaw must have been
at a long distance from his companion, Walter concluded,
because he had kept his eye on the spot where the first
had fallen, and if he had been joined by his mate would
certainly have seen him.

He felt sure that he had wounded the robber at whom
he had shot, very severely, he fell so instantaneously.
There was one only leftto pursue them. He could not
but feel that he had much rather this man would come
on now than have him return for help, though it would
give him a moment or two more of respite from attack.

‘Are yo very weary?” he ipsked of Marion.

“No. I can go on a long titue yes.” a

“There is Only one to pursue us now.??

“Oh, Walter, do you think that you killed him?’ she
asked with clasped hands. She was @ woman, and could
not bear the idea,

‘] may not have killed him, Marion, but he will fol-
low us no more,’? was the reply.

“Though I know it is necessary,” said the young girl,
“yet I cannot reconcile the idea with my feelings for a
moment,’?

“Tt is natural that you should feel so,’? said Walter, ta-
king her hand kindly.

“It is so terrible to take human life.”

“Except in self-defense.

“True,” she said; ‘aster all it is our lives or theirs, I
suppose.’ ;

“Exactly the question.”

While this conversation was going on Walter had not
been looking about him so carefully as before, and he now
heard the sharp report of arifie, as the ball tore up the
earth close by his side. He turned and saw that it was
the companion of the fallen robber who had fired at him.
He had been coasiderably in advance of his comrade, and
his ball had been sent from a line quite parallel with their
course and present position, He was not within reach of
Wailter’s revolver, so it wasof no use to fire at-him. He
doubted if the robber had heard the cry of his mate for
help, being so far separated from him.

lf this was the case, neither could he have heard the
pistol shot which had wounded the other robber, and he
might possibly think that Walter was unarmed and be
thus drawn upon him without farther precaution. All
these thoughts passed through the young American’s
mind with lightning-like rapidity, and to entice the bandit
forward he had at once dropped upon one knee as though
his shot had wounded him. The trick deceived the pur-
suer, Who not even waiting (as he should have done) to
reload his rifle, ran in bis eagerness toward the fugitive
at his best speed,

Permitting him tocome Within fair range, Walter sprang
to his feet, ana aiming full and fair at the man, fired, all
80 rapidly that the robber had not time to present his own
pistol, which was thrust conspicuously in his belt. The
ball from the fugitive’s pistol took effect in the right fore-
arm, so that the outlaw dropped his rifle unable to hold it.
Seeing the result of his shot, Walter did not fire a second
time, but quickly seiziug Marion’s arm hurried her away
on their course,

“Ol, Walter, did he fall ??

“No, Marion, but he is wounded in a safe piace; he can-
not use either rifle or pistol against us for the present,”?

“That is much better than taking his life,’ said the
breathless girl, as they hurried on.

The last pursuer sounded the peculiar cry for help, like
that uttered by his comrade when he fell by Walter’s first
shot, but his mate, if he heard him at all, was unable to
come to his aid, and the fugitives saw the man retreating
with his rifle on his leftarm; he could not even load
much less aim it, wounded as he now was. The robber
was evidently intent upon finding his comrade, wherever
he might be.

Walter could see the wounded man for some distance
still. as he did not seék to avoid exposing himself and
Marion now. He knew that for a while at least they were
safe, but as the robbers had plenty of allies among the
peasants he felt that the part of his escape the hardest to
safely accomplish, would doubtless be that at the foot of
the mountain when they should approach the level coun-
try. Here he would be suspected as having escaped from
the cave by any mountaineer whom they might chance to
meet, ‘

He therefore made a circuitous route which should
bring them on the nearest side to Naples, before they
should descend much farther toward the plain, and it was
very fortunate that he did so, for scarcely had he adopted
this purpose and selected a spot for temporary rest, before
he saw, far through an opening in the rocks, a couple of
rough fellows whom he suspected were bound for the rob-
bers’ cave. They passeil the two fugitives without dis-
covering them, though they came 80 near that their con-
versalion was distinctly overheard, and even understood,
by Marion and her companion.

lt was plain enough to Walter that he must have come
by a very direct route, though he had moved so slowly,
for these men were going straight over the ground from
whence he had just come, and it was reasouable to sup-

ose that they knew the nearest way to the stronghold

t instantly occurred to him that these men would come
upon the two wounded robbers, and he might soon find
that he had them to deal with also. Then he reasoned
that these men would think that he must naturally take
the shortest and straightest road down the mountain and
would follow in that direction, so that if he turned aside
as he had proposed to do, lie should perhaps throw them
off the scent, at any rate for a short time.

So Walter and Marion bore along the mountain side in

 

a line which did not carry them much nearer to the plain,
but on the opposide side, toward the city, Still they did

>

V EEKLY.

 

descend gradually as they progressed. When they should
approach the plain a little nearer, as we have said, he ex-
pected to have to fight his way; he knew that his greatest
risk lay there. He had ten shots left in his revolvers, and
made up his mind to slay without mercy, to keep cool,
and under whatever exigency, to make every shot tell.

y He even instructed Marion to let no one touch her, but
if they attempted to do so, to strike them to the heart
with the dirk-knife which he had given her. She was a
brave-hearted girl, but she could not help asking herself,
when he thus charged her, “Could [strike this weapon
into a human being?’

They now took an extra period for rest, ate the remain-
der of their food, and prepared to make the last stage in
their perilous journey, every instant feering lest they
should be captured.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SECRET VAULT.

Armed with a search-warrant, and accompanied hy
two officers of the local police. The English detective
knocked at the door of Alberto Corrello’s palace and de-
manded entrance.

Fortunately for the peaceable transaction of the busi-
ness which brought them there, the master was absent, a
fact which the detective was pleased to know, though he
had come prepared to execute his warrant at any cost.
At first he led the way to the small court-yard in We rear
of the palace, and kicking away a smali accumulation of
rubbish, there Was at once disclosed an iron trap-door,
set in a framework and locked securely. It was hidden
in the most careless manner, but no one was admitted
to the aan of the establishment, it was deubtiess secure
enough.

Means were soon found to open this trap-door, and the
officials descended a long, narrow stairway of stone ex-
tending under the palace, where they came to a second
iron door, much more difficult to open than the first haa
been, but which finally yielded to their experienced fin-
gers. Thissecond door admitted them into a subterra-
nhean room, with a stone floor and heavy walls of the
Same material. No daylight could enter here. Jt was
low and damp, but the lanterns brought by the party soon
discovered, to their astonished eyes, its use.

This underground apartment was the receptacle of
stolen goods, and upon wooden tables here and there
were assorted valuables, such as watches, jewelry of va-
rious kinds, and precious stones. By private marks, with
which he had been made familiar, the detective identified
alarge amount of the valuables which had been stolen
from the store of Wolf & Co., the jewelers, in the Sirada
St. Carlo. To this fact he especially called the attention
of the local police officers, who were with him and who,
now that the game had been successfully run to earth,
a me suddenly very oOfficious in their conduct and

A careful inventory was at once taken of these various
goods, at least, so far as was practicable to do so at a first
discovery, and on a brief visit. The amount of accumula-
tions was surprising, the goods from Wolf & Co.’s store
forming but a small portion of the whole. Undoubtedly
here would be found the key tounlock the mystery ol
other local burglaries, half-forgotten now. The police
coull hardly believe that this depository for stolen proper-
ty could have so long existed under their very eyes, as it
were, and still so remain a secret. The English detective
was willing to let them take apy amount of credit for the
present discovery. He was nota vain man, but he had
his own objects in view.

This vault was in itself a subject of much interest to
the detective. It was not a modern structure, but had
doubtless been formed at the time of the erection of the
palace itself, more than a century ago. At that period
such families as the Correllos often had secret dungeons
constructed within their walls, not for the purpose of
securing valuable treasures, but rather for the confine-
ment of human beings, political prisoners and the like.

As regarded the passage connecting this vault with the
outside of the palace, that was evidently of a very moa-
ern construction. This passage robbed the vault of all
usefulness as a place of confinement, since it would but
facilitate the escape of a prisoner, while at the same time
it very much enhanced its value as a secret hiding-place
for stolen property, since it was mot necessary to enter
the palace to reach it. :

The possession of such a resort was the greatest safe-
guard possible for a guilty person, for property once
placed here was as securely hidden, or nearly so, as
though it had been deposited at the bottom of the Mediter-
ranean itself. No one would suspect the existence of
such a hiding-place beneath the Corrello palace, even if
they suspected the honesty of its master.

The pretended old woman, who had lost her parrot,
made a more important discovery than she had expected,
when she tossed about the rubbish im the rear yard. The
moment that trap-door was seen the hunt for the parrot
had ceased. Not a bird’s nest, but a burgiar’s nest was
the result of the examination.

This subterranean chamber was accessible also by an
iron door from the palace above.

During these examinations, Beppo, the man-servant
who has several times been spoken of in the course of our
story, showed by his honest surprise that he had known
nothing of these matters. The trap-door in the rear yard
was & source of profound amazement to him. His mas-
ter’s guilt was plain enough to the officers now, but as to
Beppo, he could not believe his own senses.

“You have never known of this passage?’ asked one of
the officers of him.

‘Never.’

‘Your master is a very extravagant person. How did
you suppose he raised the means to live thus and support
such expenditures ?”?

“It was none of my business,’ said Beppo, ‘‘and I never
thought about it.’’

“There was a story about a pot of goki,’”’ suggested
the detective.

“Yes, I have often heard about that, replied Beppo,
very honestly.

“Where is your master?’

“He said he was going to Monaco.”

‘Por what?”

“l have heard there is a grand Oasino there for gam-
bling, aud master, you know, plays.’?

‘Yes, you are rigit.’?

“The place is called Monte Carlo,” said the detective.
The officers then consulted together for a few moments,
and finally, after putting the government seal upon the
doors, and leaving one of their number on guard at the
palace, they retired to report the case to the proper offi-
cials, and await further orders. The English detective, on
the way to the government office, called at the store of
Wool! & Co. to give his special employers some knowledge
of their missing property.

The authorities were ready to attend to so important a
matter at once, and the detective was summoned before
them without delay.

“How came you first to suspect Alberto Corrello??
asked the leading official.

“The white powder acted as a trail, and stopped at his
gates,’? was the reply.

“Ah, we had heard of that. Who first discovered this
‘trail,? as you call it?”

“Tf st noticed it. After thatI followed and watched
Alberto Corrello, and found that without apy visible means
of support, yet he had unlimited gold.”

“A suspicious fact.’?

“One day I managed to get into his rear yard, on a sim-
ple pretext, and as it was the nearest point to where the
wail stopped, I examined it.”

“And there found the trap-door ???

“Exactly.”

‘All this 18 very plain business now, since your ingenu-
ity has worked the matter patiently to its present issue,”’
said the official.

Proper officers were dispatched to the secrete vault, and
the goods of various kinds were transported to the gov-
ernment rooms, where they were taken proper recog-
nizance of. The palace itself was then searched, espe-
cially the apartments immediately occupied by Alberto
Corrello himself. Here, in secret closets built within the
walls, and so hidden as to require the most careful search
to find them, was discovered an elaborate system of dis-
guises, relating to nearly every station in life, and de-
signed to represent either sex. . 5

A great variety of the best weapons were also discov-
ered here—pistols, Knives, dirks, and short rifles for horse-
men’s use, with repeating arms from America and Eng-
land, of the Jatest and most effective manufacture. His
apartments were a private arsenal in themselves, It
seemed almost impossible that one man could have accu-
mulated such a complete cabinet of tools, weapons, false
keys and disguises, for the purpose of successful villainy.
It must have been the consummation of years.

The man Beppo had at once been taken into custody,
not that he was believed in any sense to be guilty of com-
plicity in his master’s misdeeds, but partly as a witness
and partly that he might not be able by any means to com-
municate with the absent criminal, and thus enable him
to escape the arrest that awaited him on his return to the
Corrello palace, now in the hauds of the police.

He who had been able tocarry on unsuspected the
doubie character which was now manifest, was too shrewd
in his villainy to trust any one needlessly,

The man Beppo, who had so long acted aga sort of
body-servant to Alberto, was a very simple-minded fel-
low, selected by his.master, perhaps, om that very ac-
count. He was one who lad infinite fear and respect for
his master, and would have been the last to suspect him
of any unlawful acts. Though he was regular in the last
degree in his own habits, the irregularities of his master
as to his hours of outgoing and incoming were unheeded
by him, or were attributed to his amours and gambling
engagements.

He had often wondered inasimple and curious way
how his master had found exit from and ingress to the
palace, ashe had chanced to know that he must have
done, without calling upon him in his capacity of porter.
He now saw very clearly that the trap-door in the yard
had been regularly aud constantly in use. That it could
have existed at all upon the premises, and not be known
to a person of the household in his situation, was a fact
in itself going far to prove his hopeless stupidity.

Thus it was that the most thorough and elaborate ex-
amination of this man could elicit no evidence against his
master,

Alberto Corrello, howéver, could not have carried on
his schemes entirely unassisted. Ingenious and self-re-
liant as he was, he must have had one or more confed-
erates on whom he could rely. It was clear enough that
that he was not one to put himself into the hands of oth-
ers, by the- manner in which he had avoided trusting
Beppo, but stilt he could not have accomplished singie-
handed, it was believed, even tlie robbing of the jewelers’
store in the Strada St. Carlo.

Of course, this was avery important point to decide,
and the clerk who had slept in the store on the night of
the robbing was re-examined.

This man was seized so suddenly, and on awaking from

 

 

a@ sound sleep, that he could hardly say positively whether
there was one or tworobbersin the store. One only stood

 

over and tied him, telling him that the least movement
on his part would cost him his life, and gagging him in-
stantly. There was no conversation loud enough for him
to hear one word distinctly, yet he thought at times he
heard voices, while he was compelled to lie tied and cov-
ered beneath the bed-clothes. The fact Was, a8 is gen-
erally the case in such instances, the man’s terror at tle
time almost incapacitated him for the clear exercise of
his senses.

He remembered hearing the robber or robbers lock the
rear door of the store, as they finally left it.

_ “Why did you not mention that at your first examina-
on eae was asked.

“It did not come to my memory until lon terward,”’
he replied. ” . ee

On Beppo’s being called for further examination, the
fact was elicited from him, by the ingenious inquiries of
the detective, that the story of the pot of gold was really
started, years ago, by Alberto. himself, and through his
servant given to the street gossips. The simple-minded
Beppo could not at first have told how the idea orginated,
but by placing facts in juxtaposition, it became plain
enough that the story was ingeniously devised and set
afloat as a ‘blind.’ It had served exactly the purpose
designed,

The Neapolitan gossips required something to occupy
their tongues when referring to Alberto, and the pot of
gold was just the thing. Besides it accounted for the pose
Session Of ceriain means which might otherwise have
caused troublesome notice.

Matters were kept as quiet as possible, and the dis-
covery of the secret vault and itscontents was said noth-
ing about in public. .The police were on the watch for
the return of the guilty principal, and therefore ayvided
publicity until he should be arrested. But they did not
rightly judge their man if they supposed that he was not
at once informed of all that transpired in his absence.
In three hours after Beppo’s arrest, Alberto knew that his
Own guilt had been discovered, and he governed himself
accordingly. The officers might have spared themselves
their guard over the Corrello Palace. The bird had flown.

Equally fruitless was the excursion to Monaco by the
police, in hopes to meet the culprit there, at the tables of
the Casino, at Monte Carlo. The mention of his proposed
visit to that famous gambling hell was a mere blind to
cover two or three days’ absence in some other direction,
which he desired to keep secret. It was found that he
had not been at Monaco for a period of some months,
though he did visit the Casino at times and was indeed,
when present, one of its heaviest players.

It Was found, after the lapse of three or four days, that
the police must look elsewhere for their game, aud from
certain indications they became convinced that Alberto
was informed of all that took place from day today. It
was a subtie and dangerous ciuracter which they had un-
earthed, by means of the secret vault. Tiey reaiized that
when found and brought to bay he would be a dangerous
man to finally secure.

“The man who succeeds in arresting him will be pro-
moted,” said one officer to another.

“If he lives!” was the answer.

“There is danger in the arrest of any guilty party,”
continued the first speaker.

“Alberto Corrello will not quietly give up his liberty.
He will sell his life dearly.”? ;

‘‘All the more creditin the arrest, then,” replied the
other, who assumed an indifference which he did not
reatly feel.

The importance of the affair had begun to make its im-

pression at headquarters, and the police were on the

alert,
[TO BE CONTINUED.}

BARE-BACK BILL;

OR, THE
FREAKS AND FORTUNES OF A

ae Gh NE ee Me

By John F. Cowan,

Author of O°CONNOR’S CHILD; CHARLEY
GALE’S PLUCK; KANSAS KIT, etc.

{“Bareback Bill” was commenced in No. 4. Back numbers can
be obtained from any News Agent in the United States.

CHAPTER VIII.
A RETROSPECT—A MOTHER'S INSTINCT—DISAPPOINTMENT.

Judge Cornell and his wife had lost their only child, a
beautiful little girl, Many years before the period of their
introduction into this story, and the grief for that loss
still shadowed their household, the more so that it did not
occur through the medium of sickness which at once
forewarns and fortifies against the blow, but in a mysteri-
ous and startling Manner the little creature was swept
from their gaze.

At the time of the child’s disappearance it was supposed
that in rambling unheeded around. the spacious grounds
it had, through the neglect of its nurse, been allowed to
get to the water edge and rolled into the canal. But jong
continued dragging failed to reveal the body, and wide
spread search and advertisement were equally unsuccess-
ful for the recovery of the child alive.

Resignation superseded hope in the hearts of the be-
reaved parents, and their grief, at first violent to the
verge of distraction, was mellowed down by time into a
mournful memory, But this resigned calm had been
disturbed after a few years, and hope revived, in the
mother’s heart at least, by arumor that a little girl an-
swering the description, and about of the age that theirs
should have been at that time, was performing with a
gipsy company, who were wandering through the country,
giving open air entertainments. The judge, though little
believing in such @ romantic story, to please the fancies of
his wile gave hot chase to thisignis fatuus. He managed
to overtake the gipsy show people in & distant portion of
the Union, but no such child was with them, and they de-
nied all knowledge of her. If she had ever been in their
custody they had spirited her away on hearing of his
pursuit.

That hope was dashed to the ground, but the mother
still clung to it through the Jong years, and it was some
supposed likeness catching her maternal eye in the face
of the little wanderer, Rhodie, that caused her emotion
on seeing the unconscious boy.

‘My dear,’ she said, leading her husband into one of
the parlors out of reach of the domestics’ ears, ‘‘a strange
fancy has seized me and I cannot keep itomf. You will
laugh atit as foolish.”

“Give me an opportunity of either laughing or weeping
by naming it,” he said, good naturedly. ‘What is its
subject ???

‘This ruabaway boy,’ she answered. :

“Well, I was thinking of him too,” said the judge. ‘Out
with your fancy.”

‘It is that I have seen his face before,” she said, im-
pressively, ‘tor one of marvellous resemblance.’

“Thav’s very possible. Children at his age are not re-
markable for individuality, though some clever people
pretend to see perfect family portraits in new-born infants
awhen the faces are all alike as dumplings.”

Mrs. Cornell seemed to be annoyed by his levity, and
paused before she resumed—which resumption seemed to
cost her an effort.

“This child has individuality,” she said, “at least to my
eye, and mine’s—a mother’s.’

‘‘A mother’s, my dear,’? cried the judge, with a start.
“Why, what in the world has your motherhood to do with
this young wanderer?”?

“Our child, I believe to be a wanderer if alive,’’ she
said in a quick and heated manner.

“But our’s—if alive—iny dear, is a gir.”

“And so is this.”

“You are crazed or dreaming?”

“I would risk my life on the truth of my conjecture,’
said the lady, decidedly.

“What reasons have you for such a@ preposterous be-
lief?” asked Judge Cornel), with a smile.

’ “Is it preposterous for runaways to disguise themselves,
especially when they have been actors?’? asked the lady,
reproachfully, and a new light seemed to spread over the
judge’s face. ‘Does this child look like a person to be
traveling on a canal? ‘Think of the fair skin—the mu-
sical voice—the fragile form. Think that she—I say it
advisediy—was flying from a tyrannical showman.”?

“By Heaven, you are right,’? exclaimed the husband;
and encouraged by his conviction, the lady went on;

“Did you notice that while the hair was light-red or au-
burn, the eyes were as black as mine???

“No—no—I was not sharp enough,” said the judge hur-
riedly; ‘‘but I trust to your sharper sight. It may be—yet.
no—it is too much to expeci—to great a blessing to be
given us. Shall we cal) him or her down again—shall we
goupto see him—fer I mean—shall we let ii rest until
morning ?”?

On the heels of this volley of questions a wild howl of
affright echoed through hall and corridor, drowning the
agitated answer of Mrs, Cornell and causing them both to
oe into-the passage. They thought the mansion was
on fire.

Here they sawthe housekeeper bounding down the
staircase in flying bounds like a great bale of cotton, ui-
tering a war-whoop at every bounce.

“What’s the matter, Catherine? What has frightened
you?’ cried the master and mistress, catching the human
avalanche on the last step and reeling beneath its force.

“Oh, Heaven be merciful to us!” gasped tne frightened
woman. “Sure the boy isa girl, and the gray. sperrit is
at the windy above flappin’ its wings like an aigle,’?

‘You are dreaming or crazy!’

“The divila dhramin’ or crazy bit about me thin, but
the fright,’? spluttered Catherine. ‘I thried to get the
creature to undress, but i/ would sooner jump out of the
windy, and whin I tried to grab iI caught its red hair
and pulled it away, and the black ringlets of a girleen felt
from undher! Oh, ma’am, if it should be the purty child
yer heapt is longing for.”

Before these words were out Mrs, Cornell and the judge
were both rushing up the staircase, followed by a number
of alarmed servitors. They burst into the room where the
housekeeper told them she had placed Rhodie,

To their consternation no sign of either boy or girl was
there. The hinged sashes were thrown wide back, and
the gauze upon the musketo-frame was burst in the cen-
ter, the tattered edges fluttering in the night-wind.

“He is gone!” said the judge.

“He has jumped from the window,’ cried some of the
servants,

“Gertrude! my child, my child! screamed Mrs, Cornell,
rushing to the casement and leaning frantically out over
it. ‘‘Oh, she is killed—she is killedl’’

“Away! Get lamps and seel’’ cried the judge, excitedly,

 

 

 

to his domestics, and a general stampede took place.
“She is killed! Sheis dashed to pieces!’? moaned the