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Alum, THE AXMANE‘orLTHE SECRETS BE THE nucAL PALACE.

BY ANTI-IONY P- MORRIS,

Author of “Franz, the Frvnvh Detvotivp,” "'l‘he Elan of Steel." 810.. etc.

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A'zhort, the Amen.

 

Azherl, the Axman:

on,
The Secrets of the Ducal Palace.

A BOMANCE 0F VENICE.

 

BY ANTHONY P. MORRIS,

AUTHOR or “FRANZ, THE FRENCH DETECTIVE,”
“mu MAN or STEEL,” 110., are.

CHAPTER I.
LOVERS AND smns.

Vandal—incomparable in beauty, still lin-
gering in that historic and vision-like prosperity
1vivliich at last outlived all other Italian repub-

CB. .

Venicel—with its domes and spires, its col-
umns, frescoes and palaces, its ways of glisten-
ing waters mingling in the dream of wealth,
poetry and splendor.

Venicel—ere the “man of destin ” had fixed
his eye upon it' the time being in t e sixteenth
century, and the hour of the day—preceding
Ascension Day—near sunset, when the gold of
buildings flashed and messy marble seemed to
gatlaer even fresher whiteness in the clear wan-
m a
oh, the canal—what was and ever will be
the rand Canal—three gondolus were gliding
upward, the first and the third- curtained,
draped and painted with a similarity which, in
those days, enoted that they belonged to one
and a noble house—rich in purple (.nd gilt and
gondoliered in Every.

The second was p sin and unpretentious, save
for its unusually sharp and polished prow of
steel, which clove the water 1! e a very knife—
this prow surmounted by a bronze image of a
winged lion—and the singularity that every-
thin pertaining to its color and accouterment
was lack as the bosom of a. thunder-cloud.

A fourth gondola was approaching the three,
coming downward, sculled by a man whose
flowing beard and wrinkled face would betoken
a rofessional at his vocation.

n this last curtained craft. reclining upon its
furnishin of soft and costly cushions, was a
young an handsome man' bold thou h easy of
mien; feature and limbs of health :1in strength
—his supple carriage nigh concealed by an awk-
ward attire indicating that he was, or pretend-
ed to be, a rough fisherman. A singular occu-
pant for a. boat so gayly dressedasthat in which
Wham! “‘"a k d flashi ' i 1

13 eyes, at an ng, were pee ng s y-
ly between the curtains; but the flash gives one
of pleasant anticipation, and his ps smiled as
he slwiulfastly watched'the three approaching
go}: o as.

Ah!” he murmured, “ on would not fail
me,“ mutt ‘Uncmthalaugh I seem, our

 

   
  

lowiedn pierc’efthese Very and flu the
loyal art th. I awa Adria. Less
h th your osr”—to the skill-
VIlthout'. f Thecraft yonder will

with its precious bur-

      

that I on as Piero, re-
'ly {0, the fisherman.

(1%” w i I , ‘
"fig", ‘ ,‘ , so; loud that name. For the
man Mlamsimp Ban

 ‘ ._ "cafe and ola'asum of sequins
inter  the Haggis-ml: of a dead rela-

\

’1
 Let , tongue blister for my forgetfulness !”
e I g the “ ‘ t

' mamhero. ‘Bu 1 was about

' .. good Piero." ed the supposed
 bending him” gene out be-
tween thoicurtains. - - ’

" I meant to say in warning to you—Santa
the dam—that the first gondola, which i
know to tain your betrothed, the beautiful
Adria, is 1y ollowed by two others. The
flntbehindis— '
has: n we rt 

ng w c us so I
swift. 1 0w_ it Welllgu y .
r “ his the gondola of that devil‘s shape, Ashort,
oncechief executioner of Venice. I much dis-
t .theflmotive of its presence. The second

.  Like myown Adria’s, it he-
loppto. nti palace.

,. . -, no‘donbt, contains the Lady Perci
h ’ _ . declared the one Piero. "Hear

~ . lam sure-that the from
u muturnof theheautifu‘lAdria,
» ' ,hae excited surmise in
dyPerci, andonaifnot
chem "

hid the yonegfi

     

tam werning , .

t oldend favorite cumof youreendwe will

be dds by side.” . r
The first gondola was at hand. The oarsmen

of both, an err-itandingl by revious experience,

brou ht- their boats sk lt‘ul y to ther until the

cuisine of each fairly touched be other.

‘ whole reeklnmax and bOWstringing assistants

 

Then these curtains were pushed aside, and 1
two lovers, entirely shielded by the rich dra-

ry, were clasped in a fervent embrace. ‘

“Adria! My Own! My beautiful!” a

“ Dear Clmliusl—But, for the love of ,
Heaven, detain me not. bee: close to us comes }
the gondola. of Lady Perci, my mother‘. You i
know full well the conscqucz Ices of discovery to 1
you and to me. Did she so much as suspect

'our irescnce in Venice! Indeed, I begin to
ear t int she does already suspect. But a few
days since she threatened me with the mad-
house if ever I dared to utter our name again.
I have been followed steadilyliy her. She will ;
discover all, an 1 even the excuse of the acade-
my will not avail us for a meeting. What will ;
become of me? Ahl that terrible mad-house!” ‘

The voice of Firm broke forth upon the out-
side speaking to himself:

“lie! there are his eyes—eyes that I could i
swearto among a million as belonging to that :
devil’s shape, Azhort, ex—chief of the execution-
ers.~ He is abreast. Something )asses between 1
him and that cat Lady Perci. .11? He comes !
this way. Now, y St. Mark! if he gets within 3
reach of my oar I shall break it over his wolf’s
head!"

Cladius and Adria, absorbed solely with
each other notwithstanding her fear of dis-
cover y by Lady Perci, the enemy of her lover,
paid at slight heed, at the moment, to the
mutterinvs of the sup )osed gondolier, especial-
ly as shehad bestowed no particular attention
upon the black gondola, thinking only of the
cutlike watchfulness and unrelaxing pursuit of
her stern, hightempered mother.

“That is a strange threat from a. mother’s
lips, sweet Adria—to place one so fair and

remisin as you in the horrible precincts of
be mad— ouse. Think you she could be so
cruel—that she meant it?’

“May Heaven forgive the thought, dear
Cladiusi—I fear she would not hesxtate to
threaten and do even worse if I persist in scorn-
ing the suit of Adio Adello, son of my step-fa-

ther’s sister.”

“Lazzaynon! I will et settle an account
with him. But be patien , in own Adria; yet
a little longer. And when have shown the
Council that Cladius Albunio is still a friend to
fair but intrigue-posted Venice it will then be
time enou h to take you openly or fly with you
beyond a1 reach. My own good ship is not far
distant and every gallant sailor on its deck
would hail even the outlawed Cladius and rally
to his standard. You would not have me go,
like a beaten cur, with charges on my head?’

“No, Cladius—no,” ferventl responded the
maiden. “But, there; I mus depart. Fare-
well, dear Cladius."

At this instant the voice of Piero again broke
forth. loud and angry: .

“Keep off, there, thou dog of mischief!
Would
yours? ack, I say i”

Cladius sprun to the opposite curtains. One
quick glance s owed him the black gondola
scarce two lengths away, rushi down with its

glistenin rowof steel evident y bent u a -
00 RP , ) P9n ,

He turned to warn Adria to flee; but she
though1 unconscious at the time of dan er, an
only dread of her spying mother, glided
away as she bade her over farewell. '

The somber, snakish-lookin dndola that fol-
lowed iirst in the rear of Ad 5 held a hideous

rsonage who, no less out than Lady Perri,

ad persistently follow the maiden smce the
moment that she left the academy to return
homeward according to dail habit.

It was Ash , once chie of executioner-S,

had severed the vital of many ‘ople.
martyred and dese gin their a ,nponthe
piazetta or in the strangling-chamber.

His legs were fearfully dwarfed, but in body
and arm he was the personification of a_ Hercu-
les; havinsoqstoo‘p to the shoulders—41113 stoop
th{&w rwar . a f moi.  faceti
w sullen-cunm , e one 9 on, an
eyes black, brilliantigkeenfithat 0:56 stare like
a cat! gleam with dabolical ye , or flame
with one passion.‘ DOWn be ow t ecollar of
a costly velvet cape hung a mass of dark, wiry

hairs ‘

The e es of Azhort were the theme and shud-
der of Venice—mom rticularly so during the
long period in which e held the t of chief
executioner. High and low ca not to en-
counter the lare of the tigerish orbs, whose
depths seem to say:

. ‘ Aha! you next. Another for my ex, or the

“muggy-chamber. Came I have a fancy for
that of yours, if somebravo does not rob
me of the pleasure?”

While, in reality, the thought of the impish
executioner would be. as be surveyed a trem—
bling countryman striving toavoid him and the
fierce eyes in the winging throng: _ .

“Fool, thou! Why on dfyou rnp‘ cvtl start?
I want not such union or my 1.? i v. :1 ex:
001500! the nobility-not oflal for the arm of

The ndish face and glistening eyes of the

on sink us with that knife prow of ‘

‘ alone," declared Azhort, with his

 

ex-chief of executioners peered sharply from
the curtains of his black gondola, losing not one

movement of the light and gay liveried craft in -

which was Adria.

“Aha! pretty maid,” he muttered between
his strong white‘teeth and rubbing his horny
palms, over and over, I‘aha! I think I scent the
end of my mission here. Cladius Albumo,
charged w1th~ treason, and upon whose head a
price is set, must be in yonder waiting gondola;
that is why the maid, Adria, lingers so late each
evening when returning from the academy—to
meet her Cladius. ’l‘is said that upon the dis-
appearance of Clad ins, his own private gondola
{cl by sale to old Saute, the fisherman. Thun-
ders of air! that will not wash. For what can
there be in common between a fair and noble
maid, such as Adria, and the fish- smelling Saute!
N 0, she meets her Cladius thus. Let me remove
him, or get him in my grasp and perha s the
Council will make terms with Azhort—t at is,
if much remains of the Council two days hence;
for the Duke D’Ossuna is a clever plotter, and
there ma be no Venice a few hours from now.
I would t t the time for pi¥age Were already
here; then, down with the r1enti pala and
expose the secret which I believe it has 0 osed
in forso many cars! But the gondolas. Oh!
they are twir in round—now the touch.
Pla es infernal ta e those curtains 1- con
cea the face of one who is, I am sure, Sham
Alburno, the traitor. Git), gondolier, ease away.
but keep ni rh to those two craft ahead.”

“ I obey,’ answered the fellow, who was new
in the emplo of the ex-headsman, and who had
been induc by a.th bigovert and promise of
good pay, to risk his y in t 6 service of the
man of dread.

Simultaneously the somber curtains were
thrust aside by a jeweled hand, and the face of
a. haughty woman looked in upon rt.

“ ! ow dare you! Oh! the Indy Perci
Trienti!” he exclaimed. ‘

The third and last of those gondolas previous-
] mentioned, well known as belongin to the

rienti palace, contained a single fem e occu-

nt.
paA woman not unhandsome save for the
proud, overbearing mien, and a frown that
came and went, as if in s asms of ever-chang-
ing and ever-unpleasant t oughts—Lady Perci
Trienti, second wife of Marco Trienti, the sena-
tor, and reputed mother of Adria.

She was muttering from her thin, scarlet lips:

“ So, I knew I should learn the cause of those
dela 3 common to Adria’s return from the
a emy. Lovers are indeed foolish to imagine
that others have neither eyes, ears. nor suspi-
cion. Though Cladius Albumo is charged with
treason and outlawed—and, I doubt not, sought
for by the spies of The Ten—that is his ndola,
and, to a certaint , he is in it. For W at?. To
maintain his hol u n Adria’s affections—de-
luded girl l—b swee compliments and lessom
of rebellious octrine. Oh! would that I could
be a man but for an‘hour! My anathema or
Cladius Albumo, who steals the affections o!
Adria from my favorite, Adio. There is Adio.
this moment, standing at the qua . Has he nc
eyes? Can he not see that the ro ber of his in-

ded bride is now holding interView with her':

toy—there is one who can do me a service:

Ashes-t, the headsman. La close to the black
gondoll ahead.” she orders , sharply.

In obedience her oarsman brought the cur
tained side fairly touching that o; the black
gondola containin. g Azhort, just as that rson

ad commanded his servitor to sheer of! a roast
of the two gondolas of the lovers.

The sudden and unexpected intrusion of the
female face, half-handsome, half- ly in pas-
sion, momentarily startled even the on nerves

‘Afihirh' “d 7” he . d dd' is

‘a.owareou snape;amg~
the same breath: XOh ! theLadiPerci Trienti."

“Ay,she it h. Thou art hart—lover of
both oldnand blood.”

ue

“ Take this purse. ,It is heavy with reward.”

“ And what am I to do for it! ’ questioned the
deathsman, as be grasped the profi‘ered purse.
T “A, double servxca; one for inc—one for The
en.
. “Oh! as for that, I am readyto servo Lad
Perci, or The Ten, for the m of my death
piercing eyes
fixed so intent] upon her that shecould not
suppress a sense. on of chillines. And he con-
tinued. though deep in his dark mind: (“The
first, because I lavean object to attain in the
Trienti palace; the second, because, by doing
the Council_a precious favor, I may he again
called. as chief executioner of Venice, to swing
my beloved ax‘ upon the necks of all such nobles
as the TrientiM Then aloud: “ But come,
what is it that I am to do for the Lady Perci
Trienti?”

“Mark yonder gondola! lying so closely to.
gether.”

“I see. Tightasrivete. Well?”

“ The furthest holds my daughter, Adria—”

“ I know that. ”

“ The nearest has in it that infamous traitor,

us Albumo.” ,
“Ha! Inspectedasmuch. But howcanyou

sum?”
“ 1am not deceived Run down the last; sin].
it with your prow of steel, which I know to be

 

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man.

 

ZOI‘, e

 

famed for its sha ness. When you can inform than ever, and in her anger consequent to an-

me, truly, that C adius Albumo is drowned in
this canal, or that your dagger has found his
life, another and larger purse shall be yours.”

“ Good. We shall see."

Lady Perci was then borne swiftly away
toward that landing where she had observed the
nephew of her husband, Adio Adello.

‘ I will take him in with me,” was her
thought; “ and together we shall view the death
of the man who has dared to steal the heart of
Adria.”

But Adio, Who had ized all the gon-
dolas, believed that the approach of Lady Perci
was dim to certain excited signs and gestures
which he made to attract it when the bout of
Azhort, acting promptly on the wishes of the

1 nt woman, turned and dashed forward
for t e collision.

CHAPTER II.
THE STEEL PROW or smear.

ADIO ADELno, nephew of Marco Trienti, the
senator—at a time when both nobility and office
were hereditary in Venice—and only male heir
to that noble, was not an ornament to the society
in which one of his birth and peerage ought na-
turally to mingle.

Having no remembrance of father or mother,
and his education being confided solely to an
abbate fond of amusement and wine, the mind
of the youth had drifted into a choice rather for
celebrity among the lower classes than an asso-
ciation of mediocrity with those of talent and
elevation.

Unlike the usual frequenters of the poor cafe,
however, the pocket of Adio was generally
well-lined with money bountifully furnished by
LadyPerci, with whom he was a great favorite.
His acquaintances numbered a host, and he had
attained both popularity for spending and no-
toriety for his amusing conceit.

Twelve ears had passed since Marco Trienti
and Adio ad entered the lace of Lady Perci
--the former as the second usbsnd of thatlady.
No children had been born of their
But Adria was there—even then in mere chi -
hood givi promise of a maturit that would
no day be amously beautiful—an from earli-
est recollection of meeting her, Adio had resolv-
ed that she should wed him.

Itwss the plug” of Led Perci to consum-
mate a match tween A a and Adio; and
now, when the maiden had reached the age of
eighteen years, she had begun the unwinding of
her Ion -spun plans.

Not thstandingthe jealous seclusion imposed
by eminent Venetian domestic rule upon un-
married females—and with unusual rigor by
Lad Perciu n Adria—Adria was at last ca-
pab e of judging for her own heart, and one day
greatly astonished all by announcing her love

or Cladius Albumo, then one of the most youth-
ful but renowned commanders in the Venetian
fleet. But forthisdevelopment, startling enough
to Lady Perci, it is probable that the persistent
scheming of Adria’s reputed mother would have
effected the marriage with Adio.

There was nothing in the face, figure orbe-
havior of Adio Adel o likely to win a prize such
as Adria. Cladius was every inch the man to
exoite both admiration and confidence.

Up to the time, then. of this stor ’s openin -
and to the great discomflture of y Perc —
neither lot, threat nor persuasion had succeed-
ed in a1 rin or tiirninguelsewhere a particle of
that grand oration w 'ch the pure rl, with
tube approval of Heaven, had nourish for Cla-

us.

“ It can never be done,” Indy P had
meditated, many times, “until Cladius burno
is either dead or banished be end her reach. So
fixed is the headstrong th g, that I believe
bolts nor bars could keep them a rt. I vow-

es I vow he shall be tten ou of my th!
ut howl—how with as et i Let me thin on
that. He is no boy, to whipped from the
field at a single blow. Some means must be
devised, even to the knife of a hired bravo.
No one man shall stand between me and my
lon cherished plans. When the daughter of
y Perci Trienti weds the nephew of my
husband, there will be combined the greatest
wealth of any noble famil in Venice. Ha!
ha! and I shall share it—o yesi—and gold,

ld ibelf, shall at make me a queen.

y daughter,‘said I well, so she is, for all the
world knows. At the proper time—when Adria
and Adio arewedded—the secret I have kept for
eighteen years need be secret no longer!”

t was shortly after one of these soliloqnizing
hm MW?" aims 1"” PM
e upon u 1 us urno.

As quickly as the “$1 smitten by the cimeters
of those Tug-kg whom he had fou ht
with valor and succea he was cut down. -
ins! reached him that his Councd had already
proclaimed him a traitor even while he panted
amid the laurels of his victories, and urged by
trusty triads he retireclldlwith such b:eicres 03nd
disguise t. as yet so or or spy to
discover his whereabouh.

Supposing that Cladius was no longer within
the boundaries of the bile, Ind] Perci re-
newed her importunlties behalf 0 her favor-
ih Allie. The suit was resented mas shangly

 

other unprofitable interview with Adria Lady
Perci had uttered that threat of punis cut
by confinement in a mad-house which shocked
terrified, but did not subdue the maiden’s loy
spirit.

- Amused at last to suspicion, both by Adria’s
firmness and the fact of frequent delays beyond
the accustomed hour of her return from the
academy, Lady Perci had on this dav acted the
part of a spy. with results shown am to follow.

Adio, standing upon the quay, was attired
gaudily, and wore 8. ca of crimson plume; his
waist encircled by a ric sash.

He happened accidentally there, at the foot
of the narrow street, just as the three gondolas
were passing. Knowmg them well, and though
he could not see the occupant of the first, his
heart throbbed deliciously at thoiwht of her
whom he hoped soon to call his bride—for the
voice of the Council, which had denounced
Cladius as a traitor, and the sudden and com-
plete disappearance of that person, left the

outh to imagine that he was successfully rid of

is rival.

But the fourth gondola, as it twirled about
and lay-close to Adria’s, puzzled, while it caused
him some uneasiness; for he knew that it had
belon ed to Cladius Alburno before Cladimhad
vanis ed so mysteriously, and the junction of
this with the other, and its lingering there,
struck him stran ely.

“Pah! Why s ould I vex myself?” be ex-
claimed, overcoming a momentary pulse of
'ealous suspicion. ‘Though yonder gondola

lon ed to my rival, Cladius Albumo, I am
sure t at he would not dare be in it, for the spies
of The Ten would quickly seize him. But why
should thetwo thus oinandtarryl Icannot un-
derstand— Eh, fel owl what now?”

“ Right, signore,” whined a voice at his side—-
the vorce of a very shabby man who carried a
scissored and idiotic-looking dog in his arms.
“ Bi ht, signore. That is, or was, the dola
of C adius Albumo, once as famous a c ieftain
as ever fought ship to ship with a Turk. Buy
this beautiful dog and I will tell you all about
it. See what a babe. If it would but have
“21133—ng then it might be an angel. And so
0 ea

“ way with our do !” smartly rotor-ted
Adio, who was t on watc g the movements
of Lady Perci’s gondola, as i swept alongside
the somber craft of Azhort, the deathsman.

“ Oh, well, then I will tell you, anyhow, sig-
nore. Yonder gondola, after the noted Cladius
was outlawed, fell, by purchase, to Santo. San-
to was an old ancifioor fisherman. Some rela-
tive of his was ed to Heaven, and Santo—
how lucky !—fe11 heir to a mess of sequins that
were found in an old cask. I knew Saute well,
but since he has risen in the world, he avoids
m°__”

“Begone, gabbler!” snapped Adio; and to
himsel , while he made those signals which he
thought attracted the gondola of Led Perci:
“Thereissome ot bre ' out there swear
by the saints! yshoul a noble tidy hold
converse with such as A1hort?— Ha! the black
gondola is dashing u n those two! Some mis-
chief is to follow t is. Body of Bacchus! my
Adria will be drowned! See: a collision 18
intended! Devilish deathsman! what are you
about?” and he tilted from foottofoot in excite-
ment, as he saw the sharp steelprow of the black
gondola shooting forward, propelled by muscu-
ar arms that a peared to work with the rapidi-
ty and strengt of an engine.

“Oh, siguore,” again whined the shabby fel-
low; “ on have quite forgotten. This dog
which ofler you—

“Impl Depart!” cried Adlo who the tof
nothin but the pending collision, the
is? yof Adria. ” '

“ #331199 cheap—

“Thou!” t back the dog-vender, nimbly

running on; or Adio had thrust one hand into
his bosom to gasp the dag or he carried there.

“Easteul” e called to yPerci’s gondo-
lier. “Ply that slu gish car. I must be out
there torescue my orable Adria, who is about
to be drowned by that deathsmanl Hast-
en, I say!-—- Eh? Oh! my Adria is fleeing. She
is safe. But the gondola of Azhort still advan-
ces. There will yet be a collision.- Now, what
ill-will can Azhort bear a humble man like San-
to, the fisherman, to whom—so said that pest-
of-a-dog-man—the gondola of Cladius Albumo
belongs, by furohase!”

“Enter, die—enter,” urged Lady Perci, as
the side of her gondola came to the steps.
“Seat lyourself with me. I have a pleasant

tac e in store for on.”

“ What could you, y Perci, have to as to
that wretch, ex-chief of the executioners in-
quired Adio as he seated himself on the rich
cushions beside his uncle’s wife.

“Patience. Watch the gondola of Azhort.
Do you see what he is about to do?"

“Certainly. With that how of steel, he is
running down Saute, the fishermen, who could
not posiny have done him harm.”

“ Santa, the fisherman.’ Ha! ha! ha!"
laughed Lady Paul—a malicious and jarring
laugh. “In that [ti-dots, my dear Adio.

 

none other than our formidable rival, Cladius
Albumo. Be an Adria have been at kissing
and cooing under your very nose. Ah! there it
goes—into the side. Did you hear the ri and
strain of the splinters? A heavy purse have
promised Azhort if Cladius Alburno is drowned
or stabbed to death in this canal X”

“My malediction on Cladius Alburno! And
I hope the devilish deathsman will finish him!”
ground out Adio, fired to a rage by what he had

earned.

The eyes of Lady Perci flashed with cunning
satisfaction at this. It was the first time that
Adio had evinced any decided feeling of furious
hatred for the man who contested with him for
the love of Adria.

Unlike Lady Perci, he had no spirit for
scheming, and a life of indolent pleasures had
not yet framed in his nature the concomitant
trait of all schemers to win a cause by fair
means or foul. If there was one redeeming
item in his foppish character, it was the honest

assion he felt for Adria. Sincere to madness
in his infatuation, he had hitherto dreamed
only of impressing her with soft speeches and
unmistakable devotion, thus outstripping his

nvaL

Lady Perci had at last awakened his uglier
temper. She covertly scanned the features of
the youth, her thin scarlet lips parting in a sin-
ister smile.

And it was during the momentary glance into
Adio’s face, as the latter ered eagerly and
tumultuousl forth upon he exciting scene,
that Lady erci missed seein an important
part of the encounter which er mahgnance
and bribe had fomented.

Upon the departure of Lady Perci’s gondola,
after speaking with Azhort, the bronzed and
tigerish features of the headsman underwent a
terrific change. A light fiercer than the fiercest
gleam that ever shot from his horrible eyes,
when bringing down his mi hty ax upon the
neck of a Victim at the bloc now kindled in
the unearthly orbs. A grin as so as the
marlin muule ofahyena contorted is we.
and he  , like the mouths of a score 0 ser—

nts:
pe“Powers of darkness! what luck. Another

urse—another when I have drowned or stat»
Cladius A ; and he is before me!
Heigh, gondolier! ch 11 n yonder boat
with e1 ow trimming. un tdown. Straight
into t. Sink it. Bend your muscles till they
fairly break. Chargzl”

The black gondo shot forward swift and
straight, its prow of sharp and polished steel
cleavin the water keenly as a razor’s ed .

The warfed, misshapen but powerfu body
of Azhort strained forward in ealfiir waitin for
the collisign, Edda: greaft 1111330111? righting;
grrged' as in gero ex inary
an breadth. ~

“ From your fin rs alone, Lady Perci, will I
receive that second purse promised. At last I
have a 830d excuse for enterinfighe 'I‘rienti
palace. ce inside, I am sure t my ends
can be attained; for Trienti, and the
wife who is deceiving and scheming against
him, neither know as man secrets of their own
householdas Azhort carries locked in here "—
fing his left breast a vigorous thump. “At
t ' moment I carry in my ket a map of
those hidden passages of the palace which few
now living could trace. Had they but connect-
ed with the outside world in some wa , 1 would
long ago have found the line which am sure
is concealed there. Ho! may now easily pass
theservautsand’tenders, for-see: I poses the
signet of Lady Perci Trienti l” and he held aloft,
and surve ed with greedy gavety a costly ring;
which he admitly shpped from the finger
of Lady Perci at the moment when be grasped
the purseoiferedas a bribe for the death or
Cladius Albumo. ~

The black gondola of the deathsman had now
almost reached its prey, seeming to gather new
velocity at every sweep of the car. '

“ Keep off there !” halloed the sag-y voice of

em. ‘ of trouble! would you sink mu
with that e-prow of ours? Back, I sa 1”

Thebowof the sesaul gboatwas so cose.
ancilflpropelled at such speed, that all the skill
of ere—who was a most excellent comman—
could not avert the intended ca

Scarce a half-minute between the two
discoveries by Cladius— , that there was
to occurs premeditated collision; second, that
Adria was gliding away from the then—
from—iand the [in-es}; o: $zl110lg’s steeldgr‘ov:
squareyupontesi e0 0 tergou

hIn gist. half-minute .hed vgstly
cang mafipearance y in uneru
seatthe ca w ch hewore and en tuting a
stained an battered hat, at the same time fast-
ening to his face a hu bunch of grinl whis-
kers. With this den transform on he
thoroughly represented old Saute, the fisher—
man.

Then there was a double cry—a shout from
Axhort’s gondolier and an engréyell from the
indignant Piero—and with a ad, a crunch
minnérthcfi’m afiifl pi until” we
lug till thewetsr M through

/\

assailin boat.
attac thus—believing his true identity safe
in the d' of Santo, the fisherman—he was
furious a the insult, and made at once for the
curtains, to confront— .

The face of Satan, the eyes of a dragon, a
afiider shape that leaped promptly forward for
t e meeting.

“ Ha! ha!" laughed the ex-chief of execution-
ers, madder than the maddest inmate of the mad-
house on the Lido. “ Ha! ha! Cladius Albumo,
I know you !”

“Wretchl you shall not live to betray me!”
said Cladius, dashing upon the man mon-
ster.
“Ha! ha!” laughed Azhort, again, as they
clinched upon the narrow deck. ‘ Ha! ha! we
shall see. You are to die b stabs and drown-
ing in the canal here. T e this—and that!”
And as he snarled “this and that ” Azhort
dealt two thrusts with his long, broa dagger.

The first blow was parried artfully; but the
second—Cladius threw up his arms, uttered a
gaping moan and tottered over into the water.

‘ On, quickly!” commanded the dwarf, slip-
ping nimbly back to the shelter of his somber
curtains. ‘ On to my home.—Thou pla e of
i orance! the other way. About! sate!”

nd to himself: “Ho! now, to-night, for that
other purse, and my entrance into the Trienti

ace. Good. I have done admirably."

With the fall of Cladius, and his disappear—
ance beneath the placid water, a shrill scream
rung forth from the ondoia which bore Adria
away, and the soun called the attention of
Lady Perci—from that momenta study of
Adio’s face -again to the scene of co lision.

The ondola of the supposed Santo, the fisher-
man ad sunken almost entirely. The black
gondola of Azhort was shooting rapidly of! from

he spot of disaster.

But the item which escaped Lady Perci’s no-
tice was: the oarsman to the boat of Aahort
was not now the same who had so successfully
served the diabolical will of the exchief of exe-
cutioners.

Filled with righteous wrath, at the instant the
two gondoias collided ' reached out and
dealt the other gondolier a terrible stroke with
the blade of the long oar which brought him to
his knees. Bounding onto the others deck, he

him by the throat, and at one jerk
urled him overboard.

“Eel ! I cannot swim! Mercy 1” gurgled
and gagged the unfortunate fellow, coming to
the ace and heatin the water frantically.

::  thou knave ” cried Piero, sternly.

e p

“Nay, perish there—and destroy no more

figdoias of better men than thyself, to me

wishes of a devil-master. Ay, go down
againauda ' andmeetthecorpeeof mybe-
loved captain w em you have aided to kill. Ay,
down again. May an never come up—”

He was intermp by the voice of Ashort,

wh he so ratel on with Cladius
hado’notmghserv the gisme of his own
H

On, to in home! Haste!”
“Ay, ‘on your home ”’ hissed Pierqunder
his beard—a false , now, which he
had w pped out of his bosom and quickly don-
ned—as he snatched up theoarof the man he
had hurled to death. ‘ On it is, figure of fright!
And be sure I shall not leave ou until I know
whether, indeed, you have ared to kill my
noble commander. If so, may my arm palsy if
it takes not speedy ven nee.”

“ Faster!” ordered Az ort.

Then a or of surprise came from the interior
of the gon ola. As he was about to wipe the
lo broad d ger on the lining of his mantle,
he iscovered at the shining blade was with-
out blemish or stain—not one drop of blood on
the smooth sides!

“Thunders of air!” was the cry of su rise.
"Can it be possible that I missed my aim? hen
he played the wounded man most excellently;
This is strange; I am sure I felt it sink deep in
his jacket "—glancing forth over the water.

‘ “Ho! there is an excitement out there. Lady

Perci Trienti comes this way, rhaps to give
me the ascend purse. I must no let her overtake
me. Wait until tonight in the Trienti palace.
Faster, fellow l” he snap .-

It was the intention of yPerci to complete
the contract with the headsman at once and be
rid of him. But the black gondola was soon far
away.

CHAPTER III.
m BEADSKAN’S rmnv.

Tnhome of Azhort, once chief executioner
of V was situated at the extreme north-
west of t at cluster of islands which, in late
da was known as the New Lazarctto.

square, low, massive stone structurehgray
with age, and with the usual—hut in this in-
stance most neglected—garden at the rear. It
had changed owners repeatedly durin and sub-
uentto that notorious muddle of ingdoms
republics known in history as the League

' of Cembray. and finally became the castle of

one whom vicious and shuddering nature of

 

Adz-hor‘t, the Airman.

conflict on the Grand Canal, the gondola of As-
hort soon arrived at the ste tones of what was
known as the “ Deathsman 3 Fort, "—for on the
broad, uare roof, or rampart were several
pieces of rass cannon that had n captured
and placed there ata period of war with the
French.

Piero, the retending gondolier was well ac-
quainted wit the destination, and plied his car
as stoutly as if earnest in the employ of the man
whom he hated from the depths of his heart, and
swore ven eance upon. for the possible death of
Cladius Al urno.

It was fortunate for the intentions of Piero
that the ex-chiei’ of executioners had bestowed
no special scrutiny upon his new servitor—em-
ployed that ver mom—and more fortunate
that,as chance W1 led, Piero was, in his ' ise,
in close resemblance to that va abond. ence,
hating made the boat fast to t e stairs before
the dull-muzzled abode of Azhort, and having
entered to the resence of that terrible man’s
family—Piero ollowing by order—for it was

mostly customary that a regularly employed ;

gondolier became also the genera servant—
here ensued no discovery of he change in at-
tendants which had occurred.

If the home of the deathsman was darkly
foreboding without, its interior was even more
strikingly impressive.

Like s gondola, like his somber ca of vel-
vet, the cap he wore, the scowl over is eagle-
and-tiger eyes, everything was black, black as
the shadow of the earth over an eclipsed moon.
Furniture, balustrade, ceilings and walls, even
the flooring of mosaicked flags, were glossed in
darkness, until the beholder could imagine him-
self in a vast tomb of lished black agate, per-
vaded by airs of ghost y whispering.

Though wealthy enough to enjoy all comforts
of room and convenience Azhort had his peculi~
arities and seemed rather fond of confining
himself to a single apartment on the lower floor,
where he took meals with his family, but in-
variably slept alone. This apartment was but
a few ste from the front entrance, decked pro-
fusely w th armorial mpinfis. helmets and
plates of knights long d , an contaiuin the
great two-handed sword and broad-bled ax,
with which his relentless arm had dealt the
death-blow for many victims supplied by the

Council of Ten when he was in the zenith
of his career as chief executioner.

B ht to this lower chamber he led- the
way— ero boldlyin the presently
joined his femil : wife and son.

The wife was gaunt, yellow-skinned, hav-
ing but one eye that was watery and ieering:
feature and person coarse and awkward; voice
that reaped and gurgled in the throat of a long,
craning neck; movements those of a women
more masculine of habit than female.

The son, like the father, was dwarfed and
ugly, dressed in black, tight, spangled ar-
ments, and seated, with tw1sted legs, on a igh
stool of ehon stain. On his head he wore a flim-
sy conical ca . His nose was long and pointed;
mouth broad and narrow, and capable of a
dance-like grin, which at times, displayed the
teeth of asquirrel. H eyes were smal dark
and cunning, and in their slightly sunken epths
there dwelt a something that wnrned of a pas-
sion not safe to be aroused.

The comn-hued furnishings, the armorial dis—
play, the vira 0 wife, the eely~dwarfed son, all
were closely o rved by Piero: and when at
last he stood fairly within the headsman’s
abode, he exclaimed under his breath:

“By St. George! 1 have followed the lead of
Satan. Here are his favorite imps. I am in a
small kingdom of perdition. Poorchance would
I have di they discover that not a simple n-
dolier but a lieutenant of the famous C ius
Alburno—whom the executioner hated enou h
to kill or try to kill—has dared to enter the -
fernalliomeof Aahort, tospy and for vengeance.
Fiends, all! they would flay me alive l”

The arrival of the lord of the household was
hailed with a shout from the youn. dwarf upon
the stool, and Bel-Balls, the w e, mumbled
somg brief xwords 01fed ititon. din hi

“uper grow o,sen _g soap,
with altwirl, across to the grasp of his grinning

son.
“Tie ready loi'ig since. Any news from the
Palazzo Ducale answered and asked Bal-

Bella.

“Oh! Hi! we have a new man!” squeaked
Tobato the junior dwarf, who had immediately
fixed his sna ing little eyes on Piero.

“ I do not the lance of that onng ras-
cal,” passed in the m nd of Piero. ‘ It has not
the ilerceness of his father's, but it is even more
prying and may discover that the beard and the
wig I wear are false. To be knownas a soy
here would, undoubted! . insure in death.
Let me .” be cautious y felt in
his bosom to see his stiletto was safely there.

“ Let me know you, fine fellow,” said the de-
formed oath, sliding from his stool and ad-
vancingkkeaspider over its silken web. “ I
am the son of art. My name is Tobato—
yours?”

Cladius sprun forward upon the how of the i calling iitly sorted with a building gloomy, i “Piero, bless you, boy; a trusty gondolier, 1
0t knowing why he should be 1 treacherous and scowling of aspect. ho ”
Though seine miles distant from the scene of l

l
‘ I think I like your looks—Piero—Piero,” de-
! clared the dwarf, grinning more broadly, cast-
: ing his snaky eyes first on the head, then on the
: body, then on the feet, and finally back to the
i face of Piero, as he re ated the name of that
j rson twice and slow y. “ Yes, you tickle my
: ancy. That great grizzly beard—I always
1 liked bi beards though i cannot grow one my
‘ self. 1! and hair of two colors—black and
‘ gra . How very odd! Look, mother: a man
I wit hair of—”
“Cease your chatter Tobato. Back to your
! seat—hear —while I taik with your father. Sit
ou down in that comer, Bags.” The last to
, iero, and leveling a brown, brawny, hairy arm
’ and claw-of-a-tinger toward a distant part oi
j the room.

Piero obeyed silently, keepling covert watch
' upon the grinning Tobato, w ose eyes followed
‘ him intently, and whose supple coiled limbs
‘ cased in black reminded of some huge and
i poisonous spider, surmounted by the head of s

clown and the :rx‘freesion of an im , all read:
! to spring forw and bite, tear or evour.
A portion of the wig worn by Piero had slip
I pod aside, betraying the true brown color of
f be hair beneath. By a dextrous movement he
! adjusted thisas he sat down on the box indi
cated by Bel—Bella.

“ When on ask for news,” (growled Azhort,
using the panish language, an alread munch-
ing hungriiy at the bounty which Bal- He had
8 before him—“ when you ask for news,
let me tell you that I have a plenty of it, which
I only gathered this dav "—chewing ravenously.
“ Listen, and you shall hear.” ‘

“You always said that my ears were both
b and 1y. G0 on with the news you bring;
re rned ai-Balla, shortly, standing before h
with arms akimho and staring at him with her
watery but steady one eye.

“ Hi !” thou ht Tobato, as he continued his
keen survey 0 Piero. “Hi! that fellow’s hair
is now all of one color—gray. What has be-
come of the black ,patch I saw a moment since?‘
I no longer see it.

Piero now transferred his attention to the
fierce-looking couple at the table.

“ Come, now " he muttered, though in a whis-

smothered by his t heard, “there is to
some news gossip. would like to hear what
manner of news this man of devil’s shape is ae-e
customed to bring his family. He speaks in
Spanish, and has either forgotten that I am
here or use that a soar gondolier has
32%}?sz 1 “mm” ht 333%.?” $1113”
. , amas a or ,

or French, or Swiss.’ ’ ’

“ The Duke d’Ossuna does not want the crewn
of Naples,” abruptly stated Azhort.

“Hoo! what mean ybut Was it not for that-
the Council of Ten—as you and I know—was
apprised of the intended revolt!”

‘A trick. Bah! Nobles are full of tricks.
You cannot swear, by their acts to-day, what
the may do on the morrow.” '

“r. e enough. What, then, is the duke af—
ter

“ The duke the marquis and the cmbassador
—D’0muna, be Bedmer and Pedro de Toledo—
seek the overthrow of the Republic, and select
a time when Venetia is in almost 0 n hostility
to Spain. It is not the crown of spice, but to
commence with the pillage of Venice. So much
for the sly duke. "

“ H00!” screeched Bel-Balls. excited on the
instant “ H00! thy”) e of Venice. “That is
it Then ilrei—sw l—r 0t! Howga ! I am
in! Let us have Eillage! Viva! G for the
Duke d'Ossuna! oo!

Bel-Bella rocked from foot to foot, swa ed
her body back and forth, waved her arms oft
and about. and tossed her head this way and
that till its mass of coarse hair loosed and tan-

led over brow and shoulders, all the while
s uting, “Hoo! H00!” in a burst of savage

lee.
8 She uttered and shouted the words in the
dialect of Venice, and her frenzied behavior
and hints at its cause brought on contagion: for
catching the spirit of his mother and de hting
in the ospcct of fights and plunder, oheto
leaped rom his stool andjoined her, dancing,
gyratin and contorting his ider shape, till he
and the usene virego resemb a pair of bids»
ous demons.

“Hi! Hi!" he yelled. “Oh good! A riot!
Burn and plunder! Hi! We‘ll drag out the
nobles, the senators, and the doge,-end cut of!
their heads! Hi!” and while he sprung hither
and thither, on his elastic toes, he clapped his
hailids and hallooed with the throat of a screech-
ow .

Partaking of the excitement which his an-
nounccment created Azhort bounded from the
table to the wall and snatched down his broad-
bladed and leanun‘ gax. .

“Ay, pi go en tire!” he cried, hoarsely.
“Let me '15? the weight of my pet ex. 80!

ght in darkness! my arm is youn
et. Sol—end so! Hal” and round and mu
is wolileh head he circled the terrible ax like a.
riififf li htning flashes.
-Ba a worked her actions to a pitch of

 

I

.  .a..--...a.~.,.c.. w... “-W Wurmahv‘mw‘ a... .

re. ~Wm-.-. . .

 

o

" This pi

.am of the uke’s 
Ida-am it but for one 33 "
applauded Bal-

‘Azhort, the Axman.

5

 

r A.A. ,i

 

madnem- Tobato hopped and skip And
loud “Hoe! - Hoos!’ and shrill hfiiil- His!”
filled the chamber with a scene and sound of
revelous insanity.

CHAPTER IV.
mu 'rwo srms WORK.

THE swift-circling ax, the shuddering glarein
the eyes of the ex—chief of executioners and his
demoniac countenance of )assion; the wild cries
and savage gestures of al-Balla and Tobato;
the din of all and the portrayal of natures
fiercely barbaric, was an exhibition that even
the pseudo Piero—w ho had fought many times
and bravely amid the terrors of a. naval battle
—fclt a shiver in witnessing.

But for a timely dodge on Piero’s part, the
first strong sweep of the mighty ax would have
completely severed his head; for Azhort, in his
impulse of mad enthusiasm, seemed to forget
the presence of his gondolier, and his position
was near the box, within striking distance of
that quite astonished person.

“Houfih!” ejaculated Piero, as he rolled none
too quic from the box and crouched upon the
floor. “Now may the winged lion fly away
with me from this den! An instant later, and
my head would have been rolling under yonder
table. Look at them! All mad! All devils!
Were I ten times a giant, with the hide of a
rhinoceros, I know that I never would leave
this house alive did the discover me to be the
lieutenant of famous C 'us Albumo.”

“ Dance, Tobato! H00! dance for joy !”screech-
ed the ha .

“ Hi! i!” squealed Tobato, louderthanever.

The miniature pandemonium was only of a
few seconds’ duration.

“ Silence, all !” snarled the hoarse voice of the
ioathan, abruptly slapping back than upon
its brackets.
be{gistantl there Evashqttletne? n'l‘phato clam-
* aganupon is ig stoo,a perceivmg
Piero knee ' and crouching, he giggled in
amusement. -Balla set about rearranging
her hair and garmen disheveled and disorder-
ed during the brief an vociferous orgio.

“silence, all. I have more news to give you.
and riot in prospect is to occur to-
morrow ht—”

“ The sooner the better,” put in Bel-Bella.

“Hi! To-morrow night. Good,” supplement-

!od Tobato.

“ All Spaniards employed by nobles—and
there are many—will attend to those nobles
saving all the can for the ax of Ashortsnd
massacrin a! who cannot be saved. Ho! I
Think of it: I will once
bechief execu r of Venice! though I
“Hoo! Thatisex ent! Youwillboohief!”

Balls.

Hi! Hi! My father will be chief, and I

shall have work in the strangling—chamber! Oil

the bowstring! Sharpen sword and ax! Cheer
for the Duke d’Ossuna! Hi!” and the impish
dwarf swung his black-tighted legs and long,
slim arms, laughing loudl . and mother and son
were on the verge of not or frenzy; but Ashort
steme cried:

“Peace! Bolts and lightning! will you be
still? Before this ha pens, remember that I
must get into the T enti palace, and see ifI
have not guessed aright the secret Lad Perci
has held there for twelve years. ’Twas 9 who
deprived you of your eye, Bal-Balla; she was
fiery-tempered and scheming enough, eighteen

ears ago-to rush upon the deck and jab a
Luce- int at the first thing she saw: that

to be your eye: and she is cunnin

contrive and carry out what I thin
she has for twelve years t. Vengeance for
ion and riches for me wi ensue when I have

id bare the secret—a double secret—which
must be accomplished before to-morrow night.
Ha! fellow, do you understand what I am say-
inglga. to Piero, whose presence he suddenly re-
ca

chancm
enough

Azhort was still using the language of Spain.
Piero on! stared and gaped, as if in dread of
the man- end, and asked, tremblingly:

“ What is your wish, signore?”

“Out! He istoo much of an idiot to under-
Btand.” avowed Bel-Balls, confidently, turning
her leering one eye for a second on the dissem-

bii Piero.

‘Pfii! they think him an idiot,” chuckled To-
bato, sotto Ivar-e,- “but I know better. He is a
man in disguise, wath hair of two colors: and I
begin to suspicion that the he wears is not
on its rightful owner’s face. Why is he masque-
radin here! I am watching him.”

An Tobato was watching the supposed gen,~
doher with the unwinking keeuness of a rat
that hides and waits for a chance to

“Bu how to enter Trienti palace?” was the
query 0 Bel-Balls, “ when for nearly the whole
of those twelve years you have striving
vainly, and b every artifice, to gain admit-
tance. H00! Trienti is an hing else
thma friend of yours.- And you ve nevvr
told me what secret of hate lies between you.”

“None,” hissed Ashort, in a tone of anger,
and scowlin till his brows twisted in black
knob over g

 

that he (1 ises bloodshed, and those who dab-
ble in it, at erwise than in o n warfare. But,
despite the order of Marco rienti, to the con-
trary, I shall enter the lace this very night.

the pugse he had received in part payment from
erc1.

“ 00! a urse of gold!” echoed the hag.

“Hi! gol ! gold!” reiichovd the dwarf imp.

Mother and son 8 rung greedin at the purse,
tearing it apart an scattering its contents over
the table top.

“ That in part forhaving stabbed and drowned
Cladius Alburno in the Grand Canal. I cannot
be sure that I stabbed him, for strangely, there
is no blood on my knife. But he is drowned, to
a certainty.”

“ So, I had forgotten,” entered Piero’s mind.
“ My beloved commander Captain Cladius, this
very day put on a. jacket of mail in fear of a
knife-thrust from the skuiking spies of The Ten.
As he is a very good swimmer, 6 may be still
aliveto have his own vengeance on this man
with a wolf’s head.”

“And,” continued Azhort, “I am to get an-
other purse at the palace, in completion of the
barvam with Lad Perci, for it was to oblige
herQI did the doc . Have no doubt as to my

of Lady Perci Trienti.
and he held aloft the stolen ringl that shone,
in the light of the many candles t at illumina-
ted the room, like a sparkling star.

“The ' et ring of Lad Perci!" exclaimed
the two. nd Bal-Balla: “

Adello, and from

not capture at a time when you and I here other
names and in that fight on board the Unita,
when Lady Perci speared my eye out. H00!

then the head of Lady Perci!"

“ What can they mean!” wondered the atten-
tive Piero. “They speak of findin Venturi
Adello, who, I have heard, was knoc ed over-
board and drowned in the Adriati duri

terrific battle against , the f- oor
pirate, eighteen years His dead body they
must of. Come, wean the dead body

—if it has been found—have anything to do
with the discovery of a treasure! Those beasts
are in bus as well as devilish!”

“ ! Hi! money and vengeance! A
day’s work for my smart father!” crowed oba-
to, sidling a in to his high stool, after hav-
ing pocke agoodly share of the coin from
the urea.

“ ark ye,” said Azhort, with aserious frown:
“if Venturi Adello will deal with me I will for
oncein my life do an honest deed. I will free
him. We will share the treasure together.

Ho! then for the pillage“ Venice; and after
the pill e, the sea!—
ship, the roses, my hundred good men of Bar-
bar and Sadrac once more on the pirate’s
Ha ha! ha!”

“ Hoo! And I—the Fazienta of old—with
cutlass in hand will be bravely at your side !"

think I s all make,” chimed in
must have a bride. Give me Adria Trienti for

her!”
sea; he was too young at a time when his

arious trade, as will be developed duly.
" Very true,” agreed the headsman, eying

v.
“Now, by the Pope’s toe!” was the inward
utterance of Piero. “What manner of riddle

 

! judge that t e notoriousand ou eous Sadrac,
{ the alt-Moor irate, and his wife, azieuta, are
before me in d ' But Sadrac and his wife
—who was accustomed to fight side by side with
her husband—were both reported killed, I know,
shortly after that very fl t in which Venturi
Adello, father of Adio dello, was drowned.

 

! or Sadrac, or ’s wife, are alive to-day.
“ All have been lost sight of for too long. Yet
1 they speak as if they were, and hope to be,
i pirates; and that youn imp dares to think of
T abductin the beautifu Adria. Dog! How I
: should enfiofy choking him to death !”
“ Come, ellow, you shall take me first to the

; Trienti palace and return here for your su per.
{ Come intothe palace when the iron m-
| mer 0mm del ’Orologio strikes twelve. Your
l unmet—I had for tten toask you when I on-
! gaged you"—to era as he replaced on his
I shoulders the rich black ca of velvet.
, “Piero, your servant, s gnore,” replied that
1 person, humbly, makingeady to depart.
i Tobato was acting ngely and excitedly.
, The family trio had a system of chirology com-
1 prehensive only to themselves, and in that lan-

guage the younger dwarf was strivi

; It cannotbe possible that either Venturi Adello, ‘

to com,- ,
is hawkish nose. “ None, exoept municate something to his father. al-Balla ‘ mark?”

 

!

I

was busy with the dishes at the table and A2-
hort was ad his cap. Neither observed
the motions of their son.

“ Follow,” commanded Azhort, striding from

There is a purse of gold ’ -—tossing onto the table the apartment.

Piero kept close in the rear, and close and un-
noticed by Piero noiselessly tiptoed and squirm-
ed Tobato.

As the ex—cbief of executioners laid his hand

7 upon the outer door suddenly and swung it

open with a jerk, a man, who had evidently

, been eavesdropping, nearly fell headlong 1m

ward.

“Guns and death! “'hat is this!” he cried,
bounding forward to gr:-sp 1hc spy.

But in the same instant Tobato sprung upon
the back of Piero, tearing off the hat, Wig and
whiskers of the latter, and uttering a shrill

ye: .
“pHi! Look here! a man in disguise. A spy!
A spy! Aid me, father!”

.I‘lero twirled his assailant around and tripped
him on the stones. Then, with a single leap, he
dived forward into the water and vanished.

Startled by the outcry of his son, and while
hesitating for a single instant, the first spy

, eluded Azhort, jumped into a two-prowed skiff

being admitted. Look: this is the signet ring ‘
None dare dispute it!” ,

will not waste time 3
to ask how you came by it, but—hool—by the ‘
power of that rin , then, you can find Venturi ,
euturi Adello you can learn ‘
where to seek for the chest of treasure we could 3

Good! The treasure of Venturi Adello, first; '

IatPortodiLi o.

 

Thor-ears millionsin precious stones for both. ‘

i

wide, free seal The ted peril menaced the man of her heart’s

!

I

my bride and queen, for I have long lovod : andwatched over Adria since the ma
Tobato had no recollection of being on the previous.

!

parents lived entirely upon it and plied a ne- had twice visited the Trienti palace.

}

his 3 two hearts u

am I gettin into? With half a brain I might 2

 

and propelled himself like an arrow out upon
the waters. '

“ Take the car, Tobato! Haste! Two ies!
What if all I have said has been underst by
the spy inside and the spy outside! of

earth! Work about. If. we can find the rst,
wemla’yeasilycrackhisskullasheswims.
The listener at the outer door was the same
vagabond who had, a short time vious, [mo
rtuned Adio Adello at the w art on the
rand Canal to purchase his miserable-looking

d .

of; the black ndola moved about over the
now moonli h waters, in search of Piero, the
dullboomo adistant gun camoto the ears of
father and son.

“ Ha! the voice of a bombarde,” exclaimed
Ashort. “I dge it comes from the fortress
No matter; it does not con-
cern me. And since we cannot find that y—
deaths’eisshiml—why,on,ontotho ti

Butthatdullhoom of the gun fromPortodi
Lido was of very great interest to Ashort, as
t events proved.

CHAPTER V.
A trauma mouuclm'r.
Tucson well be 0nd all danger from that
collision on the rand Canal consummated
through the inhuman connivance of Lady Perci,
$3 ndola containing Adria continued with
tor

 

teringspeed toward the curve, where,

course,
at about that pita;
eeling, by intuition, at a sudden and
re-
tion, her anxious face peered between the cur-

! : tains, and straining eyes, sparkling with love

and fear, were riveted upon the gondola of
Cladius.

Behind and above her shoulders was another

“Hi! es the sea. A ver 00d pirate I ' face, that ofafaithful attendant a parent! of
g ' v‘l‘obato. “ But I  Indian extraction, frank of counienpanoe and of

muscular build. maxed
of

twelve years

She ‘had, as it were,
Indy Perci with Marco Trienti,

Cladius, when covered with badges of fame,
Once—the
to seal the destiny of
n the chance of happinem or

first time—had sufficed

son with tigerish pride. “ It is a famous idea. ; misery enduring; for at the first moment of the
Out of the pillage and massacre, I must try and ! meetin
saunthe pretty Adria to become the wife of my j said to

_of “flair eyes, gene to game, Cladius had
imse :
“Here is m fate. Heaven has b
together.” y mug-ht m
‘And Adria:
‘This' man istobem kin . Iknow
whg, but alread I love bin.” 8 m
nowmg ius Alme to be an honorable

man and a famous commander in the na , and
attracted, herself, by his noble bearingze In—
dia-woman, Phla, had encouraged her young
mistress in the amour thus singular! begun;
for the tyo responsive hearts were lon in
communicating their pure, 'onate a! .
It was much owing to the artifice of Phls,
who was a shrewd as well as devoted w
that the clandestine meetings of the lovers were
obtained, after the success of the vile plot con-
ceived by Lady Perci, owing to which Cladius
was proclaimed a traitor and outlaw by The
Ten and sought for with bloodthirsty soul by
the spec of that silent, though stealthy and ta-
nble Council.
Hence, Phlakwith great interest, th h not
so deep nor as sea as Adria’s, watched in ms-
nse what she readily perceived—what both
elt assured—was a premeditated asaaultupm
Cladius Alburno.
“Oh. Phla! what can it mean! Know you
that black gondola with a prow like flashing
steel! I have often seen the same before now.
See! It is almoston the other, whichlnsscarco
timeto turnandmootbowtobow. Doycu

 

'0 x...» g i.

‘I"

c..--

«l
l
l
f
l
l.
i
,l
l
l
l
,.

 

_..... -43; -A

H
and this
as a knife. It is the gondola of that most hor-
rible of men, Azhort, once chief executioner of
Venice.”

“ Ahl that man of blood. Look, Phlnl—look!
They meet! They strike! They crash!
Heaven have mercy! Cladius! Cladiusl”

For just then the two boats collided, and

Adria. saw the angry leap of her lover, his brief f saloons and corridors were, wont to blaze and ‘
swim with the light airl dazzle of gay entcr— '
tainments or masquerade, for which the Trienti :
f ding gift for the woman of his choice. The
“ party selling—and wL-o died shortly su

struggle with n. demon shape, the two furious
stabs dealt with a blade that glcnmed brightly
in the setting Sim—then Cladius fell and sunk
from sight.

A shriek as agonizing as if the knife of Azhort
ha'l sheathed itself in her own bosom broke
from her horrified lips, and with the shriek, and
face whiter than the terraced landings around
her. she droo Jed backward, insensible, into the
quick arms 0 l’hla.

“There, there, my poor lady!” moaned the
woman, still in a. shudder, herself, at what she
had witnessed, and striving to restore Adria. to
consciousness. “Ali, incl what a. death for so
noble a warrior as Cladius Alburno. To die by
the dagger of an assassin—and such an assassin!
There, there, my dear, good babe, my Lady
Adria. open your eyes to me, dear sweet. Look
up." Well, it may not be that he is (lead, after
a .

“ Cladius! Cladiusl” murmured the now half-
unconscious maiden.

“But he ma y not be dead. Nay, have hope.
Straight to the palace and make. all haste,” she
cried, to the gondolier.

When Adria. regained her senses, it was not
to wonder what had happened; everything had
been too vividly imprinted on her mind to ren-
der question necessary~a mind that, neverthe—
less, dizzied and ached and found vent in weep-
ing such only as flows from a. wounded heart as
it withers in the first great throes of insupport-
able rief. .

“ here, there, my dear lady,” condoled‘I’hla,
caressing the sobbing form that lay in her sarong
and affectionate arms. “ Do not yet grieve for
what may appear to be the death of the right
noble man who was your worthy lover. I can
not think that a just Heaven would permit such
ashe to perish so miserably. Cheer, my dear
lady. Have h .”

“ Oh, Phlal would that it had been me instead!
I would gladly have given my owu life for
Cladius!” gasped the li . that were buried and
sobbing on Phla’s shou der.

“ Well enough 1 know that Lad Adria.
Béuatébe not too sure that Cladius A home is
d . Wait. If dead, his body will surely be
found when it is noised publicly that the tractor,
deius, was stabbed and drowned in the Grand
Canal by Azhort, ex-chief of executioners of
Venice. Wait, then, until we hear such rumor.
Be guided by your ever-faithful Phln. Take
respite. Compose yourself, I beg, dear lady,
until we reach the palace.”

Arriving at the palace, Phla hurried her young
mistress to her rivate apartments.

A ' thong at last outwardly composed,
acted ii 6 one in a. labyrinth who walks me-
chanically, tired and hopeless, with little reek
of whither the end may be.

Alone together Phla evinced most serious con-

cern for her precious charge.
“ Some refreshment immediately for m dear
lady. You areweak. Eat somet ing. let me
change your attire”-—it was anything to divert
the thoughts of Adria. “ Ah, me! these checks,
that always blushed soft and rich as the roses of
the garden, need a little—just a little——-touch of
rouge. No? W'eil, then, eat, my dear lady.
Here is sparkling wine and ripe, sweet fruit
andother tern ‘ ing things. A taste, a bite, a sip
——it will stir t is blood.”

But Adria waved the repast aside and sat,
with clasped hands, a very picture of despair,
dreaming—a frightful dream—of that glisten-
ing blade in a. demon hand which had stricken
Cladius Alburno.

Phla contemplated her sorrowfully, at a loss
how to act.

“Ah! my poor babe, my ponr Lady Adria,”

nhe murmured, her honest eves filling with ,

tears. “May all the evil spirits under the
earth wreak unending torment on the ugly
wretch who has given mv mistress this over-

wering fright. Yes, a frightwonly a fright,
gr I do not yet believe that noble Cladius Al—
bumo can have died by the hand of that as-
main.”

Here there was a summons at the entrance,
and Phla, answering it, returned to say:

“Marco Trientidraour stepfather, wishes to
use you, Indy A . Come, let me arrange
your toilet befitting a meetin with him.”

“ Be expeditious. Phla, for am anxious to be

right well, Lady Adria, do I know it; ;
bow is indeed steel, sharp steel, sharp i

“ broad
> privileges owing to
Oh, ' ’

Azhort, the Among-r

her lips. ~

The toilet completed, they desoended the
staircase to ether. Phla had many
or long and faithful ser-
vice m the bonsehold, and in her plain though

; tidy costume had nearly always remained close
to her young mistress, even when the large

 

l
l
l
1

l

palace was noted.
Half-way down they met a age ascending.
“ Can you tell me. whether
turned 'é” be im uirerl.
“ As well as me. how long since Lady Perci

left the palace,” was the sharp, unsatisfactory ‘
“I am not the ‘
keo r of Lady Perci, boy, but the willing slave :
i another, a false and thick wall, and between the
‘ two walls a stone~bound chamber, eight feet

response of the India-woman.
of .ad Adria.”

“Ph 21, do not be rude,” admonished Adria,
gently; and she asked

come?”

“Azhort, the ex-chief of executioners. IIc
desires an interview with Lady Perci, and can-
not be refused because he wears her signet-
ring.”

At the first announcement, Adria tottercd
and grasped the balustrade for su port, while
her large, wondrous, startled eyes gollowed the
page as he continued to ascend the staircase af—
ter answering her question.

“Azhort the headsmnnl He in the palace!”
she gasped. “Not—no! it is scarce possible.
What could bring him here, and with the sig»
net-ring of my mother? The murderer of my—
Come Phlal ()li, haste! I s'iall not feel safe
until am with Marco 'l‘ricnti, my father.”

Fresh life seemed suddenly to p‘fiSQ‘SS the,
maiden, making her fleet of foot, and for the
moment flushing cheek and brow. Together
they hastened to the apartment where thesenn-
tor awaited the coming of his step-child; and
as they entered his presence, Phla cried out in a
spirited tone:

“Hear, Marco Trientil The horrible man,
Azhort, ex-headsman of Venice, is in the pal-
ace, when it is well known that you have 0 -
hidden his entrance. He is at this moment
awaiting an audience with Lady Percil”

CHAPTER VI.
THE mmmt PALACE.

Tin: palace of the senator was situated on the
Isle Murano.

Murano had its own Grand Canal—not so long
but equally as lively, brilliant and beautifully
bordered as that of Venice, the seat of govern-
nient.

Many of the wealthiest families, nobles and
members of the Grand Council, resided on the
Isle Murano, and its magnificent palaces and
manufactories, at the date of this romance, af-
ter wars, revolts, bombardments and conflagra-
tions, were fingering and dazzling monuments
of proverbial grandeur, and the admiration of
the world.

Ver close to the southen entrance to the
Gran Canal of Murano stood the ace of
Marco Trienti, rearing its massive )locks of
marble, kaleidoscope of frescoes, cornices of
quaint device and lofty balconies, like an en-
chanted and incompara 16 production of genii,
arresting the eyes with its imposing architec-
ture, anr delighting the sense with the giddy
wealth of its interior.

Polished steps, that lay to and beneath the
water‘s edge, terminated at a landing of tessela—
ted flags; thence and to one side, to abroad,
stone-halustraded ascent dotted with statuary
and 'lded urns. At the top an open porc
with ulky columns and em bowering roof; and
as if the palace was but a pmtal to some sud-
denly discovered radiso, the open and exten-
sive porchway, o marble, monogram and bar-
monizing eflects presented numerous accesses
to the palace and o the garden beyond, where
all that evpr bloomed to intoxicate with per-
fumes of pleasure, or entice with poetic loveli-
ncss, burst u n the vision of the already ex-
pectant beho der.

At the front and very top of the pulses, a
small, round hole was observable, its cxeessive
hight and the inward shadow of the. orifice,
when the sun passed to the West, givmg‘it
rather the appearance of a mere dark spot, t at
might have been about eighteen inches in di-
ameter.

Any one at the inside of this hole could gaze,
as through an immovable telewow—because of

i its smallness and the thickness of the wall—over

with him. Though a. step-father, he has ever 3 _ I
been a. father to me. and my love has gone out ' beyond, covered incessantly with skimming ves-

to him as adaughter’s.”
“Marco Trienti is a good man, heart and

,888.

thobuildings on the opposite side of the canal,
u n the isles of the east, and the “ Deatbsman s
Baht,” toward Porto di Lido and the deep sea

But no one, as yet—or of later years—knew

(1y Perci has re- 3

scarce able to account .
for the impulse: “Tell me, Faucho, who has '

 

M _ _. .._v,_. A... ..___.._A——.

is your mother, which I have doubted for where it ought to be on the inside, nothing
some years.” But she kept this thought behind } was encountered but solid mason
l ceased and the mystery of the be e remained a
i m 'stery.

—conjecture

n saying that no one could divine the ur-
pose of that very small and deep opening, igh
up, and in the front wall of the Trienti palace,
two exceptions are to be made.

On the day that Lady Perci became the bride
of Rupert lliali, her first husband, that distin-
guished man of fortune had. at an enormous ex—
pense, purchased tlre gorgeous home ass. wed-

. o u o 
—-had acquaintad Riali With the secret o the
hole in the wall—~for a ver great secret it w as

=‘ —and he, in turn, confidet the information to

his wife. Together they exploi ed and acquaint-
ed themselves v. ith the mystery.
\V ithin the upper wall of the palace there was

wide by fifteen feet long—a veritable prison-
cell. In the center wasaround,sn.ootli column,
and directly opposite the column the small, deep
opening or port—hole, that served as a window
for light and ventilation, with a thick glass ad-
justable inclosure at the inner part.

This Secret chamber was accessible by a nar-
row passage leading upward from a certain
apartment beneath—known for generations
past as the “red room.” The entrance to the
passage was by a. movable mirror in the lower
apartment, thence passing two iron doors and
arriving at a third, the last door, of even
heavier frame and having an iron grating.

Between the secret chamber and the lower
apartnu-nt there was a skillfully constructed
and invisible tube, its utility somewhat similar
to what the mode) n professor, Hughes, perfect-
ed in the ninete n: h century as the micro hone.
By this tube, which could be opened or s at at
pleasure, anything transpiring in the upper
chamber was distinctly audible below.

When Lady Perci had noted all, she thought:

“ What an admirable prison for some hus-
band, if wanted out of the way b his wife—or
anybody else that may happen in one’s path.
Let me remember the convenience of thisplaco
should occasion arise.” And her evil mind he-
gan from that moment to balance the consc~
quences of the sudden disappearance of her own
husband.

Though a very handsome woman in her

oun er days, and po lar with all who knew

er, dy Perci he inherited a nature for
plots and covetous ambition culminating with
after experiences in a most unscrupulous dis~

osition, beginning with false vows to Rupert

iali whom she had married solely for his vast
wealth.

Riali and his bride went abroad to visit seve-
ral mines of gold and precious stones in which
he was extensively interested. andhe never re.
turned to Venice—Ladylfemi survivmg to gain
possession of everyth g and to wed, for the
second time, six years later, With Marco Tri-
enti, afterward a senator, and descended from
those nobles who, owing to the various summer
sets of the Republic, had inherited nothing
from his ancestors but an honorable escutcheon

A sister of Marco Trienti’s had married a
wealthy trader named Venturi Adello. Both
families, the Rialis and the Adellos, were inti '
mate and abroad together at the time when
Venturi Adello was supposed to have met his
death, and when Ru rt Riali and Lady Anice
Adello were, beyon all doubt, killed outright
and buried in the sea, the circumstances of
which are to be shown hereafter.

When Lady Perci in a garb of widowhood,
reached Venice, she ad with her two children:
Adio, whom she sent to Marco Trienti as the
son of his sister, and Adria. whom she an-
nounced as her own child. Adio was then five
years old—Adria four.

Events which transpired before, and at the
immediate time, and after the time of Lady
Perci’s second marriage, caused her t fix her
resolve upon the union of Adio and A ‘ ria—and
these events, to be explained in the progress of
the story, formed a. most im rtant plot in the
lives of dy Perci and all t e characters so is)
introduced to the reader.

The present interest lies, however, in the pa]-
ace at the moment when the attending woman,
Phla, in company with Adria, burst upon Marco
Trienti With the startling speech:

“Hear! The horrible man, Aubert, ext-chief
headsman of Venice, is in the ace, when it is
well known that you have orbidden his en-
trance. He is at this moment awaiting an
audience with Lady Perci l”

The senator was alone. He was in a very
thoughtful mood, and across frown of annoy-
ance wrinkled his usual! calm and leasant
face—pleasant, because P la was righ in say-
ing that Marco Trienti was a good man in heart.
and deed, and the faces of such men generally

 

‘.fi

 

 

bear the open stamp of their nature. ,

placed there, I
Though, according to code, the members of

deed,” observed Phla, busyin herself with the ‘ the meaning of that hole bein

 
   
 
 
 

 

 

toilet. " Would that I could hink the same of removed from and higher than t 0 highest win-
, his wife.” 1 dows, and for generationsit had been supposed the Council of Ten were known to none, and.
“Hush, Phla. Remember—she in my ino- ; to be some inexplicable method of ventilation source] to themselves, as they were always
the‘r ” , conceiVed by an eccentric architect. After nu- mask when at meeting, it is our privilege to

inform that Marco Trienti was one of the ter.

“And,” was the woman‘s mental comment, ‘ merous unsuccessful attempts by the curious to ‘ . _ .
rible Ten—much against inclination—and the,

“a. very immotherly mother, I vow, if she reach it interiorly—for, upon gaining the point

9‘.

Ki.‘ /‘

 

.....L.‘ am.“

 

 

Azhort, the Arman.

 

cause ofhis excessive uneasiness on this n ht
was owing to certain fresh disclosures and

trayals made to and through the emuisaries of
The Ten by Jacques Pierre, former] a noted
corsair, then figuring privately in enice and 5
secretly in the employ of the Duke d’Ossuna in I
that historical plot for the pillage of the capi- !

m.

When D’Ossuna, De Bedmar, and Dom Pedro
de Toledo—the tnree chief conspirators—discov-
ered that their scheme was likely to be known
to The Ten, such cunning diplomacy was put
forth as even hoodwinked The Ten and caused ;
that body to believe that a revolt at Naples was ‘
the actual depth, width and substance of their
intentions; and so clever were the plotters that
the Government had gone so far as to promise
aid to D‘Ossuna in securing the crown of ‘1
Naples. I

But Jacques Pierre, considering himself badly ,
paid and in many ways slighted by his supe- ‘
iiors, had betrayed, that very day, the true oh- 7
ject of the conspiracy implicatin the duke, the g
ambassador an the dovernor of ilan beyond
all doubt as to thei‘iy-fliltiness and deceit. }

This unreliable ' in was afterward hung
ig nominiously in the square of St. Mark.

But the information conveyed to The Ten,
late on this day, through the many agents of
the Council, was now vexing the brain of Marco
Trienti as with a nightmare, though stealthy
steps were'being taken to meet and suppress the
anticipated outbreak. ‘

“ W by should I harass myself more with it.” i
he exclaimed, “when all has been attended to g
in view of it. The roll of a drum—a bugle blast {
-—will swarm the canals and streets with mili- ]
tai'y. Pah! let me banish it. Yet, I have much i
to do this night, much towatch, or Venice is, y
at last, lost forever. Traitors! Conspirators! !
Life or pro erty does not stand in the way of ,
such men! Is! what means that? There is no !
cause for such a sound to-night. Had it been !
to-morrow night, I would have said: ‘The riot 3
has commenced, and that is the death-knell for
the enemies of Venice!”

For it was then that the re rt of a heavy
cannon or rde rumbled ully on the air, l
coming from the directionof Portodi Lido—the !
same sound heard by the evil Azbort and his ;

 

 

l
l

evil son, Tobato, as they gave up their search ! thepa

for Piero in the water before the “ deathsman’s ,
fort,” and turned the row of the black gondola
toward the Trienti ce.

Shortly succeeding this moment, and having 9
determined to no more strain his mind upon,
but calmly await the development of those se-
cret and well-laid plans intended for the dis- ‘
oomfiturs of the oonspirato be dispatched a ;
age requesting the society 0 Adria, to whom ‘i

was warmly attached, and in whose wonted
sunny presence he often buried and lost sight
of, fora time,the manytroublu of hisodlcial»

career.

“I will talk with her, if but for a few mo-
ments,” he mused, walking back and forth. “ I
ever feel, when she has been with me, a fresher, !
morevigorous reason and a quicker keenness for I‘
my duties. It is like a drift of golden li ht 1
through clouds of chaos. Bless the child! t is 1
home would be no home at all without her; and .
In my selfishness, I could almost be glad that ‘.
Cladius Albumo, because he was proved a trai- I
tor, has no longer a chance to wed and take '
her from me. dria first. and akiss from her _
angel lips; then for a battle, with art and wea- i
pon, against the internal foes of Venice!”

Imagine, then, his astonishment when, simul-
taneously with the a cc of the maiden,
in glad obedience to is summons, came the ex- ,
cited words of the India-woman who was with 1
her.

“ Hear! The horrible man, Azhort, tax-chief '
headsmau of Venice, is in the palace when it is
well known that you have orbidden his en-
trance. He is at this moment, awaiting an
audience with Lady Perci!”

CHAPTER VII.
Tm: sronsr RING or LADY met.

MARCO TaisN'ri used short in his turbid
striding, and look. at the attending woman in
amazement and incredulity doubtin whether
he heard aright or whether she might erased ;
—-for so strict had been his orders regarding the ,
debarment under all Blomible circumstances, ‘
cf the deathsman, that e presence of that per-
sonage seemedbeyond belief.

It was not until Phla, had repeated almost the ;
exact words several times that be fully appre- ;
dated the gravity of her speech. ,

“ What has come over you, woman?” he de- }
manded. “Have you been dreaming crooked

amsi—and try to frighten lady Adria or
others of the household, With such an absu -—" z

“ Nay, dear father”—Adria was accustomed,
in her affection, to address bim thus—~“Phla ;
speaks indeed truly, Ashort is here.” i

“No’nsense. Why the guard would not

re— .
“Oh, but the wuteh-of-a—deathsman wears ‘
the signet ring of Led Perci, and guard nor
serrséapg waigfd agglk o dtilsputing it asa pass-
po so a. stou y.
“ lieve us, father, that man 'of dread is at
this moment in the palace. Oh, I can feel his

\

. A- 

 

very presence in my veins! I implore you,
have him sent an ay at once.”

Astounded, angry, yet scarce able to believe
that Azhort, the man-fiend, could possibly have
fined adm1ttance to the palace unchallen ed,

arco Trienti hurried forth to the broad, ux-
urious hall. He encountered the same page,
Faucho, who had accosted Adria and Phla on
the rand staircase. '

“ am seeking Lady Perci,” said the ,youth.
“ Can you tell me where to look for her’!’

“Ha! you are ‘seeking Lad Pcrci.’ Come,
now what is your business wit her!”

“To announce that Azhort, the ex-chief of
exocutioners, desires an immediate and private
interview. ”

“ Thou knave! This to my face l—when I had
forbidden that Azhort should ever set foot here?
But on are lying!”

“ ay, the very truth. But for the signet
ring, which Azhort wore and shewed—the well-
known ring of Lady Perci—he could not have
entered,” protested the page, as he writhed in a
sudden and painful grasp which Marco 'I‘rienti
laid upon his arm, and a armed at the passion
of his master—for though of ratnre mild and
habit sr‘retie, he could be stern, Severe and dan-
gerous? y tempered.

“ Where is he? Lead me to him. He can
have nothing in common with my wife—beast!
It is for me to deal with him—hideous and in50-
lent butcher l”

“ I left him there,” returned Faucho, pointing
to and starting toward the curtained entrance of
a small room or alcove generally used for the
reception of strange visitors.

But when the curtains were dra ed aside—
and much to the surprise of Fauc 0, who was
perfectly confident of having left Azhort in
waitfing there—the apartment was found to be
emp y.

“Seel—you have dreamed all this, Faucho.”

“As I am a livin mortal, I showed him
hither and he promised to abide my return,”
vowed the confused page. “Perhaps he is in
here ”—indicating another room.

But the second room like the first, contained
no one. If Azhort had been in either room, he
was now mysteriously gone. ' ,

The fact that Phla, and Adria, and Faucho,
, had successively and so very earnestly
avowe that Azhort, the deathsman was on the
premises, at last dee l impressed Trienti, who

3' now believed thatt a piersonage must indeed

be somewhere near and concealment.

“Search the palace!” he cried, loud enou h
to be heard from endto end of the acioush l.
“ Look for Azhort, the headsmanl e is here!
Find him and bring him to me at all hazards.”

lVith this quick order, and frowning darkly—
while an instant commotion of Battering foot-
steps and excited voices preva ed—he strode
forward to the guard at the first and chief en-
trance of the portico.
rd, a powerful, black-bearded soldier.
with a ong-hafted lance, was armed like a ver-
itable crusader—helmet, habergecn and gloves
with knuckles of steel. At a particular period
when can iracies and rumors of con iracies
endange the lives of public men, the 'enti
palace, like many others, was provided with a
small ard of soldiery—especially since the
Couuc' of Ten was gradually undeceiving itself
as to the hitherto seeming plausibilities of
D’Ossuna, set forth originally and afterward ex-
ploded b his two most efficient nts and wire-
pullers, acques Pierre and Antome Jamer.

The senator went straight and angrily to this
man.

“What is this?” he asked crossly. “Have
you admitted the vulture, Azhort i”

“ I havs passed the signet rin of Indy Perci,
which Azhort wore ” replied t e soldier, salut-
ing respectfully. and ri d in attention.”

‘ The signet ring of dy Perci l” k t ring-
in in Trienti’s ears and mumbling onefiis lips
“ hat in the names of the Saints can it sig-
nify! how could such as Azhort obtain a ring
—her signet ring—from my wife? What could
possibly be between them? ’

“Here is Lady Perci herself,” ventured the
soldier, as she and Adio ap red at that junc-
tureupon the scene, and right glad of the op-
portunity to escape further questioning as to
the responsibility of havin admitted Azhort
against tive orders for h s exclusion.

Lad erci had not immediate] returned to
thepa ace after the scene on the rand Canal.
Glowing and elated at what had transpired
through her min-derous management, she de-
sired a short space in which to thorough] com-
pose herself, besides indulging Adio wit fresh
encouragement since no further rivalry was to
be apprehended from Cladius Albumo.

Some considerable time elapsed ere the
vicious woman and her now determinedly de-
si ingprotcgé ut in an a pearance.

babe and dio pa in surprise at the
prevailing commotion as at a sign of ominous

5 excitement—for the loud orders of the aroused

senator were being filled promptly and with
chattering enthusiasm the servitors geno-
rally and four more soldiers attracted. by the
sound of hustle and sudden alarm, from the
temporary guard-room at the extreme rear and
lOWcl‘ section of the palace.

 

The two paused between Marco Trienti and
the guard, as the former ke, half furiously,
upon the instant he beheld ‘5 wife:

“Well, ma ex lain. The detestable vil-
lain, Azliort, ex- sman of Venice, has en-
tered the palace against my orders, with your
ring—a signet—ass passport, and to dare re-
quest aninterview with you. Come, what is its
purport—all?”

Lady Perci looked at him in Imfeigned aston-
ishment.

“Azhort? My signet ring!" she exclaimed.
with elevated brows.

But Lady Perci was ever alert. No sooner
had mention of one of her rings come from her
husband’s lips than both of her hands, partially
concealed before in the folds of her rich cos-
tume glided cautiously behind her, and quick
asa ash she sli ped of! everyring she wore,
clasping all tigh ly in one palm.

“ Ay, answer,” pursued rienti. “Here, with
your signet ring and to see you—‘ privately,’
was his message.”

“ Have you dared to admit that wretch?” she
demanded, addreming the guard with assumed

ssion.
paAs she asked this, and half turned toward the
straight and statue-like guardsman, she deftly
slipped the rin into the deep inner pocket of
her costly mant e.

“I wouid not have (1 Azhort; I knew
and obeyed the signet ring of Lady Perci,” was
the brief answer.

“This idiot is either drunk or he is a brawn
falsifierl” asserted Lady Perci, leveling and
shaking a forefin er at the immobile guards-
man. ‘ Do you t ink that I would have aught
to do with such- as Azhortl—tbat I would, un-
der any circumstances whatever, 've him a
ringii—have the palace polluted by his presence?
An if so, how possible this day, when by an
oversight I went, away without a sing o ring
iaipon m lingers?” And with the last she held

o the hands, bare of all ornament, at the
same time ivin Adio asuift, meaning lance
unnotioeab to t 9 others Owingtoashg. t tun
of her proud head, and which that person readi
ly translated.

“ On my honor I do not recollect having seel
any rings on the hands of Lady Perci this day,‘
avowed Adio; which was partly truthful, for
had he noticed them, his mind had been so occu-

ied with the recent occurrences on the Grand
in which he had been deeply though in-
voluntarily interested, that he could not now
haVe said, on oath, whether Lady Perci had or
had not worn any rings that afternoon.

“Come, Adio, a word with you,” nested
Indy Perci, as if disdaining to mix in or in
the surrounding commotion or have more to my
upon the topic of the seemingly impossible pre-
senc: of the deathsman.

She swe t haughtin her husband and
ascended t e staircase, A io accompanying her.

Marco Trienti, in a very bewildered state, re-
turned in thou htful silence to the apartment
where he had is t Adria and Phla. .

“Am I crazyi—dreamingi—or is every we
else so?” was the fllexilg question within
hll'é‘i. ",‘Well, we a see when the search is
en

“ Adio ” whispered Lady Perci, as they went
up side by side “it seemsto be truerthat the
man, Azhort, as obtained 'on of my
most precious ring, a gift rem one of the
wealthiest owners of one of those rich mines in
which, I have before told you, in ' first husband
held large interests. Already miss it. The
li ht-finfiered ghoul must have adroitly possess-

himse f of itin the brief second in whichI
handed him the urse of old in rt payment
for the assassins ion of C ius lLurno—nay,
do not start; it was nololess. And all for your
sake, Adio, whom I ve so dearly— darling
boy !”-—and having reached a landing at the to
of the staircase, and as
beyond the gaze of th in the ball below, she
threw her arms around his neck in a iek, im-
pulsive, ardent embrace and kissed im pas-
sionately tvuce or thrice. “ Ay, for your sake,
Adio: remember that. But it is quite likely
that Azhort is in the palace. He has come for
the balance of his pay—nothin more. I am
sure. Marco 'I‘iienti must notsee im Hasten’
you and find him, Adio. Brin him to me in
the. red room. And charge e servants, on
their lives to say noth . There, now, go.”

Kissm him twice or rice again, she push-
ed him her and continued a ward, while
Adio descended to the hall, intcn ing to carry
out her wishes. Lady Perci smiled gl utily as
she muttered: .

“If Azhort is herewand I believe he is, be
cause he has stolen my ring, and b its potency
dares to come for the balance of is pa —and
if I can get him into the. red room I wil serve
him as I served Barbau, the chain tamer.
Aha! it will he the last night in the life of the
bloody headsman. Yes he shall meet theme
fateas Barban. Ha! ha! ha!” ~

The guardsmannt the entrance stood erect
and motionless, with rigid neck and eyes fixed
on vacancy. Once out of those eyes. half
shielded by his spiked and plumed helmet, he
stole a sly glance at the departing figures of
Marco Trienti, Indy Perci and Adio.

ey turned and move -

 
 

   

8

“ May I die in the strangling chamber or tor-
ture cc l, if I did not see a round dozen of rings

on that woman‘s fingers when she first came in l” ‘

he growled, to himself. “Pifstl—I see them—
thcn by mazic they disappear. She is deceiv-
ing her husband. And I am now not only sure
that I adruitto l Sir Azhort, but I believe, also,

Azhort, the Axman.

 

x. *v-'- ->_r ~"' Err—VT.-

i tear-stained cheeks and eager, hopeful yearn-  struggled up from the cushion, throwing her

that he (“Hill s by actule appointment with the ,

w izrlrd-handrd Lad Perci.

“Thcn, friend Gnu-o, wh do you not so in-
form the senatofl—t'or I wil swear that I usher-
ed the deafhsman into yonder alcove.”

The speaker wns the age, Faucho, who stood
almost at the elbow of the guardsmun and closo
enough to catch his low-mumbled words.

“ Because I am a soldier—not a spy,” was
the grail? rcsponss.

CHAPTl-IR VIII.
was arcs in THE PICTURE.

WHILE Adria and the serving-woman stood,
arm in arm, awaiting; the return of Marco Tri-
enti, and listened with bated breath, to the
commotion in the all without—for the arched
gothic entrance had no bar save thick and su-

rbly-draping curtains—tho

presently heard .

but sudden and additional disturbance of put- ;

terintr foot and humming, mumbling voices in

gabbe and Call, which ensued immediately?

upon the sha
the search an capture of Azhort.

“ 0h Phla! did you hear what my father
said? 0 bring him to him. What might be—
my father—be cap-Lille of doin ? I have never
known him in a rave; to me, 6 has shown a
nature molded whol y in kindness, and I know
that such are the worst when at lust awakened
to anger. And already the must have found
the headsman, judging by t lat noise. I shud-
der to think what m'iy follow.”

“ Ma the smite oi! his ugly head, or pin his
crook boi y with a dozen lances!” was the
prompt wish of the India-woman, her black
e es sparkling with the abomination she felt for

zhort. “ But here is our good father; and I
he he may say that hey have captured and
on to pieces the vile rogue of a headsman l”

Trlonti at that moment mentored the apart-
ment, pushing aside the curtains impatiently
and wi h a doe , studious frown u n is brow,
while this worked nerv y palm over

1m.
pa‘By my hopes !” he was muttering, scarce
audib y. “I hardly know what to think.
Adria, whom I love; Phla, who has served so
long and faithfully, Faucho, whom I think I
can trust: a. tried soldier. who could have no
object in lying upon so serious a matter; all say
that Azhort came here wearing, as a passport
the Signet-ring of Lady Perm. Why should
she deceive moi—if she has. ’Tis all very

trange ”

s .
But Marco Trienti had yet to learn that the ,

or'lm‘s given by the senator for I

 

whole life of the woman to whom he had been ,1
bound for twelve years was one fearful page of I
rlcceit, treachery, intrigue and unscrupulous;

ambition.
A?“ Dear father, have they found him?” cried

( a.

“Ah! Adria, my child. Leave us Phla.”
And as tho India-woman withdrew: “ No. But
if he is here, rest assured he will be quickly dis-
covered. I will send him from the palace in
such a manner that he will not, methinks, have
an inclination to repeat the im )u’li‘nl} Visit
Come and sit by me, Adria.
while to spare, nnd it has over seemed to me
that no one in the world has cared for me with
love like yours.”

He threw himself into a comfortable seat.
Adria sunk upon a low cushion beside him,
burying her face in her hands and drooping her
head to his knee.

There was a moment’s silence. Trienti con-
templated her in surprise. Vtht could ail his
pet, his almost chill? IIcr rescnoe had sl-

ave a. short i‘

way been like sunshine, ful of smiles and j

merr
whic again possessed her, she looked an acted
the icture of a stricken lilv. lie stretched
fort and rested one hand gently on the opulent
and lorions tresses.

“ h_v Adria! And you are weeping! What
has befal on you, child?’

“Oh! it is for Cladius—Cladius, who is lost
to me forever."

“ Cladius Albumo!” again the clouding frown
knitted Tricnti’s brow though his voice was
mild. “ He was prove to be a traitor.”

“ Do you bellow it of him 1” she asked, gazing
u and steadfast into his face. “Oh! can you,
“RIO are so good, so just, believe that Clmiius
was aught but nobleness, truth, fidelity, bravery
itself?”

There was a magnetism in the wondrous,
hopeful orbs that seemed to seize upon the very
heart of Marco Trienti.

A brief pause. The game of the two remained
fixed, and presently a single tear started from
the strong man’s eyes. His face grew pale.
But it was not the maiden’s question t at caused
the tour and Her.

“Adria, I ave often seen a strange resem-
blance in your face to one who was very dear
to me many, many years ago. With those

glances: now, in the dvep de ection'

 

iug e es 'ou seem to me like a vision 0 or on
that {right-winded night when she was washed
from my side by wuch lashing mountain high
—she and our babe—to struggle, to sink and
perish while I was powerless to aid her. Oh!
when I tl‘. ink of i5 "—nnd here an overpowering
(‘mni ion, mused by u momentary recall of some

s:i.l srrnc in the past ended his speech with u.
i

choicii  gulp.

“ il(‘;ll‘ lather,
wore nn’rricd before you met lady Pei-cl, my
lllub“i i"?

‘* ‘.'r.~.-yres; and it is lH'i'IlUSB I somciinws sec
in j v ‘l:1il‘unsicntiluuuoof one who or. 'o loved
no \. i.‘i llt‘l‘ \V‘lIUli' soul, that my llo.:i't has gone
out to 3H ii'rom tho first, child, as if you were
indocd my own, the some babe wlo perished

with its mother in wind and storm upon the ,

raging son, when the stroke of the tempest
“rocked the ill-fated ship Giorga. You are
singularly like her—~lho pure and dark-eyed
lady, I nr-nn; more so to—night than ever be-
fore. Nchr s will: of this, Adria, even to me.
It is dead and ocked forever here, a buried se-
cret, for none knew that we were wed save the

oiliccrs and crew of the unfortunate Giorga ”— ,
“But you 1
Come, you ‘s
have told me many times how you loved him, ,
andI Would be sorry, for your sake, at such a ‘

he tapped his left breast solemnly.
were speaking of Cladins Alburno.

termination of his career. I thought that since
he was )rovcd to be a traitor even you had set
aside al love for the man!”

“ thatovor he may be, he is still my Cladius,
whom I adore. Who wore his accusers?”

“ His very self the worst accuSer—he fled.
When Cladius Alburno left port to wage a war
of extermination upon the pirates of the Adri-
atic and beyond the Adriatic, his sealed instruc-
tions were tospare none. \Vhat did he do? We
received information— wcl—hist i—Ailria "——in a
whisper and filancinguneusily about him-- “ do
not recollect t at I said ‘ we.’ Imean the Coun-
cil of Ten received apprisal that, havi
pied and co. tureda pirateship, Cladius
paroled an allowed to esca to Sicily no less
than eighty outlaws. And fix his guilt be-

ond al question, he fled, noono knows whither.
filaobedience is treason. He would not face
honorable tria .”

The maiden’s eyes were still riveted on the
face of the man she loved, the man who had,
indeed, been a father to her for twolve years,
as she again questioned:

“Who were his accuse”? Would the terrible

crip-
urno

Ten condemn upon an anonymous charge? Oh, I
covered with tho ‘

my father! think of Cladi
lor of renown in the serv ce of Venice—the
tt es he has won and the honors he has mer-
ited. Traitors do not in all these, to be crush—
ed finally and easily y anonymous enemies.
The enemies of Clsdius may have been too strong
for him to meet at oncein open trial; his flight
may but have been to sin time in which to
grove to you and to all sales that Cladius A1-
urno is a true patriot and warrior. Besides,
it is well known that few peo le tried in the
Ducal Palace escape that fearfu walk across the
brldfi whose path shuts them forever from the
wor . But, all! what am I saw? Whydo
I go on thus, when Cladius is
lost to me?”

Marco Trienti half-started from his seat on
hearin these last words.

“ at is that? You say Cladius Albumo is
dead ?"

“ Ay, deadl—the only man, next to
more than father, for whom my heart
felt one touch of love.”

“ Childl—what mean you?”

“Oh! but I saw it all; it is set in my mind
like a brand of fire.
me, but it was m love for him. We parted.
And then—and tion I saw him stabbed and
slain. He toticrcdi He sunkl~sunk to his death
in the Gram 1 Canal. Merciful Heuveul I almost
feel as if I were going mad!”

“ C‘ladius Alburno slain! By whom?”

“ By Azhort, the headsman—”

"Azhort!"

As Adria named the man she believed to be
the murderer of her lover, and as Marco Trienti
echoed that name in amaze, her dizzy glance
chanced to turn upon a large picture—one of

on, my
ever

man pictures ornamenting the apartment—
whic had him there throufihamany years as
the ortrait of u rt Riali, dy Perci’s first

bus and. ashe loo ed at the date of his mar-
riage with her. This picture did not hang from,
but w 13 imbedded in a wall.

And as she gazed, and thou h other words
were on her lips, the lips turns bloodless and
her beautiful 6 es diluted in sudden horror.

The eyes of t e picture were not now painted
eyes, but human, blinkin , glaring‘gnd ferocious
eyes that Iglowered y upon 9 two oocu-
pants of t e room.

There were no other such malevolent eyes in
all Venice—the eyes of Azhor which, as before
mentioned, were a shuddering heme among the
populace—and those same orbs now glistened
fidnstared forth from the portrait of Rupert

s.

For a second, triflod and speechless, as if
charmed by 50128-119121 liy nicsuierism-theu Adria

can it b- possible that you I

l impossible to conceive.

i arms giddily aloft, and shrieked:
. “His eyes! Isee his e es! The eyes of As.
. hort, who murdered my ladiusl”

Mun-o Trienti, alarmed at the strange behav-
ior of the maiden, and who was simultaneously
upon his feet, was barely in time to catch and
support her half fainting form.

CHAPTER IX.
THE VOICE IN THE RED BOOM.

THE shriek of ull'right that burst from Adria
was heard by the lndia~woman, who had not
gone further than the out>ide of the Wed
entrance. She immcdiutulycamerunnin in.

“What can have hupprned to my darling
misli‘essWShc cried, husicnlng‘ to relieve Trieuti

, of the limp and hardly srnsible form.

“ Heaven alone knoVi 5." said the senator,
very gravely wliilo l’hlu endeavored to revive
the maiden mm a Scmbiuncc of nervous and
alarming stupor.

“ His eycs! His eyes!" aspirated the quiver-
ing lips. “ The eyes of Azhort! Oh, those hor-
rible eyes! They Were lookin at me from
there—there, in the icturel” an partly recov-
ering her strength, 5 is pointed to the portrait
of Rupert liiull, as it' expecting her use to en-
counter again the shuddering, basilisk orbs of
the heudsmun.

Trienti and the India—woman bestowed a mo-
mentary glance upon the massive and imbedded
picture, and though serious] concerned for
‘ Adria‘s condition, they could but smile at the

seemingly ridiculous idea of any human eyes
; having peered from the painted eyes of the por-

trait.

Adria had frequently seen the person, the
fearful eyes, and once heard the sullen gut-
tural voxce of Azhort on the Grand banal
though invisible herself within the coverings oi
her own gondola. The eyes of tho headmi,
once met with, wore never to be forgotten.
She was confident there could be no mistake, no
hallucination; those same eyes had glared upon
her from the rtrait of Lady Perci s first bus-
band. Now ey had vanished.

“My poor, unnerved child,” soothed Marco
Trienti. “It is but a disagreeable phantasy.
Your thoughts have been set and absorbed upon
the unfortunate young man Cladius Albume—
we ware speaking of him. I can imagine how
easil , in rest grief, after the assumin’s deed
you ve 1d me of, your overburdened mind
could see, or seem to see, distracting visions—"

“Oh, but I am sure!” exclaimed the maiden.
“There are no eyes like Azhort’s. They looked
at me. flashed at me, and then—no, I am not
mad, yet how my brain throbs—terrible thou b
they always are, they turned to two dots of v-
ing flame and burned themselves to darkness.
Am I to be haunted by the man who murdered
Cladius?” .

1Sh: buried her face in her hands and sobbed
a on .
i “There, my dear babe, m precious Indy
1 Adria,” spoke Phla, gently,y as she ti htly
embraced the trembling frame—while arco
, Trienti shook his head in a sad way. for he had
i begun to think that if what Adria had told him

 

i was true, that Cladius had been slain by the
—-dead and l headsman, her deepgrieving had aficctcd her

| reason. “Nay, 'ou must be mistaken, dream-
‘ ing, anything. have heard, without, that af-
ter complete search from roof .to foundation,
‘ nothing can be found of the wretch, Azhort, so
he cannotbe here at all; and even I begin to
I think that Faucho lied, that it was a thought-
, less trick, though for what cruel purpose it is
Ahl my n'blk‘l‘, my
dear Lady Adria has good causc to dread the

i very name of Azhort— ’
We met today—forgive ;
' “But. then, it was only a trick of Faucho’s.
. We shall rate him soundly, shall we not?”—with
. a wmk to the senator.
i Come with me.
\ di'au rht.

“ She has told me all.”

"There, do not weep.
Let me mix on a soothing
Hui hereis Fuucho. hou villainous
Fauc iol—to have nearly frightened the wits
out of my Lad Adria, by aninfamous lie about
the presence 0 Azhort.”

Faucho had appeared almost noiseless! , and
halted in surprise at the singular tableau fore

him. ~

“Now that hag calls me liar. It has been
‘knave,’ ‘ dog,’ ‘ wretch,’ for some time—now it
is ‘liar.’ No matter; I shall have the satisfac-
tion of wringing her neck or seein it wrung
to-night, when the iron hammer o Torre del
’Orologmcestiaes twelve !” And alpud the page
announ wing r tfull : ‘A m
for the Lady Adria.” W y w

“Well?” inquired the maiden, ‘lowly, and
checking her tears.

“ Lady Perci wishes to see you, alone, in the
red room.”

“The red mom!" repeated all, in menu.
men .

For durin twelve ears—e9" since the day
of her ma age with rco Trienti—what had
been known as the red room was ever held sa-
credly private by Lady Perci. Not one of the
present household had ever been inside of it, ex-
cept Adria, in her childhood and before the
second marriage of her mother, and then only
once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.. .. ._.._‘.._s,;..s..._._._n-.....d....

To all there had ever existed amysterious j»
something, unnamable and un uestioned, in con-
nection with Lady Perci’s exc naive and unap-

roachable red room. The message, therefore,

hat Lady Perci desired an interview with her ,
dau yhtcr alone and in that room, naturally cre-
a much and general \\ onder.

“Say to her that I will attend,” requested
Adria: and as Fnucho withdrew: “Come, Plila,

o with me as far as the door of the red room.

mm weak and need your support. 1—” she
caught the Seller, pit) in r glance of Mart-o Tri—
enti, who still contcmp ted her in a manner
that ilainly incant:

“ «id have mercy upon my sweet- Adria and

vs her strength, for I feel that the death of

ladius Alhurno has robbed lit-r of l.cr reason.
Po'ir child—and she was once so light-spirited
and go V.”

“ Oh, my father!"

Adria threw herself into his arms, remainin
a moment enfolded b one who, equally thong i
difl‘ereiitly from Cl ius, felt that his lite was
wra t in this one being so pure and beautiful.

“Ibere, Adria, good-night”—with a tender
kiss; “ your mother awaits you.”

Lad y Perci was seated alone in that room he-

ond the entrance of which no one but herself
had passed for twelve years 0

It was a sumptuous a meat on the higher
floor of the palace, furnished in a taste and rich-
ness exceeding the power of description, and re-
flecting from numerous colossal mirrors, over a
score of lights from chandelier brackets and
candelabras, till the illumination ’nad redoubled
splendor—every wick and flame ignited by the
hand of Lady Perci.

Every atom of dust, every vestige of disorder
was effaced alonel'uy her; whatever refreshment
at any time brought or removed was delivered
and received back at the door of Lady I’el’cl’s
red room—a room in which evei hing, in ac-
cord with its title, was hued, up olstered and
painted like a dye of blood itself.

On the red-legged table of crimson cloth was
set a large tray of fruit, cake and wine. Ludy
Perci was eating of the cake, but the cake she
held had not come from any of the silver dishes
before her. She nibbled and picked at it like
one who does so nierel for appearance sake.

Adio had rapped a the door to inform her
that Albert was not to be found in the palace.

“ So much the better,” she muttered, when he
had received her excuses and departed. “The
fool—Azhort—saw his error in coming here,
and, being alarmed at the anger of my hus-
band, which he no doubt witnessed from some
nook of hiding, has slipped away unperceived.
Whats clever thief the fellow must be, to get
my ring in the single second when I handed him
the purse, for never before in my life was I
near enough to Azhort to permit of such an act.
No matter. I will send or can- the urseto
him, which I have promised, and e wil trouble
me no more. That will be the end of both
Azhort and Cladius Albumo, as {eras I am con-
cerned; though I half-hoped that I might be as
well and assurch rid of Azhort, and by the
some means, as was of Barban, the chain-
for or, twelve years ago.” '

here was another knock at the door. and in
answer to the prompt call of the expectant
Lady Perci, Adria appeared.

In the lapse of time between the moment of
collision on the canal and her obedience to the
summons of her mother, a great change had
come over the maiden. She was pale, half-
apathetic, hcr movements mechanical, and her
eyes, hitherto beaming with quickness of spirit,
were lan iid, weary and dark as coals contrast-
ed w 1h t ie whitened cheeks.

:Even Lady Perci, the rims author of her
woe, surveyed her, much mpresscd. .

“ C'vul it ,” was the inflection of this cold
and dangerous woman, “ that the loss of a. lover
can so aflect onei—when the world is full of
lovers, handsome, wealthy and gay. Pahl she
isa chit. In a. fortnight, or when she becomes
the bride of my gallant Adio—whicli I am de-
termined upon—she will be well satisfied that
Chidius Alburiio is dead."

“ You sent for me, Lady Perci; I am here.”

“ ‘ Lady Percil’ ” galled on the other‘s mind.
“I could never cure her of that. Man who
have heard her address me thus, think it is but
due formality. But I hate it, from her lips.
Ever since Ibrought her to Venice—when her
tongue had scarce learned its language—she has

 

 

persisted in calling me ‘ Lady l‘ci‘ci.’ W h y will
she not name me ‘motbcri’ It cannot be that
she remembers the St‘ene which transpired
eighteen years ago! .No—she was but four
years old. Come, Adria,” she_said, aloud, in a
winninr tone, for Lady Perci’s voice was ca-
pable 0 most pleasant and hyymcnt-ical accent
at will ; “ come and seat yourself. I have some-
thing to say to you.” ‘ _

“ \Volli” with an absent air, and taking the
proffered seat. .

“ But you seem ill! “'hat is the causcl Per-
haps the want of refreshment: for I have
learned that am pnrtonk of not hing at all after
your return ’mm the Academy.”

“ I h ve no appetite.”

“ W enes arises your aviancholy, my daugh-
ter! Come, you are strangely attend since

Az‘hort, the Airman.

9

.f' _.”'”_;;T;m:_—:_::_T:::"'LLTT" ' ' ‘ ,7 ‘ """._" ‘ , ' L. . *WA‘WAWJ‘.

morning. There should be no secrets between
11:5,” ipurred the dissembling voice of Lady
erc . '

“Were you not upon the canal this afternoon,
Lady Perci?—”

“ ‘ Lady Perci’ again!” was the inward and
snappish interpolation of that person.

“—And did you not mark what transpired
there, just at sunset?”

“ Ah! yes: a certain black gondola—that of
the ex-hcadsmnn, I think—collided with the
gondola of Santo, the fisherman, a man who
has, so the gossip of the servants gives it, iii-
hei-itcd a small fortune from a relative and
spends his money lllflrl': prodigally. The affair
was of sm‘h slight. llllllt lrtancethnt I had forgot-
ten it. But what can it possibly have to do
with your (injection :—if it is to that occurrence
you allude.”

“True ” remembered Adria, dropping her
headto or hand and leaning in silence upon
the table edge: “Cladius was disguised to re-
semble Santo, the fi.;l.lcrman, while the true
Santo remaiicd in hiding ever since the unjust
proclamation of the Grand Council. Even
though I believe him dead, I will not betray my
Cladius.”

“ What could the difficulty between Azhort,
the headsnian, and Saute, the fisherman have
to do with your despondent mood, my daugh-
ter?” prodded the tongue of the merciless wo-

man.

“Nothing. I am not well to-night; I think
m mind wanders at times.”

dy Perci did not press the subject further.

“ I must insistfi‘Adria, that you eat or drink
of something. ake this wine. It is truly de-
licious and will strengthen you. If she will
swallow the wine”—mentally—“there will be
no difficultyin forcing her to wed with Adio.
She will be as pliant in my hands as I once had
Barban the chain-forger. ’

Treac erous Lady Perci!
drugged.

While she poured out the sparklin liquor,
extending the brimming glass across the table,
there was a scarce perce tible sound as of a
small object fallin to the oor, and immediate-
ly accompanyingt is was another and hi hi
mysterious sound, like the distant and a1 -
smothered rattling of a chain or number of
chains, jerking, scraping and clanking '

was.
“ at is that!” exclaimed Adria, startled
from her desolate meditation.

“ Oh, nothing. Perhaps a newly-risen breeze
that clinks the span les on onder curtain.”
And Lady Perci, ri ng quic y, Went to and
closed the casement—at the same time picking
up small plug or stopple and driving it into
an exactly fitting hole in the paneled wall,
close to a certain ar e and magnificent mirror.

But so hastily he she performed this action,
in order to avoid the observation of the maiden
that same a minute elapsed ere the plu fell
again to the soft car t, this time unheartE

“You do not drin Adria?”

“Indeed, I have no relish for wine—I never
cared for it.”

“ Some cake, then. See how light and
crisp.”

Ilorrible Lady Percil The cake, too, was
pregnant with a .

‘Just a little, Adria—no? But I am sure
that you will taste these luscious grapes? How
plump and waxy the are. Eat these.” And
again, mentally: “ If can persuade either the
wme, cake or fruit into her month, she will soon
be as much at my mercy, thou h not quite as
helpless. as I once had Barban, t e chain-forger,
an , before him, Venturi Adello neither of
whom will ever tell the world“ of their fate in
this red room.”

Diabolieal Lad Perci! The wine, cake and
fruit were deepy drug . A small dose of
the ingredient would det rone the reason for a
time; a larger dose would produce insensibility:
a still lar rer, a very severe dose, Would kill in—
stantly. he first and smaller dose was intend-
cd, by this unnatural mother, for Adria, in or-
der to further the scheme of Adio’s marriage.

Access to the red room was by a very stout
door, and in this door was the broad ke ~hole
of a massive lock, having on the inside a latch-
et. This latchet had been noiselesst worked
open by an instrument of some kind in the
hands of some one upon the outside, and a
steady, flashing, single human eye had been
watching Lady Perci and Adria almost from
the moment that Adria entered.

The eyes belonged to Phla, who had come
with her young and beloved mistress as far as
the door. The rsistency with which Lady
Perci urged her mightcrto eat or drink, struck
the India—woman siisyviciously, the more so, con-
sidering that she. never he liked and always
distrusted the wife of Marco 'l‘ricnti. -

It is a lrul lniyinsss to ilny the spy.” she was
thinking. as she uutclmt thrcm'h the key-hole,
“ but I love the door babe, my Lady Adria. and
I have no confidence in Lady Perci. There,
must be some (hep meaning in this interview of
the rod l‘uolll, and for my duty’s sake I will
know it.”

Adria. yieldei to the permaimis of Lady Pei~
d, who could hot summons a thrill of eager and

The wine was

 

devilish anticipation as the smal shapely fln-
gers plucked at the bunch of ripe ruit.

1B3; a; tilie xlnaidendraisedi one of this “fleet
go er ips,an era tpassed er ' ,
there was an interruption to the abominable
satisfaction of Lady Perci. The voice of an in-
visible some one struck upon the ears of the two
in just one word of distinct utterance—a voice
that Adria could not remember ever having
heard before, whose utterance paralyzed her
hand and frame and seemed to ash the fruit
from her grasp. A

“Poison!” the voice of the unseen,
through the stillness of the red room.

CHAPTER X.
so :hmaou'i;i IN THE Pang?“

very arp, istinct and t ' lin l -
tentous was the singular and timely voigcey mt
in direct warning to the intended victim of
Lady Perci’s excessiVe and audacious treache ,
that it seemed to tremor and reverberate in t e
ears of both, as they sat, for a few seconds, gas-
in mutely at each other.

e fruit fell from Adria’s hold, and she
pressed both hands over her heart. An inde-
flnable feeling that something was happenin
or was about to happen in or in connection wi
the red room, chi] ed every fiber of her frame.
Then, with one short, panting breath of over-
mastering terror, she started from her seat and
ran toward the door. v

“ Stay, my daughter,” called Indy Perci: “ it
were better for us to investigate the source of
that ' eeable voice we heard just now.”

“Oh! do not wish to. I cannot, will
remain in this room. Ihave heard enough.
would I had not come here."

“Surely, you cannot suppose the voice to
have meant that those grapes contained poison?
Besides, I have not yet broken the subject for
which I requested your presence. I desire to
press Adio’s suit—”

“ Lady Perci,”-—Adria turned. with one hand
upon the door, and in her tone there was firm-
ness and defiance. “Indy Perci, if there was
poison in the fruit, I do not accuse you with a

nowledge of it. But I am certain that whoevar
spoke-some one who must have seen into this
room, and who now sees us—meant it as I warn.
ing not to eat those grapes. I do not believe it
was a breeze that rattled yonder spangled cur-
tain a moment since but a clink and clank of
heavy chains that we heard. I will never again
enter the red room; I will not now remain.
Whatever you have to say to me must be said
elsewhere. Let me vow thi though, for the
last time and forever, I wil never wed with
Adio Adello, be the consequences of your dis-
ileasiure severe as they may. Good-night, Lady

ere .'

 

And wondering at her Own stron and sad-
den self-reliance, Adria glided from c horror—
ful red room leaving Lady Perci silent, though
white with isconlflture and rage. Her plans
for drugging the maidrn had completely failed.

On the threshold Adria encountered the In-
dia-woman whom she led partly forgotten.

“Come, thla—womr. Let me hasten away
from the vicinity of the red room.” Andasthey

assed along the narrow hall: “ Was it you,

’hla, who uttered the word, and was it for me
when I was about to eat the grapes?—that word
of warning. But why do I ask such a question?
The door was closed: you did not even see us.
It is very singular.”

“ Ay, but I was watching you, my dear
lady—’

“ Watching!”

“ Through the keyhole.”

“ Then it was you. Why?”

“ Lady Perci seemed very anxious for you to
eat or drink—400 anxious. But, though I
heard the Voice sa ‘ oison,’ it did not come
from me. I \erily ielieve that the cake, fruit
and win - were all poisoned, and that you have
6508 ’d death.”

“ h, Plilal How could such a thin be! A
mother give poison to her own child. t is too
horrible to imagine; and yet—the vcice—”

“ Dear niis: ress. I love you too well to wound
you IN I 3y 5 echcs. Bet I must say, luewsre,
of Lady um. I do not think that ilre has set—
cd like a mother toward you dui ii'g ,\ (‘l'l' whole
life—or as long as I have served yo. . which 1
commenced to do two ears lltfoic It? mar-
riage with Marco Tricnti. Often I l are said to
myself: ‘ If Lady Perci is the mother of my lit~~
tle mistress. Adria. then she has either lost or
never had any affection for her child.’ For ive
me when I declare that for a long time, an at
this moment, I doubt very much whether Lady
Perci is your mother at all !”

Adria ver ted a Sli.’ h of relief when they
reach: d her private apartments. But with the
sigh. and struck by the strange and serious hint
of her attendant, she murmured aloud, while
both continued on out to the small, eyrie-like
balcony at the windmv:

“How you talk, Phla! Do you know what
you are saying! If Lady Perci is not my
mother—and as Marco Tricnti is only my fa-
ther because of his marriage with her—who,
then, areor were my true parents? What am
11 Conn". Phla: I am unhap enough now.”

“ Whoever they were, ear mistress. and

 

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whatever you may be, no one on the earth
knows better than your devoted Phla that you
are pure and good, and goodness could not be
inherited from Lady Perci.”

“Ahl it would be almost joy to me to learn
that some simple and honest toiling woman had
given me birth, instead of the one who now
calls me child and for whom I can cherish
True, as you say, Lady

And since
u my mar-
loathe with

nothing but fear.
Perci has never seemed to love me.
she has so cruelly set her mind u
riage with Adio Adello—whom

my whole nature—and used such threats if I do ‘

not obey her desire, I have wondered if, indeed,
a mother could be so unkind in seeking extreme
unhappiness for her offspring. I will never,
never wed with Adio. N o—I belong to Cladius,
heart, soul and flesh. Even though no priest
has joined us my heart tells me that I am his
widow, and I shall-be true to his memory till
death brings us together in Heaven. Oh,
Cladiusl Cladius!”

“Believe me, my dear Lady Adria, it is too
earl to mourn for the loss of Cladius Albumo.
Wait until the rumor and gossip of to-morrow
shall tell us that most famous of warriors has
sure-H died by the hand of the assassin—”

“ I could but partake of fyour faith, Phla—”

“Oh, it is a beautiful nig is!” in turn inter-
rupted the India-woman, deeming it best to di-
vert Adria’s mind from thoughts of her lover.

It was'night over Venice. A night of moon
and stars and water rayed with rippling sprays
of silver dancing lightly in the soft breathing
breeze.

A right of splendor over the fairy-like en-
viron isles, brilliant with orgeous illumina-
tion and hundreds of winking, twinkling bea-
cons on the vessels in the egreat lagoon. The
airs of bustle that had lull with the close of
the day now teamed with the songs of the gon-
dolligi, wafting here and there in bewitching
me y.

A sweet sense of calm came over Adria as
she gawd forth upon a scene so tranquil and so
full of poesy; for there is but one venice, and,
seen by day or by night, it will live forever in
remembrance as the vision of somethings su-

l in oramic ndeur that the pres—
sion of its oveliness a rbs beyond all fancy.
he dream of quiet and lorious bealulty was,
waver, destined to be ru ely and to flcally,
changed u n that very night.

“ hat it, Phlai” exclaimed Adria, almost

Lmlmediately upon their reaching the high-hung
cony. ~
“10h, the ghost of the canal, mistress,” smil-

5‘3;- jnst then seemed to float over the waters
a scarce audible but positive “Hallo-o—oi” and
coming from a source that it was impossible to
locate. For twelve years Phla'had heard the
ghostly, hallooing voice waftin over the water
at the entrance to the Grand anal of the Isle
Murano—in fact, all Venice knew of it: a voice
that came from somewhere, no one could find
out where, the tenor of whose dismal sound was
ever and alwa : “ Hallo-o-oi Hallo-o-ol”
Hence, among t e superstitious, it was firmly
believed that the waters at the southern part of
IsloMurano were haunted by some firflluioted
irit who could say naught but “ o-o-ol
llo-o-ol”,
“Can you believe in hosts, Phlal”
“ What then is it, i not a ghost? Every
t for twelve ears both on and I have
heard the same vo ce crying ‘ allo-o-o ’—often
so late that no one can be seen hereabout. I
should be lad to have some person explain it.”
“Comeflet us go in. A new and heavy de-
pression is within me, and that sound, after all
that has befallen me this day, jars dismally to
my cars. You may disrobe me. I will try to

'1‘ eg' left the balcony. Phla was first to step
into t e room.

Scarcer had she entered—and as a loud
scream burst from Adria—when she received a
hard blow upon the head which laid her prone
and senseless. She had just time to see that the
one who struck her down was Azhort, the ex-
chief of executioners; and before Adria could
cry out again and for help, a thick mantle was
thrOWn over her, almost suffocating her, and a
pair of muscular arms grasped her up as if she

ad been but a feather’s weight.

There was no resistance. She had fainted.
And the last gasping words of her lips wars,
are consciousness went out:

“ It is Azhort, the headsman, who murdered
my. Cladius l"

hen, limp and helpless, she was borne along
in the tight embrace of that grim and horrible

personage.
And at that Juncture there was another, the
distant boom of a heavygun

 

The first action of Lady Perci, after the with-
drawal of Adrla. was to rise and cross rapidly
to that portion of the wall where we have once
seen her throat a plug into a small hole close by
the massive minor.

With a quick, impatient movement, and

n vexedly, she again put the plug in its
place, t tune wedging it in securely.

i

 

Open. aburst of
seeming

 

“ Miserable accident!” hissed the scarlet lips. 
before I could ‘
5 case and impress er with the con- 1
That fool, up i

“It has frightened Adria awa
renew Adio
sequences of my displeasure.
therel—to utter such a word at the very mo—

ment when she would have fallen into my .

power as completely as himself, twelve
ago, and as Barban, the chain-for er, did. I
have oft heard his impotent mutterings, but a

ears ‘

word like that——‘p0ison’—he never till now *

s )oko. And how could he be aware that I had
( esigns upon Adria? 1 shall punish him for his
interference, although clearly an accident. Let
me look to him.”

Evidently, Lady Perci was well aware of the :

source of that. significant and timely voice
whose interwnlion saved Adria from the influ-
ence of a (1111:; which, for a time—long enough
to suit the purpose of the heartless schemer—
would huvn unsettled hcr reason to such an ex-
tent that the mercst wish of a person, to be
loathed and defied under ordinary circum-
stancrs, would have been promptly though
drowsin obeyed.

It may be said, however that extreme emer-
gency had prompted Lady Perci to this un-
natural met
purpose—a design of utmost import in connec-
tion with an ambition, heretofore shown, to be-
come the richest and Proudest lady in Venice.
She was well aware o the deep attachment ex-
isting between her husband and Adria. Did
Adria, finally, throw herself upon Marco Tri-
enti, ass. last resort to relieve from the r-
secuting importunities of her mother and hat
mother 3 favorite, Adio Adello, the whole sym-
pathy of the honorable senator might be at
once enlisted, and Marco Trienti would prove a
formidable champion in behalf of the maiden.

“Once I can ain control of her faculties,”
Ladv Perci h resolved, ruthlessly, “I can
easily have my way without exciting the sus-
picions of Marco Trienti. She will be a mere
automaton at my command. I plainly see that
I must dose her—though not 'so heavily—as I
did Barban,the chain-forger,and Venturi Adello,
twelve years ago.”

To serve the maiden she called her child in
almost a similar manner as practiced upon two
other persons, at a time many cars prior to
this date, was the prime object o the summons
which brought Adria to the red room.

But whatever the plan, however inhuman, it
had failed utterly for the present. Fairl uiv-
erin with anger at the cause of this ai ure,
and nt upon chastising the author of it, Lady
Perci drew forth, from a private receptacle be-
neath the table, a supple whip with a sho
stout, wooden handle and a lash nearly ten fee

lon .

Ignis whi she uncoiled and threw outward
until it lay ' ea limp snake its full length on
the carpet. Then 3 e bared her arms—arms
that, though fair and smooth, showed muscle
and firmness.

Suddenly she whirled the short handle round
and round about her head till the lush appeared
to be a thing of cruel animation, forming large
coils of rings in the air. There was a swzsh .l—a
sha crac I

“ ood. A few such on his back will teach
him to keep a still tongue in his head and not
ggaérb’interfere, even by accident, with my pro-

ec

With the whip wrapped around one arm, and
with a candelabra in one hand, she went back
to the mirror.

For a second she paused to contemplate her-
self in the highly-polished surface which reflect-
ed back. despite the ravage of ears and the im-

ress of the wicked passions 0 those years-an
image of a woman once considered a beauty
and “till 8896 07 many su erflcial charms.

“ Ah, y Perci!” she ad ressets, to her mir-
rored resemblance. “you are by no means Veta
wrinkled hag. With the treasure chest of en-
turi Adello and some handsome features remain-
ing, I ma one day have the whole of Vemce-n
gondolier to signoria—suing at my feet. But,

there— I I am dreaming ahead toofast. Wait
Xfiih ” have the treasure-chest of Venturi
e 0.

At a slight touch u n a 5 ng concealed he-
neath a curious an exqu site anaglyph, the
mirror swung slowly outward, revealing an in-
termural stairwa , three steps up the ascent of
which was the rst iron door of the passe
leadi to the dungeon-like chamber—all e—
scri in a previous chapter—and the
other two sides ]presenting an a paren 1 solid
wall of heavy b ock masonry, w ich in icated
that there could be no other entrance to the se-
cret place than by the mirror in the red room.

There could now be no doubt that Lady Perci
had some one confined in the upper portiOn of
the palace, and that she was about to inflict

unishment with the whip u n that person for

aving, unintentionally an by means of the
microsconic tube, frightened Adria from the
red room and thus from a wretched fate pre-
pared for her. ’

But whatever her wrathf‘ul impulse‘rit was
startlineg overthrown.

In the very instant that the mirror swung
(lazing fire nearly blinded has,
to deluge and envelop her.

od for the accomplishment of her ‘

 

From the depth of this almost supernatural
flame arose, glaring and awful, the wolf-face,
tiger—eyes and devilish shape of Azhort, the
headsman.

The unexpected shock momentarily paralyzed
Lady Perci. The one second of be Wilderment
and afl’right was most unlucky for her.

“Fury and guns!” snorted the growling voice
of the deathsman, as be bounded forward.

And in a trice his terrible gripe was on her
throat, choking back into a gurgle the shriek
for help which she would have given.

CHAPTER XI.
FAUCIIO AND THE HEADSMAN.

IN order to explain the presence of Azhort in
the bedchamber of Adria, and in the aperture
behind the movable mirror in the red room at
the moment when Lady Perci was about to us
cend to the prison-chamber, whip in hand for
the chastisement ol' the person who had, by ac-
cident, thwarted her perildious intentions—and
previous to both, the appearance ol his soul-
chilhug eyes in the eyes of the painted picture
of Rupert Riali—it is necessary to return to the
man—gor on when, in obedience to his command,
Tobato, is dwarfed, misshapen and ugly son,
turned the gleaming steel prow of the black
gondola directly toward the palace of the Tri-
enti, the illuminath windows of which were
now lainly visible.

‘ o gOod is to come of this. Omen is in my
bones,” growled the headsman, in surly and
pondering accents. “The fact that my new
gondolier was no gondolier at all, but some

nave in disguise, satisfies me that he must
have been a spy. If as y, then he doubtless
understood all t at pass and was said in my
abode. Another spy too, atm door. Flames
smite them! Oh, Icould bu have fastened
my  on one or both i”

‘ would like very much to rap him on the
crown with this oar—the man who swims ”
squeaked Tobato, who was keeping a sharp look-
out for the head of the man who had tripped
him and then dived from the stone-landing at
the “ Deathsman’s Fort.”

“ Bend stronger to your car, my son.”

“Indeed, I am doing my best. Watch me.
Look at m span les for the motion of m arms.
Hi! how t e no tonight. I am to ave a
new suit an new 5 n les, am I not—when we
get the treasure of en Adello and I secure
pretty Adria for my bride, and when I become
a irate rince eh‘l'

'A tu ful o spangles and a dozen suib, To-
bato if all oes Well. ’

“ A tubfu ——and a dozen! Hil Now see how
I can work this oar.” .

.Tobato was very vain of the innumerable tiny
gilt and Silver spangles stitched over his arms
and the upper portion of his crooked little body.

As he strained and s uirmed with all his
strength at the oar, whic was quite too pon-
derous for him, stimulated by the prospect of so
many new spangles and suits, the spangles he
wore listened and rayed ayly in the brilliant
mook ght like so manyc angeful and minute
8 s.
pIllizhort became silent. He was concoctin
carefully his programme of actii n in the even
of unearthin that secret which he had believed
to exist in t a life of Lady Perci ior twelve

 

ears.
y But the plans he formed during the remainder
of the brief journey across the moonlit water,
were signally altered almost from the moment
of his arrival at the palace.

“ Depart, now,” he said, bending low and close
to the ear of his son, when they reached the
landing before the imposing edifice. “Be sure
that you are at this spot precisely at the hour
of twelve.”

“Hi! Never fear. And on my way backd
for I think I shall and talk With my brave
mother over the sp endid luck that is aboutto
happen in very smart father—l will rhaps
meet the oating head of that spy. e have
only passed one boat, and that may not have

ic ed up the toad: he may still be swimming.

il It would be fine sport to tap him lightly at
first. then a little harder, then— ’

“Be on. ,i’f you find him. smite him bone

and marrow.

"Hil That willIl”

“ Remember. Attwalve.”

The somber. tree ,mg gondola then moved 016
into the canal, the med arms of Tobato sculling
leisurely along.

Azhort ascended the broad stairs, thinking:

“Now I aha“ l50011 see whether Barbell, the
chain-lorser. deceived me on his death bed
twelve years ago, or about the time Venturi
Adello entered this lace. Aha! I the k
in; secret well—I a my family. Why shon d
I Millie to any one that I saw Venturi Allelic
enter here, one storm night, twelve yc ars mo?
—that I and my wi e watched steadfast, y
and n t, for ’most a year, to see him come
outl-t not he never came out! Would that he
had l—for he would then and now have been in
my power instad of Perci’s. She well
knew of tlic chest of treasure guessed by her
husband at‘ (be time he started return from a
Visit and examination of his'fntbrest in the an-
ver minosof Hungary and em" minesof pro-

-
\-

._ Warm“, r

--=m. :wm» : r 

- "1:; 

W“

 __..-. .a._.-

.._.___a._.

A-zhort, lie Axman.

11

 

 

cious stones. Ho! Riali had sharp counselors.  me for the business of the strangling-chamber,
It turned out that the treasure went by another 2
galleon, and no one knew where it was to be de- 
posited, save Venturi Adello and an old fisher- g
man on the lower coast. That fisherman must 5

be dead b thisi for it was eighteen 'ears since.
Even h he ived, he could not, eighteen
years, remove and expend so vast a. treasure. I

1 a. quite good-looking

remember striking Venturi Adcllo into the sea ‘

with a blow of my cutlass. Lady Perci must

have ascertained that Venturi Adello was the '
only man in the world who could divulge where .

to ad the treasure; not knowin
man. That is the reason why A ello never left
the palace. Lady Perci
sure. Ha! .
weary of his stubbornness, she has killed him
tobe rid of him. Burn my heart! if she has, I
will tear out her eyes——”

“HAHN” challenged the vigilant guardsman
at the palace entrance.

Azhort was brought to a standstill and roused
from his whispered thoughts by the
and the keen oint of a lance e
few inches of is breast.

“Whatis your business here?” And as the
sha gy head of the comer was thrown up and
hue , and the wolf-like visage with its iercmg
orbs was fully displayed in the bri ht ight of
the hall: “ Oufl it is the devil himse fl Azhort,
ex—chief of the executionersl Shrivel my bus—
kinsl—you dareintrude into the palace of my
Lord Trientil IVheel about l—march i"

If the eyes of Azhort were fearful to behold,
his smile, or grin, or smirk—all in one—was
scarce less int‘enial. The lips narrowed and
lengthened sideways till his teeth, like huge.
pure and knife-edged pearls seemed ready to

ind and bite simultaneously with the. slight

clination of his head and bending of his body
in a. bow of mock humbleness, as he quietly

vel within a

38.1d:
I“My very good friend, I come to see Lady
'erci.”

“ To see—halt there! Not one step, on your
life! You to see Lady Perci, forsooth! Qut!
Sir headsman, on are a lunatic as Well as imp
of Satan! Go the madhouse of San Laazaro!
You—haw! hawl—you to see Lady Perci!
Halt l-or I shall pin ‘you through and throngh.

no. You canno enter; it is forbidden,
an on know it well.”

“gut, my zealous friend, if I am forbidden,

haps this is not?”and he held aloft the cestly
Jeweled ring which his nimble fingers had
snatched, unobserved, from the hand of Lad
Perci on the Grand Canal. His satanic smir
vanished and his voice assumed an imperious
accent. -
“ mustsee Lad Perci, fellow.” -

“P sir h an. I acknowledge the
signet rin of Lady Perci. But”-inwardl , as
he permit (1 the other to continue, and 100 g
after the dwarfed broad and powerful fi re in
its sable mantle— ‘ shrivel my buskins i _ I like
the turn of this! I would much prefer pitchin
him out on the point of m lance. There wil
be a noisy war when it is own that I admit-
ted Azhort, ex-chief of exerutioners, and war
again when my Lord Trienti learns that the
signet ring of Lady Perci was the passport
shown. No matter. I think I have done as
much my duty as I could. What eyes the imp
has! What a strange, hyena smile! Snake,
wolf, devul and dwarf-glantl I remember both
the eyes and the smile, when he used to_chop on
the heads of the condemned, as if With ga
relish at every stroke. Out! to the dogs wnt
Azhort!” .

The soldier then dismissed the matter entirely
from his mind until, a few moments later, the
enraged senator accosted him and that scene
followed in which Lady Perci scouted the idea
of Azhort having her si rnet ring, and pro-
nounced the sentinel a falsi ier.

Azhort had an acquaintance in the palace,
though not aware of it till he had taken a dczon
or so steps along the ball, as if seeking some one
to whom he might impart the nature of his

business there.

No one was in that rtion of the hall, it
chanced, savea page. his page had been an
intent witness of all that transpired at the en-
trance.

As the evil-brewed visitor drew closer, the
pa cast his eyes down and a. momentary,
chilling tremor shook him. Then thegaze of
the deathsman lighted with rec ition, and
his hard, bony palm tapped the shoulder of the

‘iFauchol” he said, slowly, with surprised
mtisfaction.

.~“ Weill—and thou art my master”

. "Guns and gore! this is my luckyday. ‘Mns—
ter,’ say you? Oh, no. Since I am no longer
chief executioner, nor executioner at all, I am
not the master of Montage and Faucho. What
has become of our brother. strong Montage—
ehl Readier ys than you and he never
strangled a knave {or me in the ducal dun-
geons. Where is Montage!” ”

“ No longer in Venice—master.

“Ha! so it will slip out. Mariya thump I
gave you, Faucho, in teaching you to call me

master.’ Bo. Ashort time as madea great
change in you. When you and Montago served

uif voice .

of the flslier- 3

too, is after the trea 1
Perhaps he has refused to tell, and, j

 

you were slim. though lithe of frame and nick-
g-Iriped with the cord, and hair crop d s ort.

0! you are now a. page. Supple an more ro-
locks; indeed,
nd how came

bust; a fine complexion; curhn
outh.
you to be a page, Fauc o?”

“ My master, ’ halfinterrupted the young
Spaniard. “You must know that Marco Tri-
ienu' despises you. He is in that room yonder-—
may see ou. You are hold to venture here so
far ahea of the time.”

“Ahead of the time? What time? IVhat
mean you?”

The page surveyed him in astonishment.

“Can it be possible you do not know that,
when the iron hammer of the clock strikes
twelve the grand pillage—the overthrow of
Venice—is to Commence? And the runners and
spies have said that you were with the duke’s

arty. I charge with the braves on this palace.
. here are ten of us in all und er this roof. Heard

ere will be three guns discharged. The first

n means, that the garrison of the fortress at

orto di Lido—whence the signals will come——
have been silently and successfully overpower-
ed. The second gun will concentrate the party
of the duke, fully armed, at various ints in
readiness for the outbreak, and warn t 19 pages
and braves of every palace to repare. 'l‘ e
third gun, at midnig ,will fill t e streets and
canals with the uprising faction; torch, sword
and plunder will pervade the balance of the
ni ht: the universal cry will be, ‘ Strike for the
(111%?! Death to the misrulers of Venice !’ How
could you, of all who are in the plot, be so ig-
norant of this?”

A great change came over the countenance
and spirit of Azhort, as this exciting intel-
ligence was poured into his astounded ears.

“By the darkle of death l—no. Bov, there
must be some mistake. To-morrow night was
the time fixed upon.” He griped the arm of
Faucho in a I ainful way.

“This very nigsht, and the first gun has al-
ready sounded. 0 orders the man whose sign
I now give ou,” and Faucho made an almost
imperceptib e motion with his hands.

‘ Ho! The hailing sign of those who serve
the duke, and invented by Antoine Jafiler 1”

“Even so.” '

The features of the headsman were glowin ;
his eagle, snake and wild-beast eyes widen ,
batted and flashed with all the consuming fires
of his implacable and brutish nature. His next
speech came rapid and hissingl.

“ I am glad to know this. have not a min-
ute to spare. Luckily, I am armed with my dag—
ger; no one in Venice can use it as I can. Now.
mark me. There is a room on the first floor of
this palace the furniture of which is green and
the wallsof marblepaneling with half-imbedded
and fluted columns interse g each panel. Its
finish is uite plain; no pictures nor—”

“It is e room for reception of strange vis-
itors—yonder, with but a loose draping o een
curtains for a doorwa . But if you di not
know of the pillage tha commences to-m'ght—
vou who are to become chief executioner, when
Venice falls, of all opposers to the marquis, the
embassador and the duke—and it is not in coh-
nection with that on are in the Trienti palace,
then why are you ere?”

“ Annoy me not with questions. By my blood!
I tell you my minutes are few. I will wait in
the room of marble nels. Go you and say to
Lady Perci Trienti, hat Azhort, the headsman,
desires an interview in private and by the
power of her own signet-ring, which I wear—

“But if you are found, meantime?” queried
Faucho, uneasi‘ , as he led the way to the
apartment descr bed by Azhort.

“No matter. Do as I bid—you who have
called me master,” pushing aside the green and
heavy curtains. “Ha! ha! Deliver my mes-
sage. Ha! ha! Have no fears that I will be
found. And when I am found, I care not who
I may meet in the palace of the Trienti. Ha!
ha! Light in darknessl—no. Begone.” And
when he stood alone within the room of marble
panels, with fluted and half-imbedded columns
betWeen each panel, and casting one hurried
glance around him, he exchimed: “Ho! it is
the same so minutely described b Barban, the
chain-forger, on his death—bed. e lied not so
far. Now let Marco Trienti, or any one else,
find me if they can !”

CHAPTER XII.
- m PERIL or ADRIA.

As the reader has learned, there was some-
thing of far more importance than the mere de-
sire to receive a second and heavier purse—in
com lete iay'ment for the assassination of
Cl ins A] urno—that had filled the s’oul of Az-
hort with fierce loatin upon being able to use
the signet-ring 0 Lady erci as an omnipotent
means of ining entrance to the 'I‘rienti pal-
ace—this oubly so since the revelation by the

go, for the words of the sly, deceitful, not un-

andsome radian in dissembling garb, showed
hi that he had but a short time in which to ac-
co lish the greatest desire of his life. and now
was, possibly, his only and last opportunity.

 

, of my
Ru not the boom of a. gun a short time since? 

 

Instantly upon the withdrawal of Faucho, the
page, to execute his errand of announcement—
who could not help wondering what business
Azhort could have with the proud wife of the
senator, and marveling again as to how he could
obtain sucha. valuable ring, as a. signet from
Ind Perci—the headsman took from the pooh.
eto his cape a long and broad folded arch-
ment, almost ragged with age, opened it and
fixed his burning eyes upon it.

“ Hal there is no mistake. So far, so good for
this diagram iven to me b Barban, the chain-
forger, ere he athed his ast and went to the
devd. A common rogue was Barban. But he
did not know how beyond price was this docu-
ment, when he bequeathed it to me as the fruit
of his sneaking and nose-pokin at a time when
Lady Perci employed him to orge a. chain—a
stout and endless chain—first round the column
and then round the body of Venturi Adello.
‘Rcvengie me upon Lady Perci, who is the cause

eathl’ were the last words of Barban.
Ho! be sure of that revenge, ghost of Barban,
for I, too, have a thirst for revenge upon Lady
Perci, because she 'abbed out t e eye of my
wife, Bal—Balla, in t e fight on the deck of the
Unita. Buthfirst of all things, the treasure of
Venturi Ade 0—”

He stopped short in his hissed utterances,
half-crumpled the parchment in his grasp and
tip-teed to the curtain-hung and gothicarched
entrance.

Casting a glancc between the draping folds,
he saw Adria. Phla and Faucho on the grand
staircase, and heard the first named cry, as she
clung to the balustrade for momentary sup—

rt:
pc“Azhort, the headsman! He in the ace!

o—no, it is scarce possible. What coul bring
him here, and with the Signet-ring of my me-
ther? The murderer of my— Come, Phla.
Oh, haste! I shall not feel sale until I am with
Marco Trienti, m father!”

Azhort stepped astin backward.

“Dashes of thunder!” he exclaimed, unfold-
ing and once more scanning the drawing and
explanations on the Worn ment, with body
bent and eyes distended in fast accumulatin
excitement. “Dashes of thunder! She w'
hasten to Marco Trienti and inform him that I
am here. Search will follow. Though I do not
fear, personally, Trienti and a half- score of such
dullards as the guard at the palace front, it will
not do for them to find me. 1 must be about
obeying the instructions of this ' ram of Bar-
ban s—serviceable knave. ‘ In e room of
marble panels and columns between each panel,
furniture upholstering green, on the first floor ’
—pah! I know it by heart. ‘Five steps to
the 'right’—so ”—measuring 03 five steps as
directed. “ ‘ Five steps to the left’—so"——
half-tummg and repeating the movement.-
“ ‘ en stoop. Pull out base, and column
can be swung round on pivots fixed at top
and bottom.’ Hal it brin me to the sec-
ond column. I stoop. ”—-inserting his
strong finger-nails in a. scarce perce tible line
or crevice at the under portion of e convex
and false base of the half-imbedded column.
“Ipullthis out. Ohol Good! Maythe horned
fiend be easy with your soul, thou most reliable
rascal, Barbanl”

Drawing forward the sectional base or pedal,
there was a slight click, and the coluer the
seeming column, for it was but circular of form
on the outside and flat upon the inside portion
—‘-could be swung slowly and heavily open half
its greatest diameter. by gri ing the fingers in
the deep fiuting, disclosing a lack a rture.

Without pause, Azhort squeezed tlfi‘eough into
the dark space, and, having committedto mind,
years before this ni t, the instructions of the
diagram, be present y had the column and the
spring pedal adjusted to their original and de-
ce tive position. ,

arce a minute later there was a hubbub in
the hall and in the room of marble panels, the
sounds of which came faint and inarticulately
to the headsman. as he stood safe enough from
all discovery within a very narrow passage that
caused him to stand sideways for the comfort
of his brI aid-shouldered frame.

“  steps along here,” he mumbled, “and
I will find on in right hand, head high, a
spring, or something which will open two eye-
lets in a picture—though what picture, and into
what room they will afiord survey Barban did
not tell, perhaps did not know. first, let me
have a light. ”

He produeed two short, jointed sticks from
an inner pocket of his cape, one of these sticks
surmounted by a. globular hollow piece. The
top of the latter he unscrewed, and. fittin the
sticks to their socket, soon had a lighted. ort-
handled fiambeau that shed a red radiance upon
the tomby niche. .

Chirious to ascertain the utility of the two cer-
tain small holes or eyelets, to be found, accord
in to the dia in, five steps ahead, Aahort
si ed along, ho dii-g the fiambeau high. Easily
discovering the. eyelets, or latchets, as they
proved to be, head high upon the wall that
would have been at his right hand, had he been
able to proceed face first, and as there was no
intricacy about their arrangement, he twisted
them open, placed his two eyesto the two small

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a... n.‘ Algae-..“ .a.

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trivcd to fit in and represent the painted eyes
and eyebrows of Rupert Riali.

From this picture the orbs of the headsman
flashed forth 1) Adria and the India-woman,
as the silent y awaited the return of Marco
Trient .

“U-so!” he granted. “There is the doll I
purpose 'ving Tobato for a wife or plaything,
when I ave secured the trca~ure of enturi
Adello and we are safe on the sea with a black
flag and a Barbary crew. By this chance view
of her, I am reminded that the diagram of Bar-
ban shows a secret way to gain her apartment
—ncarly all apartments, in fact, on the front
side of the palace. Lavish luck !"—with ra-
pacious anticipation—“I will secure her and
abduct her in my own gondola. Once in ‘the
deathsman’s i’ort ’ it would take a fleet to wrest
her from me. 'I‘hey little know how ready is
the fort of Azhort to repel, if attacked by a
force demandiiw the person of Sadrac, the half-
Moor irate. lIa! ha! ha! Wait till the stroke
of the ll and the riot. Now, then, here is my
Lord Trienti. A merry rant for nothing he has
had I surmise.”

The brief interview which ensued between
the senator and Adria was distinctliand eager-
ly overheard by the owner of those aleful eyes
in the eyes of the picture of Rupert Riali. Az-
hort was much suprised at learnin therefrom
that Marco Trienti had been wed ed revious
to his bonds with Lady Perci, that he
his bride and a child during a storm at sea, and
that Adria resembled, at ti mes

It was when the maiden, sobbing, reverted to
the assasination of her lover—and while Az~
hort so intent with listening that his eyes were
ho bly brilliant and he ni h forgot all else,
that her glance rested upon t e picture of Ru—
pert Ria i, and the sight she saw there froze
every tear on lid and check.

The scintillating, blood-curdling, unmistak-
able eyes 01' the headsman!

“ His eyes! I see his eyes!" she shrieked.

On the instant he knew he was discovered, or

' ed as much, Azhort drew back and sun
pod shut the latchets. In doing so the red lig t
of his flambeau illumlned the openings, and its
lare produced the effect which caused Adria

sa that the eyes she saw had turned to liv-
ing and burned themselves to darkness.

Destruction! I was near betraying myself,
if I have not in get," he owled, si ing for-
ward in. “ des t is is all awaste of
time. be second and the third u may
sound from the fortress at Porto di Lido before
I am through here. I must not be caught un-
pre to do my share of the night’s work——
nsi er must I lose the treasure of Venturi
Adello. Oh, no!"

The period consumed oy the deathsman in
reaching a secret she! in the wall of Adria’s
bedohamber—whic was accom lished by tedi-
ous processes of climbing, craw iug, squeezing,
and with many maledictions on the architect
who arranged such crooked ways and means-—
suflced for the maiden to return from her inter-
view with Lady Perci in the red room.

Drawing the panel slightly ajar he watched.

When the two females stepped out u n the
small balcony, and Adria became wrap in the
contemplation of a moonlight scene wrought to
raise and nourish sweet, reposeful dreams of ro-

I Azhcrt, the Axmanl

holes that were, though he knew it not con- '

ad lost ,

his lost love'loue. '

 

w-

m x~nm -a I -.

 

Azliort, the headsman; you are in mifiower.
Will you promise not to cry outl—or sh
you? It would be a pity to spoil that shafely
mouth, when it is intended for the kisses o my
son, Tobato. Ay, you are to wed him, shortly.
Have you never heard of him? A father‘s word

young knave. You are to be the bride of the
son 0 the ex-chicf of executioners of Venice.
For that you are now m prisoner.

Re—

you enough to try and make you happy.
X on cannot escape

sign yourself to your fate.
—there is no lio )t‘. No, I will not gag you; but
remember: if Illiwir any alarm from your lips,
the soundwill inane the drawing of this edge
over our weasaml, even thou b you are the
promised bride of Tobato,” and 3 exhibited his
ong, two-edged knife, tapping it and nodding
significantly.

Adria was speechless.
upon the dire demon in whose clutches she
found herself, half doubting if her (‘ycs did not
deceive her and her ears mock their hearing
when they understood the hints of Azhort. She
had never seen Toliato, but report circulated
abundantly of the humped and spider-like de-
formity known as the headsman’s son, makiii
him in all a subject of wickedness, ugliness and
loathing.

Had she desired, and had assistance been
within call, she could not then have made a
sound to summon it, so benumbed and parched
grew her throat and tongue before the h 'ena
smirk and red-black blazing eyes of her 6 taut
ca tor.

ut in a second, and while Azhort contem-

himself inflamed by her an iug love-
linesHhe managed to articulate, aintly:

“ Man—if you are man—you cannot mean me ;

harm! I have never injured you. Is it not
enou b that {on have near broken my heart by
bru ly stab in one whom I loved more than
all men on earth Wh have you brou ht me,
by force and after st in my faith nurse
to this stran placel—so li e the recess walls of
a grave that could imagine myself dead or in
anightmare but for your presence. Oh! hor-
rible~horriblei Even now, I can scarce be-
lieve it real-”

“Powers of passion! You are here to remain
until I take you to the arms of m son, Tobato,
who loves you like the wild bird even its mate.
Fix our mind on that.”

“ h, listen to me! Cannot money bribe you!
—tearsi You would not give me to such a mis-
erable fate!”

“ Fate, forsooth! You will be a retty irate
prince“. Think of that. Ha! ha ha! ears?

earsbribe me! They are the water—wrath of
children. Gold! Oh, I have a lenty of such
stuff. and will soon possess enoug to purchase
a kingdom. But there: this is more waste of
time. Ihave much toattend to before I take

,1.
I sag ‘

, same knife,
for it, that Tobato is a bright and promising ‘

You are ‘
quite a pretty maid: I think Tobato will fancy ‘

She could only gaze ’

 

you to the embrace of my clever Tobato. I
shall leave you for awhile. As I have but one
flambeau, you must be content to remain in
darkness until my return. Remember: if you

open our mouth above a whisper—” again be
tapped the blade of the long, two-edged knife
tha leamed in the light of the flambeau. 

“ erc ! Oh! mercy, if thou art a man!”

a u

_“m:

“Oh, Cladiusl Oh, merciful Heaven !" she
moaned. “ Deliver me from this! Would that
I could be with you, dear Cladius! You, at
least, are free from misery! And yet, I am not
fit to die, else I would invite the stroke of the
rhaps, that robbed you of life!”

Despite t e warning of Azhort, her voice
broke into loud sobs, filling the impenetrable
prison with sounds of her heart’s distres.

 

CHAPTER XIII.
THE sc \R ox LADY I’ERCI’S NECK.

WHEN Azhort had gained the other side of
the huge stone block, he immediately, and by
means of a furrow on i his front—corresponding
in position with the crack or space on the o
posite front—drew it back into its admirab y
fitted place.

He stood in a sort of niche not over three feet
deep, by two {at broad and eight feet high.
Before iiin was the first of the three iron doors
of ingress to the secret prison chamber at the
top of the palace.

“ Ho! I am so far—and not very far now,
from Venturi Adcllo. There are three of these
doors. Their bolts—so said Barban—yes, here
they are. Nothing must detain me now if I
would be ready for the last signal gun roni
Porto di Lido. How very quiet everything
seems. But there will be noise enough by day-
light. It was a clever stroke on the part of the
duke to seize the fortress. No doubt he is long
since there, issuing orders. So the government
must have caught wind of it. Well, I do not
think the troops or battle barges can move in

‘ time, now, to nip the bud of the outbreak.
lated her with the hungry ardor of a jungle '

Let me hasten my business with Venturi Adello.
These bolts—”

The only fastening to the door consisted of
three large bolts upon that side where stood
Azhort, these at intervals at the bottom, falling
into a stone sill.

He stoo to raise these bolts. And it was
while in t e act, with his hand on the first bolt,
that the mirror of the red room—with the util-
ity of which he was familiar but did not than
give thought to—was swung open by Lady

errtclin'll‘iiienti, reveahng' her to him most inop-
e y.
polio started to his feet with a jerk that out
the flambeau up and outward, astounding and
almost blinding Lad Perci with its sudden and
brilliant flare, at t e same time “claiming,
with a hoarse, mad snort:
“ Fury and guns!”—and instantly had her by

the throat.

The ruthless, painful grips, the barbarous
countenance of er assa ant, his ghostly and,
to her, unaccountable appearance from the
niche behind the mirror, and a conviction that
she was about to be strangled, all produced an
effect that was remarkable in a woman of Lady
Perci's caliber.

With just one lance of stupefaction disma ,
and recognition nto the visage of the h
man she swooned utterly and sunk to the floor
in a 'mp, still heap.

“ Pit of rdition! I hope I have not squeezed
out her Jig?” exclaimed Azhort, stooping over
the motionless figure. “I have promised to

reserve her for Bel-Bella’s vengi-anCe—my
g‘azienta, who has not forgotten the

at.
! thrust Lady Perci gave her on the deck of the

 

-p s
a,“ was,»
.s. .. m." w

begged t e unfOrtunate maiden, piteously.

1', mam”. Milo” 10“ his 00%” and came 1'01“ Be still, if you wish to save your mouth ‘ Unita. By what unlucky chance did this
fig; ward with the stealth of a cat, and had almost froma a ,” , woman intrude u n me when, in a few m“
[fl the Wmdo" When PM“ turned W “511' With 15b 8. AZhOI't Stepped over her and oon-  ments more, I won d have been in the presence

m“ . it... - .. .

‘6

. “ Sass" 

r4 . ,.

r.

A single blow of his merciless fist struck
down the faithful attendant, and in another
minute he had borne the insensible form of
Adria into the recess behind the panel—just as
the second warnin boom of a n came from the
fortress at Porto i Lido, say ng to every gold-
bought bravo and assassin in Venice:

“ Concentrate! P'repurc 1”

Having extin uished his flambeau Azhort
now rehghted t and proceeded to bind the
wrists and ankles of his unconscious captive
with strips torn from her own skirts.

With eat difficulty—having to carry both
the ‘nai on and the flambcau in such a cramped
space—he ascended a wooden stairway hardly
two feet wide, pausing at a door constructed of
one solid plate of iron and without any visible
fastening, though ti ht and firm.

The instructions 0 the diagram soon enabled
him to o u this door, and assing through and
closing t e door careful! , e deposited his bur-
den on another series 0 narrow steps and sat
down to recover breath.

Adria then regained her senses. The close,
grim walls, like some narrow dismal tomb, the
.. crouching and hideous shape of the headsman—
to her dinied faculties more like an apparition,
at first, of the monster who had slain Cladius
Albumo—all, shown by the ghostly glimmer
of the flambeau, sputtering in an atmosphere of
solemn stillness, congealed the blood in her
veins and iced every nerve with chills of ten

ror.
“ Ho! you are alive again—good,” exclaimed.

Ashort, with one of his houl—like smirks.
“Heaven ’fend me! Where am I? What is
tfl‘pglacei A-hl you are Azhort—murderew”
hence. Not so loud. at your peril. I am

 

tinned the ascent of the narrow Wooden stairs. i of Venturi Adello, bargaining for treasure. I

At the top he came to what appeared to be the 1
termination of the upper portion of the secret j
passage: a stout wal of square stone blocks, a .

single block as wide as the way it barred. I

But by this he was not to be deterred. Brief
inspection discovered a slit or seam between '
the ed 0 of the block and the inner or false
wall. alancing the flambeau a ainst his arm-
pit and inserting his fingers in t e scant hold, ,
he ulled sideways with all "his strength.

e block was a movable one, on well-fitted
grooves, and could be ushed or pulled into the ,
outer and thicker we 1 of the lace. Many .
years of disuse, however—for be it remembe
that the personage from whom Lady Perci’s
first husband bat urchased the buildin did a'
not acquaint the lat r either with the exis nce Z
of this stone or the extensive hidden ways of i
the palace, if, indeed, he knew of them at all— i
had filled the crevices with a dusty and stiffen- i
ing accumulation, and to overcome this re« ‘
quired every strain of that giant's gripe for
which the muscle of the headsman was no—
torious.

Having pushed aside the block, he crawled i

through.

Ad , bound handand foot, wasin totaldark— 3
mass, ignorant of her whereabouts and trem- I
bling in the rospect of a wretched fate which 1
her overbu ened brain, prayed upon by her ,

hopeless situation, exaggerated to thrice its ter-

rors.

Below her the im ble iron door; lb?"
her the implacable end, Azhort; at her side, ,
cold stony walls, through which her weak voice
might not be heard. even had she the temerity
to ring u n herself the exewtion of her cap
tor's munitions threat.

 

had forgotten that Barban ave detailpf this
0 nin into the red room. must revive her.
Facet! ere is more delay.”

Hastening to the table, he snatched up one
of the bottles of wine and poured outa quantity
into the silver goblet. _ This he forced down the
throat of Lady Perm; then he loosened be.-
rich. ruffled orget. .

And simu taneously With the last act, he
leaped. staring. to his feet, giving vent to a

3 loud astonished:

" b—h—o!” and his dark orbs kindled like coals
at a discovery made in unfastening the high
trill of the gorget. '

When at last she unclosed her eyes, Azhon:
half-sat, half-leaned on the edge of the bounty-
spread table, swmging one limb slowly to and
fro. '

-‘ Well, after all, monster, you did not mean
to murder me 1" were her t words. .

“ Had I. do you think you would now belook-
ing at me, and I here? Oh. no. Let me aid
you to rise and swear re ntance for giving
you that fright "—mocking y.

Lady Perci tottered to her feet, and across to
a sofa. refining his touch as if it was pollution.
. “_How came you there!” she asked, faintly,
Indicating the opening in the wall.

Her ever alert perception told her at once that
there must be secrets of the palace with which
Azhort was familiar and of which she was ig-
norant.

The demonish smirk was on his face, numb
ing the pearl—and-keen teeth.

‘How I came there is a secret of myown.
My object—well, before we part I may even tell
you that."

“Your object, I suppose, is the other purse

 

5—0.7 *

for ridding me of Cladius Albumo. I will send 
for it--” ;

“Stay, there!” he commanded, sternly, and i
with a gesture, as she made amovement toward ‘,
the door. ,

“Deathsmanl This to me! Do you know to .
whom you speak?”

“ Ay. Be seated. A word with you.” ,

“Save my soul! but I shall summon assist- ‘
sauce and have you—” l

“ If you do, fire and flame! I‘ll— But you ,
rill not. ” 

Lady Perci began walking ra idly back and
forth, chafing like a. thousan tempers en-
ehained. She was silent, however, reflecting:

“There is murder in the look of this man.
How to be rid of him?”

“ A Word with you, I said, Lady Perci. I
have discovered whyfyou Were so eager to stab
out the eye of my wi e, Bal-Balla.”

“Your wife? Bal-Ballai I have never seen
her; but I have heard of her—another monster,
like yourself.”

“ Look at me closely. Can you think who I
would resemble if I wore a tight, peakless cap
of red satin and black tassel?—boots above my
lmces, a broad black belt and apron, embroider-
ed jacket, cutlass in hand and a hundred men
to obey m will!”

“ Good eaven! ou are—”
“ Yes, I am he: drac, the half-Moor irate.
F‘or eighteen ears, Lady Perc' you and have

I

!hemcd for he same end and my wife ~who
at that date long ago was #azienta, the pirate’s
bride-'33:! planned revenge for the loss of her
eye. For twelve years Iliave tried in vain to
enter this since. Had I known what I now
knowIwo dhavecompelled ou,ere this, toget
me admittance, or denounc and proved on
to Marco Trienti as a woman who once plo
the robbery and destruction of her first bus-

)7

n .
“’I‘is false! And had I known that Azhort,
the headsrnnn, and Sadrac, the pirate, were one
and the same, I could have bro ht your neck
under the edge of your own axl h, that I had
known it I"
“To a. certainty you and I are deadly ene-
mies. But when saith“ you E‘l’otted the de-
struction of Rupert Hill, it is cause I have
seen on your neck the scar of a knife-lilOW—hal
yes—there—j .ist beneath your gorget.”

Not until her attention was has called to it
did she notice her unloosed gorget, and, as she

, rearranged it, concealing the knife-scar alluded
to! she exclaimed: _

‘Ahl it is met. You were at some pains
the deathsman, to revive me.”

“ h b that scar I discover you to be the

retcn c fisher-lad who came to the strong-

ld of Sadrac, the pirate, and offered to show
how an immense treasure could be secured, if I
would pledge myself, b a most binding oath,
toshare it with you. his was the treasure-
chcst of Rupert Riali, your first husband, and it
was packed with precxous stones. You wished
him out of your way in order to enjoy the
treasure as a free and ambitious woman.
Fazienta, my brave bride, wanted to retain you
for ransom; for, though she did not know you
to be a woman in disguise she suspected you as
something more than a fisher’s lad and capable
of bringing us a prize of money. She laid
hands on on. You struck her. She stabbed
you. A atal blow it would have been, had I
not caught a. part of the blade by interposing
my jacket-sleeve. While your neck was being
dressed we made the bargain. Then the attack
on the Units. We did not get the treasure. I
afterward ascertained that only two persons in
the world knew where to look for it: one, Ven-
turi Adcllo, and I had stricken him into the sea
with my Own arm. But I did not cease to h0pe
that I might some da stumble upon a clew to
this lost wealth. I p auned so that it was be-
lieved that 1 and my crew had rishcd. I
cameto Venice. You know what have been
since. Blood-letting seems to have been my
destiny. As to your giving my head to my
own ax, Lad Perci, ho! let me tell you that In
a few hours rem now you will be powerless to
injure any one.” .

“ What means the vulture?” questioned Lady
feral, in her hose and axing at him in as-
tonishment. “ Ah! smel wine. He says that
in a few hours I will be powerless. Yes, this
is certainly wine upon my gor et,” snuiling
downward at the dam gorget. ‘Indeed, I al-
most imagine that I to it. Save my son!!
my mouth is moist even now.” Then, as her

lance fell upon the depleted wine-bottle on the

ble: “ Deathsmaul” she. screamed, with a
deep ague of suspicion, “have you dared to
give me any of that wine?”

The reply of Ashort well-nigh frosethe nerves
within her.

“ You drank quite a dose of it—or, I forced
you to drink it.”

“ Wretch !” .

He e1: vath his sh brows surprised! .

“Demonl”%ianedt ealarmedwoman. “

is isoned’! but I intended for another has
be en me. Alread my brain swuns—my
seems iced! Malediction on you forever,
devildeathsman, tu'ulyl Haste. In thatdruu'cr
beneath the table. A whiu paper—a white

 

Azhort, the Axman.

powder. Give it me. Lose no time. Perhaps
it is now too late.”

She threw herself upon the sofa, fairly pant-
ing with apprehension.

‘ Bows and bullets! how should I know the
wine was poisonedi—though that is the reputa-
tion given by Barban to repasts in this red
room. I was near helping myself to a goblet of
it. But here is the powder.”

So anxious was Azhort to preserve the life of
Lady Perci for the vengeance of Bal-Balln, that
he watched with serious co noel“! tin a effect of
the whitish powder which she emptied, trem-
blingly, on her tongue.

Leaning backward and closing her eyes, she
relapsed into a sort of stupor, in which the mus-
cles of fare and limb twitched anon.

“I think I know that antidote,” muttered the ‘

observant headsman, standing before her like a
grim, scowling statue. “ A neutral fora s -ial
poison discovered and handed down by idus,
the Florentine. If the same stuff is now work-
ing in her that she administered to Barban, the
chain-forger, and had I thought of it, I might
have saved the life of the unlucky dog, after
all. I had best secure the door against intru-
sion here. For if she survives, I have a little
more to say to Lady Perci.”

And leaving her side stealthily, he wrenched
round the ke from the outside of the door and
turned it again upon the inside.

CHAPTER XIV.
amour MAKES ANOTHER CAPTIVE.

FORTUNATELY for Lady Perci, the drug which
her own ban 3 had introduced into the cake,
fruit and wine, for the pur of dosing Adria,
was, as previously stlt , only of sufficient
quantity or power to stupef y a victim and
render im or her liant at the will of the r-
son administering t. This, and the fact hat
she was enabled promptly to use the antidote
for a ison so rare that none had kn0wn of it
—unti the published volumes of that renowned
Florentine physician, Vidus. acquainted the old
hemhere with both the poison and the
re y—saved her from any severe results,
and at the expiration of a few seconds she
aroused, apparently thoroughly recovered.

Probably, had zhort known the exact con-
sequences to ensue upon his giving her the drug
—ms of being convinced, by her evident
alarm, that she was aboutto die—he would not
so readily have found and furnished the white,
antidotal powder; but, exultingin her misha
would have said: “do this,” and “ do thus,’
and “ follow so "—walkin her toher own doom
in the presence of Bal-B

“ Deathsman !” she ejaculated, very white and
weak from the brief ordeal of having the drug
counteracted at a moment when it was taking
hold upon hersystem. “ Deathsmanl I want no
more—will have no more—converse with you.
Let me send for that other and heavier purse
promised. Then do you begone, by the same
means you gained entrance here.”

“ ’Sflamesl not ,yet. A word or somore with
you, Lady Perci.’

Relieved of all anxiety for her life just then,
Azhort sat him down again upon the edge of
the table, grinning and smirking as before.

Though time was fleeting, and he had much
to do before the last boom of the fortress gun
that was to signal the outbreak of the con ira-
tors in Venice, he could not forego the jubilant
desire to prolong this interview in the red
room which evidently tormented a being par-
allel with himself in wickedness and intri e.

“But I am weak. I can scarcesit. must
have assistance,” she protested, snap 'ishly, at
the same time holding to the side of t e sofa to
steady herself in a transit of nausea and diz-

ziness.

“Ohol And if I sat here and watched you
slowly die would it be worse than your treat-
ment of Venturi Adelloi”

“I know naught of him."

“ Come, thou, woman—we both know better
than that. Your life is as an open tablet to me,
since you first bargained with me for the rob-
bery and destruction of Rupert Riali, till now.
Venturi Adello was admitted to this palace
twelve years ago—it was a night of storm, you
may recall qmte well. He never want from
here afterward. 0n the same night you sought
the shop of a chain-forger and worker in metals
and ores—his name was Barban. You brought
Barban here, and Barban brought his furnace
and tool , alsoa long chain. Oh! Now. what
use had ou for Barban and his tools, at an hour
near midnight in the Trienti palace, twelve
years back? 'l’ell me that?”

“All false—everythin you say since your
foul shape dared to en and sneak here! I
never knew of a man by the name of Barban.”

“Shall I sayto your teeth that you lie?” he
exclaimed, scowling. “In the top of this pal-
ace there is a prison-cell. Barhan, blindfold,
was led therc”-—the eyes, mouth, mien of the
man seemed mastering their direct energies to
appall her. “ In the cell there was a man,
dru ged heavily. You are cunning and prac-
ti in drugs, Lady Perci. Runs the waist
of the man, and round a column which is u
there, you “used Barban to weld a chain. A -
tei'z'rard, in this Veryroom, you plied Barban

 

 

1?:

with drugs, got him into your gondola, and,
when a convenient distance from the palace,
 him over to be carried out by the

Lady Perci grew a trifle whiter. Her scarlet
lips were compressed tightly. The words of
Azhort searched, tingled and burned into her
brain and drove away all vestige of her recent
illness from the drug. He was startling her
by revealing that he knew more of her life than
she dared give to the world, though sustained
by money and rank. But she was silent—silent
and thoughtful as to how she might deal with
this dangerous man.

“Durban, the chain-forger, did not die so
easily,” pursued the headsman, after a pause.

And had not Lad Perci such firm control of
herself, she would ave exclaimed, at this an-
nouncement:

“Ahl—did not die, when I filled him to his
neck? Then the ison of Vidu’s private memo-
randum—for which I paid the seller an enor-
mous price—was a lie in itself.”

But she said nothing.
“You left him to 0 his work, in so man
hours, alone in the cell. He was through in ha f
the time. Now, a prying knave was Barban.
Some hours before you called him from above
—he being an apt mechanic and an admirable
rascal for getting at secrets—he learned that of
which you never dreamed, withall your wit and
wisdom: the Trienlipalace had as many pass

ages between its walls as on their outside l”

“ Ah!” aspirated Lady Perci, becoming dou—
bly intent at this.

“ When you thought Barban had finished his
task, you summoned him and brought him,
again blindfold—and he was, by that time,
lau hing in his sleeve at your precautions—bum:
to t is red room. Youhsd a finefeast prepaied
for him—oh! a delicious spread !—aud a bag of
gold on the table. A merry repast of cake,
fruit and wine; something like this, no doubt,”
and be tapped here and there on the viands be
side him. “ Byumph and by oracle! I see I am
interesting ou. So. Well, it was: ‘Ha! ha!‘
laughed yPerci; and: ‘ Haw! hawl’ laughed
the fool, Barban, si ping and tasting hungrily.
0h! a time of tie es and smiles. And when
you had him helplea as a babe, tho'igh able
towalk, you wentanninarm ththe
ti y and poisoned fellow to your gondola.

nally, as sai you toppled him into the wa-
terto drown, an thong that there perished
the witness to the fact that you had a chained
prisoner in the top of the palace. Ho! what
will you say when I tell you that I rescued
Barbanl—for I was near and watchin forthe
reappearance of Venturi Adcllo. Bllglll was
nursed by me. He lived long enough to tell me
all—the prisoner he chained your isoned
feast,the secretpassa sl ’8 mes o Satan!
I do not think on wil ever secure the treasure
of Rupert '-—for which we made compact
years ago—the hiding-place of which is anWn
alone to Venturi Ad 0. I am satisfied that the
man chained to the column is Venturi Allelic.
I am here, to-night to see him. The treasure is
for me—all mine—ho 1”

Then Lady Perci uttered a fierce cry and
sprung from the sofa.

Every bold, bad, resentful impulse of her na.
ture surged upward in her heaving burning
bosom. A hundred fiends of mien and strength
like Azhort could not have trammeled her now.
An expression of consuming fury was molded
in her face.

At a few bounds she reached and swun
shut the hea mirror. In a twinklin she 11
uncoiled the nag-lashed whi from er arm,
sending it, with one apt twir , out full length
over the carpet toward her enemy.

“Come, deathsman!” she screamed, grasping
the short, stout handle with muscles of hens
and confronting him defiantly.—“Come, we
play this aims to its tragic end! You have dis-
covered t t I hold Venturi Adello a prisoner-—
ay, and he shall continue so; mine only. I
know you to be Sadrac, the pirate. on whose
head a price was set eighteen years ago.
battle is between ourselves. Wewilltestif on
can so easily wrest from me the treasure of en-'
turi Adello. Come on, and V on will see a trick
done with a strange weapon in a woman’s pe.
Only over my dead body do you pass ere.
At one cut of this whip I can sever your devil’s
head from its trunk! Come! Ha! h-al not yet,
deathsman—not et!”

There is little doubt that Lady Perci; rp—
flcient as she was in handling the long-las’hed
and fearfnll sinuous whip, could nearly tear a
human h in m its body ata single stroke.
And even as she shrieked those words in the
face of the man whose avowed gimme was to
deprive her of a knowledge she d labored for
twelve years to obtain from the prisoner of the
secret cell, her strong arms had begun to whirl
the stock round and round—as we have seen her
do once before—and the supple lash was re-
treating, rising and forming circles above her
head,tobeletoutinii3resistlem,gun~lihe

sna
“Satanno‘fhflamesu l r'HOl As it; say, there

are two

nimny from thigh: edéflped 0" “us
One of the wine bottles, hurled by his gimt's

w pr

 

 

 

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14'

Azhort, the Axmanu

 

 

L I 7; .V'LL.“ I

am, shot through the air, and before Lady
Pcrci could avoid the missile—enveloped and
Overbolanced as she was by the hissing coils of
the lash—it struck her fairly upon the brow,
momentarily stunning her. 1

She reel —--and once again the iron fingers
of tho headsman, who leaped forward and upon
her with the quickness of lightning, twmed
around her wind ipe.

He forced her ckward and down, bringing
her head to his knee, holding firnilv by the
throat with one hand, and with his other hand
drew forth the bright-bladed and sharp knife he
evor carried.

“Heaven save my soul 1” groaned Lady
Perci in her heart; “ I am about to ho assassi-
nated by the same knife that slew Cladius Al-
bumo at my command.”

'While he held her helplessly thus, and seemed
meditating whether or not to sacrifice her—his
posture and glaring eyes both full of horrid
menace—there was a loud knock at the door.

“ Lady Perci! Lady Perci!” called the voice
of Adio Adello.

“Answer him,” commanded Azhort, his ac-
cents like the warning of a serpent’s hiss in the
ears of the powerless woman. “Bid him be-
gone; or, by death and darkness! your life ends
in this minute. You have already tempted me
too far. Feel of this ”—slightly pricking her
beneath the chin with the keen point.

“Lady Perei! There—Lady Pcrcil” called
Adio a second time, thumping louder upon tne
panel outside.

“ that is it, dear Adio?” she managed to re-
Ely, shivering as the cold steel weapon touched

er flesh.

“ Did I not hear you cry out? What has hap-

nedi—tell me, I implore. May I not enter

or your relief '5’

_ “ Oh, if Adio would but come in!” she hoped,
in silence, unaware that Azhort had turned the
key in the lock.

‘Answer,” hissed the serpent tongue in her
ears.
“ An almond-shell, Adio—no more. It has
bruised my feet through this miserable slipper.
Donot enter, nor tarry there. I will see' you
shortly. I am not much hurt, after all.”

Listening to the departing footsteps of Adio

dcllo, Ashort thrust back his knife into,its
sheath.

“’Tis well,” he said, nodding. “You have
saved your life, so for. Now, shall use this
whip to bind your arms and limbs. It will he
as well to gag you also. I wish to rescue
you for my Wife, Bel-Bella, to deal wi h. It is
not pleasant to treat you thus~degrading for a
high and noble lady. But you are sly as a cat
and have a wondrous arm. I must guard
against your treachery. I shall return directly
and. bring with me enturi Adello. For the
sake of revenge upon you when he shall see me

vo you to my tigress, hal-Balla, and for his

berty too, I am sure that he will tell me
where to find the treasure-chest.”

While speaking, and cutting pieces from the
Whip, be bound her hand and foot and gagged
her securely, then deposited her, in this condi-
tion on the sofa.

“  There you can abide for awhile. I do
not think you can give any outcry or escape
me. Now for Venturi Adello,” And to him-
self: “Thunder on high! I vow—b the saints
and the gods l—nothing further sha l delay me.
The Duke d’Ossuna may take it into his wits to
sound that third signal from Porto di Lido be-
fore midnight!”

Returning to the mirror, he soon found its

is , by reference to Bai'bah‘s diagram. En~
torizi the niche, rclighting the flambeau and
draw the bolts of the iron door, he started

upwar , leavin Indy Pcrci impotent in her
rage and thrille by t e prggect of some ter-
rible fate at the hands 0 Balls, while the
ex-chief of executioners proceeded to interview f
the parse e from whom, both his and her 
am tious and avaricious dreams had painted,
the secret hiding of the treasure of a kingdom
might be discovered.

 

CHAPTER XV.

, rm: KAN IN THE CELL.
| WI: shall precede Azhort and look in upon the
sell prisoner of the secret cell situated at
the extreme top. between the walls, on the
front'and one corner of the 'l‘rienti palace—di-
gressin briefly to relate in what manner he
came t ere.

At the time, previousw shown, when Sadmc,
the half-Moor plate. and his ferocious minions
attackedthe good ship Unite, through the in-
stigation of Lady Perci—who had visited the
on aw stronghold in the disguise of a fishers
1:3 and received the wound in her neck from
B - whose name, then, was Fazienta—
the bold, tal and reckless corsairlmd been
overmatched and repulsed. thou h in that ar-
fray perished Rupert Riali an Lad Amee
Adello, and Sadrac, himself, struck euturi
Adello into the sea. r

in the heat of conflict, Lady Pei-c! rushed
:.,.mi the deck and, Seeing an Opportunity to re-

 

"?e herself frr i‘w :4‘:‘.b"."ult her by Fazioni’ia,
' '- _.’. _‘ '1w‘. (mlztie

M. grasped  .

eye of the tigress—woman—who was fighting
Side by side with her husband—very nearly
piercing skull and brain with the same blow.

After returning tothe Unita, just subsequent
toher heinous compact with the pirate chief-
tain, Lady Perci overheard a portion of a con-
versation between her husband and Venturi
Adello, discovering to her that the immense
treasure—to obtain which she was steepin her
soul in crime—had gone by another gal eon,
and Venturi Adello knew where was to be its
secret lace of deposit. Had she been in time
to cate all that was said, she would have ascer-
tained that one other, besides Adello, possessed
the valuable knowledge—that one a rizzle-
bearded fisherman on the lower coast of taly.

Therefore, with the death of Rupert Riali
and the apparent drowning of Venturi Adello,
she believed that the enormous wealth was lost
forever, and was for many days prostrated by
this;s great blow to her ambitious and viperous
p o . '

Sadrac had contrived to place a spy on board
the Unita before the Vessel started on its home,-
ward voyage. This emissary was, also, a lis-
tener when Rupert Riali and Venturi Adello
spoke together concerning the treasure. But
he heard all, and much more than Lady Perci:
that there were two persons in the secret, and
one was a fisherman upon the coast toward
which the Unita was bound. This information
he sent to the pimtes’ retreat, but it arrived too
late. and Sadrnc did not receive it until after he
had returned from his defeat by the brave crew
of hisintcuded way.

On the night fore the day, six years later,
that she was to be wedded to Marco Trienti—a
night of moaning wind and drenching rain—
Iiady Perci was summoned by a visitor in the
room of marble panels and fluted columns,
whose message by the page was almost imper-
ative.

The comer’s face and form were shadowed
and concealed by a broad but and lon cloak,

both fairly drippingwith wet; but on or a
pearanCo he drew these aside, revealin himse f
to be a man of splendid physique an not un-

handsome countenance, perhaps sixty years of

age.

At the very first glance, Lad Perci drew
back in astonishment and falter , like a person
who sees a ghost.

“Save my soul! Can it be? Am I awake?
You are Venturi Adello, back from a grave in
the sea?"

“ No ghost, Lady Perci.” was the deep-voiced
res use. accom ied by a courteous bow.
“I is Venturi Adello, in the flesh. .Do you
think me greatlg altered since last we met?”

“ But li tle. ut how were you savedi—and
where have you been since that terrible affair
on the Unita, six years ago?"

“It is a long story, quite,” said the visitor.
“ I have traveled far, and to-night have braved
the storm you hear raging without. If we can
be more private, I will acquaint you with m
experiences and the urgent cause of my '
to the palace under such im tient nest.”

She was fairly recover from the surprise
created at seeing here the man who was cut
down and thrown overboard by the hand of
Sadrac, the pirate, as her own eyes had wit-
nessed. From the very instant she beheld his
features, and in a few respirations of time, she
then ht:

“ h, heavenly luck! My star of fortune is in
the zenith! Here is the man, back in life, who
alone knows where to find the vast treasures
that once belonged to my husband! Now sus-
tain me, ovary atom of my wit !—for I do swear
that 1 will get the secret from him, cost what it
may! Bless the saints for preserving Venturi
A'lellol” W'hile aloud shesaid, azin momently
into the hall while speaking: ‘ We come dear
friend of old. Come with me, and gladi . I
am most eager to know by what mirace of
Providence 'ou escaped the cutlass of Sadrac
and the col waves of the Adriatic. Ah! your
pre tence recalls a sad event in my life—With a
tinge of happiness, nevertheless, n being able
thus to clasp the bands of one who was ever a
true friend to my lamented husband.” And so

resting him, she warmly took his hands in
ers, smiling as if thrilled joyously at the meet-

m I

The maids and servitors of the palace were
bustling in anticipation of the event of Lady
Perci’s marriage on the marrow, gossi ing over
the magnificent presents flowin in to heir mis~
tress or regaling themselves wit reviewing the
costly decorations with which every apartment
of the building was dressed. The attractions
for them being, b chance, 'ust then in another
portion of the p ace—muc to the exultation
of Lady Perci—she conducted her visitor to the
red room without being percoived. .

Tappinga small gen 0n the outside of the
door, she ordered refres ment.

Here was inaugurated the mystery in regard
to the red room, which, as years ela . SNW
more profound; for she received at the door the
various trays and salvors of tempting “ands
and sparkling wine. and issued low-toned orders
that no one should dare, from that date for-
ward, to venture within the chamber.

In the drawer of the luxurious table 1413'

 

.1 ‘

Perci kept a number of small and scru ulously-
folded papers, some of these white an some or
a pink color. They contained the powerful poi-
son of various effects and its antidote, learned
from certain private memorandums of Vidus,
the Florentine, which she had purchased at
fabulous cost, froman avarieious antiquar .

By dextrous manipulation she introduc the
potent drug into the brimming flagon of her
companion, and as he held the deem to his lips
she said, purringly:

“New, good friend Adello, pray tell me all
about ourself.”

“ Be ore I do that, dear lady, I must put one
question. Do not keep me in suspense. What
has become of my two children? You may
well realize how a father’s heart has yearned for
them—the more so, because I have never been
able to reach Venice till now. Tell me, first of
all where—God grant that they are alive and
in health l—where are In two darlings, my boy
and girl, my recious A i0 and Adria?”

He took a eep draught from the flagon, like
a man who has thirsted long.

Lady Perci did not immediately reply to the
precipitate interrogation of her Visitor.

The question char ed her brain with a men—
strous idea. Could e have read through the
deep, unwinking gaze fixed upon him and mea»
suring him, he might have seen something writ-
ten and absorbing in her son! like this:

“Aha! I have it. What more potent means
could have been placed at my command? This
is ail I might have desired. Once let me get
this dupe Into the prison cell shown me six
years by my husband, Rupert Riali, and I
shall bring to bear upon him such biting, heart-
tearing influences that he would sc oner disclose
to me a hundred treasures than rmit the sacri~
flee I can consummate. I wi ! threaten him
with the marriage of Adio and Adria—ay, and
have the ceremony performed in his sight; for
only three Xersons in the world could bear wit-
ness that die is not and never was his' son:
Lad Anice-who is dead; an old fisherman on
the ower coast—also dead by this time, I pre—
sume, for, of course, the Santo of Venice to-day
cannot be the same with whom I dealt twenty-
three years age; lastly, myself. Some such in-
fluence mustbe used, for in that conversation
between my husband and Venturi Adello, in the
cabin of the Unite, I heard Rupert say: ‘ Adel—
lo, my true friend I have a premonition of
harm that isto befall me. In view of it and
for the many services you have rendered me,
do not forget that one-half the contents of my
treasure-chest is for yourself. I am wea
with the cares of business, and if I survive th
voyage you and I will have enough of riches
for the remainder of our lives. We will live as
brothers.’ ButI have no intention of sharing
with Venturi Adello, who will soon be in my
power. Another flagon of wine, and he is com.
pleter at my mercy."

“Tell me, ’he asked again, “where are my
darling children i” -

“Dear friend, have no fears for them; Adria
is even new in the lace.”

“Heaven be p sed! And my boy—Arlio?”

“Is with the brother of Lady Amos—Marco
Trienti.”

“Ah! that I were in more presentable con.
dition. 1 would beg you, dear ady, to send for
Adria.”

“Be not too impatient. You shall be
able to clas both in your arms. And the will
be rejoic —swect childreni—to receive back
from the grave that father of whose virtues I
have tau t them constantly. How I long to
see their aces beam. But wait. You must re-
main m guest to-night. For I may whis r
to you’——smiling like a siren—“that on he
marrow I will be wedded to Marco Tl ienti; and
thus with you and Adio and Adria and a bus-
band to whom I will he'd‘evoted. the palace
will be a most happy abidin -place. Let me
be! you to more wme ”—lean ng forward and
rep enisbin the flagon so gracefully that he
scarce dare decline. “ And do not forget that
I am consuming to learn the detail of your won-
derful escape from death by the hand of Sadrac,
the half-Moor pirate.” \

“True, I owe that duty to my presence first. '
Tomorrow will do to see my children. Your
health, Lady Perci. And when I haVe finished,
it would be pleasant to hear something of your-
self and how your betrothal with Marco Trienti
trans ired.”

“ 9 shall exchange two widely different his-
tories, I am sure.”

“To begin: when I was stricken from the
deck of the Unita—” He said no more than

this.

The second flagon of wine had been drained-
it suddenly slipped from his grasp and roll
upon the floor. Every nerve, from head to sole
seemed stiffening. His lips. tongue and three
grew parched ; a noise like the roar of tumbling,

daming waters filled his hand; his vision diz-

. “ What—what is this?" :helgurgled. brokenly.
"What has come over me! t seems like poison
in my stomach—in my veins. I burn. Ha]
Lady Perri! Treacheryl—and forwhnt? I—”

Then his chin sunk to his breast, his eyondg

Vclosod. and the drug had done its. war‘. 1

v

V- ~_.‘_-‘ . v

V- ~_.‘_-‘ . v

fir.-_.._4~_ - .. -

“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed Lady Perci, exult-
antly. “ What care I ow you escaped the cut-
1838 of Sadrao or the waves of the Adriatic!
Enough that you are Venturi Adello, that you
know where the treasure can be found, and that
you are in my power!”

lVe have spoken of the unusual strength of 1

Lady Perci’s arms. 0n the night of this deed, l

with the advantage of twelve years of youth,
she was even more muscular. Exerting herself
to her utmost, she dragged her victim to the .
secret prison cell, and then, while yet panting i
from the effort, Sought Bni'ban, a chain-forger
and worker in ores and metals. When Barban,
at her order, Welded a chain round the waist of

the prisoner and round the smooth column in l
the cell, she invited him to complete the repast

“('llllcll the operation of the drug had interrupt- '

e .

What followed may be divined from the I
speeches of Azhort in the brief interview which
he forced upon Lady Perci in the red room,
twelve years subsequent to his rescue of Bar-
ban from the canal.

The ensuing day had nearly waned, and
Lady Perci was the wife of Marco Trienti, ere
the unlucky captive awoke to his harrowing
surroundings, and for Weeks the fiend jailer
feared that his reason was hopeleml gone, as
she listened, at the small grating o the iron
door to his violent gibbermg and incoherent

“VIII .

Butg the brain asserted its function at last,
and then she began to say, regularly, as she
b ht him food:

“ all me, Venturi Adello, where I will find
the treasure-chest of Rupert Rialil—if you
fiivle apt squandered it, which I do no deem

e .‘

“ am not Venturi Adello!”

“ Foolish man! Answer, if you would regain
your liberty.”

“I swear that I am not Venturi Adello, but
an accursed fool that I ever nated him!
I know nothing of the treasure ” he protesting-
ly howled a score of times.

“ Aha! it will not avail you to be obstinate.
If you do not tell me, and truly, on will never
come out of there alive. More, Will bring be-
fore you Adio and Adria—your own children——
and a priest shall wed them. Thmw not
thatt are brother and sister. upon
that, an save them from such shame.”

In vain he vowed, by all the saints, that he
was not Venturi Adello and denied the know-
ledge of the whereabouts of Rupert Riali’s
treasures. '

Years went by. His beard grew to his waist,
hisnails were like birdclaws, his hair tangled
in fast-whitening tresses. And almost inces-
santly he was given to wild screams and
mutterings that never penetrated to mortal
ears save when, at the quietof night, he would
place his mouth to the small, round, telescopic
opening far up in the palace wall and send
forth that half-smothered, prolonged and
ghostly “ hallo-o-o!" which wrought upon the
superstition of many in the vicinity of the
canal of Isle Murano and caused the minds of
the more intelligent to marvel greatly.

Lady Perci had specially manufactured that
ion dashed and terrible whip, and practiced
wit it until, at will, she could stand within
the entrance of the Cell and deal the poor
wreteh a blow that ripped and tore through the
tatters of cloth and into his flesh when he fled
to the utmost of his chain.

Twice a year, u n certain days she would
thus cut at him, elivering at each time but
one blow, and upon each occasnon saying:

“ Are you ready, now, to tell me what I wish
to know?” _

For several years she had not inflicted this
outrage and it was fortunate forher that she
had no further occasion to enter his cell.-

ln the latter part of his confinement his body
had so fallen away and his bones so limbered
that it was an eas matter to all of! the finely-
woven circle of links that bated his waist.
Then, like some hungered and cunning beast,
still wearing the chain, he waited for an op-

rtunit to seize his tormentor: for, though
£900 of t 0 chain at option, he could not reach
out and down, through the movable wickel’n ‘0
the lieav bolts at t e bottom and outSide of
the iron oor. . .

“ Oh! Oh!" he would grind from his gritting
teeth, time and again. “I will yet have her

 

 

cha places with me. Yes. And I shall l
feed er as she did me—on poison I—apmsunl
Hal hal’

was in one of these, or some such frenzy of
ntgrance, that—animated to insanit by .the
nourished pros ct of revenge—he fair y shriek-
.“ the w0rd; ‘POISON!n And this happened
.on the night and in the instant that Adria was
about to partake of the drugged grapes, and as
the plug of the microphomc-tubenfell out in the
red room below—his chains shaking and clank-
ing simultaneously in a convulsion of frantic

a et . .

g hoztly succeeding this and while ageing toI
and fro in the darkness of his prison. heard
the lower and middle iron doors open, anda

 

sound of footsteps on the thick and narrow
woodmatairl.

Azhort, the~ ,

15

 

n-7,..- _. ..

Slipping his chain, he ran to the door and
crouched 0w down under the wicket.

“Oh! Oh! she comes—the accursed Lad
Perci! Wh have I never thought of this be-
fore? Iwil reach out and her hair. I
will hold her till, with her oot, she raises the
bolts which I know are alon
door. Freedom to—night— reedom! Ha! ha!
these long nails, then leave her here to starve,
die,”rot!——or feed her on poison, as she did
me!

He shook like a wind-ruffled leaf.

CHAPTER XVI.
THE DISAPPOINTMEN’T or aznoa'r.
THE footsteps on the secret stairs ascended
ra )idly.
e form of the prisoner shrunk lower and

 

his hands, with nails like claws, worked itch- .

ingly in their im iaticnce to dart upward and
gripe the hair of Lady Perci as she opened and
presented at the small wicket, according to cus-
tom, a supp!
twenty-four ours.

But the comer was not Lady Perci.

The rays of a flambeau illumined the interior
of the cell, and a coarse, guttural voice ex-
claimed:

“ H0, in there! Venturi Adello! Show your-
self to me!”

There was a shrill yelp of surprise from within,
and a cor like, 0 verous visage, with the
eyes of a unatic, ressed close to the grating,
staring incredulous y at Azhort.

Even the headsman, inured as he was to the
curdling sights of the ducal dungeons, retreated
8. ate and flared forward the flambeau, as if to
wa 08 an expected pounce from the frightful

sha%
“ ho art thou?” barked the risoner.

“ Azhort the deathsman of enice.”

“Oh! Oh! And ouarehereto lead me to
my execution. We] ,take me out. The bolts are
at your feet. Quick. If I am only to escape
by death, then better so. Twelve long years-
twelve—I have been caged in here. Come, out
with me. Welcome, axman. Open the door.”

“Not so fast, Venturi Adello. True, I am
here to take you away, but not to death, and
only on one condition. Light in darkness!
Promise to tell me where the treasure-chest ot'
Rupert Riali is concealed, then 1 will liberate
you and we will share it. You shall have re-
ven upon Lady Perci who has, I know, kept
vou ocked up for twelve years. Talk fast, now.
Is it a bargain?"

“ Reven , ou say? Ha! that is what I want
most of al . raw the bolts at the bottom of
the door—”

“ Pest! Answer first; will you lead me to the
treasure?"

“ But I know of none—that is, I do not know
where it is. Lady Perci has asked me the same
question for twelve years, and because I could
not answer, my bac is striped and sore from
the lash. She, too, takes me to be Venturi
Adello. I am not he. Curses on the hour in
which I ever personated him! Let me out. Oh!
Oh! free me and let me get at Lady Perci!
Haste!”

“What do you mean by denying that you
are Venturi Adello?” demanded Azhort, scowl-
ing. “ Come, you have suffered enough, I
think, for this same stubbornness. Here is a
chance for liberty and revenge. Speak"

.“ Think you I would withhold a million trea-
sures if the could bu my freedom?”wailed
the miserab 0 being. ‘ Lady Perci has threat-
ened to marry the son and daughter of Venturi
Adello if I do not inform heras she wishes—and
I cannot. Were I their father, would I let
treasure, or an ht else, be the cause of such a
shamel No. am not Venturi Adello, hear
me swear! Lei: me out, now l”

“ Dragons of flames! If not Venturi Adello,
who then, are you?”

“ ears of torture have almost caused me to
for et who I am. But I was once called Oberek,
an I served as a corsair in the Mediterranean.
Oh! Oh! will you draw those bolts?”

The dark heart of the headsman fairly lumped
in his throat. He snarled a dreadful oath. beat
his breast, tore at his raven hair and shook the
fiambeau furiously aloft.

“Ho! Thunders and fire! Fury and guns!
You are not Venturi Adello, but Oberek, who
served in my own crew as a 31.3 eighteen ears

. Misfortune of the Evil ne! And am
Sadrac. Icould tear you asunder joint from
'oint! My dreams—my dreams of treasure are
ost! Ho I shall go madafter this! Mycurse
on you l” and for_a few seconds he was unearth-
ly to behold in his paroxysm of disappointment
and rage.

” Oh. yes!” howled the prisoner. “ Now that
Iain usedto the torch, and as I look closer, I
know you to be c, once in pirate chief
I remember our eyes—e es the could almost
destroy. Ge me out of t is, in return for the
risk I ran for you by playing spy on the Unit;
e hteen years ago." ‘

Tell me how you could deceive Lady Perci
into believing that you were Venturi Adello?”
hoarsely thundered the euro ed Aabort quiver-
ing in the excitement p need by this cold

l

l
l

n

l

the bottom of this ‘
: And she !--I will first scratch out her eyes with I

dash upon his long and avaricious dream of
treasure-finding. \

‘_‘ That is an easy matter. In the ii ht on the
Unite, I had to leap into the sea, for was de-
tected in wetting the powder and had but a mo—
ment in which to save my skull from a trun-
cheon. I caught at a spar. To the other end of
this spar clung Venturi Adello, (1 ing from a
sword-wound across his head. on, at last,

, he did die, I rifled his pockets and let him sink.

of victuals intended to sufiice for “

 

I had studied his whole appearance. and saw
that, in all but my board, I resembled him
much. After my rescue I went to France and
set about pre ring myself for the societ in
which I had ctermined to mingle—for, aided
by the valuable papers I secured while afloat 0n
the spar, and a slight similarity of personal a
piearance, I intended to present myself 5

enice as Venturi Adello and the father of his
children. I knew a great deal of his private af-
fairs, which I learned on the Unita. When I
had brought myself to look more like Venturi
Adello and was nicely mannered, I knew I must
have :ome convenient wealth, anal so went in
search ,of a certain fisherman on the lower
coast— ‘

“Thou dog, Oberek! Re, you desired that
wealth which your chief failed to secure? Then
there has been a trio after the chest of Rupert
Riali: lady Perci, Oberek and Sadrac. Now—
fire of the fiendsl—who is to get it since you
say Venturi Adello was drowned? V hen your
missive reached me from the Unita—too late to
have saved the lives of many of my crew from
a useless battle—you mentioned that fisherman
on the lower coast as the second and last person
on earth knowin where was the hidden trea-
sure. But you did not give his name.”

“Oh! Oh! Ican dosonow, if it will ‘avail
you. But when I went to the lace, he had dis-
appeared. No one could tel where he had
gone. He must be dead ere this.”

“ His name—dog!” -

“ I remember in the talk between Adello and
Riali, in the cabin of the Unita, they filled him
by the name of ‘ Santo.’ ”

A shout burst from the lips of the headman.

“ Saute! Ho! Santa, you say?"

“ Yes, that was it. Let me out, now. Draw
the bolts.”

“ So, it is not lost yet I” Aahort laughed,
hoarsely. “ I am in better humor! Santo, the
fisherman! He lives, and I can find him i” v

“Let me out!” whined Oberek, rattling the
wicket in his skinny hands.

Ashort kicked up the bolts and turned to de-
scend. His ears were instantaneously saluted
by an infuriated yell and the ghostly prisoner,
now released, dashed down past him, clawing
the air like a very madman.

“ Stay there—fool! If you show yourself in
the pal’a’ce you will be pierced by half a doaen
lancesl

Oberek sped headlessly on, seeking nothing
and rocking for naught save some dead! ven—
geance upon the woman who had held him in-
carcerated for twelve years and marked his
ragged back with welts from the long-lashed

wbi .

“Il‘hat mad-dog will make short work with
Lady Perci, whom I left gagged and boundl"
growled Azhort, quickly fol owin the insane
creature. “Destruction on my to ly! why dd
I not close the mirror? I want Lady Perci for
the vengeance cf Bai-Balla. The palace will now
be aroused before the third signal gun from
Porto di Lido, and that will not suit me; for in
the mall‘s—when the braves rise—I intend to
carry the pretty Lad Adria to my gondola. I
know that Tobato w‘ 1 not fail to be at the land-
ing. Plague! I me. not be able to see Saute,
the fisherman, unt' after the riot and pillage.
Beak of Beelsebubl—halt, lunatic! I cannot
overtake the rascal!”

Butin binding and gagging Lady Perci. the
ex-chief of executioners had no ordinary cap-
tive to deal with. Within a few minutes after
his departure upward, she rolled from the sofa
and, on her knees—her ankles‘ bein fettered—
worked her herself sideways town the door.

“Not yet, thou over-calculating and abomir
nable deathsman!” filled the quickness of her
fancy, together with a mode conceived for her
ownrelease. “ Give me buta few momen and
I will be free in time to imprison you with 'en-
turi Adello. You shall starve in the secret cell!
I think I know what you meant by saying that I
would be powerless to in ‘ure any one a few
hours hence. Aha! we aha i see.”

Both knob and key were above her reach
when she finally maneuvered to a standing pos-
ture with her back to the door.

Then she stooped and insertin her nose in the
100 of the key, easily turned t round in the
loc . Again she stooped, this time pressing her
right eye against the knob. This knob was
small angular on the circumference and rough-
ly embellished at the edges. In the cavity of
he:i face formed buyd the cornbmeg um su-
pe or maxillary a superior or it nos,
and by a firm contraction of the flesh of the
cheek, Lady Perci obtained a hold upon the
knob so in a few trials, in turn-
ing it. As the latchet clicked and the door
Jarred slightly from the frame, she once more
used her nose. thh time as a prior,

 

ca rm
, “Si! twillherosesandloveand heaven for

.16-

Azhort, the Axman.

 

 

N... _...

the door wide—and thus, with eye and nose,  too shrewd to rise and strike out from the place,

sheoiened her wayfrom theredroom.
To ersurprise,she stood face to face with l

Adio Adello. l
I position.

Adio had changed his attire. He was belted
around shoulders and waist; his hands were ,
gloved with knuckles of steel; he wore a dag- l
ger and stout sword, and on his head a cap ‘;
with the ancient green and black war plumes of g
the Trisnti. f

“ My dear Lady Perci, I would not intrude, ’
but something of stirring importance de-
mands—” be was hastening to say, then paused
staring in amazement at her gagged mouth an .

tied wrists.

Before he could make a motion to relieve her,
or ask the cause of her astonishing plight, a
wild screech rung piercing! y throug the room
and Oberek—his great eyes protruding from
their sunken sockets and talon fingers clutching
and tearing at the air—burst forth from the
a rtiéi'e in the wall, which Azhort had neglect-

to ose.

 

CHAPTER XVII.
ma Britain: or run err.

Wm the events of the last eleven chapters

within the Trienti palace, other
scenes, equally important, were transpiring
outside.

It had seemedto the spangle-tighted and ugly
{gating dwarf, Tobato—as he rowed his father,

headsman, from their “ fort” to the landing
at the residence of the senator—that the blac
gondola did not respond to his exertions at the
car with its customary celcrity: for, though
small and misshaped of figure, and with the dis—
advantage thut the car was too cumbersome for
him, Tobato’s strength, owing to constant and
severe devotion to gymnastic exerciscs, nearly
equaled that of a more perfectly developed man.

Considering that he had earned his “tubful
of span ice and a dozen suits,” by hastening to
deliver ‘ evil-browed though reverenced pa-
rent at the dues stair, he now scnlled care-
lessly along p cturing in mind the shi with its
Barbary crew and a pirate flag, himse f a prince
in littering spanglcs and the beautiful Adria
for is bride.

“Hi! How delicious!” he crowed, in a half-
whisper, looking up at the high-sailing moon as
if he saw there a vision of the he. piness rom-
ised him in future. “ Hi! Hi! hata sp endid
finish I will make as a pirate, small as I am
next in command to my smart father! How I
shall cut, slash and plunder the merchantmen!
And Adria, my bloomin bride, decked out in
jewels of a princess! dorable Adria! How
my heart thumps when I think of her. I never
knewI had such a lovin heart until I saw
Adria. Peerless Adria! S e shall have a couch
with down from the swan: a coronet of dia-
monds big as eg of a dove; sandals of solid

old; a wardro from the best makers in
ope. lead the life of a houri
with music of angels to delight her ears and
breezes of perfume and amours to fan her
cheek. Oh, neue shall dare to look at her but
myself. Iwill si to her, lay for her, fight
and bleed for her, ance for er so—so—so -
‘ like a monkey on the narrow deck.

as both, dear heart. Unsurpassable Adria! But
what can be‘the matter with this boat, 1 won-
der?” as he noticed that the generally light—
fioatinz and speedful gondola dra ged heavier
than ever, and putting greater ort into his

“'I am sure that my smart father will secure
Adria for me," continued the gay-toned To-
bato, to himself. ” He always succeeds in what-

! retarding t

' Cladius

 

ever he undertakes. Oh, but it would rend my
soul in twain if I did not get the charming ;
maid for a wife. I must not imagine such woe.
On! one thing I dread: that masquerading :

on olier in our house. He, heard and, no ,

oubt, understood all. He knows that we are .
plotting to abduct Adria—any lovely,dark-o ed ,
Adria! 'What if he should inform, and sue a
cordon of watchfulness then be placed about ,
her, that neither plot nor force be able to reach '
her? Miserable thoughtl—letme banish it. Hi!
but I would give a ton of sp'anglcs to catch that
s y now, swimming; to tap him on the head, 3
dist gently, then a little harder then—”

While saying this last aloud, Tobato took his
game from the moon and looked searchineg
around for the floating head of the s y who had
dived, from the landing at the “ eathsman’s

ort.

And while the words were yet upon his lips,
there was a splash and dri pple behind him and a

ir of hands, with the gripe of a vise, fell upon

im, shoulder and limb.

Up he went, high and upon nothing, then
outward with a force that hurled him several
yards from the ' 'ndola.

Tobato uttor a sharp cry while in midair,
and another when he i. rose, like a duck, to the
surface of the water; and when he dashed the
spra from his astounded eyes, he saw the black
gen 01a shooting swiftly away, leaving him to
swim for his life.

' When Eiero dived, as the reader will remove.
her, from the stair at Aahort’s abode on the i
northernmost isle of the New Mantle. he was

, the

I knowing that father and son would instantly

and rly seek for him and undoubtedly beat
out his rains as he swam in such a defenseless

'hirning under water, he came up at the stern
of the steel—prowed gondola—which, unlike the
usual gondola, only had one prow—and there he

l

l
l
y
l
!
i

l

clung during the trip to the palace, his weight ‘

e motion, until, swinging himself
adroitly to the deck, he grasped and cast the
execrable dwarf headlong overboard, exclaim-
ing, angrily:

‘ So! By St. Mark! You would like to tap
me gently at first then a little harder, and so
on until my head was effectually split, I sup-
pose. Take a bath, thou apel—and thank the
cherubs that I do not thrott c you instead. Au-
dacious chip from a Satanic trunk l—to dare
such lan go of one who is the betrothed of
lburno!
rid of one poisonous spider, I vow. Now, then,
to find my beloved commander, the brave
Cladius, if e be in the land of the livin . I
heard wolfshead, the headsman, as. that t ere
was no blood upon his knife, and know that
my commander, Cladius, put on an under-
jacket of mail this very morning. If the knife
of the assassin did not find his vitals then all
ma be well, for I know him to be a most ex-
cel ent swimmer.”

Piero had been sufficiently rapid of move-
ment to catch the our before it slid over the
side, and plying this with his vigorous arm, he
turned the prow of the gondola toward the
principality of Venice.

intent and anxious was he to reach
Cladius Albumo, if that rson should be alive,
that he did not notice a ark streak or low-set-
ting and thin-shaped something following close
in his rear.

It was a sharp, water-rimmed skifl, and in
the skiff sat and rowed the second sp who had
been caught eavesdroppin at the cor of Az-
hort’s home the same who ad tried to sell the
rawboncd do , in an earlier chapter to Adio
Adello. Evi entl he was dogging 'ero-as
we shall still gnate that person—and his
two-bladed car was still bringing him closer,
notwithstanding the swiftness of the steel-prow-
ed ondola.

“ trust I will not be recognized,” was the
hope of Piero, as be tied the gondola to a ring
at the landing footin a cramped and poorly-
lighted street, and t en hurried forward on
foot. “ That monkey son of the ex-chief of ex-
ecutioners had keen e es. He has robbed me
of hat, wi and w are. D0 of mischief!
Had they ound me out sooner am surethat
Azhort’s ax, and his wife’s claws, and his son’s
clownning jaws, would have sundered me
in s and particles. But it is not far to the
house of Santo, the fisherman and with this
thick collar—stiff with wet, and I am dripp'
as if from a shower-bath—it is not likely thaltli
will be known. If there is to be an attcm t to
gills. e Venice—as I know from what I ave

—by St. Mark! what better opportunity
for my beloved commander, Cladius Albumo,
to distin ish himself and rave, by heroic ser-
vice, tha he is still a frien to the conspiracy-
tossed Republic. Come, it was fortunate.
rather, that I so recklessly entered the den of
Azhort—though I pretty near lost my valuable
head when he be an practicin with his devil-
ish ax, and all t reewent wil over the res-
Feict of burning, killing, plundering an the
l e.
seeking Cladius Albumo— Ha!
saw a shadow cast before me.”

He half— aused and looked back.
Close he. find him, darting jumping, skulkin
and ainin quickly, Was the spy occupant c

thought I

Drown there, and Venice is ‘

 

But let me think of nothin , now, save ,

l

*9

are Dcldric, the Dane second. ofiicer in com-
mand of the war-chi of Cladius Albumo. Aha!
Two traitors in a ew houn. Bo strikes The
Ten. This for you because you followed an out-
lawed chief !”

Piero, wounded and bleeding, staggered to
his feet, knife in hand, prepared for a second

attack.

“By St. Mark! Assassin!” he hissed, scarce
above his breath. “ If your cowardly thrust is
fatal, I only ray the I may have strength
enough to reac the house of Santa, the fisher-
man, and tell what I know 1”

And perceiving that he was alone, and no
further assault imminent, he reeled onward,
though holding his Weapon ready.

CHAPTER XVIII.
mums AND ms: HAW-BOY.

W1: must look after Cladius Alburno, who, it
will be remembered, pitched headlong into the
Grand Canal upon receivin those two furious
stabs from the nife of A ort, with every ap-
pearance of having been fatally wounded.

The blows delivered by the headsman, in the
brief encounter on the forward and narrow
deck of the black gondola, were dire] meant;
but fortunately for Cladius, he had t at very
morning donned—in yielding to the earnest so-
licitation of his trusty officer, Dcldric, the Dane,
heretofore known as Piero, the gondolier—an
under-jacket of intricately woven steel.

Thoughl the knife-blade peneth apparently
to the 'lt in his breast, its force was down-
ward, harmlessly glancing on the surface of the

mail.

Why Cladius should have uttered the cry and
prec fitated himself into the canal, is explained
in a ew words.

Though a bold leader and intre id warrior
and filled with indignation at the igh-handed
assault, his° nature was one that never lost its
coolness and keen'perception in a momentof
peril. No sooner did he find himself in the w-
erful arms of Azhort, comprehend the ot er’s
fiercely-hissed words, and experience the strokes
of the knife on his breast, than through his
brain flashed the following uick thou ht:

“ It is discovered that am not to, but
Cladius Albumo in the guise of Santa! Here is
an rggportunity to have it believed that I am as-
su y dead I” and simultaneously uttering
what was mistaken for a er of mortal agony,
he ilun himself into the we r.

For all three minutes he remained beneath
the surface swimming from the spot.

At that hour there were numerous craft 0. n
the canal, and the afi'air had been witn by
many boatmen who, in mere curiosity, sculled
forward, to the scene of what had appeared to
them to be an assamination, though none had
heard the shout of Azhort that would have pro-
claimed the identit of his victim.

The black gondo a and the gondola of Lady
Perci were speeding away v en Cladius areas
within arm‘s ength of a market-boat. He raia
ed and cast himself into this so suddean that
he was lying prone in the bottom almost before
his resence was realised. .

e boat had but one occupant-a stout lad
yet in his teens—end at the unexpected intru—
sion, with its accompanying strange behavior,
he called out, somewhat grufily:

“ Heigho, there! Who are you i”

“Silence. honest friend,” said Cladius, draw-
in apurse from his saturated pocket. C‘Take
th , and be for a time in my service. First,
cover me with something, that I may not be
seen. I have had a most narrow escape.”

“Oh, if my eyes do not lie to me—and it was
quite a way off—you are the same who was

 

. struck, just new, by Azhort, ex-chief of the

iff, w nose feet appeared to be incased in .

soft woolens, so noiseless and catlike was his ‘

tread.

Thinkin and mumbling, Piero went fast over ‘

the roun that lay between the landing and
the ome of Santo, the fisherman, where he
knew Cladius Albumo could be found, if Provi-
dence had permitted his esca from the stab-
bing knife of Ashort in the
Canal at sunset.

“In such times,” he pursued, seein nothin
in his rear—for the wily sp was quic enoug
to avail himself of the sha ows of overhangin
lattices.—-“In such times, one may fancy, wit
a ban upon him, that everything is 8115 ieious.
But I am almost certain I saw a fo lowmg
shadow on those stones before me. Pub! The un-
just outlaw cf the Council is making a cow-

ray on the Grand 1
‘ enough for many

executioners "—promptly taking up the pum
cast at his feet. “This s good pay for gonna,"
a service. What next, now 1”

“ I will see that you have another urge, I‘d.
if you will bring me to the street w ere lives
Santo, the fisherman,” offered Cladius, from be.
neath the market-smelling bags and cloths w hich
the young fellow was. carelessly, th h with
read wit, piling 8promiscuously upon h m.

“ X bargain, ore. Why, this is luck
ys. I am not a fool to miss
earning two we purses, for they will gladden
both the eyes and stomach of my old mother,

‘ We have not seen so much money since my

ard of me— , who have fought a dozen hat- I

ties.”
At a corner Piero passed into another street.

I darker than the first. As he turned, his toe

struck a stone, causing him to stumble awk-
wardl .

Thug stumble probably saved his life. For as
he half—wheeled and pitched forward, a sting-
ing sensat i'. n of cold stool in the shoulder wrung
a cry of pain from hm lips.

Simultaneously came an exultln
voice—the voice of the dog ing an
spy. as this rty ran off in t e gloom.

‘Ahol lizw s that. duplicate dog! Cladius )
barns died m on the Grand Canal.

‘ name was Slaffo Montello.

'm"

fore, for your own
him ”

father was killed.”

“How did your good father die, lad!” is-
quired Cladlus, under the ra .

“Oh, he was shot in batt e. A true sailor,

signers”

‘ And what is your name?”

“I am called, simply, Staffo. My father’s
He belonged to the
crew of the H igh-Watch‘, the war-ship of Cladius
Albumo. That ship is to leave to-night with
the tide, conveying a wealthy falleon. How I
have wished all this do . that was going with
the High-W atch, and at I might have the
great Ca tain Cladius for my commander—”

“Care¥ul—careful. Remember that Cladiug
Albumo has been Pronounced 0- tmitor. Them-
good, speak not too well at

“Iliave never heard much of his
YOu ' treason.” avowed Btafl'o: “ but all gm is

 

.1. . ..__...x.k..i-s:._.* . _.

familiar with his bravery and patriotism. What
did he do 3”

inated in a

“ Of all people in the world, I cannot answer .

that, my lad.
traitor?”

“ Come, what a question—whoever 1you are—
after cautioning me to beware how
Captain Cladius.”

‘ I knew Staffo Montello intimately. I have
fought by his side.” said Cladius, who was still
wary of dismvering himself. “ He was a firm
friend of mine: true as steel. Cladius Albumo
valued him highly.”

“ Then you, too, were on the High-Watch,”
put Static, eagerly.

“I may say yes to that. And sinCc the ac
tion of the Council, banning Cladius Alburno, I
have lost my em loyment. Then you have
never seen this ca in, my lad i”

“ thy, I wish could i”

“In what manneri—friend or foe?”

“Not as his foe; I am unworth even for
that. But you seem as willing as to talk of
the outlawed commander. Are you his friend i”

“ What if I answer yea?”

“ Why !” laughed young Stafio. “ It is plain
that we are beating about a bush; and since we
cannot trust one another, I am sorry. I would
like to see him and let him question me. ”

“Perhaps you will meet with him some day
when he is restored to his full honors, and I Will
take pains to speak of our admiration for him.
But hasten, now, and etch me to the home of
Santo, the fisherman.”

Silence ensued. Clarlius fell to ruminatin
upon his un leasant situation, not unmixed wit
thoughts 0 Adria and how this would affect
her; for she must have seen all, and, like others,
reasonably believe him dead. He was worried
greatly, and at a loss to conceive how new to
communicate with her.

It was far from agreeable for a man accus-
tomed to command warriors brave as himself,
to lie thus upon the wet smelling bottom of a
dirty boat, hiding, under filthy rags from
people and the lig t of the world like hunted
preyqeven in the emergency of promulgating
a judicious illusion of his death. Humihating,
indeed for this hero of a score of battles
a pirates which even before his time, and
u to the date of war with Sultan Ibrahim, in
1&5, infested the Adriatic. His soul revolted
at a contemplation of the part he was acting
but inward counsel prevailed, and he remained
a motionless martyr with burning cheeks.

Fortunately for Cladius, he had placed him-
self in the hands of one who, though never hav-
ing seen him, was a friend if for no other rea-
son than an intense admiration of his deeds of
daring and startling record in the annals of re-
cent naval victories.

ThesilkenpursehehsdfiventoStaffowas a
trifiing souvenir from dria, received just
prior to his last and sad] -terminating voyage;
worked by her own , and on the bottom
two deftly-woven letters in fine gold thread:
“ C. A.”—the initials of the hero she adored.

Without using to remember the dangernat-
lending, saga only eager to purchase a nick,
safe transit to the home of Santo, the sher-
man, Cladius had now bestowed the telltale
purse u n the market-boy.

The s rewd eyes of Statfo riveted by turns
on the two initials and the outlines of the form
concealed beneath his old ragsand ba . There
was a fertile reasonin in him tha recalled
every word exchanged y himself and the se-
creted n er, and finally he soliloquised:

“Heigho! but if these two letters slggigy
‘Cladius Albumo,’ the very one we have n

Do you believe that he was a

speaki about? I mind now, that he is of
splenditfmuscle and bold,’handsome face. And
common people do not nd money by the

Such an nterest he seemed to
take too, in Staffo Montello, my father, and
his illustrious ca tain. Come shall follow
him—for it will ni ht by the time I reach
the street where lives to, the fisherman, and
I can easily do that. If it be the t Cladius
himself, he must take back his  ver ortallow
me to rform a deeper service earn 1 .

my fatgeer admired and fought for Cladius Al-
burno, so would I; for I have never believed
him to be a traitor at all!”

It was well that Staffo resolved to follow and
know more about the personage in his boat, as
the us! proved.

Arriving at the landing of a remote and lane-
like street, Cladius bade the youth follow him
and obtain his promised reward,

It was fully night, and_couvenient shadows
rendered the way less perilous to the rson of
Cladius, whose face—having lost hat and false
beard—was wholl exposed.

Staflo ke t wiliingly at his heels; for, with
closer scrut y of his companion s features, by
occasional rays of the moanlight, he mumbled
in an undertone:

“ If he be not Cladius Albumo, then he must
be some on: near go that teach; rcnggig;7n
ofiicer raps,wocooses so. no.
See ho’wp‘proudly he steps. I am determined to
know more abo’ut him, for he’s of no common
sort at least-

“ Here we are, my faithful lad.” snid Cladius,
busing soon at a nest abode having a low-built

heavy purssful.

v

I

speak of‘

l

9
I
l
l
l
l
r

 

Azh‘ort, the 

1.?

 

and latticed window, the top of which termi- f
pointed peak against the wall. ‘
“ Here we are. You will not have long to wait '
for your pay and thanks for this favor. Tarry
awhile.” And, reachin upward, be rattledpe—
culiarly at the casemen .

Some one must have been on the look-out, for
the door was not long in bein o ned. And as
Cladius stepped in, and the lig t streamed forth,
and before the door was closed, Stafi'o saw an
old, grizzly-bearded man and his sharply-prick-
ed ears caught the low, pleased exclamation:

“Ah! Cladius, my son. Heaven be praised
that you are a sin safe with me!”

The market- y smote his hip and lea d
twice from the ground, balancing himsel on
one leg.

“Heighol” he breathed in delight. “I am i
not wrong. It is Cladius Albumo, captain of I
all captains, and already I am in his service. '
This will be tremendous neWS for my old mo— l
ther when she hears that I snvwl the outlawed r
commander of m father, bere Static Mon- I
tello, from assassination on the Grand Canal. i
Wonderful news 1” ‘

And he braced himself to tender further ser- ,
vices when Cladius should return with the sec- ;
ond purse.

 

CHAPTER XIX.

A SCRAP FROM EARLIER YEARS.

Tm: home of Santo, the fisherman, had an !
unusually comfortable appearance for a man of
his lowly calling. -

But though notorious] active in that pursuit
in his younger days, an still widel known as
Santo, the fisherman many years ad passed
since this important character to our story had
cast a net or hauled a line.

When Santo came to Venice to live per-
manently sixteen years earlier than this date,
or thereahouts, he brought with him a buxom
wife and a boy child a parently five years old
—this occurring about wo years su uent to
the event of the attack upon the ship nita, b
Sadrac, the half-Moor Kiurate, and the conco -
taut deaths of Ru rt ’ li, Venturi Adello and
the latter’s wife, y Anice.

The house he now occu ied was of uite an-
cient and dilapidated arch tecture at t time
—sixteen years back—and being for sale at
a very reasonable figure he purchased it.

Santo owned several boats and em loyed as
many assistants to work them, and t ese were
sup to be his sole source of income; his list
of patrons being very liberal and his habits so-
ber industrious and frugal.

do would, however, disappear mysteriously
upon a certain day, once in each year, and on
each occasion of his return, after nearly a
month of absence, it was remarked that he in
some wa embellished either the interior or ex-
terior of is dwelling; until, at last, it would be
a byword:

“ What a thriving dog is Santol"

“Take pattern by Santc, my children 2”

“Save your money, sons and daughters, like
Santo, if on would get rich l"

While auto, as he and his wife ornamented ‘
and made comfortable their surroundings,
would say together:

“Let us not forget, dear heart, that while
Providnnce permits us to partake of the enjo -
ments herein, they are not ours, but are for t 8
ask: of the boy whom God has intrusted to .
us

 

In a few years Santo’s wife died, but not un- ;
til their boy had grown old enough to care for “
himself and be of vast assistance in taking
charge of the boats whose number and the in-
come from which year] increased.

This boy had always n considered an of!-
spring of the couple, and if he was or not, they
never made any one the wiser. He was called
simply “ young Saute,” and at the age of twelve :
years evmced a noble spirit of self-reliance,
which caused the old man exceeding pride. ;

But when his wife was entombed and the boy 3
had reached this age, and after returning from
one of those mysterious absences with the in- i
variable suppl of money, Saute laid his hand
upon the yout ’s shoulder, and said: ‘
“My son, give an attentive ear to what I am i
now speaking, for though little, it means much. i
I have been a father to 1you since you drew the '
first strong breath of fe You are growing
fast in years. It has been my labor to make 3
this home fit for such as you; for I tell you that .
you were born for far betterthings. on are ;
noble in youth—you must be d in man- .
hood. Do now as I bid you, an ask no ques-
tions, however singular my words may seem. 1
1 am obeyin the orders of one whom I have
served as fait fully dead as if he were living. 5
Go far from here into the world, where none
may know you or that you were ever in m
charge. Keep my name silent as the grave. t
in need of funds. communicate with me; but ’
use carefully whatI give you, and avoid tempta-
tions of evi . May e good God be with you
in every deed, for you must not return until
you have won deserved fame. In that time.
come back to me and I will have awonderful u,
secret to reveal—remember, 'a secret tofix your l
whole future. Heaven grant that we may ,

3 w ich had fulfilled the ho

the ri ht
' know first Cladius had a

both be preserved! You have never really had
a name. I now christen you CLADIUS ALBUIINO.
Honor it. And go, now. my son—go.”

The newly-named boy departed from the shel-
ter of his c ildhood; not to taste of the prodi~
gal pleasures of the world, but with the old
man s tender and hopeful words ringing in his
ears, and his ex anding mind set upon one
great and honors 1e purpose.

Santo frequently heard from him, and anon
he was pleased to learn that the boy had select-
ed the perils of the navy for his ambition.

A Eloom settled over the now desolate home
of t e honest fisherman, and this redoubied
lwhen, finally, all trace of his young idol was

ost.

But Cladius was not wasting his hours nor his
years. Severe study, close habits and uncon-
querable resolution soon enabled him to pay for
his own advancements; and at the time when
Santo had almost given him up for dead, he was
cruising undera oreign commission, and ren-
dering efficient service to an adopted govern-
ment.

Fortune cannot withhold her favors from such
men, and in the course of time he had become
so valuable that the great merchants of many

; seaport cities had combined in convention, per-

suaded him to resign, then built and presented
to his command a magnificent war-ship floating

. an inde ndent, international flag, to be devo-
3 ted in t e cause of protection for all maritime

powers against the pirates that horrorized the
Adriatic and Mediterranean seas in the first
half of the seventeenth century.

Then indeed did the wonderful skill and prow.
ess of the self-made chieftain glow forth as be

his own proud deck, with a. worshi ing
crew, and swept and swooped hither and t ith-
er, governed solely by his inclination and experi-
ence, until his vessel became a terror to law less
depredators, and its name, High-Watch, circu-
lated on the four winds.

The Venetian Government could not passive-
ly observe a leader so valorous, and a ship so
stench cruising thus independently from sea to
sea. Ever greedy to secure a va uable ally in
its Own interests, it at once conceived a desire
to enlist the hero in their own navy, and to that
end dispatched envoys to him with rich 03ers.

After many r'efusz, Cladius at last yielded
to the cowl!l inducements, being further infiu~
encedg a hneartohishesrtto once more
make sales his home. Much money and con-
siderable d lomacylavailed in purchasing the
notable H -Watc . and Cladius, with his own
tried crew, swore allegiance to the rulers of
Venice.

The news of the acquisition spread like rks
from a volcano, and when the High-Ware en-
tered its new harbor, with a new flag and udy
streamers fintterin to the brecse, all enice,
from Chi to orcello, rung with loud ap-

plause for us Albumo. It was a gala day,
with royal demonstration, decorated shipping,
asalutefrom the arsenal, andabanqnetatthe
ducal palace.

But above all, who can conceive the abun-
dance of joy that thrilled the bosom of Same,
the fisherman, when he heard the name of the
boy he had nourished and started upon a career
so fraught with heroic glor ? For a while he
was on the verge of insani from very glad-
ness; and tears on his wit ered cheeks, and
prayers from the innermost depths of his bound
in heart attested his thanks to that Heaven
of his life.

But Santo kept himsel in the background.
contented with feasting his eyes upon the pomp
and homage at the command of Cladius, and
widening his ears to tales of the famous doings
of the High-“'atch chattered from every ton ;' ue,
and no one ever guessed of the. strong tie exist-
ing between the distinguished commander and
the humble fisherman.

“He will not to et me, be sure of that.” ,
smiled the old man, m his blisful soul. “Oh,
no; he will not forget Santo. He will come at

time and get In embraces. For I
eart too big tobe
turned from me, even by excess of renown.
Yes, he will come.”

And Santo was right. At an early rtu-
nity Cladius came in all the splendor of glit-
tering uniform and decorations of honor, ac.
comgéiied by his first ofiicer, Doldric, the Dane.

“ l” he cried, with emotion. “Has your
bov done well i”

e two threw themselves into each other’s
arms and wept.

What a_ happy day for honest Santol

They dld not dream, in this hour of transport,
how soon the star of Cladius would dark e in

j the bane of IndigPerci’s hate when she should ‘

discover the at chment which shortly sprung
to fervor betWeen him and Adria. And when

l that fell blow came, the home of Santo was his

haven—Saute who shed tears of woe, and whom
alone he could trust in a great city that had
once fairly begged the services of his sword.
Greater men than Cladius had tasted bitterly
of the treacherous and fluctuating humorsof the

ReXublic.

nd now to resume at the instant when tho
outlawed and nearly disheamned chit-train was
admitted to the abode of his true and £14me

   
 
 
 
   
   
   

 

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friend, after his adventures on the Grand Canzl ! night my 00d wife—rest her soul l—and I were

and the )rompt semce rendered him by Stafi‘o,
the mar et-boy.
CHAPTER XX.
BANTO UNWINDS ms SECRET.

Burro, bearing a small taper torch, led the
way to a room at the rear of the house—a re-
markably sumptuous room for a man supposed
to be in the humbler walks of life; with costly
curtains and tapestries, softest c t—a rare
luxury—of exquisite design, rugs an ottomans,
a number of heavily- lated sconces and burnish-
ed brackets filled wit waxen candles of various
bri ht bars.

I hile b‘anto was busy lighting many of these
ndles, Cladius ii'ocurcd another purse and
instezzcd to fulfill is engagement with the wait
ng Staffo—doing so with such brevity that the
ntirket-boy had not time to utter a. word of the
adoring speech he had set together for the occa~
sion. After which, he and the fisherman sat
dam in the now brilliantly-illuminated and
gorgeously-furnished apartment.

In the whole week that had passed since the
cloud first fell upon his life, Cladius had neVer
seemed so utterly downcast as now, and Saute
contemplated him with painful solicitude.

“ Alas, my son,” he mourned, aloud, " I know
full well how your proud spirit smarts in this
nnrighteous reverse. Nevertheless, bear up. It
cannot last. I am sure that the same Provi-
dence which guided you to trouble will also see
you safely through.’

“I have not yet lost all faith father Santo,
but my courage is sorely tried. do not even
know the charge preferred against me in the
Council. But for my faithful Doldric, b whos‘e
advice Ifled and secreted myself, I mi; t now
be languishing, unheard and cruelly condemned,
in a dungeon—01' worse, executed before a popu-
lace as ready to hoot as to praise, it seems.”

Cladius rested his head in one hand and gazed
vacantly downward, dreaming, awake, of the
wide, billowy seas that had yielded so much for
him, and to contrast, as never before, the sad
turn in the wheel of fate that placed him here,
a fugitive, skulking coward-like from his fellow-
man. He said nothing of the’ recent attempt
upon his life, knowing that Santo’s anxiety in
his behalf was already acute enough.

“ Now is the time,” thought Santo; “for I
have not yet seen him more dejected. It will
divert him so, that, as in a trance, he will at
least flnd momentary relief from sorrow. Yes,
I will divulge the secret. For the request of
Rupert Rial! and Venturi Adello was consum~
mated when Cladius Alburno became the

test captain in the nav of Venice. Now

or the secret.” And alou : “ My son, when
on left me, many ears ago, I told you to come
h when you had, honored the name my lips
bestowed upon you, and then I would reveal a
very important secret. Have you forgotten it?”

“Oh no, father Santo. Your parting words
are still green in my memory.”

“ Well, it relateg of course, to yourself. You
must have suspicioned ere this, that you were
not my own flesh and lood—"

“ But you were a father to me in all, and that
sufficed, carelessly interrupted Cladius. “ And
since misfortune is at last my portion, it mat-
tern little who or what I am."

“Thatis the voice of despair and you must
crush its foolish sway,” reproved Santa, draw-
ing his seat nearer. “ You were ordered awa
almost as soon as you entered Venice, and tha ,
and the vile ungratefuiness shown 1you since,
has been so absorbing as to exclude t e sub 'ect
from our digestion. Now that we are a one
and in such sympathy, I wish to tell you who
you are. Will you follow me?”

“ father Sauto, I am listening,” an-
swered Cladins, though indifferent.

“ In the first place you. and not Adio Adello
—of whom you inns-t have heard as the nephew
of Marco Trienti, the senator—are the true son
of Venturi Adello, once a prosperous merchant
of Venice, who was nohl y connected by marry-
ing Lady Anice, the sister of Marco 'l‘rienti.
You are thereforb, his heir.”

Santohad not miscalculated the effect of such
I speech. Cladius threw up his head in sudden
amazement.

“ Come I tlink I have interested you quick-
ly ” chuckled the old man.

1‘ By such an unheard-of avowal—yes. I love
you too well, father Santo, to think that your
mind wanders in crazy fancies. But to say—"

“ My mind is clear as it was in the hour when
you were first brought to me. Listen, while I
recite after my own way—Ah! did you hear
that?” ‘

“Only the pea] of a gun. It is nothing. Go
on,” impatiently commented and urged C adius,
as the first thundering discharge of ordnance
from the fortress of Porto di Lido came faintly
to their cars.

“Twenty-three years past,” continued Saute,
slow and reflecting, “I was a hardy fisherman,
ll ' inahamlet on the shore of the gulf of
Man redonia. I was uite popular among my
fellow-toilcrs; noted or truth of nature and
tongue—which I hope has never forsaken me.
It was to this fact I owed an occu: rence des—
an. l to c‘. in; e (‘.'\'('l'_‘.' plan of my life. One

 

1:1 our cabin; she helpless abed and I dandling
and crowing for an infant boy that very day
born to us. We were three, and we were poor.
My business had made but scant return, and I
was sorely perplexed by the prospect of the
wolf at our door. The wolf did not come—but
a. lady did; one whose mpous grace had been
carefully concealed until she took off her wra
ings in our exclusive presence. She thus a -
esscd me:

“ ‘You are Santo, the fisherman, widely re-
reputcd for truth and—poverty.’

‘ ‘lVith God’s grace, you are rightin both,’ I
re )liod.

“Know, then. that I am here to propose
something that will enrich you, though it calls
for a great sacrifice. I have searched the ham-
let through for some honest family who this day
has had born to them a healthy male child—tho
father to be a man who knows how to hold his
tongue. I can only find here what I want.’

“Two hearts in that rough cabin gave a
thump of alarm at this. M wife and I looked
at each other in dismay. l einstantlvsuspect—
ed something of what was to come. The grand
ladl)r went on:

‘ ‘1 will give you twenty brimming purses of
the largest gold-pieces in the land, if you will
part with your babe. I pledge that he shall be
reared to wealth and refinement. But on one
condition: the relin uisbment must be forever,
and you shall never ry to see him again.’

“ magine, if you can how this proposal af-
fected a fond father and mother just rejoicing
over God‘s first gift in blessing of our union.
My first impulse was to strike herdown; next.
I threw in 'self across the cot, upon my wife‘s
bosom, am while we both Wept, we clasped our
darling tight, as if our visitor might dare to
strive and wrest it from us by force. But, ah!
poverty is a gall—we, who were older, knew
that; and hero lay a chance to prosper our
babe. “'9 thou rht of this, and not of the,
twenty purses. Ve talked the matter over
amid our tears, and t1.en I said:

“ ‘ Lady, we must know who 'ou are and for
what purpose the child is wantc . And we must
have a written obligation from you to do for it
what you say you will. Fear not, but speal:
plainly. If it is 6. eat secret, the lips of Saiito
and his wife wil be sealed as the Book of
Heaven. Show a reasonable cause for such an
unnatural request.’

“Seein that she could not accomplish the

urpose 0 her visit otherwise she confided full

n us. She was Lady Perci. Venturi Adel o
and Lad Anice Were wedded. She had been
delivere of a. male child, which, however, ap-
eared so sickly that the doctors had no hopes
or its life. Adello had set his mind upon a
male heir. Lady Anice so loved her husband
that, rather than the possibilit ' of stabbin his
fondest ambition, she resolved? to deceive Iiim.
Lady Perci was her counselor in this step, and

4 took upon herself to carry out the plot of sub-

stitution which brought her, in person, to my
cabin. I was to take the sickly and seemingly
(1 ing infant and give my own offspring in ex-
c an efor it and weuty purses of old. Was
it no a. horrible suggestion? But w on we un-
derstood all, and considering the future welfare
of our own son—for we could rear him in
naught but rags, labor, and to an aimlesslivin
—we consented. The exchange was made.
received the written guarantee from Lady
Perci for all that she had promised, and have it
still in my possession.”

“If all this be true, father Santo—and I can-
not doubt it, because I know that you are the
very soul of truth—then, indeed, have you long
an: faithfully kept a wonderful secret,” was
the marveling exclamation of Cladius. But,
after all, I would rather be the free and roving
Cladius Alburno than the lieirof VenturiAdello
-—-with my good ship and strong-armed crew
and the broad sea lustering before me as it was
one short year ago. For I like not the manners
and customs of palaces; there is something that
lurks in every speech or greeting of courtesy
that seems to me, in its studied grace. like the
vibration of some cloak of vi rous treachery.
But, proceed,” he finished, ha f-bitterly. “ It is
something to know that I am descended from
such an honorable couple as Venturi and Lady
Anice Adello.”

“ Oh, you antici ate me. I did not yet assert
that on were the she brought to me by Lady
Perc in exchan e for my own,”bantered the
old fisherman, p eased at having broken the
other’s cloudy mood. .

“ It were easy to guess it, after the first inter-
estin assertion you made.”

“ l '01! You are right. Theinfant thus thrown
upon us id not die. The pure sea breeze and
my wife’s warm breast gnva it new life and
vigorous health. But let mo show you, n0w, to
what you are legally inherited, since you are
the true and only son of Venturi Adello—for
the Adio Adello of the Tric'mi palace is my
own son, and ab! though he was educated for
noble society, as Lady Perri had promised, h0w
different is he from you, I am sorry to have to

say. About flVe )‘i‘rri's after this event, who
should come to my (-nlxi'v but Venturi Adello

himself. Iii s ' fl 1‘..' ; ti n.0,:

 

 

*~—---‘-~— 'f——-— ~‘-‘ *- ‘ —'-' rv—r'W

“ ‘ Thou art Santo, the. fisherman, celebrated
in Manfredonia for integrit of character, and
of whom my wife, Lady Anice, and Lady Perci'
Riali, seem to know a cat deal, for they have
s ckcn of you to me. film the old philoso her,

have been Searching for an honest man. hou

art he.
“ I trembled. Knowing the deep secret of his
family, I feared that he had discovered all and
was come to wreak vengeance upon me for the
part Ihad taken in deceiving him. My re ly
to him was quite embarrassed therefore. Iis
next words were:

“ ‘ Santo, I am about to intrust you with the
treasure of a kingdom, all packed in gold and
silver bars and precious stones.’

“ My heart stood still. My wife, I remember,
uttered aloud cry. Had we not known him,
we would have fled as from a madman. Here
is what he soon told me: Rupert Riali and his
wife were abroad at the mines, and Riiili would
have a chest of immense treasure which he
feared might not 0 safely to Venice if sent or
carried the usuzz way. It would be shipped
upon an unpretentious vessel. I was to receive
it, far down on the coast, trans it to this
cabin in the dead of night, bury it in my cellar
and guard it until called for—my reward being
a rincelv sum. I refused flatlyto have any-
thing todo with it. But I was persuaded in the
end. Venturi Adello after this arrangement,
set out to rejoin Rupert Riali. I received the
chest at the appointed rendezvous, and when. I
saw its bulk, imagined the vastness of its con-
tents, and had it buried dee down in the earth
of my cellar, I began to t ink that my very
reputation for honesty had gotten me into the
worst of difficulties. I did not close my eyes
for man nights, and Win n I did nap it was to
dream nightmares of robbers, irates and com-
bat. I fervently prayed for 6 early arrival
of that moment when Rupert Riali—who was
coming by another ship—would relieve me of
my tryingresponsibility. And here let we re-
peat the lastdparting words of Veiituri Adello—3’

“‘VVe un erstand each other, Sanio, and I
have no fear that you will dishonor the trust
we re )ose in you. The chest you are to guard
contains the value of a kingdom. Let harm be—
fall it only at the cost of your life. If Rupert
Riali, and if I, never reach Venice, then all goes
to my two children, who will share with Lady
Form. If my son, Adio, shall prove himself a
true man, then five him the chest and its con—
tents, first of a l, for I know that he will gene—
rously divide. If he falls short, then all to my
dang Iter to share as she desires. This is the
will of Rupert Riali—do not forget it—who al—
ready distrusts the avarice of his wife.’

“Ali! in son. death was close at hand. Sa-
drac, the elf-Moor pirate, attacked the shi
Units, on which they were homeward bound.)
Rupert Riali, Venturi Adello, Lady Anice—all
these were killed. Lady Peri-i survived. The
two childien of Venturi Adello Were named
Adio and Adria. Adio inherited estate and
went to the care of his uncle. But—histl while
I whisper a bold and mysterious act in your
ear: Lady Perci brought the girl, Adria, to
Venice and introduced it as hcr own child; a
deception easilv practiced for the Adellos and
the Rialis had been a numhe‘r of cars abroad,
and home people knew nothing Ortlii‘ll‘ family
matters, especially regarding childrr n—”

Santo would have continued smoothly on
With his narrative. But Cladius rung from
his cushion as if stung in brain and cart, while
his cheeks and brow grew red and white alter-
nately, and his large. handsome eyes dilated in
an expression of sudden horror.

“Saints of Heaven 1” he gasped, staggering
forward and gripirg the old man’s shoulders.
uFather Santo! Unsay that—quiekl I com-
mand you! Do you knOW, do on realize what
it portends? Mercy of God! hen Adria and
I are children of the same parents! I—we have
loved—oh! so passionately! We Would have
wedded! But there is some mistaki l—nay, I
beg you, tell me there is. Speak! 0h, father
Santa!” and sinking back upon the cushion
Cladius groaned forth the anguish produced b ’
this last ominous declaration in Santo’s recital

CHAPTER XXI.
SOMETHING or ADRIA.

SAN'I'O was not .by any means proficient as a,
story-teller, and in this instance had madea
statement that was rather premature in the
fact which descended harder than a cutlass—
stroke upon the soul of the man he loved even
as his on n flesh and blood.

“Cladiusl My son 1” he hastencu to en ,
alarmed at the consequences of his errrr l’n
omitting an important item at its ironer dam
in his revelations of the past. “ adiusi'l be-
seech you to hear me. I have fallen into a
most wretched blunder on account of my block-
head forgetfulness. Look up and listen to me.
Oh: I would that I had bitten the end from my
tongue, sooner than say what I did until the
proper time.”

“What matters the time 7" burst from
(‘lndius, deliriously, starting from his seat and
walking to and fro smiting his hands together,
“What matter if it is now or hereafter that
you tell me I have been on the verge of mar.

 

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tinge with my cwr. sister? Oh, Santol—f'ather !
Santol—what have you done by telling me this
cruel thing! And you, knowing it al along.
have permitted me to go on in my idolatrous
love for her, and hem for me; to embrace, to
kiss, to woo, to dieam of wedlock. Fount of
pit l I feel as if I were going mad—mad!”

dfor several seconds it did seem as if he
was robbed of his rig ht senses, so acutely over-
whelming was the effect of the announcement.
that Adria—his pure, promised and adored
Adria—was his sister, and thus was opened a
chasm, Wider than the vault of heaven, be-
tween themselves and the object of their young,
passionate flame.

“ Forsooth l"exrlaimed Saute. “ And if Adria
is your sister, were it not better for me to full
you now—the first fair opportunity I have had
1.1ch your entrance into Venice-than to per-
mit a. consummation so unhappy?”

“True true; you are ever right, father
Saute. but, oh! ear with me. Such a blow!
My soul’s core is iced, while my veins seem
molten with a terrible fire. Think how near
we Were to being man and wife; and she my
iister. Adria! Adria! Satan himself has plan-
ned this misery for us. Ah! r Adria!”

“But, my son, you are a mile or so too fast.
[ did not exactly say that the glorious Adria
was your sister, though appearances are that
we

“)Whati" Cladius wheeled short upon him.

“ Though I said that Venturi Adcllo had two
children on the Unita—Adio and Adria—and
Adria was brought to Venice as Lady Perci‘s
laughter: having shown you tobe the son of
Venturi Adcllo, and not Adio, who is my 5011:
withal. it does not follow that Adria was truly
the child of Venturi Adcllo, any more than was
Allie. You and Adria are cousins."

“ Ah! in the name of wonders, father Saute,"
almost immediately calmed by the reassuringr
tone, “what sort of riddle are you! It seems
to me that brain of yours must hold a startling
store of secrets.”

“As you shall see,” returned the fisherman,
with a. smile of grim humor. “Now, sit you
down while I explain, briefly, how Adria_hap-

us to be your cousin and not your Sister,

gay a moment.”
Rising, Saute went to a small receptacle in
the wall behind the tapestry. Opening this
with a peculiar key, he drew forth a small,
ebon casket scarce five inches long by three
inches broa .

With the casket in one hand, he returned to
Clade, who was again seated.

“ I did not mention another secret existing in
the famil of Venturi Adcllo,” resumed the old
man. “ little over one year after the date
pron which I had received you, Cladius, a ter-

fio storm passed over the coast, and I know
that there were many wrecks. None happened
in the immediate Vicinity of our hamle ; but
something else of conse%uenee did. I like many
others, was on the beac at the first streak of
dawn. Hardlv had my feet totiched the peb-
bled sands, when the waves washed ashore a
piece of must to which was lashed a. man. This
man had in his arms an infant buta few months
old, and in his bosom he carried the casket which
[ now have in my lap. He was exhausted unto
death-brave fellow l—havmg g1ven_his atten.
tion so arduously to the preservation of.the
child, which proved to be female. He survived
barely long enough to tell his tale, give me the
basket and the child—then I closed his eyes. He
was one of the crew of a vessel called Giorga.
in the storm of the ni ht preVious  had been
washed overboard. pen the frail support of
a broken mast-piece he floated in the darkness,
and presently discovered that he had a com-
panion—a woman with a babe in her arms,
who was clin 'ng frantically to all that In be-
tween her an death. Of course that coul not
last. She resently bade him take the babe
and gave in: the casket from her bosom,
charging him to guard both at any Cost. Then
before he could prevent, she, from sheer wqegké

a
was all. I‘Ve took the sea waif from the Giorga,
audit lived.” 7 ,

“ Strange, that the strong man should die and
the any thing survive its exposure to the ele-
men s,” commented Cladius.

“Is not my whole truthful story strange, my
soul—and this is part of it. " ’

“ True. Forgive my interruption, father
Saute.”

“ Well, we had scarce gotten the babe back
to crowing animation, when our cabin received
another visitor. This time it was Lady Anice
Adcllo: the date being about four years. before
my bargain with Venturi Adcllo to receive and
guard the immense treasure of Rupert Rial}.
She was alone. And this was her obJecti in
the absence of her husband she had given birth
to a daughter. She had 1:211th t?! Vpnturi
Adcllo praisi its cherub duty, an so on, as
afond,mothei?€vill. His replies  her showed
that the crowning ambition of his life was to
have a son and don liter, and now that he had
these, he gave than 's to God. But her child,
then advanced in months, was taken suddenly

 

Hi. The doctor predicted it< earlv burial. Re-
membering Lady 1’. rei‘s experience With me

on a former like occasion, she discharged the
doctors, that her movements and the results
might not be known, and had now come pri-
vately to me to ascertain if I could aid her in
procuring a healthy female infant to substitute
for her own; for she would deceive her husband
a second time sooner than witness his ief
when he should learn of the death of their c iild.
It was a singular coincidence that we should be
able to gratify her desires on the spot. Feeling
no extraordinary interest in the waif of the
Giorga, we readin offered it to her in her di-
lemma. Thus the infant we had saved from
the sea became the second child of Lady Aniee,
and the rcst of the World knew no better—not

even Lady Perci. The true child of Lady Anice 
did die and was buried by Us, with all believingr .
‘ it to no the wait of the Giowu, so secretly had

the exchange been made. fdid not, however,
part with the casket. But not until years after-
ward (lid I conclude that it was my puty to as-
certain who it was that I had given to Lady
Anice, and who, as Adria, was known in Venice
as the daughter of Lady Perci when the latter
married lifarco Tricnti, twelve years ago. I
had, meantime, learned that Marco Trienti was

a passenger on the Giorga when that vessel en— .
countered the tempest from which we rescued 1

the waif. Let me show you, Cladius, what I
discovered u >011 opening the casket.”

With anot ier key—very small, peculiar and
filed by himself twelve years before—Saute
opened the casket.

Inside the body of the casket was an air-tight
lining which had preserved its contents safe
from the waves that had buffeted it when the
brave sailor of the Giorga brought it and the
motherless babe to the keeping of Santo.

It contained two articles: a medallion and a
piece of folded vellum. The first Saute opened
and gave to Cladius. No sooner did his eyes
rest upon the portrait it inclosed. than he ex-
claimed:

“ Saints!

dria l”

“ Very true. A good likeness of the maiden
who is supposed, by all Venice, to be the daugh-
ter of Lady Perci Tricnti, while Lady Perci is
misled in believiu her to be the second child of
Lady Anice—for 8 1e knew nothing of the other
secret of Lady Anice, as I have said.”

“ Ah! Yes. it is my own, my sweet Adria!”
murmured Cladius, ra turously kissin the
miniature portrait of a ace that so near y re—
sembled that of the woman he loved above all
women on the earth. .

“Nay, my son, it is not Adria, but Adria’s
mother whom you behold in that icture. A
wondroust beautiful woman, in eed. But
look, now, at this.” And he unfolded the sheet
of vellum.

“ What do I seel” cried the youn
whose amazement was already ex
bound. “ A riest’s certificate for the marriage
of Marco Tr enti, of Venice, with Eloise Fon~
telle, of Paris! Great J ovel father Saute.
And you say Marco Trienti was a passenger on
the Giorga?”—he used, too full for utterance.

The gray—hair fisherman smiled; his eyes
twinkled. .

“ Well, what do you make of it?” he asked.

“ That Marco Trienti had a. former wife, and
by her a child. Wife and child were washed
from the Giorga in the tempest ou spoke of;
the child survxved, was taken by Anice as
her own and afterward a re riatelf by Lady
Perci. I am the son of en uri Adcllo, who
married_a sister of Marco Trienti; Adria and I
are cousms. Marco Tricnti, in his deep attach-
ment for Adria, dreams not that she is the
child who owes her being to himself and Eloise
Fontelle. But why have you never made this
known to him?” .

“ I saved it for you; Cladius. I intended that
you should be the one to tell Marco Trienti both
of yourself and Adria, and I would assist you,
with indubitable proofs, to establish—”

What more Saute might have said was start-
lineg interrupted.

There was a noise of shuffling and stamping
feet in the hallway, accompanied by mingled
voices of anger and fear.

“This way. then dogl—this way i” rung the
angry voice. “I will teach thee to spy and
prowl and pick at locks! Oh! W'ait until I see
your face before Idrive my knife into such a vil-

ainous carcass: Come along 1”

A second later the door was kicked o n and
in strode Doldric, the Dane, bareheadeed and
with wet garments, dragging and jerkin after
him the vainly-struggling orm of S o, the
market-boy.

It is the perfect image of my

man
all

 

CHAPTER XXII.
CLADIUS RESOLVES T0 ACT.

As the sound of disturbance in the hallway
broke in upon the important conversation of the
two men seated in the curtained and ta tried
apartment, Saute snatched the medallion and

archment and in a. twinkling restored them to
the casket am slipped the casket back to the
secret drawer in the wall.

Cladius —-7 whose instant and paramount
thought was that he had been tracked and had
now to encounter the emissarlcs of the Inquisi-
torlnl Ten-«prong toward one corner, and from

.__.. I” _A-=__.....

 

: behind the curtains drew for‘h a. magnificent
' sword, finely-tempered, bright as a inirror,
! jewel-hilted—the same presented to him on the
1 day he so proudly entered Venice to swear al-
legiance to the government that now unjustly
branded and relentlessly pursued him.

VVfth this sword ready in a hand that could use
it with deadly prowess. he stood on the de—
fensive; and there gleamcd a light in his eyes
such as many had seen when he fought his path
over the bulwark; 0f apirate prey.

But when he saw the face of the comer. he
drop (1 the weapon and hurried eagerly for—
war , arms outstretched in greeting.

“ Look ye, Saute,” snarled Doldric, bringing
Staffo to his knees bya mighty twist; “ I found
this fellow half-way along your ball, skulking'
on tip-toe. Another of those accursed spies no
doubt, who do the dirty work of The Ten. Say
the word; shall I sink my knife in his craven,
bewels?"

He raised the knife aloft as he spoke—{he
knife he had carried open-handed since the lib .-
mcnt of“ receiving that stab from the spy who
had followed him from the landing.

When Cladius paid Stall'o the second purse,
leaving him in such an abrupt manner, the
honestintendiiig market-be was rather non~

lused. He was determine , however. to offer

is services to the great captain, Cladius Al-
burno, and for some time paced back and forth
in the shadows of the nigh deserted street, medi—
tating upon what course he had best ursue t0-
accomphsh his enthusiastic desire. inally re
solving to boldlv enter the house of Santo, the
fisherman-boldly, because, knowing that Cla»
dius Alburno was outlawed and sought for by
The Ten, it would be a den eronse riment to
intrude upon that person’s 'r of re uge, lest he
be mistaken for a spy and summarily dealt
with —he advanced to the door and gave aloud
knock.

As Staffo knocked that first gun at Porto di
Lido simultaneously boomed its ominous note:
and the latter attracting the attention of the
two in the tapestried room, they did not hear
the summons from without.

Sta.ro gathered courage. With some pieces
of bag-wire and small basket-hooks, which were
conveniently in his pocket, he began fumbling
and icking at the lock.

“ will see Captain Cladius Albumo if I am
cutto ieces for it. And if they wili not let
me in, will force my way,” he decided within

But neither the wires nor the hooks availed
him, and not till he remembered that he car~
ried the key to his own home did he meet with
success. The key inside had accidentally been
left, after turning. so that by inserting a key
upon the outside, this first key could be pushed.
inward out of the lock—which transpired in
Staffo’s favor, at least, at about the moment.
when Cladius and Saute were examining the
medallion and the certificate of vellum tproving
a former marriage of Marco Trienti wi Eloise
Fontelle.

Groping ahead carefully—for the way was
pitchv dark—he was sudden] alarmed y the
entrance of some one behind ' In a second
more there was a collision; a prom t hand,
with a vise-of—a-gripe, laid hold on his collar,
and he was roughly dragged to the light of the
flaming sconces. .

“ Speak the word! shall I end his miserable
spying life's” questioned the Dane, pausing for
t e command.

Saute threw up his hands imploringlsvh.I

“No—no!” he quickly re lied. “ y him
not. Let there be no bloods ed.”

“Hold, Doldric! Do not harm the boy,”
joined the voice of Cladius.

“ \Vhatl My captain l—v-safe and beret Now,
by St. Mark 1—” and Doldric threw his arms
around the neck of his be10ved commander. ‘

. Doldric; ‘ safe and here,’ faithful

Had Stafio wished, he could have escaped
easily at that moment when the pair were on—
grossed in mutual transport. But, rising, he
stood Silently by, intent with watching the man
to serve Whom was his ambition.

“May the foulest of fiends forever torment
Azhort, the devil-faced deathsmanl” inva
the Dane, seemin 10th to relinquish his delightr
ful embrace. “ feared that you were done for
when ’I saw you stabbed and worsted on the
cans

“ Thanks to you, Doldric, and to father Saute
—for you persuaded me this ver mom to Wear
my under jacket of mail—the pomt of the blade
did not reach me. But what of this boy i”

“Hal yes—the boy. Fooll”—-t0 Staffo, and
again laying violent hands 11 :1 him. “You
might have send ‘our neck running oil in
this last minute.

on.”
“ Captain Cladius l” appealed the youth strug-
gling. “Save me from this man who an
unfair advantage, for he is armed, and 1 am
not!’ .

“So I will, honest Staffo. Stay Doldric. my
go: id friend; he has done much in faith for me.
And Cladius explained; adding: “ I am sure

hat he could not have meant wickedly, how-
ever suSpicious the circumstance of your an“

 

.u...

'0w, knavel shall‘deai with v

 

.2. 

 

u.“

3-. 1.....‘..

, suit, father Santo.

  
 

2O

LU-‘;‘M ZZ",£"‘.."

risin him. His father served upon the H S?
atcfi. A ready sailor; true as steel.
may remember Stuffo Montello.
on must justify yourself. I— By the Saints!
ldric, you are wounded.”

Cladius happening to glance at his palms saw
that they were stained with blood. EVcn as the
anxious exclamation left his li Dolill‘ic re-
leased the market-boy, clapped hlri hands to his
temples in a dazed Wu and staggered toward a
large cushion, on whie he threw himself.

“ So I am,” he murmured, scarce aiidibly.
" I was struck by a cowardly assassin as I came

hither. I am weak. My brain turns. Perhaps
Iain dying. If so, come nigh we quickly. I

have something to tell you.”

Santo had immediately found the wound. :

The stumble taken by Doldric had, indeed, pre-
served his life. The knife of the assassin, di-
verted from its aim. glanced upon the shoulder-
blade, inflicting a bleeding, painful, though not
dangerous gash.

Static threw himself on his knees before
Cladius and cried, suppresscdly:

“Mi hty and honored Captain Cladius!—for
such I now you to be—I implore you to give
me Service under on. For that I am here, for

hat I have alrear y risked my life. My father,
Htaifo Montello, died anion your crew, fight-
ing bravely. I will fight, b eed, die for you, if
you lead. I am young, but I am strong.
old mother—who has blessed the name of
Cladius Albumo as that of a great and honor-
able Chieftain—~will bless you again, I know, if
you acce t me now.”

Santo ad run from the room for such ar-
ticles as were necessary to stanch and close the
ugly cut.

“ Rise Staffo,” said Cladius, warmly
Ing the hand of the market-boy. “ I may yet
give Wu a chance to prove your devotion to
me. ait."

Then he to the side of Doldric, who lav
motionless and with closed eyes upon the soft

ons.

“Dear friend, by what oversight of Heaven
do you come to we thus? Are you badly hurt?

to me, Doldric.”

“O-hi this wound is smarting like a fire of
bubbling iron,” gnashed the Dane. “But, no
matter. Your ear, Captain Cladius. At the
time you fell or ware thrown into the canal, I
struck overboard the gondolier of the deaths-
man. When the wolf-faced shape went to his
infernal home I oared him thither. I entered.
They talked in Spanish—he, his one-eyed wife
and impof-a-son. I have come as soon as I
could to tell you what I overheard—after duck-
ing the young clown in the canal. There is a.
float lot afoot, at the head of which stands the

1:9 ’Ossuna. ’

Hero Banto mentored and began to dress the
wound, saying:

“Have no ears, Doldric—nor you, Cladius,
my son. This is but flesh-deep and luckily on
the left shoulder-blade. The ri ht arm of our
friend, the Dane, will almost mmediately be
stron enough to wield his sword. I say this
kno ly. Drink this stimulating liquor,
friend ldric, and lie uietly—so—half

our face. Come, we
ortable. Easy—there.”

“ You were speaking of a plot, Doldrici” said
Cladius, in uiringly.

“ , a p at to pillage Venice.”

“ a.ch Venice?"

“ To p llage and massacre. It is to commence
at an moment. Azhort, the axman, is promi-
nentin it._ Further: his son—that devil’s-shape-
of-a-dwarf, Tobato — is planning to abduct
Adria, your Adria, the pure and peerless Adria,
and make her his bride. I think the whole
thrice abominable family have been, are, or
mean to become pirates.”

“ More, Doldric. Tell me more," Cladius
urged, his eyes flashing and awry muscle sud-
denly set vibrating by the shortly-panted words
of the wounded man.

“Is not that enou hi” groaned Doldric, under

upon
1 soon make you com-

the operatinga tone of Santo. “Up and be
moving, Ca in Cladius. A carnage at hand
and your trothed imperiled. Strike, now,

for this ungrateful Republic and for your
Adria.”

“ Ay, by the saints! Up and away!” echoed
Cladius. with glowing veins. “ Bring forth my
I go now as Cladius Al-
bumo. I shall strike, and strike hard, for Ven-
ice and Adria.”

“ But, my son—the danger to you from such
exposure?"

“ To the winds with danger? Was I not bred
to it? My suit. My sword and da ger, and
the short and trusty truncheou that felled
many a pirate dog. Ha! 11-11! I feel that I am
almost again myself, since hearing this news.
Haste, father Santo." And as he rattled on
thug, he was stripping off his flimsy flsherman’s

:- .

“W'hen Cladius was arrayed in his full, hand-
some costume, every atom of the warrior show-
ed forth in shoulder and belt-strap, hanger,
sword, trancheon, frock and buskina, a ca of
richl‘ waving red and white plumes, an his

i h-
on ‘
Come, Staffo, i

Azhcrt, 

 

 

A touch fell upon his shoulder as he turned
again to the side of his suffering friend—suffer-
ing silently while Saute deftly stitched together
, the aping flesh of the left shoulder.

I “ .‘aptain Cladius—my commander, as I al-
_‘ ready deem you,” Whispered Stai‘fo, “let mine
he the arm to gondolier you whithcrsoever you

go. My poor market-boat will be safest for I

y0u__n

“ I came in the gondola of Azhort,” strained
Doldri'c, interriiptingly. “ It is the swiftcst
boat in all Venice. You will ilnd it at the land-

in g of the second street west of this, toward Isle ‘

Murano.”

“(‘ome, then," said Cladius, to Stail'o, at the "

same time drawing about him a long sable
mantle which Santo thoughtfully proVided.

“ \Vhithcr now, my son!” asked the 01d flsh- _

eniiun, apprehensive y.
“To my own ship. To the High~Watch.
With my feet on its deck—«if I mistake not

1‘ hearts that have served me through peace or ,

peril—I shall once again know that am a com-
And mark this, father Saute: I shall

' mander.
’ never a

f for as surely as the sun shines on the morrow I

i will have Adria aboard, and despite evory gun :

l on the Lido I shall bear her away. Then let

' Venice make new terms with me, when I am a ,
And i

rover at defiance with their hated Government.
E Come, Staffo.”

Motioning Staflo to follow, Cladius strode
from the house. Old Santo shook his gray head
with misgivimr for the result of this b0 d step.

to go out to-night, conveying a wealthy gulleon.
Four against live that We cannot catch her.”

“ Hamen, then, if it be so, we must pursue in
a cutter. And. honest Staffo, if you do love me
let your arms bend as never before.

you.”

They were not long in finding the somber gon- !

dola. Staflo grasped the oar like one who has

determined to accomplish the supreme object at ,

an cost of mortal strength and skill.
e gondola shot away, cutting the water in
a surge of foam under its sha steel prow.

“On to Malamocco! 0n, taffo—on!” cried
Cladius, unrestedly.

“Ay, ay!” came the hearty response from
Staifo.

And simultaneousl rumbled on the ni ht
that second boom of t e gun at Porto di Li 0
whose deep tone said to eve tool, spy, vassal
and brave of the scheming Du e d’Ossuna:

“ Concentrate! Pr'cpare !”

The High-Watch had not dropped out with
the tide. Even as its crew were chorusing at

the anchorwhain, a communication was receiv- ‘

ed from the Council which stayed all further

preparation for departure.
And as Cladius was being home swiftly to-

motion above and below the decks he had re—
solved to tread once more as commander, be the
consequences of his venture what they might.

CHAPTER XXIII.
'ronu'o HEARS THE NEWS.
Tonn'o the dwarf son of the headsman—
hurled bodil , up and outward, by the powerful

 

tors of the canai with aloud plush and arose to
the surface with the buoyancy of a cork, splut—

while h clownish mouth anatheinatized t e
fast-receding black gondola.

“Ohi Hi!" he worried and Eulped in raven-
ous accents, itting his tact and ndin
the water t' it foamed. “U hi fies“ t
was the man with hair of two co ors. he s y
who dived from our landing. I know that
his voice which I heard as he lifted me over his
head. Whats. gri of muscle! Maythodragon
of fate dWour in, tooth and nail! S and
robber! But where could he have pop mm?
—the Jack-in-a-hoxi He was not in the gondola,
sure], ; for my keen-eyed father would have
foun and broken him limb from limb, bone
after bone. Foul spy, robber and wa layer!
And my prett, span es! Come, now, t efv are
ruined certain y. ow am I to SWlm so arto
the shorei—which shorei—for I am quite and-
wa between Murano and the Laurette.” _

lire lanced around, working arm and limb
with t e su plenass of a crab, and finally start-
ed toward t e “ deathsman’s fort.” '

Strangely enough for the hour the vicin-
ity was deserted, and though the voices of the
gondolieri were mellowing on every side, none

the swimmer s vexation.

There was one boat, however—this unobserv-
ed by Tobato—which bore down swiftlyu_ n
him, six long blades in muflied locks prope mg
with nick, glistening sweeps. Its course was
toward the abode of Azhort. In the bow stood
one who, shadin his eyes from the brilliant
moonli ht, awlgsteadfastlyinihat direction.

But or t is watcher in the bow, the boat
would have fairly struck the head of the dwarf

 

eyes
as he grasps the truncheon in his maile

in with a light of sustaining tpridie
an .

are he caught the gourd ot drippling, bubbling

in give up my power or my shi ), ,
i thought ey brand me traitor and robber bot ; ‘

“Captain (fiadiusf’ said the market—boy, as ‘
they hastened onward, “the High-Watch was ‘

I am but a 7
poor hand at the oar and I depend much upon ‘

ward the vessel, upon a misSion and hazardous ;
purpose of his own, there was considerable com- ‘

arms of Do] ric the Dane—went under the wa- ;

tering, gasping, lashing about him infuriatel , ,

seemed to approach that precise spot, much to ‘

-...n:'.. . ’ V H'“ '"  I:

water that alone betrayei the long and rapid
swee of the oars. '

“ ook sharp, ahead there!” called the man,
' at the same time passing anorder to those in his

rear. .

“Hil Hilloa!” cried ' bato, rolling over
barely soon enough to so e nis diminutive head
from being crushed, and in ’ be same inovouzent
dextrously layin hold above the clinker side——
to roll again, as 0 received a ra from the for—
ward sweeping oar that knock him howling
backward.

“ Hi! Oh! You have broken my skull!” ho
, screeched.

“Silence, you!” commanded the man in the
bow, who had brought the bout to a stand and
' now assisted Tobato in, dumping him uncere—
moniously on the foothoui-d. “ Less noise,
- young scarecrow, or I‘ll toss you out of here.”

“ But my head! IIii Let me scratch out the
eyes of the re me who smote me, for 1 know he
did it purpose y. What a lump I—i-yewp!~—l>ig
as an egg already. I have a. weise than tooth~
ache on to of my head.”

“Hullo, ere! As I vow, comrades, it is lit-
tle bOW-knecd Tobato, son of Azliort.”

“Ay-yes—oli! And Azhort,m father, will

unish the villain who raised this uni on my
I end, and break your bones for caiiing me
‘bow-kneed’!" snapped the dwarf, who was
vigorously rubbing and digging at the bruise in
the depths of his thick, water-matted hair.

“ Come, come, my jolly Tobato——" ~

“ ‘ Jolly Tobato ’ But I am far from being
jolly. Iain mad—mad enough to munch and
tear every one in pieces for this thump on my
crown.”

“ Well then, friend Tobato,” laughed the
man in the bow, who had again ordered the boat
forward.

“I want no such friends, either, who try to
run over me with a boat and then belabor me
with an oar. Wait till Azhort, my father,
I hears of it,” was the surly-natured responie.

“Come, on and I must have no quarrel,
young spit re.”

“ ‘ pitflre ’ in your teeth!"

“We are going to 'our father’s house and
will cal-3; you therei you stop that screech-
cat mou” of yours; if you do not—then over

0 .

l
i

y . .

“find what do such fellows as you want at
my father’s house?”

i ‘ You are Tobato. son of Azhort, and do not
; know why we seek him to-night?”

; " No—how should Ii What is ithqu the
1 dwarf, in some surprise.

‘ “If you are ignorant, then it is not for me to
i make you wise. Bide your time, and—si-
j lenoe.”

Tobato continued to nurse his swollen head,
scanning the features of the seven men as close-
ly as he could by the light of the moon. Each
countenance was very dusky, foreboding and
set with black-brewed, glittering orbs. Around
each head, beneath eac hat, was tied and lap-
gd what up ared to be a somber scarf falling

the shou ders at the back, and above the
fourteen knees reared the tops of monstrouS,
heavy boots.

To increase the wonderment of the dwarf—
who was already scenting a mystery in the
presence of these swarthy fellows—lie observed
several boats made fast to the landin of the
“deathsman’s fort ” when they arrive( there,
and none ware permitted to touch the steps un-
til a challenge and satisfactory signal had been
exchanged. ‘

The seven, with wide-mouthed Tobato pushed
to the rear, entered the building.

“Hi!” he croaked, inwardly. “What in the
world is up or loose? They carry a high band
i—assassins, every one,.by the cast of their
; faces! I am as nobod in my own home. And
L here is a sentinel on do. I wish my father
; was here. I would teach them the cost of first

battering my head, then pushing me out of their
l path, pest u n them i”
As the great oor was swung shut by the man
who had evidently been stationed as a lard,
' the second gun from Porto di Lido boome —the
| moment being simultaneous with that in which
‘ Cladius and the marketboy were speeoing, in
, the black gondola toward Malainocco: in the
l instant in which Oit, then testing the din.
am of Barban in the Tricnti palace, struck
I own the servm -woman, Phla, in the private
v a artments of A ria and carried the latter to
t a narrow, secret and tomb-like ssage of
stairs, where we left her in Chapter II.

Tobato’s curiosity was amply satisfied a few

segpnds latier.

assin nto the room of armorial tra in

which fair] blazed with light. he was 
to see near y a score of men attired like those
who had di him out of the canal, and of
similarly u y aspect—these ranged about, all
scowling, muttering in a jar of suppressed
voices.

Before them was Bal-Balla, walking to and
fro, smiting her fists together, swinging her
arms, her one eye aflame with excitement. She
hailed the new-comers thh scant ceremony;
then esp ing her son, she strode forward. grip.
ing him y the shoulder and snarling, in her
tigress tones

 

 

“Boo! Boo! Tobato! We are in a mess hen--

n lil"SS of bad luck!”

11.211011, the Amman. '

I have nursed my blood of life. looking to this mo-

“ What kind of mess is that? What are all these '
men wanting here Y—and the boats outside ?-—and the .

ruard on the landing? Strange doings I think.
Au! what is the trouble with you?“ rattled Tobato.

“ Your father told us of a coming riot and pillage
of Venice—“

“ So he did, my mother. I wish it was to commence
now, for I want to hack and tear at the nobles, the
senators, everybody living in palaces, and daunting
their Over-fine airs. ‘

“You were nearer having your wish than you .

dream of. It was fixed to transpire now—to—niglit.”

“Hi! To-night! Say it n ain! Good!” exclaim-
ed Tobato, his rat eyes 3 ark ing.

“ It was to be. I say. here is the trouble. Heard
you not agun as you and your father started for
he Trienti alace.’ ‘

“ True. remember it."

“The gun meant that the garrison of Porto di
Lido was Overpowered and the fort in possession of
the duke's party."

“Ill! Thisisnews!“ Tobato's eyes were widen-

i .
nfi Heard on not another gun as you came in?"

“ Oh, I t link I did. \Vas it a signal too?“

“ Ay. It meant that all in the plot with the duke
should hasten to the appointed rendezvous, of which
there are many]. This is one. That explains why
these men are ere—though they came the earlier
to bring me the news that as unstrung eve nerve
in in body. Hoo! the devil himself for bad uck!“

“(% on with the news. More news," squeaked the
son. who could hardly stand still.

“There was to sound a third gun from the Lido—“

“ Hi! More Guns and pillage."
“Signali t a general outbreak. But it may be
of no use. am informed that the whole plot has

been discovered b The Ten, ‘ panted Bal-Balla, who
delivered her wor sharp and fast.

A mumbling growl came from the listening and
pirate-faced men around them.

“ Mill is moving and massing toward the ducal
palace,” s is continued. with short. fierce breaths.

‘ Squads are readlyuto charge the streets and trol
the canals. The ke d‘Ossuna is, by this at orto
dl Lido, awaiting the culmination of his plans.
Scores of uard-boats are b tween here and the fortg
driving on the gondoliem, and it is impossible to go
a messenger down to warn the duke of his danger.
If the third gun sounds and the riot breaks there
nitsammmes the immeawmmr
e . 00 m “

and again Bel-Balls backward and forward in
a frenzy, while the men resumed the vent of their
disappointment and ill-humor in undertones.

But Tobato leaped across the room as if thrown by
a shock from a batte .

“Ill!” he cried. ' y. “Then I must be moving.
If the lot is out and the riot to start at any minu
m manor will be in danger at the Trienti lace an

sh himself away sooner than the hour e told me
to come for him. Give me my bow. 1111! my good,
strong how. I am off."

He snatched down from the wall a well-filled '
lver and a bow that was taller than himself. Fit- '

ng an arrow he drew it to the very head with
“wrath and skill resultin from ample practice,
and mod at an armored e in one corner.
“80 will I serve the nobles and senato or any-
body eisoilwho to school: my path!" he y pod, letr
e slag

unfifiyt .

e feathered barb
238%“? “it” "‘
e o a n- n.
“110%, there! Rook out with that how!“ ejacu-

 

uarely Ihlvered on the ;
gitoff uif itwere but:
. that! I have heard of most abominab

lated Bel-Balls, who had dodged out of the line of ‘

his aim. "

“ Hi! Hi! See how I can drive an arrow! chir-
ruped Tobato, glancing about him as if he would
like very much to fit another and slay the man who
had thumped him on the head with an oar.

Then he slung the uiver over his shoulder, bal-
anced the bow at a (iraflhand with water still drip-

in from his spangled t ts darted from the room,

11% upon reaching the enti lace before the
third gun boomed from the fort a Porto di Lido.

CHAPTER XXIV. ,
11!: Mrs or onnn.

Tn tableau encountered by Adio Adello-when
Lady Perci ried open the door of the red room with
her nooe,a ter having turned the knob with the
bones of her cheek, nose and brow. and found her-
self face to face with him in the same instant that
Oberek. foaming at the mouth and clawing the air,
Sprung from the aperture behind the o n. mirror—
Was quite startling and he broke short n his he
as shown, staring first at Lady Perci, and t on a
the miserable maniac nggb'mysi/QEI'IOl: rescues
and fri .itfula arance ou con oun him.

Withgthe leggrd-llke leap and do "bark cry that
told of the advent of Obere Lady rci ve one
rapid lance over her shou der. Her gu ty heart
seem to rise in her throat ands pallor like death
whitened her features. .

“Ah! I am lost!“ she moaned in her trembling
soul. “ Lost, indeed. That fiend deathsman has
let loose this mad fellow—mad Venturl Adello—

unposely to slay me. Leaving me helpless, he in-

0 ed to compass wmfy death thus as a penaltaéfor
depriving his ghoul— e of one of her eyes. hat
would I not give who rid of these bonds and the
gas. I shall bemurdered. For Adio, besides being

ardly

 

a match for this reckless lunatic, is evidently
under a spell; he does not move hand or foot when
another lost minute will be'fatal to me. Oh! i'or the
use of mv hands. But I am lost. I mayaswell
nerve myself for the doom that is to poms. The
monster will no doubt rend ine in pieces. '

All this in a second of tune, for almost instantly
Oberek began to ap roach the two. scooping and
Etealthy, like some {mid and uncaged animal gather-

to unce u n ts rey.

fingeballs, n theii3 sunken sockets, rolled and
glared; his lips worked and frothed audibly; the
thin, long-fingered hands, with nails like eagle—claws,
fluted out and in before him. as if in im tient an-

ufiltration of a gripe upon the object of ' furious
hatred

“Obi Ohl"hewhined, incu
laden

on?“

accents. “ You
"‘0 Perci; Iain free! Thou tor-
m' woman! Far twelve years I

 

l

‘ longer any doub
it 

nzent. You chained me in a prison-t-ell—yes, for
twelve years. You flogged and half-starved me.
You turned me fromaman into a beast. I am a
beast now—a ', a hungry. ravenous merciless beast
as ou shall nd. Oh! Oh! Lady I’erci. I am free

0 you see? I will drag each hair from our head!
—scratch out your e 'esl—flay you with these nails
long and sharp! e ready. I am coming. Ha!
h-a!“ and he laughed hideously, till every vein ran
cold in Lady Perci‘s frame.

But the harsh voice of Oberek in its direful threats
roused Adio from his momentary stupefaction.
Drawing his sword, he threw himself before Lady
Perci and cried, sternly:

“ Back, there, thou dog! Who are you? Where
do you come from? Lunatic! Out of this!"

“Aside there!" yelped Oberek. “ If vou stand
between me and my vengeance you shal fall, too!
Oh! Oh! Nothing can block my path. Beware!“

" Back—fool!“ commanded Adio, grasping his
sword-hilt determinedly.

Oberek uttered a shout of mingled anger and de—
rision and bounded forward—then another 0 as
Adio's weapon sunk into his shoulder, forciugriihn
painful! ' backward.

“ We! done for Adio!" exclaimed Lady Perci, be
hindnhelr gag, plucking up courage at seeing Oberek
re )6 (‘( .

‘Madmant" warned Adio, in excitement; “if you
come at me afain you die! Keep off!“

“ Oh! Oh!
ed the wretched and senseless being, tearing at the
bleeding wound.

Again he sprung upon Adio.

“Now may Adio smite him dead in his tracks!”
fervently prayul Lady Percl, standing, a helpless
witness of all, in the doorway.

Adio dropped quickly to one knee and ainst his
forward knee be firmly pressed the hilt of t e sword,
with the point raised.

The movement was so sudden and the velocity of
Oberek's attack was so great, that ere the latter
could check himself the keen blade penetrated be-
tween his ribs, pass! upward and out at his back.

An unearthly shriek burst from the impaled
wretch. Throwing up his arms he reeled over and
fell rone upon the carpet

.2}

ing salvo from the fortress at Porto di Lido—seems
ing louder than the two previous explosions and
variedly thrillin thousands of bosonis in threatened
and conspiracy nfested Venice.

Azhort was right in his conjecture. The impa—
tience of the sc eming duke would not permit of
waiting until midnight. Exultant over his first sue-
cess in so easily subjugating the garrison of the
fortress by internal treachery. and now boastfully
sanguine for the rest of his carefully-devised plans,

. he had given the order for the third gun to be fired.

will kill you for that thrust!" scream- T

As its fier mouth belched out on the night, he stood
u n the igh ram Jart of the captured fortress-—
a one, for Dom Pe ro de Toledo and the Marquis de
Bedmar were busy at other important points—to
gaze upon a scene of violence he and two others had
atrocious! ' contrived: of blazing buildings, warring
men and 1 ie shout that would say:
V" Sid/5e jar the Duke .' Death to the mandala qf

emce

Many who knew—as did Bal-Balla and the pirati-
cal throng in the Deathsman‘s Fort—that the plot
was divcovered and strong measures were afoot to
crUsli it, vented loud growls of dissatisfaction and
apprehension when the third 11 sounded. But it
was too late to withdraw from t e maelstrom of fire
and death their own fanatical zeal had invented.

The riot had commenced.

CHAPTER XXV.
'rns COMBAT rs 'rnl PALACE.

Norwrrnsriisnmo the betrayal, by Antoine Junior,
of that stupendous plot for the overthrow of the
Government of Venice, its pi! and massacre of a
great part of the inhabitants o the splendid ca ital
—and although many important seizures had n
made by the Council, besides taking prompt and
vigorous measures to meet and suppress the
pective riot—a cons irscy of such dimensions as the

I. one fomented joint y by the Governor of Milan, the

A io lost nota minute in. freeing Lady Perci from ,

her bonds and the gag. Immediately she ran past
him toward the mirror.
She has seen the wolf visage of Azhort in the

He was Visible only a brief moment, wa

fiambeau over his shaggy head and dart a
of surprise into the room—for the scene 0
was vastly different from that he expected—then

the
co
eld

Viceroy of Naples and the embassador de Bcdmar
was not to be crushed without some struggle
bloodshed; this particularly under the unfortunate
complication of low magazines, a fleet unorganinsd
for such an emergency, giddy and fanatical facti
exis everywhere, a wrangling senate, last
all, so! ers half ready for mutiny because 0 tardi-
ness in their pay.

But the secret and powerful energy of The Ten
was at work.

Almost with the sound of the first gun from

i Porto d! Lido, agents were busy: the chiefs of

clutched and swung shut the massive iron-backed .

mirror before Adio perceived him.

Lady Perci laid a fierce hold upon the mirror i

frame, erking at it and pressing vainly upon the
knob 0 its secret spring.

“ Curse him!" she printed, in exertion and discom-
fiturc. “ He has broken the sp on the other side.

>tocomesho y. Thhquick

Oh! if I could but get at him wit my own arms and .

the stiletto I carry in m bosom, and aided by Adio‘s

sword, I would teach i e Satan‘s-vassal how I can i

strike back at one who has sought my life. My
malediction on him—and on this mirror, because I
cannot open it!" and with the last, Lady Perci
vexed to a rage, gave the mirror a spiteful k ck that
s' lvered it from top to bottom, the pieces jingling
around her.
“Bod of Bacchus!" exclaimed Adio who was
wiping blood-rocking sword. “ did y
luck falling

upon the homes of those who break a mirror."

“ To the pit with such superstitious folly! Azhort
the deat is in that wall, which contain as
may as well tell cu, a secret pamage. There
that he is in the palace."

he is here we must see to it, for lm ortant
reasogfi that he does not escape. arms on has
reach the Council that this same Azhort, for so
long chief executioner of Venice, is no less a person
than Sadrac, the half-Moor pirate years ago the
Adriatic.“
oodt Apia, I have this very night discovered

“But I of on. dear Lad rci, tarry
here.t Thegosgis noy time to y P6 Mt
secre

no

wards and streets were fully apprised of the dan-
ger. Soon a cordon of boats, containing armed
men, stretched out across the great lagoon, with
prows to the south, silently, ut sternly com-
m“ back toward Malam
c

. ooco every species of

on making in the direction of the ca 'td—

thissccountingforthofacttlutthswaterint e vb

cinity of that spot where Tobato received his duck-
was so unusually deserted.

n black dots, at intervals, the guard-boats used

and remai waiting for re-en orccment t twas

measure also out oi!

princi ty and the
fortress! where the duke, unwa . of the snare
into wh ch he was treading, wu'flloating over his

I firstsuccessful move in overpowe g the gun-hon.
The fact was speedily ascertained b a- few of the
cohorts of the conspiratom, though late to give

J.

l

i !

of Aaho or of ‘
s,or of this vi dead manrh’n the ‘

floor, w ose presence I expect you to explain in .

future. I came to inform
which threatens you and all within the
Come with me at once. I will tell you as we .”

you of a great danger :
palace.

“ What isit dear Adlai“ she asked, curiou y fol- f

lowing him rom the red room and along the hall-
way. “ Ah! I notice, now. that you are equipped as
if or combat. at new escapade of yours? Do
not enda r yourself, my recions Adio."

" In a ew words Lady erci: The Ten have dis-
covered a plot to pillage Venice and assassinate the
nobles and senators. The
prime head and instigator. This news was received
only a few minutes since, and a re-enforcement of
guards are already concealed at the rear of the
palace. Marco Trienti. like myself. has quietly
armed. It is a general uprise! nearly every servant
in every palace is in the plot with the duke. There
will be warm times directly. But I think the cut-
throat do will receive awholesome lesson both
from the vemment and those they pu mas-
sacreing. Much prudence must beexercisclsd, though.

. Haste.’

“ Why, Adio. you alarm me. When is this to tran-
s ire?"

“ Look for it at an
secrete yourselves
not have harm befall my worshiped Adria—life
would lose all charm for me. There is her room.
Let me urge on to basic to her."

Lady Perc entered e private apartments of
Adria—and aused in the center of the room amazed
at seeing P , the India-woman, who still y ugon
the floor unconscious from the severe blow dealt er
by the fist of Azhort.

Duke (1‘ Ossuna is its .

‘ingb

the alarm.
Additional

rols suddenl expound u the
nanow. lane- 'e streets; buyt ther unmrded

voice or clank of weapon betrayed the Itro con-
centration of loyal forces, or betokeoed t be.
yond the usual serenity of contented surroun .

At the second gun the conspiring faction mov
stealtth toward appointed rendezvous to arm and
grew Stealthier still p the action of

e eyed Ten, watching rough its numerous
sp and with the slyness o a cat and the formida-
b mews ofa lion nerving for both conflict and
punishments.

The fates of the leading conspirators were even
glein decided upon in the somber closet of the torri-

e en.

Then the thin! and last resonant boom from the
ca .tured fortress. ,

imultaneousiy a murmur like the sound of a dis-

tant and apgroachi hurricane was audible on
every hand. are an there val-colored jets of fire
were seen on land and water. The murmur —
eduntilitbecameasullen roar. As ifby magicthe
quiet scene was transformed to a panoramic pande-
monium. U from street and wave rose the hoarse,
echoed shou :

“Strike for the duke] Death to (In minivan qf

Venice I"

Alo the Lido and from the man islan hill-
ing roc ets filled the air, floating tgelr s ds'kl in
starry showers; Roman candles, lightning I16 and
huge bonfires burst forth on the moonlit night. All
the bells of Venice clanged in discord till their iron
throats seemed about to crack in twain.

Louder grew the uproar, niinglin_, now with the
rag tie of musketry an the savage cgeers of reckless
nu‘ilnotngtch mg. getllll-mg upsin the dues! pulse?
an a .liar,an e veri explosiono
peXanrd‘: attthe kuseh nal gates. q as

a win ' as it Were—the whirl of battle.
resistance, deathffi'lumimtion, and soon the whole
augmentfd by the devastating torch plied till flan.

uildings reared their red-smoky columns to the

sk .
t is Adi-1 Adello laced his foot upon the grand

hour. You must find Adria. ‘
h! dear Lady Perci, I would -.-

staircase in the ienti palace, the note of the last
ruling gun came to his ears, announcing the com-
mencement of the first act in the night's tugged“
m the man rooms and hallspoured half-
score armed and ungry-jowN bravos—daredevils

, all—led by the treacherous Faucho.

Adio turned 0!! toward the grand staircase, ‘

sheathing his sword as he went.

And as Adio thus walked away intending to seek
Marco Trienti—and while Lady erci stood riveted
in astonishment above the lifeless form of Phlo—
there came over the waters a dull but distinct boom
from a distant bombardc——the third and last lignal-

.a.imi andflringa
h “the

“ Strike! Strike for the uke! Death to the min-
rulers of Venice!" cried the page, brandishing lane.
and dagger, as he and others swarmed into the main

“ .2021: with m Trienti l“ bellowed the murder
ous n- .
“Confusion to the foeeof Venice!“ shoutodbitq
as sword in hand. be rushed down the stun-cue.
owem fo ish the nature of Adio.hewuno
coward. brave he entegd upon the Clio.
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Marco Trienti appeared, coming from the room in
'which we have seen him with Adria. He was for-
midabl armed—a hea sword in hand, abuckler
before im, and on his cad a cap with the ancient
war-plumes of the Tnenti

Giaco, the guard at the entrance, produced and

i
i
|
I

‘ to its dreadful end. Sustain me, oh, Heaven!"

blew a shrill blast upon a whistle, in answer to which 1
four lancemen entered from the portico, “dressing ” 1

at his back. Another blast and four men ran in
from the shadows of the garden, blocking across the
rear of the hall.

Meantime Fauc‘no had promptly attacked the
senator. dagger and spear, sup rted by three of his
followers. Others confrontei Adio ere he reached
the foot of the staircase.
din of combat now rung through the palace.

“ Charge, there: Charge front and rear!" thun-
dered the soldierly voice of the veteran guardsman.

Eight sharp lances, headed by the short bayonet-
sword of Giaco, lowered and charged furiously upon
the surprised assassins, who were thus suddenly
called upon to defend their own lives in the ver ' be
ginning of their premeditated outbreak and w ole
sale slaughter.

“ Strike for the duke! Death to the misrulers of
Venice!" vociferated Faucho, desperately, when he
perceived the trap which encompassed them.

“ Thou treacherous dog!“ exclaimed Marco Trienti,
dealing a blow that shattered the spear and broke
the wrist of the p c. “ Double-facsd knave! Had
I before known w atI learned a half-hour since—
thnt you were ones the strangling-chamber assistant
of the vile chief headsman of Venice—you would
never have found 0 portunity for this attempt on
in life. Take that, raltor hound! I shall mark you,
if do not sla

ragled senator broke his wrist—then shrieked again
an sunk to the marble flags, as the blade of Glaco,
the gust-damn? fell and smote with crushing force
upon his shou derr.

“ That for you, leader of rogues!" he growled, with
the stroke.

Adio was tight pressed and fighting courageously
in the midst of a network of s ars, daggers and
battle-axes—the latter lfered mm the armo -
roomof the palace-an his face, body and ban 3
bled and smarted with a. number of wounds that
could not be avoided in the fiashin rain of steel.

Bold, hazardous, rioting spirits l e those who had
conceived an easy massacre of the
hold, were not overcome at a sin e blow. The
cha of the lance-men, front an rear, and the
swor s of Marco Trienti and Adio, were met with
wild yells and a stubborn resistance of arms.

“ Strike for the duke!“ they cheered among them-
selves.

“ wnwith the traitors and al-nssins!" called
Marco Trienti above the din.

As the , , and battling mass of humans

ed back and forth along the spacious, blood-
ned hall, a new and startled cry burst from

Adio.

Out of the root'- of marble panels and fluted col-
umns came a swiftly gliding, demon form—the form
of Azhort, capless, and with long raven hair flowing
loosely tangled half across his wolfish v 6. Over
his shoulder was swu a limp, insenslbe fi re
anclinonoslno hand 0 graspedthc lo -b nded
knife, in the a to! and deadly use of w ch he
boosted of no equal in Venice. I

Adio saw him, saw and recognized the helpless,
lifeless burden he carried.

“’Tls himselfi—the fiend!” [urged the young
man, thrilled with dread. “ e as Adria—my
Adria—in his villainous arms! Bod of Bacchus!
The Pirate! Aside, ruffian! A at here! Halt,
headsmanl—mnn with a wolf’s cad! Drop that
body! Halt,Isa i"

Msddened by t cthought of some horrible peril
menacing the maiden 0 his heart‘s adoration, he
laid about him, sweeping lunginfi, wielding his
weapon with both hands, dividin is
tween his adversaries and the tef
shape of Azhort and his valuable ca tive.

Just then came a cry from Marco enti.

“Adioi Help! I am wounded unto death!“

 

CHAPTER XXVI.
Annuo‘rxon or Annu.
Anomlost no time-after closing the mirror in
ma rod room and prodding asunder, with this knife,
the delicate spring giving access to the secret pas-
sage—in returni to Adria, whom he had left to the
tor rs of strange y-hushed darkness and imagina-
of limitless evil in store.
‘ “ do not think that Lady Perci, or any one else,
will boable soon again to make use of this passage to
the rison chamber," he chuckled, gutturally, after
be destroyed the frail spring, and knee ng be-
gan t moving atone block. “ Haves of earth!
me on eralnce.nowq c yasposs-s
bio. I 153 upon the t me spent here as so much ‘
pting, I have learned of one yet alive
who can tell me where the treasure-chest of Ru rt
Riali in hidden. I am nearer to it, than Lady erci
Ha! ha! ha! Be sure that I shall hunt hot after
Santa, the fisherman. Plague! What if the cute
have has spent every ‘bauble and coin piece? I
must not on pose such an impossible and

5'

Being more familiar with his way Azhort made

sages, discovered to him by the
the chain-f0 er.
Ho reliev Adria from the binding stripe of
“glow, hark ye, pretty one: I have no mood of
for those who five me trouble. Go. you.
sheodofmeanddonsl id. A sin lo cry,apause'
to moist, and I will stick this knife 11 your bosom. ‘
Beware, than, of trifling. Come. proceed—down "
and waving the fiambeau and uusheathinz the bright ‘
hub in cement of his throat. he motioned her or- ‘

ward.
airbobe ed in theopath of despair, shiver!
harm-:3!!! at thonowhngvbagoandmong
"to hhnt—whycryoutorm.

mofBa an,

A clash of weapons in the I

on!"
Faucho sh eged with pain as the sword of the en- t

Azhort, the ‘ man.

 

sist?" sighed the ha less maiden. “I know not

where I am—but in iis power, and I must act this '

Carefully following every low-uttered intimation
given her, she was at last commanded to halt—this '
directly behind the column opening into the room of
marble panels.

Azhort cautiously pee ed, first, through the eye-
lets of the picture of upert Riali. He saw Marco
'I‘rlentl, in war-cap and buckler, leaning, in an

! attitude of listening, upon his ponderous and pol-

l

ished swurd. ‘
“Ha!” was his sui rised thought. “Dash and
thunder! What can t at mean? The senator is
armed evident! y for combat. He seems to be wait-
ing for sonn-body or something. Perhaps the plot
is discoverleL—Ol‘ Faucho, the dogof—a-page,may
lmve been oVerheard while telling me the detail of ,
theduke’s lans. What!~h0!——ther9 goes the gun!“
The thir and final discharge of a gun from the
fortress of Porto di Lido boomed while Azhort was
thus spyin in astonishment upon the battle-arrayed
senator. he ominous signs penetrated through-

; out the. palace and into the eyelets of the picture,

lace house- 2

lanoesbe.
receding

' the cars and shoved away from the landi

ress in retracing thmlfih the secret as- 2

, Adria. What an ardent lover l s all

. Adello:

tingling its dull rumble in the ears and brain of the
headsman.

Hurriedly extin uishing the flambeau, and thrust- ‘
ing open the art floial column, be grasped up and
swung the maiden upon his shoulders and hastened ,
out across the flags of the room.

Sounds of strife were already ringing in the outer
hall. He heard the voice of Faucho, shouting:

“ Strike! Strike for the duke! Death to the mis-
rulers of Venice!“

And the answering and defiant voice of Adio

“ Confusion to the foes of Venice !"
Then the pistol-shot; the crash of
steel, dagger and truncheon; the ion
sonorous command of (linen; the cha of the
lancemen front and rear—and into the edlamof
struggle and din Azort plun ed with his burden,
holding his huge knife ready or stroke or parry, as

he forced skillfully past the riotous combatants.
dria was overcome by the sudden and horrid
vision of conflict and by the fact of finding herself
borne within its bloody vortex. Closing her eyes,
and with every nerve relaxed in fear, she lay voice- j
less and limp in the brawny embrace of the man- ,

,ar-haft and ‘
whistle and

fiend.

“ Halt, there, headsmanl—man with a wolf's
head!" burst from Adlo Adello. “ Drag that body!
Halt, I say!” and breaking through t e hemmin
circle of his enemies, he dashed forward in pursufi
of the fleeing, exulting dwarf. ,

A short glance over his shoulder and a mocking, !
demon laugh was the reply of Azhort. Then an-
other glance, and he paused turning to meet the
young man‘s lmpetuous attac . ,

“Dro what you carry there—vulture! Surren-
der Sa rac, the pirate? ere's at you forabeast
and man-sin er!‘

His sworc rose and circled for a downward cut
that must have assuredly crushed throt h the inter- ;
p0slng arm and skull of the headsman ad it fallen. .

A frighqu look came into the face of ort, as t
he heard pronounced that name he had thought so
cleverly buried for years ast. His black, shudder-
ing eyes glared like ballso fire; his pearl and sharg
teeth glistened and and together on ipped, an
his h on vi wrln led in seams of pass on.

“ undero air!" he hissed. “Thou dog of no-
bility! Never again will you speak the name of 811- 1
drac, the pirate!"

The long, broad-bladed knife flashed upward, bal—
anced for a second in fingers of steel, then hurtled
through the air like a lightningviiash, burying itself
to the very hilt in Adlo‘s throat.

In the same instant, and as Adio fell, something
whlzzed close to the ear of Azhort. passing over the
heads of the warring, jamming mass in the hall. ,
This was followed by a piercinrgascream from the tgg
of the nd staircase and dy Perci—who h
been at rooted by an irresistible desire to witness
the exciting scene—sunk down with an arrow-shaft
protrudin senate] from one of her eyes. _

“Hi! i!’ shrin piped Tobato from the main '
door to the portlco‘ and fitting another arrow to his
stout bowstring. ‘ Hi! Hi! (you put out the eye of
my mother Lady Perci, an in return I give you
that for both eye and brain! And I have smarted
the side of Marco Trienti! Death to senators and
nobles! I hate them! Ihl! this way, my father.
The gondola is ready—not ours, but a boat to an-
swer. One more, now!“ and again the deadly bow
of the onng imp twanged, sending a barb into the
back 0 a lanceman. ‘

fierce, that wrung from Marco Trientl the gasping

cl'xAdio! Hel ! I am wounded unto death!"
Azhort swift y passed his son, calling to him:
“Tarry not for this scene. To the boat. Haste.
See—I have your prize!"
“The rlze! Oh, the rlzel It is Adria—lovely-
Dellcious uck of Heaven! I knew
lye? smart father would not fail to secure
1 o

3! Do not hurt her; Gently. Bevery
glove-fingers in handling my rose-Upped Adria,.‘
crowed obato

' Quick! In with you, here. Keep guard of her ‘
while I push off." I
Placing Adria within the rude boat, Azhoth 
. o
capered like a monkey before the dumb an hopeless ‘

her.

Tobato, son of m who was once chief executioner :
of Venice. I am a gay and loving lurk. Indore you, !
diamond-eyed Adria. I am going to be your bus
soft-checked Adria. Open your sweet mouth and is
me hear the harp of your voice, jewel of all Adrian.
Oh! my warm heart is brimmin for Lyon, my queen

Such hap- ‘
piness for both of us. Smile on me-“

“Pooh, there!" grunted Azhort. “Save such,
candy-stuffing till you have your bird alone and
more safely caged!

“ Merciful eaven deliver me from this cruel ,
1m, even if 1 must dlc!" moaned Adria. in an ngon -
of spi t, and with the faint words she swooped on
into thomarmsof Dean-l!

swim Tog-to.

"mu om lookfathor,whemnholioul Weight ‘ soil

‘ . 
‘ of a feather! Burden of bliss!

‘; gun from Porto di
. manning, ten to the barge, six at the oars at the

' captive. ‘ Viva! Viva!"
: 0h! Hi! M angel, Adria! Look at me. I am.

. foolish chief of guards.

could hold her tl us
I will have a kiss—"

“ Foolish boy! Quake of earth! Do you not see
that she has fainted? Wet her face. Ha! Perdi-
tion is unbound. indeed, in this plot of the Duke
d‘Ossuna!”

The last as he noted the tumultuous surrounding
that told of contention and death on water and shore,
lighted by the. soaring moon, the blaze of signalin
fireworks and flaming buildings, and resonant wit!
the clatter of pealing bells:

There was no obstruction in the course from Isle
Murano to the “ deathsman‘s fort," on the rampart
roof of which a red beacon on a tall pole shone and
gleamed like a great evil e e.

Some, distance, down the agoon rose the mutter of
another assaulbat-arms. The soldiers in the guard-
boats were being forced to retreat, though not by
the faction of conspirators. Suilen and s lrltiess

for a century!

they answered back to a war-cry that carri with it
a thrilling tremor:
“ Alburno and victory! Strike home for Alburnoi

Viva! Viva!"
But this well-known and resounding echo from
stem throats—the battle-cry of the crew of the

‘ famous High-Watch—did not reach the three in the

boat that was speeding from Isle Murano, bearing
Adria away.

 

CHAPTER XXVII.
cunms LEADS ms cnnw.

In the clatter and commotion on the vessel immo‘
diately ensuing upon recei t of startling informa-
tion and peremptory o ore from the vigilant
Council—and shorti after the roar of the second
ido—and while six barges were

ships slde——the black and well-known gondola of
A2 ort came gliding among the boats‘ crews like a
swift, somber specter.

There was no challenge, in passing the guard-
boats on the he, or any craft goin down, the
object being to cop as many as possib e from the
immediate vicinitglof the capital; hence, Cladius,
his identity safe the deceiving cover of the well-
known gondola of the headsman, in due time found
himself amongh those in whose friendship he had
unbounded fait .

“ 'Hoy, there! High-Watch !“ signaled the ener<
getlc voice of the market-boy, twirling the gondola
round with a skillful sweep.

An unpleasant mutter answered from the sailors.

“ There is the steel-prowed shell of Azhorti"

“Oh! the blood axman!"

“ Ay, so it is. ll Venice must know, by this, that

ort, hendsman, is the devilish pirate, Sadrac,
supposed to have perished some seventeen or
eighteen years ago!"
‘ Let us capture him at once!"

“ Nay, wait for orders.“

A!!! (if which was distinctly heard by the two in the
gon o a.

“ Why, you are. mistaken," hailed Staflo. “ I have
not Azhort in here, but one whom, I am sure, you
will welcome. Wait, crew of the H' b-Watch.’

Here Cladius stepped out n n t e narrow deck
of the gonfiola, misting aside :10“ and baring

ace.

an

“Friends, you know me we “ he cried. “lam
the outlawed , Cladius Albulghc; proclaimed a
traitor by 3nd es who gave me no opportunityto
vindicate my onor, and who set assassins on my
track in the dark.

“Alburno! Alburno!
scxrf thrfists. f f

on ne 0 aces were peer! over the bul-

wark ofg the High-Watch down uponlfthe e,- and
the cry from below was taken up by those a ve till
the air tremored with vivas.

It was with a thrill of 10 that he found himself
embraced by the whole of own tried and trusty
crew

It was not long before Clsdius found himself at the
head of the six battle-barges—in each six at the cars
and four in the bow with unsheathed weapons—f0 -
log n ward and ainst the outrunning tide Whlrc‘i)
gadogied materia y in the quick trip of the black

They had nearly reached the long line of ard-
boats, and had been challen ed and orders back
when the third gun belched rom the fortress.

In the instant roar of riot, clamor of bells, voll -
ing noise of firearms d brilliant illumination 0
cordon of guard behe an array of armed and fierce
men approaching’steadily—prominent in the fore~
most barge a no is form. sword and tnmcheon in

Viva !“ swelled from three-

a hand, the lo es of his ca bobb o t
It was an arrow from Tobato’s bow, sped true and ‘ breeze n8 mm p 1118 n he

“Back, there—all! Retire to Mshmooco! Come
no further on your lives l"

“ Way! Way for Cladius Alburno!“ answered the
crews of the bulges, in stem chorus.

“ Back, knaves, to Malamocco!" lily cried the
chief of guards, pre ng for n stru 

" Through everyt ing to the Tflengpdacol" laid
Cladius, to the omcer at his lid and the order

promptly among the seams:

A cheer of ap val burst from hh men.

“  mm 

m s us urno, etrator-Iknw
his own' voice. and the war-cry of his sol)de
grail; 1-0;??th gill-grasp? }to his comrades. “ No

on e p o w t t e duke mar-q
and the ambassador. t him." ’ the u“

“ Alburno and Victory! Strike home for Alburno!

elled the sailors.

Steadily, aw ft and irresistible, advanced the bat-
tle. es. A desperate collision canned, and swords
and on looses gleamed and smote in the glare of fire
and moonbeams. First to fall was the bold but

The onset of Cladius was brief. A break was
forced and thro h this we the six but 0-
from which rose“8 11 the out: a but“
belburno and ctoryo! Sign! Vina!"

n men; on "1.0.3" now
urged Cllnndi when they were disen from the
circle of confi c and fixing his gaze u n‘ the dig.
that outlines of , its front 1..
white in the wavin of t co tion.

When Cladius limo WV at the the

combat in the hallwa was over. Part 0 i
met his gaze as he on cred, followed b dam
on: stainedand dirty fingnton. chug th.

V «rs-x

 

.  fi~.-;. ‘V«)~

 

..‘ A,“ .... mum may...“

y «rs-x

 

an, .

.  yin—0-;

- of the dying

 

A_ “Mum may...“

..‘ on

Azhort, the .;;.;.,__ti-:.

23

 

\

base of the wall lying three braves bound hand and
foot, their bleared eyes sna’pging'in glances of rage
and fear for their doom. i‘_ey were all who sur—
vived of those who had meditated the slaughter of
the ace household. The rest—and among them
two ance-men—had been carried to the rear.

Giaco, the guardsman, With the point end of a
broken and heard sputtered in blood, came

g in

forward set the party, who were readily ad-
mitted b the sentries.

“Ouf! ’ he exclaimed, in surprise. “It is Cap-
tain Cladius Alburno. "

“Even 1, 00d Glace. And I hope you do not, as

the rest, be eve me an outlaw because the Council
stain me as such."

“ 'ver my buskins! You do not look like one
who could play traitor."

“ Nor am I. But, what has happened here?“

“The devil on earth! A lot to kill all in the
palace—and I think it has not) fallen for short, after
all. There is what remains of the assassins ”— Oint-
ing to the two securely-bound rui’ilans—“ and have
lost two good lance-men. For the balance—well, see
for yourself "—the last vel and nodding toward
the room of marble pane s an fluted columns.

Cladius steppfd wrthin the apartment. The sight
he saw was a s ock.

On three rudelv-improvised couches wore three
bleeding forms. The first, Lady Pei‘ci—dcad. The
bruise on her brow from the wine-bottle hurled by
Azhort was go. ing and discolored, and a sightless,

hastly e e-soc 'et siiOWed where the arrow of To-

ato iei-ced her brain. On the second couch
lay Adio dello—dead——a white, red-wet kercliief
bound about his throat to hide the doc wound in-
flicted by the headsman's knife. On the t rd couch
groaning at intervals and breathing with painful

ifllculty a long arrow shaft rotrudin from his
side lay arco Trienti. The tter, evi ently, had
not long to live.

Phla. the Indiaowoman, though scarce fully re<
covered from the stunningl stroke of Albert, was
present and doing all in er power to relieve the
agony of the senator. .

“Saints of Heaven! Oh, my friend! What horrid
scene of destruction have I come upon!" cried the
y‘giungi man. hastening across to bend over-Marco

en .

The fast 1; e as opened.
“Ah! Cladius, s tyoui I am dying. I tho ht

we were better pro for the scoundrels; ut-

you see this wound —-the arrow cannot be with-
awn.

u “Do not despair," whispered Cladius, with emo-
o

‘Pl‘lay. there is little use of hope. I know that I
cannot live till day-dawn. But there: praise to
HeaVen! I am glad that you have come. Let me
say, before I die. that I never beheved you false to
Venic and I would have saved you from disgrace

n in or power."

“ Thanks for t ose words, dear friend."

“And Ad 'a—so young, so pure. so beautiful.
Watch over er when I am gone. To mu I leave
her. Death has deprived her of all in t hour. I
know how deeplyLyou are bound in each other."

“ Tell me. quic ; where is Adria?"

“Well. you may ask for her," spoke up Phla.
“ She is in the clutches of Satan. Azhort, the heads-

hu carried her ofl. Ah, me! My Poor babe!"

“ us!" said Marco Trienti, feeb y, “I have
felt W, toward Adria of later years I once
married ore meeting Lady Perci—it was a
dreamy-eyed woman, um and oving. who brought
into the world a babe t at for awhile promised our
hearts infinite gladness. Both were washed from
m side in a tempest at sea and I saw them rish.
A ria has seemed very like that belov one,
Cladius—" _

“And wh should she not?" exclaimed the other.
“I know— ve learned only this night—of your
earlier marriage with Eloise Foiitelle, and the sup-
posed fate of her and her babe, at a time when you
were returning to Venice on the Giorga. But the
babe survived."

lnvery few words he related the substance of
what he had so recently learned from the revela-
tions made by Santo, the fisherman.

“80. Marco Trienti, ifyou are indeed and
beyond help, let it solace you to know that A ria is
your own child. the daughter_ of Eloise Fontelle,
your first wife. More, I—-nnt Adio-am your nephew,
and Adriais my cousin by your first wife. because
your sister, Lady Anice, married Venturi Adelio, my
atlier." .

0n hearing ml; tghmdfihw‘omag casltmhlegdself
u nher knees, c pi or sun mu :

WGod of Heaven, I am ladt-glad to know at last,
that it is as I suspected: at Lady Percn was never
:h‘iafltrne mother of my babe, my treasure, Lady

“In .
A smile of light and Joy everspresii the pallld face
senator. In his last hour of hfe it was
Went to know that the magnetism which had drawn
the fullest strength of fatherly affection toward
Adria, was the alien inex icable monitor of nature.
But the voice of bin mice the momentary still-

ness that followed.

“ Ca n Ciadius! If on love Lady Adria. be
after r smartly. She in the werof Ashort,
the ex-chief executioner-«who, as 1 Venice has dis-
¢0vered is the once infamoust notorious badrac,
the half-Moor there is but one place to
seek her."

“ Yes,“ answered Cladius. “ If in his power, there
is only one place to seek for her.“

Cladius acted gromptly. With a parting Erasure

 

of Marco Trlen s cold hand, he cm the
r
ogglreaching the landing a su rise greeted him in

seeing Doid lo, the Dane. The attcr s left arm was
in a sit 1and abandage of canvas tightly belted
across wounded shoulder. But the right arm
{as free and strong, and he grasped the trenchant

Indc‘ u

“ friend! You here!

“Rfldg‘yz'gmder! 1 could not lie in idlene-
with this riot at the muzzle and knoWinZ You to be
in t midst of it."d’

' t ' oun "

“Pt‘)lol'i‘!()uzll:cratch. mm. By 8t. rum give
“3%?” we,"

“3v ho is aboard the High-Watch, waiting to

 

guide you, as he says, 'to some wonderful trea- I
sure "

“ Enough. Come. I am after Azhort, exchief of
the cxecutioners.“

“I heard it muttered on the lagune, as I came
hither, that, to a certainty, he is Sadrac, the half-
Moor and pirate of eighteen years ago.“

“ True. And he abducted Adria—"

“Then you Wore too late. despite m warning!
Well, away. Have no doubt that we shai soon wrest
her from him and spear the life out of his foul wolf‘s
carcass."

The six battle-barges moved at high speed, head-
in toward the “ Deathsman’s Fort.’

n a corresponding moment a small fleet of boats
containing soldiers swept obliquely outward from
the arsenal front~where the rioters had met with
quick and deadly repulse—also pursuing a course to-
ward the abode of Azhort.

And still another array of armed boats pushing off
from the island battery, stealtth approached the
fortress at Porto di Lido.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
mu ALARM or ran SENTINEL.
ADRIA did not recover her senses during the re-

 

mainder of the journey in the boat toward New !

Lazaretto.
Tobato vain] sprinkled her face with water.
“011! Hi! at if my rize be verily dead! Do

you think she can possib y be dead, my father?
Adria! Harp of my soul! Open your eyes! Hi!—
do you hear? Open our eyes!"

“ Cease our gabb e over her!” snorted the heads-
man. “ I ( 0 not think she is dead when nothing has
been done to kill her. Listen to me. It is discover-

ed that I am Sadrnc, the pirate, who, everybody re- ,

oiced to think, perished eighteen years ago. Iheard

rom the mout of Adio Adello, ere I struck him
down with my knife, enough to convince me that
my identity has been learned by the Council. I had
a presentiinent of ilHuck, hours ago. I have en.
countered onl trouble for my pains since I entered
the palace—t
ment for me."

“ Hi, now! In my bliss at catchy-2i Adria—my
lovely queen Adriai—l forgot to
treasure. You found Venturi Adellof Did he tell
you where to look for the gold and precious stones

hat will make us all so very rich, and buy me a tub-
ftfil of spangles and hire a Barbary crew for a pirate
s an —— '

‘Pklague of fire! Boy, our ton%re was ever hun
like a bell-clapper! I di not find enturi Adello.
have not secured the treasure. There are other
affairs at hand for the present. I am now known as
Sadrac, the pirate. No doubt half the soldiery of
Venice will storm our house—are even now search-
in especially for me in the riot.

The evil pair reached their frownln - fronted
stronghold at about the same time that adius Al-
biirno and his crew—crossing the wake of the flee-
ing boat some distance to the north and west—had
entered and were learning of the events that turn
spired in the Trienti palace.

While being borne t the sentinel stationed on the
outside of the “ Dent sman's Fort ”—Adria returned
to consciousness.

“ Ho!
into the armory-room, his 0 le-and-beast eyes
glarliiig from one to another of! e piratical crowd.

‘5 00 I
in the plot of the duke, yet did not know this was
fgdbg one of are 1rendezt'ig‘ius. Thesedmen weft-:2;u to be

ou c arge e canals, an come ac-
credi'gedy. ' You are tardy. U y
the strife. My rs are tching!" and, as she
spoke she belted her waist with corsair pistols and
riped a hatchet and truncheon. “ Come! Hoo!
oath to the nobles and senators! My husband is
here, at last, to lead out"

“ Death to the misrulers of Venice!” growled the
fierce, vagabond band.

“Nothing of the sort! Hold!" thundered the voice
of the headsman, as he )lanted himself in the door-
way. “ Not a step out 0 this!
discovered. The whole military force of Venice is
massed, and death lies there,"-leveling a finger to-
ward the front building.

“Hoo! Stale news! We know that!" screeched .

Bel-Balls. “Nevertheless, we must lend a hand,
and inaytbe the duke will conquer the soldiers. For-
ward! my husband will not lead, follow me i"

“Halt, there! Halt!" commanded Azhcrt savage-
git‘ENM a man mu‘siti leave tthiizvlioluse. It known

am Sadrac. epirae, t a oe onm
h . No doubt a force is even now bells;i ' tch’:
ed to rob for and destro me. Listen. you
hear ose voile s outside? ar the doors!"

Near! allwit in the room hastened toactupon
this 0 er-Bal-Balla among the rest. A rattli of
bolts, bars and strong chains was soon hes in
various directions, mingling with the occasional
hang of a heavy iron shutter, and the exclamations
of the fast-working fellows.

Adria, immediately she was set u on her feet, had
shrunken back to a far side of t e armory room,
giving one horrified glance at the rough element
surrounding her, their standing, with clas hands
and drooping head, like a stone imagevo woe and

hopelessness.

' Ah! why did I not die to-day, with Cladlusf"
worded in the misery of her dizzy brain. “What
fate is in keeping for me among these frightful peo-
ple? How long, oh, Heaven! before my soul will
esca e its torments of the flesh t"

“ weet lip! Adria of all Adrias! Look upon
me!“ chirruped gleeful Tobato, with his clownish
grin, throwing himself on his crooked knees and

ressing both palms overhlscallous heart. “Oh!
gee met—your lOVer, face of light i—your arden
earnest lover! Smile speak, look! You are to .w
me and be a queen! I am to become a pirate rince,
and on will be the glorious bride! You . have
mu 0, and slalves. rind fin? dresses; we‘ll skim the
seasinm fat er's raves ii .‘

“This.’then, is my fatei‘psthought Ad deso-
lately, remembering the chili saying of the ends-
mw, _ his son, when she lay between the
walls of the secret passage. “ Sooner death by my
own hand. My very increasing wretcheduess is v-
ing me new COlll‘a'lé‘, new. I no longer fear to d e,“
and. compressirx‘.’ in r lips, firmly. the maiden drew
further t.t'/:.',’ iii :2: the Ugly 3Der of her

night, I fear, has another install-'

about the :

What's all this?" cried Azhort, striding ‘

Hoo!“ cawed Bal-Balla. “you and we are i

, now, and away to ‘

The plot, I think, is -

abhorrent adorer, who crawled and scraped after
her on one knee, persisting in his passionate utter-
ances. -

Azhort was busy arming himself from the nume—
mus weapons of war piled in the corners and brack-
eted against the walls—paying no attention to Adria
or his love-frantic son—when the dark-brewed and
bearded rui'flans returned in a crowd frOm the task
of securing doors and windows.

Simultaneously the great door at the front en-
tranixi was opened and closed with a clangor of
chains and sun iug bolts, and the sentinel from the
outside rushed in, hallooing:

“Ibo, there! Azhort! A force of boats. in two
parties, is coming rapidly toward this lace—the
nearest from the arsvnahwharf and the ot ore from
Isle Murano. I can see the moon shine on many
helmets and the gleam of sword—blades and 3 ar-
Loints. For a truth, I think they mean an a tack

ere!"

“Call me no longer Azhort. I am Sadrac, the

irate—and the government Seeks my capture.

ou hear, all?—I am Sadrac, the pirate. And I
am one who can well reward those ready to serve
me. Throw open the magazine and closets. Fazienta
——I shall call you Fazienta, since further conceal-
ment is useless. To the roof! Man the guns! Light
in darkness! we shall see!"

“ Viva .’ We fight for Sadrac, the pirate,“ grufily
howled the reckless men.

At this juncture of the scene in the armory-room
a fourth gun boomed from the fortress of Porto (ii
Lido, then another and another. These were di-
rected in a murderous hail upon the armed boats ap-
proaching from the battery island, and from whose
, de‘pths arose the significant or :

Down with the foes of enioe! Death to con-
spirators!"

And then, for the first the over~bold and int i-
ing Duke d'Ossuna turn) led in a sudden suspic on
i that the vast plot had been discovered in time to
save the capital and hasten the punishment of those
who sought its overthrow.

CHAPTER XXIX.

m..ng "n’§°§‘i’§’“§£‘3¢aa h m

vaga n w t a a 0g, w o
annoyed dio Adelio, in an earlier chapter, as the
latter stood upon the quagdjust previous to the col-
lisio and who after eav roppin at the outer and
ajar oor of the “Deathsman‘s ort" escaped the
, taions of Azhort b a hair‘s breadth—still later
lungin his assasin nife into the shoulders of Dol-
dric, e Dane, as that person was making all haste
toward the home of old Santo—was one of the most
ex’Ferienced and ancient spies of the terrible Ten.

he in hand mamive oor at the front entrance
of the ‘ thsman's Fort " being carelessly left
‘ unfastened by the disguised gon olier. Piero—or.
rather, Doldric, the Dane—whose whole attention
was centered u n the detestable man-wolf who had
possibly slain C us Alburno, this spy soon had l-is
mulish ears bent to catch the sharp series of cries.
yelps and hoarse exclamations that ssued in a muti-
die of discord from the armoryq-oom—the door of
which was also open—and sounding distinctly along
the somber hallway.

After delivering the knife-blow in the shadow
and lane-narrOw street, which, but for the accidean
and timely stumble of Doldric, the Dane, would
have ended his life, the fleet-footed and highl ox-
lilting spy ran on to communicate to the 00 ' the
important in nee he pos .

" mth Ayho! ‘ he muttered, at eve step and
bou . “Good work for one day! ich news!
More of this unearthed plot! Captain Cladlus Al-
burno is dead—stabbed and drowned by Azhort, ex-
chief of the executioners! Ayho! Doldric, the Dane
‘ cannot survive long after that tickle of steel I

gave him! Ayho! Richest of all, I believe—by
.. what 1 have heard at the devil-man’s abode—that
Azhort is none other than Sadrac, the half»er
pirate, who has contrived to deceive every one with
the report of his death somany years since! Let
me furnish all this to the excellent Tent Thereisan
enormous reward, still on record, for the body of
Sadrac, dead or alive! Ayhol—and a handsome
gilt for the one who can show where to find him!
i A 00d da ‘s work, indeed!"

‘ y the t me the second gun was heard rumbling
‘ from the fortress at Porto di Lido the authorities

 

had been fully informed bylhls sgy of his discover-
ies and suspicions, as well as -i
through other and numerous spies,
detail of the consp racy.

After the roar of the third gun—and when the as-
tounded rioters were beaten off with heavy loss of
life and rcutcd from the arsenal gate and its various
posterns—a message was received b ' the commander
of the arsenal guard to capture an produce Azhort,
who was the infamous outlaw ‘ —seeking him
first at his grim fort and further on the streets and
canals, where all the soldiers and half the turmoil-
iiig populace, by this, were cogni’t oi the heads-
111%? s intretand enigmatic identit . '

‘ me i raiisp t at, a few minutes Encoding
the departure of .Clsdius Albuino from t e Trienti
palace—upon a imilar and determined mission—a
number of hen containing military in burnished
and inmed helmets, crept out from the arsenal
whar , three abreast, making toward the owlish
edifice on the New Laurette, from whose rampart
rtl>of t2: mall, malevclent red beacon swm and
3 com .

The armed boats and the battle—barges of Cisdlns
and his crew. pursuing a convergent course, were
shortly close togethe , each force silent and uncer-
l tain as to what humor of host the other might be.
_ Presently the voice of the commander of the arsenal

boats came in brusque challenge:

“ 0‘0! Who are you, there?

a)“ First, who are you?" responded Clldins, from

e leading .

“ Soldiers! And foes to conspirators! Name your-
selves quickly!" ‘
. “ Tell them who I am, my men."

1 “Cladius Albumo! ends to Venice!" runs in
concertfrom the sturdy sailors.

I commotion was discernible in the boats.
= The announcement that Cladlus Albumo, the man

denounced as a traitor, was before them with. doubt-
less, his own famous and invincible crew—coupled
tonsuspuon that he was in leaguewithfiou‘l‘
mutton—m naturally caused a mention. \

of acquainted,
o nearly every

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. ;-:

~v:m= —.-.r.. Ma; r: ..

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.. v..‘,_.ul,..

flew-r“ “ r- ,

1.x... .
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...._1..t .wew‘.‘ “my .aa.

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e barges were slow! closin in.

“ Hold 03, there, Cladigs Albuig'no!" uneasily cried
the commander of the arsenal force.

“ Ah! Captain IridiI—is it 'on! Surely you do
not bear me hostile grudge? 6 were once warm
friends—‘twas not so long ago. Though the Council
has seen fit to call me a traitor. and that without
stating: wherein my treason lies, can you, who have
known my affection and seen the record of my
deeds, deem me guilty without a hearing? I am
abroad tonight to battle in behalf of Venice. The
guard-boats of the lanme can testify that, but for
m the whole element of riot concentrated toward

mocco would now be infesting and devastating
the streets of the capital.“

“ True, Cladins,“ replied the captain, with feeling,
“you and I were once fast friends. My heart is
pained to know of your disgrace. But we am both
soldiers. A soldier dare. not recognize a friend when
he is proclaimed a traitor and banned by govem-
ment; and all are forbid—"

“Then go your way, Captain Iridi. Let there be
nohlood spilled between us. But you will hear of
me sin and the day will be when you may rcmt'm-
befr w iat I now say to you. Venice is ungrateful!
That is all! Go, now, my men! On to the Deaths-
man’s Fort ‘ I"

“ Ha! Whygo on there?” called Ca tain Iridi, as
the strong-oarcd arges swept ahead 0 him.

 

“ To capture or slay Sadrac, the half-Moor pirate!“
came the answer.

“ By all the saints and powers! Friend, foe, traitor,
or aught else, Cladius to—night we. are on duplicate
duty! ’Tis my very object—the capture or death of
tin same dog, Sa rac! Take you the. rear of the
building—«I will attack the front. If Sadrac is in his
stone fort we shall soon et at him. Forward l"

“ Be it so, Captain Irid . 'l‘o-night we will fight in 1
a common cause. And to-morrow "—ln 1!. tone that
none could overhear—“if God prospers main my at-
tempt to rescue Adria, let Venice call me what it
chooses, for I shall be far awa '. Land below the
house of the hemlsman," he or ered.

The approach of the hostile craft—the barges of
Cladius crOSSing obliquely ahead of tho arsenal
boats—was observed by the sentinel, who immediate-
ly gave the alarm. |

find while the horde of villains within the building .
were leading themselves with weapons from the !
closets thrown open by Bai-Balla-«and some carry- I
ing huge baskets of stones and other missiles to the i

l

rampart roof, jam ing up the sable painted stair-
way—two-score of the intrepid crew of the Hi h-
Watch were marching in a solid bod along he
cramped lane or alley at the rear oft 0 “Deaths- '
man’s Fort "—a way unllghted exec t by the moon :
and the distant conflagration—flna y halting ata
gate of stron iron and s itied bars that was the only
opening in a ' h, smoot i wail surrounding the pre-
i

m 1468.

Captain Iridi, with his force from the arsenal, was
almost under the shadow of the grim, ominously si-
lent abode.

The crew of Ciadius planted a petard against the
gate then paused to await the signal of attack mo-
men rily expected to sound from the front.

Doldric plucked at the sleeve of his commander.
saving, rdcgizl:

“LoolEmCap Cladlus. Some one comes this
wa .’

Ay figure was gliding swiftly down the nth that
led from the rear door to the gate in the h wall.
She was running, casting short lances Over her
shoulder, asiffearin pursuit. A ew seconds later,
a half-smothered exc amation broke from Cladlus.
His keen eyes, aided by love, had recognized Adria.

 

CHAPTER XXX.
mom or run novnas.

In thointense excitement created by the alarm of
the sentinel and the nick hoarse command of A2.-
prcsence o Adria was for the moment
forgotten. Even cackling and gr! Tobato was
startled from the ludicrous volume of is love-mak-
inzand sprung upon his little bow-legs with a Vicious

sna. .

“Til! So, they are com! after my father, eh?
Yes, u to the roof! Man 6 runs! Oh! we will
show them, whoever the. may , that we know
howtoflght! Iamgiadt tweare to haveaflght
with somebody l"

“ H00! H00! Make haste laggards! Arm, there,
and carry up these stones and darts!“ splutteicd the
timss wife of the headsman.

Azhort was already in the lead. Snatchin a fresh
quiver of arrows from the wall, Tobato iunded
after his arent.

Neglec by the e as of those around her, Adria
drew shrinléti‘nfily be iid the efllg’y that had been
rendered b can shortly before y the arrow from
Tobato’s long bow.

-Balla was tto leave the armory-room car- !
rying in one or pile of javelins and in the other a
basket full of explosive shells.

“ I do not think they can break through either
door or window," she said. to herself, ascending the ,
pltchy dark stairway behind the jostling, growling
rufllnns. “These doors an! windows were doubly 1
strengthened when my husband, Sadrac, obtained
the pro rty, in anticipation of an emergency like
this. 00! It is strange to me that the Council
shoul i have discovered him to be Sad me, the pirate,
at this particular time. when we ought to be outside,
flgh'iing for the duke, instead of being coo m! up in
here to defend our lives. Teeth of Satan n nce such
ill-luck, sa 1!"

In a bi ef space Adria was alone. Listening till
the dull tram of the savage men ow faint, she
stole timidly ortli into the unlightod iall. ‘;

“ Now may Heaven guide me!“ she, prayed, fleeing
on tiptoe from the armory-room and groping her i
way with abated breath.

er flight brought her to the rear deor—a door ‘
studded with rivets; as large and hetuy as that at.
the front entrance—and e rly her fingers began to
fumble. with the huge bo ts, intricate chains and
ponderous lock, her heart {hitterin as she succeed-
ed, slowly though surely. aided on y by the new: of :
touch, in undoing the fastenings without noise.

By the time Captain Iridi had arrived to within a i

 

few Lynx-(ls of the dismal-fronted fortrof-a-house. and , po
M l

0 crew of ‘ladlus were planting the potard 
against the, ba rrco nil spiked gate at t a rear, Adria

is.
\.::..—,_.-L.-_.-..-._.._.. can”... ..- .,  ..  . ,..

v stee

Azhort, they‘Aaman.

 

 

 

had opened the door wide, and, scarce able tore-
preigs a cry of relief, ran out upon the hard, earthen
pat way.

She knew nothing of the high wall. at first—be-
lieving herself free, so far, from the clutches of her
horrible persecutors—and the glance that showed
her the insurmountable barrier also wrung from her
panting lips a groan of new despair.

It was as she stopped short in the path that Cla-
dius recognized r.

Simultaneous]
“ Deathsman‘s
brass gun that shook the air around.

“ Fly the fuse!" cried Doldric.

Almost blending in the boom of the gun burst
the quivering discharge cf the petard, tearing,
btil‘eaklng, rivmg asunder the spike-headed bars of
t e gate.

Cladius was first through the breach, closely fol-
lowed by Doldric and the cheering sailors.

“Charge!” loudly shouted the Dane. “Yonder
door is open. If we are nick enough we shall
soon have those within a our swonls'-points.
(.‘hargc l"

“Adria! My love !—my life!“ called Cladlus.

The maiden frightened by this disturbance from
an unexpected quarter and the charge of the men
through the breach, turned off to flee along one of
the bushy side-paths of the tan led garden.

“Adria! Adria! Do you no know me?"

The voice of her lover was magic in her ears.

“Cladius! (‘unit be? Is it you?"

“Ay, my own Adria! is way, sweetheart!
Come, ere you are in dan er!"

“Cladius! Oh, my Cia ins!" and she was in his
arms.

“l’ass her back and leave some to guard her!
We want your sword!" advised Dokric, as he
charged past at the head of the madly-cheering
sailors.

“ Dear Adria, detain me not! 1 am needed by my
crew. Hey. lads! three of you bear this lady com-
pany beyond the gate, and remain with her till my
return. Go with them, love, for they are your
friends."

Checking with a hurried kiss whatever she might
have said, ins tore himself from her embrace
and dashed on to join his crew, now pouring in
through the door so 0 portunely opened by Adria.

Ca tain Iridi had alted his boats close to the
land ng, and bade one of the soldiers advance
dto thump with a spear-haft on the iron-timbered

Oor

“ Hello, within!" he cried in summons.

“Well—who are you? What do you seek?" was
the response from the roof, and the visage of Az-
hort peered from the squares of the turretolike
breastwork.

“If thou art Azhort, ex-chief of the execution-
ers, 1‘open this door and surrender—I command
you a

“ To whom i"

“ The powers of Venice l"

“ And for what?"

“ ause you are Sadrsc, the half-Moor—dog-of—
n-pirato! Surrender!"

‘ Fury of air! Whoever I am, on will find it hot
work to drag me out of this. Ha ha! ha! 1am pre-
pared for you!" defied the hoarse, harsh voice of

he headsman' and to a certain few who stood near
him awaiting his signal, he said:

“ ow give it them smartly! Fire!"

In the same instant that Azhort gave the com-
mand to “ flre," Captain Iridi ordered his soldiers
to storm the entrance, which they did with a batter-
ing-ram brought in one of the boats for the urpose.
As the ram struck the stout door, shaking ron and
timber from peak to sill, a brass cannon on the roof
roared and flamed forth, dealin a shower of stones,

lass and innumerable bits 0 missiles into those
ts which had not {at reached the landing—and
down from above. on t e heads of the soldiers at the
door, pelted a vast quantity of renades, darts,
spears, that rattled on the burn helmets like
hall and hissed and exploded among their buskins
with no little dam .

“Stand flrm! C vs it another stroke! Now an-
other!" encouraged Captain lrldi, clenching his
teeth in pain from a wound on his shoulder.

Again and again the ram plunged forward til! at
last its cumbrous front, dislocating bolts, snap ing
chains, rending through rivets and timber, Beat
down the door amid a cloud of splinter-s and a loui

crash.

Over the debris. angry and wounded, sprung Cap-
tain Iridi.

“ Hi Hi!“ bowled Tobato, from the rear part of
the roof, where he was rapidly letting fl his arrows
among: the charging sailors, led by Do d e, the Dane.
—“Hl Hi! Lack here, my father! Here comes
another lot through the garden! I think we shall all
be on tured and killed !’

“ ends of the pit!" howled the infuriate heads-
mau, kiiowln we! the meaning of that crash be-
low, and wav ng his arms about him with the as-

-ct of a demon. “i thought the. door was stronger!

hey have forced the entrance!

Down all! Meet
them on the stairway!"

“ Hold the stairway!" screeehed Bal-Bal'a.

“Iii! Here they come! (Jive it to them in the
dark!" yelped Tobato.

With an answerin how! the whim horde slipped
down thro h the de scuttle.

In at the ront came the grim. trained soldiers—in
at the back rushed the cheering sailors of the High-
Watch.

“ Iridi and Venice!“

“ Alburno and victory! Viva!"

“ Death to Sadrac. the pirate!"

“Charge! Charge!“

Then ensued a fearful struggle on the stairs. en-
velolied in blackness, impenetrable. Pistols flashed,

smote steel, groans, yells and agonized curses
deafened the car.

()n pressed the soldich and sailors, striking and
lunging iihcad, aimlessly, but with terrible effect,
ann trampling an oCcai ionnl prostrate form.

On— it i~ up through tlvi- scuttle, despite the
sweeps of the great two-banded ax—and .Azhort was

7 before them, a sight to behold in the horrible frenzy

of his e and the broad blade griped in desperate
ise. headnman was at ha .

“Down with him! By St. nil—death to the
abominable Buirac!" sounded the voice of Doldric,

i

came the roar l'i om the top of the i
‘ort," the belching thunder of a ‘

 

i
i

the Dane, who was forcing over the roof those whn
still resisted.

A minute later Azhort threw n his hands with a
blood-curdling shriek, and sunk own, pierced by a
dozen swords and lances. ,

In an effort to protect her hideous husband, Boi-
Baila had her $in 1 crushed by a truneheon. '

Tobato, crazed by the scene and the death of his
evil iarents, seemed like an imp beside himself.

‘ Send n his last arrow into the crowd of victors. he
5

ran fin ’leaped from the roof, with one. loud. sharp:
ti 1!!
He had aimed to fall into the water, and escape by
swimmin . But the leap wastoo short. and he was
afterwar found lying on the stone-landing, mangled
to death by the concussion.

 

As sudden the riot. as sudden the squelchlng, and
a summary doom was in waiting for the head-spirits
of the conspiracy.

The murmur of tumult and the clatter of bells
ceased; only a scattering shout was to he heard here
and there near several smoking ruins. Bonfire and
rocket and signal flame died out; a weird, hushed
spell settled over the marble city within a few

hours.

But the work of The Ten was not yet over.

The High-Watch drop ed out in ii- Elii‘nmocoo
favored b the tide, its ecks, above :‘nd below, as
silent as t e grave. But when safely distant on the
bosom of the broad sea, cheer upon cheer was given
for the roup that stood beneath the swelling can-
vas an the spacious after-cabin was made toglow
wit illumination and colored festoons.

Cladlus. Adria, Doldric and Saute were speed!
awav from Venice, surrounded by a crew read an
devoted to the last man. Static, the marks -boy,
had found means to forward a heav purse to his
aged mother, with information of bl; new fortune
and destiny, which pleased her greatly.

With the first light of day many of the porpulace,
who had not as yet conceived the full impo of the
conspiracy—they who had no hand in itp—were sur-
prised to see a number of bodies han ing lifeless by

he uare of St. Mark. Some of t is misled and
wretc ed beings were tried, condemned and executed
within the precincts of the Ducal Palace; others were
quietly drowned in the canal. The embarsador was
escorted beyond the boundaries of the Republic—
D‘Ossuna and Dom Pedro de Toledo were swiftly
punished for their share in the plot so nearly fatal
to the “City of the Sea."

On his own cod ship Cladius Albnmo learned
from the lips o Adria the nature of the charge that
had been referred against him before the Council—-
she re what had been told her b the senator
in tha interview during which she h behold the
eyes of Azhort ng at her from the painted por-
trait of Rupert i.

It is almost needless to say that the charge was a
falseth concocted by that unscrupulous woman,
Lag! Perci. though put so cunnineg and strength-
en by the disappearsnce of Cladim, that the Coun-
cil Were fsin to accept it as a verity. The sworn
statement of the whole crew, attesting the lie of the
charge, was forwarded to the Government of Venice
at the same time that Cladlus. in all honor, returned
to the vessel.

Securin the immense treasure that had for years
been bu ed beneath a double and false earthen cel-
lar floor of the fkherman's but on the lower coast—
the s t of Santo‘s vearly visits mentioned revious-
ly'—(. in l, Adria Doldric, ianto and Sta 0 sought-
t ie shore of England, where many warm friends
greeted our hero.

Adria, during the voyage, was made fully ac-

uninted with the whole story we have seen old

nto reveal to Cladlus. Joy unspeakable filled her
ht art to learn that Marco nti, whom she always
so dearly loved was her own father though it was a
sad accompaniment to hear the detail of his un-
doubted death.

liuch to the surprise of all, the maiden seemed
deeply and strangely affected by the discovery of so
cloae a relationship existing betwaen herself and the
one man of all men she adored. Instead of yielding
gladly to the earnest pleadings of her lover foran
early union. she demanded one whole year: first in
memory of her father; second. to debate in her own
mind he expediency of her marriage with her
cous n.

But Heaven was kind to these devoted hearts and
sent integifence that set aside all new is. Ere the

ear roll around they were Joined y Phla, the

ndia-woman. She brought with her certain
papers given her the dying senator, revealing.
secret the wise old no had never suspected.

Marco Trienti and the Lady Anice—wifo of Ven-
turi Adello—were not brother and sister of one flesh.
The father of Trienti,awidowcr, had wedded the
mother of little. Lady Autos, a widow, and by no
s .eciai design it he ever been sup that the
c ildren were of the same unio whic had occurred
during a long residence abroad y both parents.

Some years later, Cladius was invited again to an
important command in the Venetian fit ct. But he

referred his quiet life of wealth and love, amid his

ew tried friends, blessed by the smiles ot‘ Adria,
his beauteous bride.
m m.

 

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