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Show Jp KE? OF DEATH, Hfc Story of Italian Methods In Hr Mediaeval Times. HE By F. A. MITCHEL. jv (Copyright, 1910. b American Press Asso- Bf When Venice was mistress of the IK mnritluic world slic attracted innuy jHf young men desirous of profiting by her IK commercial lulrnntngus. Among them JB yrns ono Giuseppe IYsscro, who went H thero from Home. Pessero was of B good family nnd had been luttmnte B with the Iiorglns, the I'nrnoso nnd W other grent families nt n time when m the Itnllnns wero very skillful In get- ting lid of those who stood In their f wny by menus of poison. ( One nftcrnoon, whllo being pulled in y n gondola from St. Mark's down to- ward the lUnlto, Pessero passed a barge r In which sat n vision of loveliness. . i "Giovanni!" exclaimed Pcssero when the two boats had passed. "Who Is that lady'r" "That, slgnor," replied the gondolier, 'ls SIgnorlua Frnncescn del Prombo." "Turn, Giovanni turn at once and ,. follow." . "J The gondola was swung around nnd ' ' j" pulled to a flight of steps leading to tho square .of St. Mark's. The lady had embarked nnd entered tho square ) when Pesscro's gondola drew up to i tho Hteps. In a few minutes he saw i tho SIgnorlua I-'mnccsen join a party of gentlemen and ladles who wero sitting sit-ting Idly, some reading, some playing Ion lutes, others chatting. Tesscro, seeing see-ing ono among them he knew, spoke to him and was Introduced to the group. But It wns Francesca that ho wanted. want-ed. Seizing tho earliest opportunity, ho devoted, himself to her, though without encouragement. Francesca was betrothed to I.wlgl Sansovlno, ono of her own rank and high In favor with tho doge. Disregarding this, Pes-soro Pes-soro perslbtcd In his attentions and after an acquaintance of a few weeks made bold to ask for SIgnorlua del Prombo'a hand. It Is needless to say that his suit was rejected. That was a far different age from this. While tho people had attained a certain refinement, they jsecnicd still to rctnln tho traits of their barbarian barba-rian ancestors. It was not an uncommon uncom-mon thing for a man rejected by a woman to revenge himself upon her. if VIS) IIOMIOU HTIIIOKCV, HIS WtlDU BENT OYKI1 1IIM. Pessero resolved that no ono except himself should ' possess Francescn. "But ho bided his time, lie heard of '.the preparations making for her wedding wed-ding with Sansovlno, how -the looms wero spinning line fabrics for her wedding gown and how the most dell-cate dell-cate laco was being woven for her adornment. lie showed no sign of dissatisfaction. dis-satisfaction. He was engaged most of the day nnd at times far into tho night in a little workshop thnt he had lit ted up in his home. I When the day for tho wedding enme M Pcssero stood at the entrance to St. M Mark's church, where tho ceremony M was to take place, among a crowd of R people eager to see the beautiful Fran-jB Fran-jB cesca del Prombo attired for tho brl-H brl-H dnl. The groom as he passed in saw jH the face of the man who hnd aspired jK to bis place wearing the look of a Bj flend. Pessero wns on the inner edge jH of the crowd, and tho two men touch-jB touch-jB ed as the procession passed. Sanso-I Sanso-I B vino looked away and in another ino- jjH ruent felt a sharp pain In his breast. SB Before ho had entered tho body of tho H church he fainted. Horror stricken, B Ills bride bent over him, endeavoring R to recall him to consf lousnessall in H fain. In n few minutes he was dead. flH Francescn's quick eye had detected jBHt the malevolent face of Pcssero In tho 1 flBRB crowd, and she was seized with an Indefinable In-definable dread. From tho moment her lover had sunk down on the marble mar-ble pavement Bho divined tbnt he had been stricken by the hand of her rejected re-jected suitor. She vw carried to the caunl, placed In her barge and rowed to the family palace. As soon as sho fame out of the frantic coudltlon Into which. Abe hnd, been thrown by the V tragedy smrcnat: . "IIo was killed by Pessero l" i j "Pessoro!" exclaimed her father nnd mother In n breath. i I "He wns nt tho church. IIo rubbed j ngalnct Lulgl n3 we passed. Tho fiend j killed him!" ( Slgnor del Trombo consulted with his most Intimate friends, nnd it wns coo- I sldcrol possible for Pessero to have j Mnbbcd bin victim by mentis of n j blade so thin th'it no blood would llo'r. A uurgoou was directed to carefully ex j nmluo tho body, with a viow to dU covering If thn mark of any instrument instru-ment of death hod lwcn left upon it The examination was tnndc and tho . report awaited with intense eagerness. "Well," said Slgnor del Trombo when the surgeon came to report. "IIo watfTissassInnted." "How? Stabbed?" I "Not exactly.' A smnll steel needle I wns Injected Into the llesh." "How? By whom?" "That I cannot tell." "Was death caused by this Instrument?" Instru-ment?" "There may have been poison on It." "Could you detect poison?" j "There wero no traces of anything on tho needle." Tho Del Prombo family were sure that the needle had in some mysterious mysteri-ous manner been injected by Pessero Into the breast of the murdered man. But who wns to glvo evidence of the fact? Nor were tho courts of that time overburdened with justice. More than that, the detective methods of the present day Mcre then unheard of. So thero was nothing to do but suffer and permit the murderer to go his way. Frnncescn, feeling thai her life hnd boon blighted, decided to go Into n convent. Tho palace of St. Mark's and Us gay compnny knew her no more, Sho ' disappeared entirely from tho world. One day not long after her retirement retire-ment Pessoro succeeded under the guise of a mendicant In gaining access to her. Before sho was aware of It she was In an apartment alone with the murderer of her lover. Throwing off his disguise, he knelt nt her feet and Implored her to take pity on one who loved her better than life. IIo was greeted with a look of horror, hor-ror, of detestation nnd with but one word: "Murderer!" Ho nttemptod to plend, but Francescn Frances-cn raised n cry for help, and In a moment mo-ment the room wns tilled with nuns. Pessero, foiled, slunk away. But as he departed he gave Francesca a look that froze her soul. It was love changed to hate, and with it was mingled triumph. Ho had no sooner gone than Francescn Fran-cescn quickly placed her hand on her breast. The expression on her face told those about her that something scilous had happened. Then sho began be-gan to tear open her bodUe, and there on her boKom was a drop of blood In a word she told them (hat she hud been stabbed by the man who hnd killed her lover. A surgeon uli: attended the umwi whpii they wero 111 happened to be la the ei u out nt the time. He was Imr rl' d to Frames a. In ni few wonli .n possible he waj told that soniothln;, was dotitulPKH imderneatli the titty wound, and ho prebed for It. In n few moments ho extracted a stetl needle. By this time Francesca was losing consciousness from tho effects of the wound, nnd the surgeon, believing that the needle had boon poisoned before being Injected, used such antidotes an he was acquainted with. For soveral hours Francesca's llfo hung In the balance: then slowly she betrnn to revive nnd In n few days was restored. In the present case Pessero was known to have been with his intended victim at the tltno she wns stricken, nnd this, taken with the circumstances of Sansovlno's death, was strong evidence evi-dence ngalnst him. Frnncesca'H father had concealed tho causo of tho death of Sansovlno nnd the suspicion that rested on Tcssero. Desirous of getting other evidence, ho directed that tho murderer should bo kept In lguornncu of whnt was known of his methods. Pessero, who had stricken Frnncescn In a moment of passion and knew from her greeting that tho circumstances connected with tho two tragedies would be Bulllclont to convict him. fled. Slgnor del Prombo no sooner learned learn-ed that his daughter was out of danger dan-ger than he sought Pcssero. Not finding find-ing him nnd learning that ho bad been seen pulling in .a boat for tho mainland, main-land, Del Prombo followed, caught the murderer nnd, single banded, brought him back to Venice. Pcssero was thrown Into prison nnd his home senrched. There In his workshop were found n number of parts which together to-gether made up the Implement used In his crimes. It wns a largo key, lit appearance very simple, but-ically very complex. Tho handle, being turned, exposed a spring which, when pressed, tent from the other end of tho key n poisoned needle of such Oneness thnt It entered the flesh and burled itself there, leaving leav-ing no external trace. There is n bridge In Venice called tho "Bridge of Sighs." It spans a narrow nar-row canal leading from a prison to the palace of the doges, where court was held. It Is generally supposed that in mediaeval times political nrls oners passed over it ror trial, ic sas, however, n passage for common malefactors. male-factors. Visitors In Vonlco may now go from the palace over thu bridge to the prison ami down Into Its dungeons, in one of these dungeons Pessero was confined, lie passed over the "Bridge of Sighs" to his ttlal and. after his convl'tlon. passed back over the same bridge to await hln execution. It Is said that Francescn, whoso life he had turned from ono of happlncsii t. a cloister existence and who had, vnder the Influence of the sisters, been turned to piety, wished to petition tho court to Kp'ire I'eKucro's life, but nfl dlwuauk'd from doing so by JJio mother superior on the gr mid that the chr.f. !i did not Interfere w'tlt juntlce. Pcsiero win linnged. Frnticesnt mcr left tbe convent in which nlie Imd Kiui'ht ft relrenl when the world paled bef:t'o her. After tlw dotth of her futher sho Inliorltcd n fer-ttvse, fer-ttvse, v tt.'f't i!i" give to (h porv. Tho water of the Grand 'nnl wash tho Hteps leading to tho palace of her family, but It Is now occupied for commercial purposes. The glory of 'Venice nnd her former home have vanished. |