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- THIS libli: OMAHA, &UNUAY, JANUARY 1, VSl'l.' , 1
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The Married Life of
Helen and Warren
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By MABEL HERBERT URNER.
The Horrors of tht Venetian
Dungeons Appeal to Hclen'i
Atavistic Instincts.
"Ready?" Warren, at the door, im
patiently tapped his cane.
"In just a minute." Helen gathered
tin her gloves, her "Guide to
Venice," and the postcards the had
written before breakfast. "I want to
get stamps for these as we go out."
"Hello, you've got a callert
Cheeky beggar!"
An adventurous pigeon had flut
tered in through the long window,
the Mtn glittering on its iridescent
neck, as it perked its head in
quiringly. . i
"Oh, dear, how tame! Wait, Til
give it some crumbs," taking a roll
from the breakfast tray"
Greedily it gobbled the crumbs
from the floor, but refused to eat
from Helen's hand, shying under the
bed.
"Now you haven't time to fool.
We want to get started early."
".Should we leave it in here? It
might break something on the tray.
I'll put some crumbs on the bal
cony.
The pigeon coaxed out, Helen
paused to glance clown the Grand
canal that reflected the tnorninor bril
liancy. Barges, colorfully heaped
with fruit and vegetables, glided by
the gray palaces, pathetically shabby
, in the sunlight.
At Warren's irascible call, she
turned back into the room, closed
the shutters, and hurried after him
as he strode down the vaulted cor
ridor Helen's postcards stamped and
mailed at the office, they started out
for St. Marks Square the lounging
center of Venice.
The modest rear entrance of the
hotel, in marked contrast to the
Grand canal front, opened on a
quaint, shoplined street.
With no wheeled vehicles and no
sidewalks, . t lie narrow Venetian
street, paved evenly across, was filled
with leisurely strollers.
"You can enjoy a walk in this
burg," approved Warren. "No taxis
to dodsre.
Crossing a bridge over one of the
interesting canals, through another
picturesque street, they entered the
famous Piazza.
. Approaching from the west, the
square lay before them in all its fes
tive splendor the domes or t.
Mark at the opposite end and the age
darkened palaces on either side.
" 'The most impressive square in
Europe' that's what the guide book
calls it.
"They'd sense enough -not to plant
a statue in the middle," commended
arren, for the spacious plaza was
unmarred by. monuments.
Though it was not yet 10 o'clock,
the tables in front of the cafes were
well filled with patrons sipping the
inevitable class of vermouth.
Shop windows, disconcertingly
crowded with Venetian lace, beads,
icwelcry, leather and glass, faced the
colonnaded walk continuous on three
sides of the square.
"Dear, we must get ' something
Here for Carrie," as they strolled
along.
. "Lot of junk fixed up for tour
ists," grumped' Warren.
"But some of these laces are love
ly. And this hand-tooled leather!
How would one of those card cases
do for Lawrence? They're only 20
lire.'.'
"Huh, you spout abeut the great
est' Square in Europe, but you're too
busy lamping the gim-cracks in the
shops to look at it," contemptously.
"If we could only take home a
pair of those tall Venetian jjoblests!"
"Now, we're not going to load up
with a lot of truck that'll break.
Hello, here's Quadri'sl Supposed to
he a rattling good place." Warren
always knew about the cafes -and
restaurants. "Guess' it's too early to
have a drink."
Suddenly, as the great clock
boomed out, a cloud of pigeons filled
the air. At the last stroke of 10,
56me fluttered back to their sculp
tured, crevices, others to the foot of
the tower where several t tourists
were feeding them.
"Look, dear, that old man's sell
ing corn! : Let's get some."
As Helen bought two tiny cones
filled with corn and peas more pig
eons flew down. Tamer than her
halcony visitor, one settled on her
shoulder.
"Lazy loafers I So fat they can
hardly "waddle." Warren threw the
whole of his cone in one careless
handful.
"If they'd only let me stroke
them," but even the boldest pigeon
feeding from her' hand was coyly
elusive of further familiarity.
"Come on, can't fool here all
morning."
.After a glimpse into the vast, dim
interior of St. Marks cathedral, they
. passed on to the Doges-' palace.
"How about a gondola ride?" War
ren looked out over the lagoon. '"You
were keen for that last night."
"Not now. dear, it's too sunny
later this afternoon. While we're
here, we ought to go through the
Doges' palace."
"Now I'm not going to do any
art galleries." belligerently.
"We needn't do the art part but
I've always wanted to see the dun
geons!" A hovering guide, who had spot
ted them- as tourists, now ap
proached. "Would you like to be shown
through the palace and the ancient
prisons?"
Knowing Warren's aversion to
guides, Helen interrupted his curt re
fusal, eagerly insisting that the pris
on dungeons were what she most
wanted to see.
"Anything Tut art galleries," was
Warren's grouchy consent.
The admission fee paid, they en
tered the court, and up the impos
ing giant's staircase, down which,
according to the guide, had rolled the
Moody head of Marino Faliero after
his tragic execution. I
On through- Iotty council cham
bers, and they crossed the famous
Bridge of Sighs.
Looking down at the grim prison
walls that rose from the canal, they
rould see the narrow slits that served
fr windows. Many cf the cells, the
taios cvrlaii cd. -cre below the
water. It w as these underground J
dungeons they were now to explore,
adroitly stimulating their interest.
Re-croising the bridge, he led the
way through another marble hall,
down a taircjue to a curious secret
door.
Here he paused to light a lantern,
and they wound down deep spiral
steps to heavy iron door that
guarded a cavelike corridor.
The lantern flickering in the sep
'ulrhral darkness, they stooped to
follow the guide into the firnt dun
geon cell. Cruelly small, it wa
barely high enough to stand upright.
A stone slab had been the prison
er's bed. There was no window, not
even a crevice for light or air.
"How could they live here?" shud
dered Helen. "It's like a tomb."
The guide explained that the
prisoners were practically buried
alive most of them going insane
before death released them.
It was in the next dungeon that
l ord Hyron had had himself locked
for 24 hours, that he might write
more realistically his celebrated
poem, "Marine Faliero."
The lantern, held close to the
wall, showed the signatures of many
prisoners carved in the 6tone. Only
the "Gordon" in Byron's name could
be traced, the rest having been cut
away by pilfering souvenir fields.
Here, also, was the famous in
scription which the guide, translated,
"God Preserve Me From My
Friends From My Enemies I Can
JMend Myself."
Even more gruesome was' the tor
ture chamber. The walls still held
the rusty iron rings by which the
unfortunate victims were strung tip.
Often they were suspended by their
feet, released when unconscious only
to be revived for further torture.
The guide, sensing Helen's avid
interest in the harrowing, expatiated
on all the sinister details.
To the stone bench in the corner
the prisoner was chained for the
"Water Drip" torture. The unceas
ing drip, drip on the head was the
most dreaded of all slow, heinous
deaths.
The cur'ous stone posts and frag
ments of chains were remnants of
other instruments of torture, long
since removed. One ghastly .method
was to bind the wretched victim to
the floor and leave him to be de
voured by the rats, which infested
the damp, filthy dungeons.
"Nice, cheerful party," grunted
Warren. "Had about enough?"
when the guide had exhausted the
horrors of that chamber.
"We want to sec it all while we're
here," insisted Helen, with a feminine
fascination for the gruesome.
Another row of cavernous dun
geons ended in the execution cell.
In the stone wall was the recess for
the guillotine, where, during the
teign of terror, countless political
prisoners had been beheaded.
The lantern, held over the floor
beneath, showed the three holes
where the blood drained off. Nearby
vas the trap door, now Sealed,
through which the headless bod'es
were dropped at night ipto the canal
below.
"Quick and convenient" was War
ren's -comment. "Just chuck 'em
into the drink. Well, we're about
fed up with horrors. Let's dig out
of here."
Back through the long corridor to
the iron door, up the spiral steps
and out from the mouldy darkness
into the welcomed light and a'r.
"Come on, let's breeze over to
Quadri's." as they crossed the Piaz
zetta. "Wonder if they can shake
up a dry Martini? Guess we can
stand a good stiff drink after that
dose of gloom."
"Dear. I wouldn't have missed it
for anything. Think of all the
famous prisoners that have been in
those dungeons! And that awful
torture chamber!"
"Huh, wouldn't do to peeve the
bosses in those days," shrugged
Warren. "Those bloodthirsty old
crooks ran their wards with an ax.
If you didn't come across with the
divvy the chopping block for
yours! Our politicians wouldn't
have been in it with that bunch of
cutthroats."
"Oh, wait don't you'll step on
it!" Helen clutched his arm.
"Eh? What's struck you now?"
"It's a caterpiller! Give me your
cane!"
On the stone pavement, almost
tinder Warren's foot, crawled a funy
caterpillar. The cane being too uu
wieldv. with an ever-adaptable hair
pin Helen lifted the coiling worm
and gently placed it in a sheltered
crevice.
"Can you beat it?" snorted War
ren, contemptuously. "You fairly
ate up the line of gory dope that
guy handed out. The more he
niled on the aeony. the better you
liked it. Yet you throw a fit if
anybody steps on a bugl Huh,
vou're blamed tender-hearted, you
are I"
Next week: "A Sleepless A1I
Night Trip." -
(Cupyrlght, 1S21. by'JIbl Herbert
Harper.)
Paraguay Revolution
Cost $36,000 Real Cash
Asuncion. Paraguay, Dec. 31. It
cost only $36,000 real money to stage.
the recent coup detat in Paraguay,
which deposed a president, vice pres
ident and cabinet; put the republic's
entire army and navy on the alert;
upset business generally, and placed
Paraguay back on the list of repub
lics which decide political arguments
by revolution.
The conp was in every sense of the
word a "pacific" revolution. Three or
four men were killed by troops dur
ing the'10 days that the army was in
control of the capital, but these
deaths were not due to fighting be
tween the factions.
"Suggestion
Birth Control
Tried on Connecticut Cow
Packerville. Conn.. Dec. 31. Birth
control by "suggestion" is being
practiced here as well as on the
W. S. Brown farm at Sheppard Hiil:
John Smith intends to have his
red and white cow bear him a pure
white calf, and will curtain her in
snow-white damask to make the
trick a sore thing.
White will a!o be used every lew
days on the ceiling and walls of her
box stall. He will wear white jack
ets when feeding her. and all tT
grain and water will be brought m !
scow-w bite pails
A Happy 1 !j
I ? and Prosperous 1 1
1: ' New Year : . , y '
1 For You Is the jl; .
I' ; Sincere Wish v
if v V ' : The I
f: Pacing . House g
i nnnsrrv t -n
red ; - p-w.-. 7 i-Cl u
1 mnrn omatia. nee. !1
WMm V . W -a- W .-a-r-.,. - ; -
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