The Argosy — page 121: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

108 The Sapphire Cross. The pistol was one which the Countess always kept loaded in her | room. This was a fancy of hers, against which the Count had constantly protested. | Carlotta was followed by Guiseppe Baroni, copyist of pictures, a | very old, very shabby, dejected man, who gave his evidence with the most unmistakeable reluctance. He had known Guido many years, and the young man would sometimes pay him a visit of an evening. Had formerly lodged with a family at the top of the house of which Count Cioronski occupied the first floor. Meeting the prisoner in the street one day shortly before the murder, he told him that he had ; changed his residence. It seemed to him at the time that Guido understood him, but he might have been mistaken. After a slight snub administered to him for this doubt cast upon his own infallibility, Signor Guiseppe Baroni was allowed to retire. He remained in the Court—an unconsciously pathetic figure—through- out the trial, listening with the painful, perplexed attention of the old, and every now and again raising his trembling hands to brush away the tears that coursed silently down his withered cheeks. ‘The next two witnesses were the porters of the palazzo. It must be mentioned here that this house like many such old buildings in Italy, had two large entrances in different streets. The staircase—single throughout the upper part of its course—divided at the landing of the first floor into two branches communicating respectively with the entrances. The porter of one door—the principal one—deposed to having seen Guido Zondara enter, but not to having seen him leave again. He remembered Carlotta’s descending, and swore positively that during the time she stood at the door talking to him nobody entered the house from his side. The other porter was almost stone-deaf, so that his evidence— which was of a negative character—was taken with extreme difficulty. He stated that he was no longer porter of the palazzo, having been removed some weeks after the murder, on account of his deafness. The street door by his lodge could be opened from within (as usual in Italy) by anybody pulling the cord which hung beside it. Persons passing in and out constantly left it ajar. He was rheumatic, and in summer-time when the air was pleasant he did not always get up to shut the door. Had found the system answer very well, until the murder, which had shocked him very much. On that evening about the same number of people as usual had passed through. He had not noticed any of them particularly. The deaf porter was followed by Pietro Siccoli. He had known Guido at the Art Institute. On the day of the murder the prisoner had come to work in the same studio with himself. The next morning, Pietro happening to knock over a heap of Guido’s things, found a sapphire cross, which struck him because of the beauty of the setting. He laughingly asked if it were a love COPMIEMOOKS EOL 9)