of the respected
and venerated Don Cesare Torlini, canon of the church of St. John
Lateran, and Peppino, called Rocca Priori, convicted of complicity with
the detestable bandit Luigi Vampa, and the men of his band.' Hum! 'The
first will be mazzolato, the second decapitato.' Yes," continued
the count, "it was at first arranged in this way; but I think since
yesterday some change has taken place in the order of the ceremony."

"Really?" said Franz.

"Yes, I passed the evening at the Cardinal Rospigliosi's, and there
mention was made of something like a pardon for one of the two men."

"For Andrea Rondolo?" asked Franz.

"No," replied the count, carelessly; "for the other (he glanced at the
tablets as if to recall the name), for Peppino, called Rocca Priori. You
are thus deprived of seeing a man guillotined; but the mazzuola still
remains, which is a very curious punishment when seen for the first
time, and even the second, while the other, as you must know, is very
simple. The mandaia [*] never fails, never trembles, never strikes thirty
times ineffectually, like the soldier who beheaded the Count of Chalais,
and to whose tender mercy Richelieu had doubtless recommended the
sufferer. Ah," added the count, in a contemptuous tone, "do not tell me
of European punishments, they are in the infancy, or rather the old age,
of cruelty."

* Guillotine.

"Really, count," replied Franz, "one would think that you had studied
the different tortures of all the nations of the world."

"There are, at least, few that I have not seen," said the count coldly.

"And you took pleasure in beholding these dreadful spectacles?"

"My first sentiment was horror, the second indifference, the third
curiosity."

"Curiosity--that is a terrible word."

"Why so? In life, our greatest preoccupation is death; is it not then,
curious to study the different ways by which the soul and body can part;
and how, according to their different characters, temperaments, and even
the different customs of their countries, different persons bear the
transition from life to death, from existence to annihilation? As for
myself, I can assure you of one thing,--the more men you see die, the
easier it becomes to die yourself; and in my opinion, death may be a
torture, but it is not an expiation."

"I do not quite understand you," replied Franz; "pray explain your
meaning, for you excite my curiosity to the highest pitch."

"Listen," said the count, and