



Produced by Annie R. McGuire








[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE]

Copyright, 1897, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved.

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PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1897. FIVE CENTS A
COPY.

VOL. XVIII.--NO. 902. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.

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[Illustration]

A WILD DAY IN '48.

BY WILLIAM BLACK.


There was a vague apprehension in the air; every one appeared conscious
that something was about to happen, though no one seemed to know
precisely what; and so, as childhood is naturally curious, the writer of
these lines, being then of the age of seven, managed to escape from the
house unobserved, out into the great murmuring town. Half-frightened
glances turned towards the east were a kind of guidance; and in that
direction he accordingly wandered, until he came in sight of a
crowd--not a beautiful, richly colored, processional crowd such as might
have gone through the streets of Florence i