Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-07-17
MARGUERITE.

Whenever [ think of Paris, my heart
yearns toward the old Latin Quarter,
which as everybody knows, is the rem
devious of students, artists and Bohe-
m1anS of whatever degree and class
In it [ spent three of the happiest,
most indeper dent years of my life.
There had the coziest. sunniestrooms
in the world, away up in the third
story, where Victor brought me every
morning a delicious bowl of hot coffee
from the Generic around the corner,
where my friends, the German students,
went tramplng nttSt my room at all
hours OF the night, home from Mabille
or the Closerie de Lilas; where my
window looked across the street into
the wOrk-room Of flock of industrious.
tidy grisettes, who chatted and laughed
ali day long as merrily as if their des-
! tiny was not first the streets, and then
| the common fOsse-poor souls There
L got to see somewhat of the life OF
| this vast Paris, SO brilliant, so fascina-
ting on the surface-such mass of
fostering horror at the bottom. And
there, too, [ saw Marguerite
She lived on the third floor back
she and her old rheumatic mother and
from the edtiiest red of dawn till the
night was far spent, the pretty, patient
little creature worked at her trade of
making artificial flowers. She was d
little thing, just rounding out of her
teens-slight, fair as one Of her own
lilies, curling dark hair cropped close
TO her pretty head-it was SO much
less trouble. SO she said-and a pair of
the lOvellest, most wonderful eyes that
ever a pure soul shone out of-pelIu-
cid, blue and soft-ever smiling-poor
child, her life was so hard, but full of
! thatIdlvlne Tenderness which Raphael
| paints IN the eyes of his MadOnna8.
| | used to hear her blithe little voice
singing at her work. She had d canary,
too, which sang louder than she, but
not half SO sweetly, and pot of mig
nonette, which she tended with touch
ing faithfuness. And these were hel
pets-with her old mother, her only
friends. No lover-that prime neces
sity of the French girl-as yet. [ fancy
the garcOns of the neighborlng cafe,
or the rough German students. could
not have been much to her taste. And
so she was alOne-a little, pure white
flower III the heart of the great city,
where wickedness is SO much easier
than virtue. When [ first came to rln-
derstand this, [ sa1d in my heart, God
help poor little Marguerite
had been her neighbor SIX months,
when QUE night [ heard low tapping
at my door, and on opening it, found
this pretty little creature there. Hel
violet eyes were strained with alarm
and her cheeks paler than the lilies. as
she told me, bravely choking back hel
sobs, that Victor had said that Mon
sleur was doctor, and her mother was
very lll-bien malade-wiping her eyes;
and would L, in my great goodness,
come and see her?
OF course I would, and did. [ found
the poor woman suffering severely. hel
disease having attacked the heart, and
before it was etfectually relieved, Mar
8uerite and had become great friends
and allies
The relief was only reprieve at best.
Another attack was imminent, and il
was not probable she could survive it.
[ told Marguerite this one day, my own
hCuAo eeIA1hS5 Sto oatW iCl NHlUtlHI!I
cheeks.
And then, my poor child, what will
you dO2 You will be all alone then. y
You, too, Monsieur! Are you go
ing also?"
All, Marguerite! My studies will
soon be ended, and there is dark-eyed
maiden i'll my own land who is waiting
for me"
II had any fancy-but [ had not
that had touched Marguerite's inno-
cent heart, it died there and then. Her
delicate checks flushed with a tender
rose.
ooh, monsieur You never told
that. All, ciel ! But how beautiful
that is /" ..'0'~
Dear heart She made me tell her
all about our wooing, and our hoped
Tor wedding and / believe the small
cottage where we expected to set 1lp
housekeeping was as visible to her
minds eye as to mine.
We got on famously after the confer
ence. The old mother got better as the
warm spring came on, and when had
slight illness, Marguerite was able to
come and sit IN my room, with her roses
and vlolets and daisies about her, and