The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-12-26

ness she muuurc1. " I shall remember
il alwlNS. uruy that All othors in your
cola T. gland may br a. gruilc 'othp pN't
h mclcis singing girl rs vCu have BEEN
some lui quVcru emotion, some t"f-
der trcuulOu ness. IA The low voice speak
inw these parting woris. truck u familiar
ch nrd IN tue young ii m.t mrWoiN.
~ OPP he cried hlntly, for slrunk
invOluutarilN away from his eager look.
" VIII v'u nat ten me your name before
My uamcg All but Normandy is not
-' She caught her breath, blu,hng.
"IInl YOU came from Normandy, thenr'
interrupted he.
My name, monsieur, is Ia Fleurcttc,
was the identified answer.
The little trOubldOur turned and fed
away from hun. She pressed her cheek
down on her guitar. MY name IL la
Flrurctte, Is ii not ~ she said to it" la
Flrurettc, Ia Fleurcttc!" And she laughed
ont sweet trickling laughter.
winning her way with sweet looks and
graceful, rustic manners into all hearts,
The little Bohemienne, softly singing, ;rav-
elled inland from the Cornish coast, her
guitar always on her arm, ITS crimson rib
bon cleaning on her shoulder, rs she went
her careless course without further mo
lestation. Her lovely eyes sparkled joy
ously at times; and sometimes, when bit
of silver had been tossed her in return for
"a song, she would laugh aloud, touched by
some secret sense of Oddncss III her posi-
ilbil-liuHn OUT El'tluuN, lbOklllk UP, WIN
sOttcncd ewes, into that strange, blue sky
bending above her; II sky not So very diff
feront, after all, she thought, from Nor
mandys.
one dav. sitting on the steps Of stile,
she sang one of Berangpr's lOVelipst chan
sous to company of lawmakers in the
Held. They shared their luncheon with
her, ana then for the first time IN her liir
she dtank English beer When she left
them they shook hands with her. "Thuu
slVf Il. Il
one DrOwn-ilsted, lcath cr-iaced old farmer
" Here's II half crown To- buy thee another
ribbon tO pass round thy neck. I've heard
no better musi"-nO, never, | speak of thy
voice, Tor the words pass me, bein' forum.
Brn thou SUM them, | fake them To be
worthy She blu-hcd aud looked mum
bic. she never forgot INN or his words.
once, too, this wandering warbler lost
her way. She had quite hcedle-slY wan
dprrd from the highway. and. far from any
human dwelling, night fell upon the poor,
frightened strYnug. However, she SAID
hcr prayers, ANA then Curicd herself up
on mound Oi hay in the open field.
There she covered the long nghI through,
alone. under the - euted summer SKY. 81
never knew TIL then how mnny stars there
were she said naivclY; land Oh. how
mai how very many-thcre seemed 10
he that night. And then, lrghlcnd ~
was at my situation. could not help
laughing. thinking they bad all come our.
biz and little, 10 peep at the little wccpnus
figure curlcd up on the hay III that great
solitary LdAll- meadow
Inus tho Time sped by. ana In Fleurcite
went singing With It. Shr grew stronger
and lIthci. Tier step became brisk; ner
slender limbs were rounded out 10 nrnVr
outlines; her dark chrcns took "A roster.
healthier tiuge oil color; aud her splendid
sulshiuc-siftCd har shOue, tossed on her
shoulders. She asked herself sometimes IL
one might not be always happy, travelling
thus, cn troubadOur, from hamlet to ham
let.
Size wa sauuicrinr dreamilv. one morn.
ing, when. ainlcssly luOklug up. sue SAW
coming along the highway toward her "A
drove of Large white oxen. They were he
ing GrlN en- 10y their owner 10 a nelghbOring
estate. Doubtless they were harmless
enough, bu, tllcy looked terribly fcIoc,ous
ana threatening 10 the slllht, timid girl.
She cla-ped her hands together and erred
out. while every drop OF blood in her body
seemed TO Ice turned to ice Wildly she
glanced about her There was no refuge.
On one SIDE was thick set. prickly hedge;
on tile other II high park fence, with "A
glimpse OF water III The distance. On came
the oxen. their massive boots making the
ear h quake, tossing thOir hc.ids uD and
down, aud cmshing their great curlrd
horns. La FIturvttc turned aud ran back
u few steps then, fascinated by terror, Sue
stopped ana fixed her great, dilatcd eyes
on the dreaded animals.
II wa. Just at the moment when her
strength seemed failing that the huge
creatures, startled perhaps by the watch
dog behind them, broke INTO Il run and
came dashlng on. Su civ, surely 0cstruc-
tlOu wa. certain now. Tine little trOuba-
dOur caspeI her hands in helpless peu-
ton; her limb, grow weaker; her eyes
closed like The petals of lily, and She
sank down. Yet A. she sank dimlV
through her swimming senses she felt that
dehVerance was approaching. She heard
the thunder OF hOOts rs a hor~cInan gal
Hoped uD the highway behind her. Near.
H. came. The knee ng gil did not stir;
she dared not. Ihc hOrscm N lraccd h,m-
self for action. Leaning forward and
stretching ont his arm, he swooped the
little helpless figure mp n he passed, and,
swinlng her to the saddle IN front, flew
like llghtnigg on his way. As he drew rein
under the clms by the river side, he saw
that the glrl was in "a dead faint. When
the little trOubadour opened her eyes, she
felt herself lying along the turf, with her
hcal supported on somebody's arm. Water
from wet handkerchief on her forchc I'd
was trlckling down her face. All. what
had happened? She tried to rise. She put
~ hen hand. The Wig Of glossy gold N
curls was Displaced and flung disdanfully
to one side, aud her own luXurlant abuu-
dance of soft brouze-brown wavy tresscs
was streaming M unbound beauty on her
neck aud bosom She started M confused
ly, gave one look into her dellverer 5 grave
face. then Sue sank down AGAIN.
Henri. Monsieur Bertram!' she stam-
mcrcd.
"Ah. Nincn, 7 have found you again.
You are better moW.'
lie helped her tOa sitting posture. Why
was Ms Lace 50 gilftI she struggled up
from In, arms. you know me- th"ny /
am Il spovcrrd," she snid, humbly: aud
her thoughts flew back To that other day
when snc first stepped on English soll-to
the brpkrn guitar strings, and the peril
from which he mad then rescue her.
81 suspected NOU, that other day. he
answered, but was not quite certain.
There were times when wa, sure twas
you, and then, the next moment, slid 10
myself was II fool for thinking of such
Il thing. But what does il all mcan-this
masquerade ana disguise? why are you
here alOneF'
Lieut.. Bcrtraln, rs he asked these uucs-
tiOns, looked AT the little troubadnur
gruvely. He remembered the Uoautiful
marqulsc whom he had left IN Normandy.
lie recalled her wealth, her position. lie
thought of her luXuiiu nt surroundings
her my, satin lined nest of "a bouiuir, pIc-
turcd ANA psrlumcd where she had tOYrd
with her guitar aud sung to him like bird
m its bower.
"Why a'e you here thus, alone?" lac
asked again.
"WhyY The little soug-brds pale face
flushed guilty rs She thought 10 herself
truly, WhN"' simply for love OF HINT
81 Thought TO earn my bread thus" she