The Red Cloud chief., 1876-07-06

LOOK UlIl IIto lei cDllilutllCe. anu ipli
him her sadness was caused by a pre-
diction made to her by an old negress,
said TO he a witch, who lived in the
forest near her home, and to whom
Marie Rose had been in the habit Of
secretly bringing food. The words OF
the prophecy being so strange, the child
fully remembered them. They were as
follows: Good little missy, me saw in
the night a great bird mount up-up-
very high in the air, with Il rose in its
beak. You are that rose: YOU will be
very unhappy; you will be a queen:
then comes great tempest, and YOU per-
ish." And yesterday said she, Il Was
Queen, and now / am expecting the
tempest which is TO carry me away"
"Never fear, mademoiscllc," replied
Pierre; IF anything happens to the
Heron, you have only 10 seize hold of
my belt-likc this, see'-and. With the
help of God and my patron saint. You
will be towed ashore as gently rs a
| oIcDp w
Marie Rose somewhat redsSured hy
the words of honest Pierre, rewarded
him by singing Il song, the words Of
which embodied the prophecy Of the
old HegrcSs. But hers was an age when
melancholy thoughts impress the mind
but lightly, and the following day she
was dancing a gayly as ever, utterly
unmindful OF the negrcsS and her
weird prophecy. Days and weeks
passed without wearing away the high
spirits Of the child, but, alas. not with
out wearing her little shoes.
The last skip Of 4 farandole carried
away the fragment Of thread which held
them together; and, the wardrobe of the
ladies being very scant they havin. de
layed purchasing until their arrival in
Paris. poor Marie Rose was forced TO
spend her time seated 10y the side of her
| aunt hiding her little bare feet in the
folds of her dress, able only to move
her head-the loss Of her shoes holding
her captive, like the Princess in the
story, awaiting the coming of a cavalier
to deliver her.
The cavalier came in the person of
Pierre Hello.
"AllOw such pretty feet to 90 bare,
said he, Indignantly. Zone must be
without heart"
But if, as the poet says. Indignation
makes poetry, it does not follow that
indignation makes shoes.
Pierre reelected and scratched his
head, turning his quid from cheek to
cheek. The quid is to the mind of the
sailor as the hands are to clock; when
the mind is working the quId is stunning.
And Pierre had undertaken to think
out a problem difficult ven to a mathe-
matician,-tO make something out of
nothing problem that God alone has
determined.
a piece of leather. My pipe and
my medal for a piece of leather. cried
Pierre-like Richard for a horse.
He searched all Over the ship, and
peered into every crevice where even Il
mouse might have been concealed.
when suddenly he gave Il cry of joy-a
cry such as might have come from Il
HarpagOn when he found his treasure,
or Rousseau on discovering a new plant.
But it was neither flower or treasure
that Pierre had discovered: it was
something of more value i'm his eyes. 1t
was q bOOt-the boot of Il soldier who
had been killed during Il gale. And
this boot had been tossed aside, no one
knows how, while its mate was lying at
the bottom of the sea, OF perhaps in the
stomach of a shark, thinking, like the
rat of La FOntaine, that the things of
earth concerned it not.
But Pierre Hello decided otherwise.
With the assistance of Il knife. i'm
lieu of al awl, he cut and shaped. in
the course of an hour. that which we
should he glad to call a pair of shoes,
but candOr forbids.
What he did make was not exactly
shoe or slipper, buskin or moccasin: it
was something entirely new in the art of
~shOemaking, something original and
without a name: nevertheless, Il thing
perfectly secure and fully reliable as a
protection for the feet. When they were
finished, brave Pierre FASTENED with the
Offering to his little mistress: and.
amid much laughter and great coaxing,
persuaded her to put them on: then,
placing her on the floor, he stood with
his arms akimbo, and admiringly en-
claimed, "Voila,"
An hour later she was dancing away
with a weight on each foot. to the Wig
orOuS applause of her admirers, having
gained a double victory, for there was
in this dance a combination of art and
strength; it was Taglioni and Madame
Saqui in n body.
At last, after a long voyage, the good
ship arrived at its destination. and the
time came for them to disembark.
The l~eave-taking of the little Creole
and the old sailor was really touching.
IL will never forget you, and l will
keep your shoes as souvenir, as a relic"
said Marie Rose, tryingto console Pierre,
who passed the back of his rough hand
across his eyes, which looked suspicious
ly moist.
"Oh. no" responded he, sadly shaking
his head; "you are going to Paris, where
you will soon forget your old friend and
your little Shoes"