The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-02-16
NEW ORLEANS DEMOCRAT, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 49, 1879

appeared Ii the scrap of paper that had fallel
into Brldget's hands and first started on
quest What did they meafl2
To say the truth, ] hardly knew myself
What did they mean anything like X. /. z,
or s. Z. G., or 8. Z. %. r., or any OF those ini
supposed to know the meaning OF? By GU
rious coincidence, the meaning was mad
clear to me that very day. ] had set to worl
anxiously, but almost hopelessiy, at the ID
| Frevile archives, when i came across all TIN
bundle of papers pedigsees of various fami
lies In which the initials occurred frequentl,
and In one place the words they represented
were written at full length DECIDE Guns poa
tertte. Well, that was good news for. tbs
Hazllewoods, If true But why was not TIN
| spirit more explicitly
| Among these pedigrees, which were In tht
Handwriting of NJ TrevIsle, found the fami
lystree OF the de In Notes But here as
everywhere else, the trail stopped most pro.
Of the revolution the marriage of NJ
de la Motto 10 Jeanne. daughter OF Philippe
Rankin, ESQ 1t seemed. too, as II the britt
Of the French girl we we're In search of had
| been noted, for there was distinct erastre In
| thespaee just below this last entry
| went back TO the Oapucius, feeling
| strangely detected and out OF spirits, and
began once more to search the grounds. All
| last, In the remotest eornes, hidden by some
shrubs. found small wicket-gate that
| opened upon rather preeipitels slope, debris
OF chalk rubble from the cliff above And
yet there were the remains OF gravel path
that ended here abruptly. by the gate the
gravelshad sunk q little, so that the rain OF
the night before had made kind of puddle
there and In the soft mud there was the dis
tinct impress Of n foot just sach small and
well-shaped foot as Fannys. Some one had
recently passed this way, and stepped over
the gate and followed the direction of the
foot-mark. Once across the sliding ''faItie"
! found marrow footpatl, leading along q
ledge In the cliff II widened presently, and
/ came to a narrow avenue of hf-trees, the
ground beneath carpeted thlekly with their
spines. Presently there opened out little
green plateau. Just In front was n brick
building of ornamental ironwork over the
gable. wooden gates Of open palisades gave
Q glimpse into a darkly Swallowed interior
The gates were locked, but the wood work
lodged the bolt and / entered; within were
two fat gravestopes, and at the further end
marble bust, that CLEANED out strangely In
the half-light.
" was damp, sombre, autumn evening,
and everything seemed chilly and comfort
less about me. The daily woman came In to
ask II wanted anything more, and to say
that she would be obliged to take holiday
on the following day. It was the fete DIES
morris, and must be uassed with her friends.
both above and below ground; but she would
come In during the morning to arrange mon
sleur's breakfast. She had locked 40 all the
rooms, and brought the keys. These she
hung on their appropriate pegs, and then left
the house.
And now felt that surely had come tn
the end Of my reel. had got to the bottom
of NJ. de Freville's papers, and found out
nothing but what | knew before. In few
days | must return with the news Of my
failure What misfortune for all of MS that
the question had been ralsedi Not only had
We crippled surselves financially. but our
morale was impaired. The girls had lost all |
their enthusiasm for the work that was be-
fore them; everything now was a dreary
grind To them In comparison with the bril- |
liant ENJOYABLE existence that had seemed |
within their grasp. Even Bridget was de- |
moralized and had abandoned her busy, use
full contest to go spacing and fortune hunting |
with witches, warloeks and splrit-charlatans. |
], too, had suffered, as everybody must who |
espouses an adventurous case and faiIs-s,lf- |
Tered In the estimation ri safe and respectable |
people, whose opinion was of importance to |
me, as well as in credit and actual coin And
found myself feelinglalmost injured and |
aggravated by the Lakewood family. ques-
tioning whether Fanny had not led me de-
signedly, to get the benefit Of my services
or nothing
The place looked damp and deserted yet
here were signs that some attempt mad re-
emily been made TO put Ii In order. The dead
caves that had drifted In had been carefully
swept into corner, and wreath of immor-
elles, black and rotten with age, had been
'arefull,y placed against the wall beneath the
,ust. The subscriptions on the gravestones
we're illegibie from the messy growth upon
lpon them. With u knife ! began to clean
he figures that represented the dates. lie
yovembre. 1885, 1t was the date OF the
french girls birth. Eagerly | cleared out
he rest OF the inscription.
"1ei repose Jeanne de In Motto Davigny,
zee n ST. Arnoult le Novembre, 1856; deoedee
9 II Janvier 1886"
! had found 1t There was no doubt In my
aind, the correspondence OF name and date
we're too remarkable for q mere coincidence
nd everything seemed to show that In this
eeluded spot some chiIdless couple. not over
riendly with the church, perhaps, had chosen
D be laid. Everything now was plain sail
ny; had got the right end of the clew. and
ould hardly faii Of complete success
My first impulse was TO communicate the
GOD news to the Hazlewoods. / left the maui
oleum and went back TO the house to write
~ letter. ] wrote 1t In the best of spirits.
hey were not to be too confident. but still
ne ., worst part OF the task was over. ] had
tile doubt but that In few weeks all would
9 settled one way or the other, and had
reat hopes, In way favorable to them; and
hen followed certain tender passages adj
ressed to Fanny.
aylight remained ! would return to the
lausoleum and make sure that ! had got !
ne dates all right. Approaching quickly !
nd softly, my footsteps muifled by the thick :
arpet of dead leaves, was astonished to find !,
ome one already there slight girlish figure, ,,
ressed In deep black set off by wreaths OF /,
right immortelies that she carried on her
RIM.
With handkerchief she was wiping away !.
1e dust and leaves from third gravestone !
'hich had escaped my notice before Then
ne deposited one OF her wreaths upon the
lone and clasped her hands before her-soft :
hite hands, plump and dimpled like o
Aids Ma merep she whispered, In q , |,
hlsper low, but audible in the surrounding /,
illness.
movement on my part alarmed her and !.
ne looked up with q start, faint flush Of sur !
rise on her pale cheek. A deadly kind OF
'rtigo came over me as / recognized !
range likeness to Fanny In The stranger.
ere was my mysterious visitant OF the pre-
ous night. And then the truth flashed upon
e; this was the French girl foreshadowedt
i the timel | took off my hat and ad- !
lnced.
"Mademoiselle, Is it possible that you are
of Mme DE la Motte?" ,
All, yes; it was 50. She was the grand
iughter of Jeanne de la Motto, the girl so