The National tribune., 1881-10-29

He did not appear In hurry to write that letter
or two of which he had spoken, but remained
where Mr.. Lyme had left him, balancing himself
upon his toes and heels, favorite trick of MIR.
Jones. He was engaged in thought.
Since his arrival in Boulogne he had met with
two objects of interest, and both of them were
feminine. The first was the lady of whom Lyme
had spoken as having been sold common GUS
tom with the French. Her name was Madame
de Slecal, and she was fine example of the
charming Frenchwoman. She not only was
beautiful, with that piquant beauty her sisters
are famous for; she not only knew how to dress
her beauty to perfection, but her charms of man
ner were equal to her charms of person. She was
fascinating, and like the borne coquette she was,
used her powers on every one who came within
her range. Mr.. Jones was One and she had made
herself more attractive to him than he would
have cared to own.
For there was Monsieur in the case. And
Monsieur de Slecal was as unpleasant as Madame
de Slecal was the contrary. He was an old SOL
dier of the bygOne type, always talking of fight
ing and those happy days when one could cut a
friends throat before each meal. Monsieur de
Slecal was veteran with whom Mr. Jones wish
ed to have as little to do possible and certainly
nothing unpleasant. Yet Mr.. Jones began to
have his doubts.
The other object of interest was Miss Cheshire
Agnes Cheshire She was an exceedingly
pretty girl, as distinctly English as Madame was
distinctly French-so pretty and so pleasant that
Mr.. Jones had fallen head over heels in love with
her at first sight At this very moment he was
10
opportunity for putting the question to her for
mally That he would do so before he left Bou-
Iogne he had decided. He was comfortably off;
he had learned that she was not penniless; why
should she not be Mrs Jones? He did not doubt
that he would be as acceptable to her as she was
to him; only Madame de Slecal was on his
shoulders
But Mr.. Jones was a clever man. He had con-
nected a scheme by means of which he intended
not only to get her off his shoulders, but on his
side in friendship. He was only awaiting a
chance to put it into execution. That chance
came sooner than he had expected.
For, as he stood there still engaged in thought,
the door opened and lady entered; lady Of
twenty-three or thereabouts, dressed in a bewil-
dering costume-some shade of lavender-which
served to insinuate rather than exhibit the grace
of her figure. As she saw Mr.. Jones standing
there, she bowed slightly and smiled natural
smile which gave an added charm to every fea-
ture. 1t was Madame de Slecal.
$50 you and ! are in together. That is strange.
But. fate often throws together those who need no
throwing. l had no notion you were not with
the ethers, or possibly should not have ventur-
ed so near YOU
Moving across the room, Madame accepted
the chair he offered, looking up at him with her
flashing eyes. She spoke English far better than
he spoke French, with slight accent not unpleas-
ing in such speaker Her manner conveyed a
greater compliment than her words and they
were strong enough. Mr.. Jones felt little
awkward.
"Eh, ah-I'm sure if had known that you
were in l should have been very glad But, ah,
l wanted TO speak to you very seriously, Madame
de Slecaln
Mr.. Jones fgeted about and then sat down on
the extreme edge of a chair, about six feet from
her. To tell the truth, he felt that matters had
gone rather too far with this fair lady, and he
was anxious to get safe out of what promised to
be scrape.
seriously, Mr.. Jones?" Oddly the name
sounded from Madames lips. She dropped her
eyes and her voice at the same time, trfling with
her dainty fingers. "What can you have to say
to me seriOusly?"
This was exactly what Jones did not want
Madame was evidently in for sentiment, he was
in for just the contrary. He began to wish ma
ture had made him less agreeable, and that fir
taton was an art he never studied. He bent
forward on his chair and clasped his hands be-
tween his knees
when l say seriously" he began, II mean
seriously. I-I-In short, to be perfectly frank
and candid you and /"
Mr.. Jones stood up, leaving his sentence unfin-
ished. Madame took it up for him.
Well she said, hardly above whisper, flash
ing at him from the corner of her eyes, you and
]? What of you and II"
Don't! don't!" cried Mr.. Jones, "You
shouldn't do it. I'm an older man than you, I've
seen more Of the world, and tell you we shall be
getting into an awful mess if we don't look out"
Getting into an awful mess!" Madame
looked up in amazement, whether genuine or net
was more than Jones could tell. What do you
mean?"
There was a pleading in her eyes and voice
Mr. Jones could not resist. He felt that he had
gone too far.
"Of course, when l say shall get into an
awful mess, don't mean anything unpleasant"
he explained, sitting down again. and drawing