The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1883-02-02

lnltteu Inat she was hungry, ana tnaI lunch
con would be desirable feature of the pre-
about her business, | took voiture an
drove to the Hotel Dessin. There, in til
course of half an hour, Madame joined me.
Now, one can't very well partakc of lunch
. con in kid gloves. The question was wheth
, er | should partakc of mine with the ring Of
my finger or whether | should put it care
fully away in the box and hide it out o
sight. If you have any knowledge of wha
human nature is at 81, especially when there
n pretty woman in the case, you will know
the decision | arrived at
Madame pecled little at this and that
but hardly ate more than sparrow nigh
have done How swiftly the moment
seemed to fly! | could have fingered on il
that cozy little room for II year. When thu
cloth was drawn and we were left to our
selves, with bottle of hook on the table be
tween us, somehow our chairs seemed t.
grayitate towards each other. Or perhaps i
was the stove that attracted us, for the after
noon was chilly. In any case we fount
ourselves in close proximity.
Then" said Madame, "do you smoke
Monsieur"
eyes, considerably more than is good fol
me, | am afraid"
"Then smoke now. Obligc me. like &c
see gentleman smoke"
rose in order TO get my cigar case out OF
the pocket of my ovcrcoat. Madame laid her
hand lightly on my ARMAND what charm
ing hand it was
"1eaeg | am going to makea confession "
said she. 81 smoke, too-nl0i. Cigarettes
/ lived for several years in Spain, where
nearly all the ladies smoke. You are not
shocked, hope, at the idea of lady smok-
ing cigarette"
shocked, Madame p
| "No, of course not. You are too much q
man of the world. You are above such in
sular prcudices. Eli bien, you shall smoke
one of my cigarettes" From tine satchel by
her side she drew an embroidered case, which
shC opened, and babe me choose q cigarette.
| did so, and she took another. Then with
her. own fair fingers she struck an allumette,
and held it while l lighted the weed. Then
she lighted her own. She could not fail to
see my ring as she lighted the match.
II dare say you will find the flavor little
peculiar" said Madame minute or two
| later. "Thesc cigarettes are made of per-
| fumed tobacco. | never smoke any Others
| hope you don't find yours very dsagreea
BILE"
"On the contrary, Madame, l am quite in
love with it. As you say the flavor is slightly
peculiar, but aromatic and personal---very.
pleasant" To tell the truth, didn't like it
at ALL but wouldn't have said so for worlds.
We smoked on in silence. What would
this superb creature say to me, l wondered,
if were TO tell her how madly had fallen
in love with her? Would she reject me with
scorn, or would she--I gave sudden
start, and was shocked to find that | had
been falling to sleep. Fortunately, Madame
had not noticed me- Her large, melancholy
eyes were bent upon the stove. There was
certainly something very soothing something
that inclined to slumber and happy dreams,
about Madame's peculiar cigarettes. If had
but $4,000 year now, and this sweet crea-
ture to share it with me, how happy could |
be- Certainly she must have been some six
or seven years older than myself but never
was one to care for your chits of school girls,
who set up for being women before they are
out of their teens. Here was an angel who
had been cast on bleak and unfeeling world,
who had pinned for heart and home-for
heart that brimmed over with love. Gracious
goodness! | had heart that yearned to-
ward her-that- Why-ch-how was
this? And where was |?
| awoke with n shver. But for the lamp
in the court yard the room would have been
quite dark, My head was aching frghtfully.
| got up and staggered to the window
court yard everything came back to me like
flash Of light Where was Madame! Why
had | slept 50 long? What boor she must
take me to be? | CROPPED for the bell and
rang it violently. Up came a waiter with
candle. "Where is Madame? ?" ! demanded
"Nladame," he answered, event out nearly
three hours ago, saying that she wanted to
make few purchases, and would be back in
little while. On no account, she said, was
her brother, who had suffered terribly from
mai de mel in crossing, to be disturbed
Madame" he added, "has not returned"
Gone three hours ago! Her brother Nal
| dc mer! What could it all mean? AS sat
down, utterly bewildered, my arm pressed
| against the little box in my pocket Me
chemically glanced at my finger. The ring
was no longer there My heart turned sick
within me- | sank down and buried my face
in my hands The waiter thought was i'll,
and ran to fetch some cognac. | saw it all
now. Fool-fool that was had allowed
myself to be swindled, and by IL common adj
ventures.
| At 8 O'Clock next morning | stood before
my father a miserable, haggard, woebegone
wretch. | told my tale, but as | did so l
could not keep down my tears-tears of min
gled shame and vexation. He listened to me
with curious cynical smile When had
done he went to his bureau and opened a
| drawer. "Set your mind at rest, Ned" he
said. Heres the ring, safe and sound ~
| could only stare at him III open -mouthed
astonishment "When Madame, with the
ring in her possession, left you fast asleep,
she was just in time to catch the afternoon
boat back to Dover. The ring was in my
hands again before 10 o'clock last night"
"But-but," stammered out, 81 don't un.
derstand. When she mad once got the ring
in her possession, why did she bring it back
to your
because she was paid to do so. Because
she was hired by me, through the agency OF
a private inquiry office, to act as she did act
Madame by profession is not thief, but a
thief. catcher You had grown so self-con,
ceited of late, Master Ned, you had got such
a mighty tall opinion of yourself and your
abilities, that l thought it would do you no
harm to take you down peg or two.
hope | have succeeded in convincing you that
there are people in the world quite as clever
or it may be cleverer, than certain young
nincompoop of one and twenty years. II
you will profit by the lesson my money will
have been well spent"
An hour or two later said: "But wasn'l
it rather a risky thing to do with ring
worth f500?"
My father wnked at me with the solemnity
of Judge.
"My dear Ned, what do you take your OLD
dad for? The diamonds were nothing but
paste"