The Mineral argus., 1884-10-02

1 IOE me 1 All utALleE AEDM LOnlOA. nor lEOLL
Paris, nor from Vienna, nor from St Peters
burg. am from the table d'hOte.7
Had she any relatiOnsg None, It seemed
HOr true father-the Oscar, or Christian, e
whom Madame BArbarine so often alluded had
been dead several years. and her father &C
cording 70 the law-the Russian cOunt-had
never taken any notice Of her. He was CON-
pletely ruined, and had no other means OF eI-
istance but his gun He was a dead-shot, and
earned his living by winning prizes at the pig
con matches, like a sort of civilized Leather
stocking As for the countess, though she had
periodic attacks of mOtherly sentimentalism
that set ones teeth on edge they rang so false,
she was blessed with the mOstperfect, absolute.
and utter selishness. When Olga, who was
then eight years old, had had typhoid fever,
and nearly died OF it Madame Blrbarine, while
she was nursing her little girl for appearances
sake, never once forgot 10 put OF her greaced
gloves at night to keep her hands white.
Julien de Rhe learned all these things when
he enrolled himself in the flying squadron that
was always maneuvring round about Madem-
oisells Olga Barbarine- Yet he fell in love
with her desperately, this strange and touching
girl, who looked him so straight in the face,
and who, the day ths lieutenant was introduced
70 her BY a mutual friend, said to him, as she
lit her pheresli cigarette:
"Ahl You are the man who is so much in
love with me! How do you dOg"
And she shook his hand like a man
He fell in love with her, the good honest
sailor. and 70 love her all the more Inab, De-
fore long, he come to understand and pity her.
For he was not mistaken; Olga was strange.
and badly brought up; but she had no Co
quetry, and her soul was proud and true. Who
knoWsy Perhaps she felt the vanity Of her
life Of pleasure and agitation. What Is GER
tain is that she judged, and judged sew erely,
all those young fellows who danced atten-
dance upon her in the hunting field, and wrote
their Eames on her programme every evening.
They we're all in love with her, but none Of
them really respected her, for there was not
one among them who had as vet made up his
mind to ask her to marry him And she
treated them pretty roughly, and called them
to order-with q good stroke of her riding
whip, like the handsome horsewoman she was
when they ventured 70 whisper too close IN
her ear in the Whirl OF 3 waltz, or to squeeze
the hand she held out to them in good-fellow-
ship. Julien, whose refinement Of heart
stood him instead of quickness
of perception-it is often the
simple minded who see the most clearly-had
discovered the hidden treasures of loyalty in
the soul Of this patrician, who was in reality SO
unhappy. He loved her for her beauty GER
tainly, and his senses reeled when he felt her
lean upon mis- arm in the pAuses Of the dance
this grand, fair woman, with her dark eyes,
a storm, when, IN her nonchalant way, she
talked TO him, intoxicating him with the violet
fragrance Of her breath and the glitter of her
starry eyes. But he loved her as well, he loved
her above all for the pain she HID so proudly;
and his heart burned as he watched the sad,
sorrowful glance that Olga bent on her mother
when Madame Barbarine, at her four-to-six
tea-sitting with her back to the light to hide
the black spots on her nose, against which
even the anti-bolbos was powerless-hinted
almost openly at her royal conquests in the
northern courts.
He would marry herr Yes, he would take
her away from these perilous surroundings.
He would take her to his own mother, who was
a good woman She should breathe the puri-
flying and Strengthening atmosphere Of a home
that was worthy Of the name In q word, he
would save her!
He often thought Of it; he thought Of moth
else now. He even fancied sometimes that
Olga guessed his intention, and at Madame
Barbarine's four-to-six, where Olga treated all
her admirers in that frank boyish way of hers,
when she handed the sailor his tea in q glass,
after the Prussian fashion, he thought he saw
in the depths Of the young girls eyesa sweet
far-away light that seemed to respond to his
generous pity and infinite tenderness
eyes. Mademoiselle, nv sick leave is ND in a
week 1 shall leave Pau tomorrow. I shall
spend q few days in Touraine with my sister,
and from there l shall go back TO Brest as aid
de-camp to the naval project In q year or
eighteen months l shall go to sea again"
They were alone in the reading-room Of the
hotel, standing near an open window, with
thousands Of stars twinkling and glimmering
above them in the dark heavens.
Goodbye, then, and a pleasant journey"
answered Olga with her fresh, firm voice.
81 want to ask you for something, Monsieur
de Rhe. Yes, that lions claw mounted on a
little gold ring that You wear at your watch
chain. Ihave q fancy for ii. It came from a
lion that You once killed out hunting in Africa,
didn't it? l am a sort Of wild animal myself.
That trinket pleases me-. Give it to me; / will
keep it in remembrance Of you.
Julien unfastened the little charm and put
II into the girls hand; then suddenly he caught
her hand in both his own and whispered pas
sionately:
81 love you'll VIII you be my wife?"
Olga loosened her hand gently, still holding
the lions claw; then, crossing her arms upon
her breast, she looked Julien full in the face
for q moment with no sign of emotion on her
own.
'No," she said, at last, mol And yet you
are the first man VIII has loved me and told
30 in that Straightforward way. 1t is for
that reason that l refuse"
'fOlga!" cried Julien in a changed voice.
'Iisteu to me-" she went on, i~nterrupting
him by a gesture, 'and understand thoroughly
why l answer no. feel that l am not worthy
Of you, and l SHOULD not make you happy. You
that letter Of your sisters that you
complained of having lost. Vol, you dropped
it here, and l picked it up and read it -FOUR
sister answered the confessions you had made
of your feelings toward me-feelings that /
had guessed long ago. She rejoiced at them,
like the simple, innocent child she is, but in
terms that have shown me what a wide, what
a terrible difference there is between me and
the real maiden. When l read that letter /
saw what your family was like.
Yours is an old and honorable house
lis il not!-intO which you should
bring none but an honorable wife. You should
thank God, Monsieur de Rhe, that you have a
mother OF whom you can never
think without feeling a proud tenderness melt
ing your heart. l have a mother, too, but 1
have been forced to judge her. You have only
seen the ridiculous side, monsieur, but / know
her better. II you were to ask her for my
hand. she would refuse You. because You are OF