The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1884-09-04
THE LOWS yCLAl.W.

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Julien de Rhe,s lieutenant in the. navy, had
come back in . sad condition from bis expe-
dition to Cochin China; and when, after three
long months Of illness in his Touraine home, he
grew strong enough to walk a few yards on the
terrace Of the banks of the Loire, with his moth
or and sister.on each side, Of him how lovingly
they had nursed him, the good souls!-those
shivering fits still came over him sometimes il
the autumn winds were colder than usual.
"You should 60 to Pau for the winter" said
the doctor;: "the climate is mild and not too hot
Just the thing for YOU calming and soothing;
and you will come back to your mother, in three
months time, man again"
And so it was that, toward the middle of No.
vember, Julien de Rhe, leaning from his sun
Lit window in the Hotel Garderes, looked out on
| the sublime panorama of the Pyrenees, putting
the while at those cigarettes which seem so de-
licious to convalescent, and fell to thinking OF
those he had smoked formerly in secret between
decks on the Borda They brought back: all the
sensations of his sixteenth year. -
'Why, the place is full Of pretty women, said
the young fellow the FIRST time he went out to
listen to the band in the Place Royale, and to
stroll in the sun in front Of the statue Of good
King Henry; and though he was neither d
ibertine nor . fop, the sailor, beginning to en-
joy life again, dressed himself in his best cap,
and his frock coat with the three new gold
bands, and the rosette Of the Legion of Honor,
that his mother had brought to him when
he lay in bed so ill that he never hoped til
wear it but once-on' the black cloth Of his
coffin. $50 :. .-v ~. s-
It had been good idea, all the same. to come
to Pau. How beautiful it was-the sun that
warmed without burning, the blue heavens,
the wild landscape, with It's farof boundary
of hills, and beyond it's snow peaks rising into
the sky! And how amusing it was to stroll
about in that cosmopolitan crowd, among the
ing every Language in Europe, and minglipg
together like the different songs of the birds IN
an aviary. It is true that there We're some dis
agreeable sights as well-such as the young
Englishman, for instance, in the last stage of
consumption, who was wheeled about in a
shawl and comforters the Englishman who had
eyes like boiled goldfish, and wore black
respirator over his mouth All! it was enough
to make one shiver. land then after the first
mSxement Of pitymsa ere ia s1eh e.; GgotisSts
self when he landed at Toulon, as thin as
skeleton, with circles around his eyes like
two rings Of chocolate; and he thought
that, now he. was cured, he had had narrow
escape.
d
to be alive, to breathe the soft warm air out
there in the sunshine, well dressed, freshly
shaved and proud of the rosette at his button
hole. And he, gave money to the beggars,
gazed after the pretty women who passed
him, and at. last stopped feeling quite soft
American girls, in black stockings and gloves
and floating white dresses, who were dancing
in ring around one of the trees of the Place
sRoyale, to the tune of the. double-quick
march which the band was playing.
He was just ready to fall In love, this happy
convalescent, and it was case of love at first
sight the day he saw Mademoiselle Olga Bar
barine the most beautiful girl of all the Rus
sian colony, jump from her horse in front of
the Hotel Gassion, where she lived with her
mother. '',''
1t was five o'clock in the evening, and she
had just returned from the hunt The five or
six admirers, in pink, who had accompanied
her had jumped off their horses together, to
help her down. She took the first hand that
came, and ' as soon as s n was of her horse,
with the handle of her riding whip, and call
ing for cup of milk, which she drank at a
draught, stood there . moment, laughing,
looking like some goddess of old with her
slender form distinctly. outlined as if nodded
IN her black riding habit, and the waves of her
shining auburn hair 1oosened from her mans
hat and falling on her shoulders. She held
her empty cup in both hands, satisfied, and,
as it were, intoxicated by the fresh beverage,
and behind her the setting sun lit up her gold
Then, suddenly growing grave again, she
put down the cup on the table, gave slight,
disdainful bow to the group in pink, and walked,
with g. queenly step, into the hotel, tapping
her boot with her riding whip
Three days later Julien de Rhe, who had
she? I am madly in love with her; adore
her." etc., was introduced-not very difficult
matter-to the Barbarines, and made one of
the squadron Of admirers of the beautiful Rus
sian . 49,. :.
Was she really a Russian, this intoxicating
creature, who had been galloping about all day
and waltzing all night, ever since the beginning
of the season? Yes, by her reputed father,
her mothers first husband, the Count Barba-
rine. But every one knew the mother had
daughters birth, and that Madame Barbarine,
whose father was a New York banker named
Jacobson, had long kept up q liaison that was
almost public, with q northern prince-some
Christian or Oscar. Had she any nationality,
this child who had been brought up, by turns,
in Scotch nursery, in q convent at Naples in
school at Geneva; who had slept half her
nights on the cushions of express trains, and
in whose memory, as in q stereoscope, there
was nothing but a succession of watering
places, seaside towns, winter cities, and other
places of fashionable resort, to which, for the
last fifteen years, her 1aotherstilla handsome
woman, in spite of the eruption on her face
had carried her blase person, her emu her
samovar, and her pet monkeys? Alas! she had
no country, this strange girl, who, with al the
modesty of maiden, had the audaclty of q
boy, and who said, laughing at herself, GAS
for me, I am neither from London, nor from
Paris, nor from Vienna, nor from st Peters
burg am from the table dhote"
Had she any relations? None, it seemed.
Hor true father-the Oscar, or Christian, to
whom Madame Barbarine so often alluded had
been dead several years, and her father &C
cording to- the law-the Russian count-had
never taken any notice of her. He was COM
pletely ruined, and had no other means Of ex-.
earned his living by winning prizes at thepig
con matches, like sort of civilized Leather
stocking. As for the countess, though she had
periodic attacks of mothefly senGmentalism
that set ones teeth on edge they rang so false,
she was blessed with the most perfect, absolute.
and utter selfshness. When Olga, who was
then eight years old, had had typhoid fever,
and nearly died of it, Madame Barbarine, while
she was nursing her little girl for appearances
sake, neveronce forgot 10 puton 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 man9uvring round about Madem-
oisene 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 the lieutenant was introduced
to her by mutual friend, said to him, "a: she
lit her pheresi cigarette::
'Ah! you are the man who is so much in
love with me? How do you do?"
And she shook his hand like man.
90 in mill hop fl,o