The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-09-26

for me I am neither from London, nor from
Paris. nor from Vienna, nor from 81 Peters
burg. | am from the table d'hote."
Had she any relations? None, 1t seemed
Hor true father-the Oscar, or Christian, 70
whom Madame Barbarine so often alluded had
been dead several years, and her father ac,
cording TO the law-the Russian oount-ilau
never taken any notice of her. He was com
| pletely ruined, and had no other means OF OK,
istance but his gun. He was a dead-sh0', auu
| earned his living by winning prizes at theplg-
con matches, like q sort OF civilized LGatler,
stocking. As for the countess, though she hao
periOdic attacks Of mOtherly sentluentalislh
| that set ones teeth on edge they rang so raise
| she was blessed with the most pertect, absolute
and utter selfshness. When olga, VINO was
| and nearly died of il, Madame Barbarlne, whl!e
she was nursing her little girl for appearance :
| sake, never once forgot TO put on her Sreaceu
| gloves at night to keep her hands white.
Julien de Rhe learned all these things when
he enrolled himself in the flying squadron tha'
was always msneuvring round about MAIDEN
| oiselle Olga Barbarine. Yet he fell IN love
| with her desperately, this strange and touchlnS
| girl, who looked him so straight IN the lace,
| and who, the day the lieutenant was introduced
| to her by q mutual friend, said 70 him, as she
lit her pheresli cigarette:
"Ah! YOU are the man who is 80 much III
| lows with me? How DO you do?"
And she shook his hand like a man.
: He fell in love with her, the good honest
sailor, and 10 love her all the more that, be-
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
ouetry. and her soul was proud and true. VINO
| knows? 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, aud wrote
their names on her programme every evening.
They were all in love with her, but none Of
them really respected her, for there was not
one among them who had as yet made up his
mind to ask her to marry him And she
treated them pretty roughly, and called them
to order-with a good stroke OF her riding
whip, like the handsome horsewoman she was
when they ventured to whisper too close In
/ her ear in the whirl OF a waltz, or TO squeeze
the hand she held out to them in good-fellow-
ship. Julien, whose refinement OF heart
stood him instead Of qulckness
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
leon upon his arm in the pauses of the dance
this grand, fair woman, with her dark eyes,
and her skin that seemed so like the rose after
a storm, when, in her nonchalant way, she
| Ialkeu 10 MIN, IuEOAlCdIUR lllu Will bLlO NAOACh
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 zen on her mother
when Madame Barbarine, at her four-to-slX
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 p~erilous surroundings.
He would take her to his own mother, who was
a good woman. She should breathe the puri-
flying and strengthening atmosphere of q home
that was worthy of the name In q word, he
would save her.
He often thought of it; he thought of moth
ing 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 a glass,
after the Prussian fashion, he thought he saw
in the depths Of the young girls eyesa sweet
PARKWAY light that seemed to respond to his
generous pity and infinite tenderness.
"Yes, MademoiseIle, my sick leave is up in a
week. l shall leave Pan tomorrow. ! shall
spend a few days in Touraine with my sister,
and from there / shall go back to Brest as aid
de-camp to the naval project In q year or
eighteen months / shall go 10 sea again"
They were alone in the r~eading-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.
II 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. / have q fancy for it. 1t came from a
4 lion that v0n nnoa Ei1IaH ont hrntiUn in Africa
didn't ii? I am q sort Of wild animal myself.
That trinket pleases me. Give il to me; l will
keep it in remembrance Of you.
Julien unfastened the little charm and put
il into the girls hand; then suddenly he caught
her hand in both his Owl and whispered pas
sionately:
81 love you'll Win you be my wife?n
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 a moment with no sign of emotion on her
own.
sNo.s she said, at last, s'noi And vet you
are the first man who has loved me and told
ME SO il that traiShhttffor ward way. It is for
that reason that / refuse"
ssOlgaiD cried Julien in a changed voice.
sIisteu to me- she went on, inteTrupting
him by a gesture, s'and understand thoroughly
why / answer no. feel that I am not worthy
Of you. and / should not make you happy. You
remember that letter of yonr sisters that you
complained Of having lost. Well, you dropped
it here, and | picked it up and read il. Your
sister answered the confessions you had made
of your feelings toward me-feelings that /
had guessed long ago. She reioiced at them,
| like the simple, innocent child she is, but in
terms that have shown sa wfat a wide, what
| q 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
-is it not?--into which you should
bring none but an honorable wife. You should
thank God, Monsieur de Rhe, that you have a
gray-haired mother Of whom you can never
think without feeling a proud tenderness melt
ing your heart 4 have a mother, too, but /
nave been forced % Judge her. Ion have only
seen the ridiculous side, monsieur, but I know
her better. If you were to ask her for my
hand, she would refuse you, becauss you are Of
mis3or nobility, and your fortune is moderate.
My mother has 5Aade up her mind am to
make 4 grand marriage; or, il motif not, she
Il will 1nA mo 4oruathfNu niSa8 AZ Hatu9 Van 500