New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-08-19
and nearly died of it, Madame Barbarine while
she was nursing her little girl for nnpearanca.s

she was nursing her little girl for appearance s
sake, never once forgot to put on her greaced
gloves at night to keep her hands white
julien de Rhe learned all these things when
ne enrolled himself in the flying squadron that
was always ,nanpuvring round about Madem-
oiselle Olga Barbarine Yet be 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 a mutual friend, said to him, as she
Lit her pheresli cigarette:
'Ah. YOU are the man who is so much in
love 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 to love her all the more that, be-
fore long, no come to understand and pity her
For he was nos mistaken; Olga was strange,
and badly brought up; but she had no CO.
knows? Perhaps she felt the vanity Of her
lite 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 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-wlth good stroke Of her riding
whip, like tho handsome horsewomau she was
-"heA .Aoy feutuiou 10 Whisper 100 ciOSe III
her ear IN the Whirl OF a waltz, or to squeeze
the hand she held out to them III 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 neauty GER
tainly, and his senses reeled when he felt her
lean 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
storm, when, in her noncha]ant way, she
talked to him, intoxicating him with the violet
fragrance other breath aud the glitter OF her
starry eyes. But he loved her rs 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 o-six
tea-sltting with her back to the light to hide
the black spots on her nose, against which
even the anti-bolbos was powerlcss- hinted
almost openly at her royal conquests in the
northern courts
He would marry her! Yes, he would take
her away from these perilous surroundings.
lie would tako her to his own mother, who was
good woman. She should breathe the puli-
Tying and Strengthening atmosphere of a home
that was worthy of the name. In word, he
would save her
He often thought Of it; he thought of moth
ing else now. He evcn fancied sometimes that
Olga guessed his intention, and at Madame
Barbarlne's four -to-six, where Olga treated all
her admirers in that frank bOyish way of hers.
when she handed tho sailor his tea in a glass,
after the Prussian fashion, he thought he saw
IN the depths of the young girls eyes sweet
far-away light that seemed to respond to his
generous pity and infinite tenderness
:: i :; ::
eyes, Mademoiselle, my sick leave is ND in a
wee1; l shall leave Pau tomorrow. shall
spend 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 a 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 tho dark heavens
''Good-bye, then, and pleasant Journey"
answered Olga with her fresh, firm voice
Il Want to ask you for something, Monsieur
Gle Rhe Yes, that lions claw mounted on
little gold ring that you wear at your watch
chain: have fancy for it. 1t came from
hon that you once killed out hunting in Africa,
didn't it? am sort Of wild animal myself
That trlnhet pleases me- Give it to mo: will
keep it in remembrance Of you
Julien unfastened the little charm and put
it into the girls hand; then suddenly no caught
her hand III both his own and whispered pas
sionately:
Il love you! viii you be my wife,"
Olga loosened her hand gently. still holding
the hons claw; then, crossing her arms upon
her breast, she looked Julien full in the face
for moment with no sign of emotion on her
own
NO she said, at last, "no! And yet you
are the first man who has loved me and told
me so IN that straightforward way. 1t is fo1
that reason that refuse
'Olga!" cried Julien in changed vo1ca
Listen to me" she went on, interruptlng
him by gesture, s'and understand thoroughly
why answer no. feel that l am no! worthy
of you, and should not make you happy. You
remember that letter of your sisters that YOU
complained OF having lost VOL, you dropped
it here, and picked it up and read it Your
sister answered the confessions you had made
of your feelings toward me-feelings that I
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 I read that letter I
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-halred mother of whom you can never
think without feeling proud tenderness melt
ing your heart [ have a mother, too, but I
have been forced to judge her. You have only
seen the RIDICULOUS side, monsieur, but | know
her better. If you were to ask her for nv
hand, she would refuse you, because you are of
minor nobility, and your fortune is moderate.
My mother has made up her mind am to
make grand marriage; or, if motif not, she
will find me something else Helm? You see
am pretty experienced for girl of nineteen!
1t IS horrible-ts it not? But SO tits And that
is why we were at Nice last winter, at Skew
eninSue last summer, and why we are now at
Pau That is why we knock about from one
end Of Europe to another like 50 much baggage;
why we never sleep but IN hotel beds, and only
eat at the table dhote My mother was
almost a royal princess, you know, and ever
since was fifteen she has given me to under
stand that am destined to be an archduchess,
if only a lefthan(ted ono. Marry a gentle
man hardly more than a mere bourgeois!
Why, in her eyes, I should be lowering myself.
All, you must be disguised with me; and am
of myself! No. don't deny it. No,
you could never take me to your mother-i
whose heart has been so detiled-as your wife.
Besides, am only an expensive and useless
luxury that you have no need of, and that
could never make you happy. And, for that
matter, don't love you'll don't love any one.
Love is among the things that have been for
bidcen me- Farewell, Monsieur de Rhe.
20 away, and say no more, for Gods sake
Only-you leave me your lions claw, won't
you? 1t will remind me of a true he arted man.
10 whom I have acted like A trna haartad xon,