Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-21
A GOOD STORY.
III TIE BAiE DIES TREPAssES.
rThe cornhm Magazine.l

IL Is an eerfc corner OF tue great DAY
of Storms. that haven OF the lost,
where almost day by day the Atlantic
gives handsel Of its widely-gathered
harvest Of death. Even whom the great
green waves roll in unburdened by
their CHASTITY freight, and the passion
ate gray gulls are circling and scream
ing over nc gristlier frouraiHe than
some stray ilotsam ard jetsam of weed
or wreck. there is always a grim sense
of expectation, haunting conscious
ness Of that weird procession OF the
dead, drifting ever slowly, night and
day. one by one, hither.
0f course it is the stranger only who
is thus affected. To Jacques Bon
hcmme and his very bonne femme, and
the dozen or so Of jolis CARS and
Bropes fueftes VINO founder about
among The rocks and pools like so many
young seals, this peculiar harvest of
their own peculiar sea is very much as
other haryests are TO other Jacques
Bonhommes and their belongings else
where. "Quc m'sieu ne sc range pas.
Cn'est qu'un cadav' qu'arrive."
The minds Of Jacques Bonhomme
and his belongings are not trou-
bled, nor their nervous organiza-
ton distressed, by any vision Of grim
converging files Of the victims Of the
deep with his particular shore-built
threshold for their rendezvous; any
such feat Of the imaginative faculty
would only lead in his case TO specula-
tons As to how far il might be possible
to anticipate the arrival OF the grisly
guests, and so insure that any stray
earrings OF lockets, or other such ar
ticles, should be properly looked after
before the arrival on the scene OF
M'sier le Brigadier and his wesrisome
proees-rerbai. Man and boy, jacques
has been employed gathering in this
harvest for some half century or so,
and regards il with single eye to what
1t will bring in.
But Just now the monotony OF an
existence which commonly varies from
dsy TO day only in its daily record OF
ain cadayre," "Deux cadsvres,"
.Point de cadayre,' and so forth, has
been broken in upon by an incident Of
unusual interest-real practical in
teresi--for one of its most prominent
features has been the descent upon
Jacques Bonhomme and his family Of
q perfect shower of thoroughly practi-
cal "pieces de cent SOUS" IL our
Lady of the Shore will only continue
TO foster the eccentric fancy in the
breast Of the tall, silent Anglais, who
PAYS so handsomely for an early intro
duction to each new arrival"
Jacques's fortune is made.
The strangers motive? Eli, but
that makes nothing to Jacques Bon
homme. a Bonapartist spy? Allons
done. II is by that route that Badin-
guet will return? All, but" c'est
egal. Les ADglais, vois-tu, non yieux?
M'sieu est amateur de cadav's Via
tout ="
"Charles Stavert, RENTER, LondreS."
That is the description Of the mystic
rious amateur de cadavres," duly
entered by himself in the strangers
book of his hotel. The days Of pass
ports and Signaiements are over, and
those who remember them will proba-
bly, agree in the opinion that, from the
descriptive point Of view at all events,
their loss is not serious. There are
cases. however. in which even a For
eign-0fiice clerk could hardly fail Of
producing q recognizable portrait, and
the case OF Mr.. Charles Stavert was
certainly one Of them.
Nearer seventy than sixty would be
your first verdict as you nc 5iced the
white hair and bent figure and lean,
trembling hands. Then, as you looked
a second time, little more closely, a
strange and, if you were at all soft
hearted, a somewhat painful feeling
would come over you as you noticed
that the face, though almost as blanched
as the hair, was quite smooth and UNI
wrinkled, except for a dropping line on
either side Of the rarely-opened mouth
and one deep furrow between the deli
cate black eyebrows. Save when look
ing eagerly seward for some expected
carnival" the eyes beneath them are
but very seldom raised from the
ground. Once young English couple
on their wedding trip had landed for
some reason from their yacht, and
stopped him with question. Then he
had lifted his eyes to the bright, fair
face of the happy young bride, and the
brightness Of the smiling features had
died away as the smile faded to pite-
Gus little culver Of the sweet, sensitive
lips, and presently, all English as she
was, the girl hid her face upon her hus-
bands shoulder and burst into tears.
That was fortnight ago now, aud
the Davenants were still there. Some
thing, it seemed, had gone wrong with
the yacht, which had been sent back to
Cherbourg for repairs. Archie Dave
nant had suggested run inland till she
returned, and had been half inclined to
asoupeon Of jealousy over that keen inte-
rest in the white-haired stranger on
which his wife openly based her
preference for remaining where they
were. But Archie Davenant was good
fellow, and still quite sufficiently in love
10 be more than commonly tender
hearted. So Carries feeling for that
poor Mr.. Stavert soon extended itself
to his own breast, and presently he be-
came as interested in the sad-eyed
amateur de, cadavres as Jacques
Bonhomme himself.
Hitherto, however, the acquaintance
had made but little progress. Mr.,
Stavert was polite, but unapproacha.
ble--not so much, as it would seem
from any active desire to hold aloof al
from q simple absence Of all respon
'siveness, which appeared to be almos
asmuch physical as mental. He was no
deaf, for there were certain words which
would always catch his ear even i
spoken in the merest whisper, and h,
was not wilfully discourteous, fo
when his attention had once beer
. aroused his manner, especially to tn,
young bride and bridegroom, was gentl,
7 almost to tenderness. But the arousin,