Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1886-04-22

!
venient-was this: Not sou TIL quarter-day
He made mea good allowance, which, in those
days of wild and thoughtless youth. I was
accustomed to spend with rapidity. Raoul
was always poor; was at intervals rich fo,
a few days; then plunged into frightful pov.
erty, owing to my parents stern resolve
never to antedate supplies. 1 had also nu.
merous creditors, and had become proficient
in the art of doubling a cape"-that is, slip.
ping round street corner when one of these
| appeared. 1t was my custom, when the funds
began to sink, to leave my comparatively
luxurious room in the Rue de Medicis,
with their pleasant view over the
Luxembourg gardens, and install myself il
Raours garret, amid the din and squalor
Of the Rue Dauphine. His companionship
more than made up for the discomfort, the
cold and the occasional pinch of hunger. We
were fast friends, financed in common and
had no secrets from each other. Raoul was
very different from me-frugal, industrious.
indulging in few pleasures, but always frank
and gay, however empty his pockets We
were both students of law and our final ex-
animation was now not far off. had never
regretted my improvidence until now. But,
when saw how little ready money would
have enabled RaOul and myself to leave
aside ell other work and give ourselves to our
law books, did regret it. And therefore,
some days ago, 1 had written that letter to
my ather, scarcely expecting any more fav-
ora5le answer than the exceedingly curt and
decided one L received.
Pierre had by this time kindled the fire, and
vas arranging before it, on the backs of the
swo chairs our attic boasted, Raoul's damp
clothes and mine All at once he uttered an
exclamation of surprise, which startled me
from my study of the parental letter. Chow
look then at the coat of M. Girard! The
sleeve is ripped up right to the shoulders
what! the sleeve ripped up, do you sayT
"Torn completely, Monsieur But what is
to be done! Monsieur has but one coat at
present, and until it is repaired-''
''He cannot leave this room, of course. 1t
is very awkward. How can he have done it?n
eff Monsieur desires, will take the coat
downstairs to Nannette, who will sew it suffi-
ciently well. Monsieur doubtless remembers
what the little tailor at the corner says-that
he will do absolutely nothing more for Mon
Sie,Ir until his bill is paid"
''It is true, Pierre; L recollect the words of
the little wretch. BY all means, take the
coat to Madame, and give her my thanks in
advance
Pierre departed taking the coat with him.
began turning over the pages of the English
book, reading passage here and there, and
trying to reckon the time it would take us to
translate it. Raoul was an excellent English
scholar; l could read that language fairly
We had done this kind of work once or
twice before.
Every now and then I looked across the
room to see whether Raoul was not awake.
But he did not stir. The heavy, regular
breathing continued; he seemed to he sleeping
very soundly.
By chance my eye fell on Raours letter,
which | had laid on the table beside me- l
stretched forth my hand, took it and looked at
the address; letters in those days were
enough of a rarity to make one curious. The
handwriting was strange to me. was about
to lay the letter down, when | noticed these
words on the front of the envelope, "Odeon
Theatre" Imagine my wonder, my delightl
There was but one conclusion to be drawn
from letter which came unaccompanied by
the manuscript. Raoul's comedy was ac-
ceptedl For weeks past had been telling my
self, / had been assuring Raoul, that nothing
was more certain to happen than this But
now, when it had actually happened-for the
letter seemed sufficient evidence of that
could scarcely realize at first that it was true.
The comedy accepted that would change
everythingl No more living in garret for
Raoul-no more dining at eight sous-no
more translating dry English books-and as
many presents on New Years day as he cared
to buvi In a r,,ment was out of bed, the
letter in my Ina. =,
sspoo,1,' There was no answer trtaoull"
in o 0uder voice. Still no answer. "Heav-
o,,- how he sleepsl aouli''-laying my
land on his shoulder and gently shaking him.
Still neither speech nor motion. He must
have been very late last night. Where the
devil can he have gones Raoul, waken, won't
you! Here is letter from"
Just then l caught sight Of his face in the
feeble light of the snow-obscured window.
Its appearance alarmed me-almost gave me
q shock. 1t was fever-fushed, and tinged
with purple under the eyes; the lips were
tense; at the corners of the mouth something
like foam had gathered. The breathing was
slow, deep-drawn; this did not seem to me
natural slumber. Ishook him more violently;
still he did not awake.
1 went across the room, and looked into q
drawer of the writing table, where I knew
RaOul kept vial containing a solution of
mOrphia. He had been troubled at ore time
by insomnia, resulting from overwork, and
the doctor had given him this as sleeping
1raught. found the vial; it was empty.
This at first frightened me terribly, until !
that there could not have been
much more than one dose left in the bottle
certainly not enough to be dangerous. Still,
Raoul's feverish look made me uneasy. re-
solved on giving him little time longer to
awake. and meanwhile went to bed again.
Nv clothes were still far from dry, and the
cold was Siberian.
T had not lain in bed ten minutes before I
zvos startled by Raoul moaning and restlessly
moving his arms, as if in the act of climbing
"a singular motion. Then he began to talk
in bis sleep, at first loudly; "lt is the same
Ms |%aS>
- M