The Press., 1886-09-02
ueiEVsrY Thursday Evening.
CELEsrINE.

The sun was warm that day. It was pleasant to sit for hours idly resting in the shadows of the afbdr ljan9 ni ha sh Bernadon, little old man, bowed and wrinkled, with a back so rounded and & head SO low that he might have been taken for a vague, human interrogation point, sat doing nothing in the garden, by the side of the house in which he dwelt alone.
 The house was strange one. A miser- ably constructed building, Hanked. with cross structures and towers like chateau, quite isolated in the middle of a lot of ground with uncertain boundaries, it stood in one of the richest quarters of the city,
 Bernadon arose suddenly, and, speaking into the hollow of his hand, he said "With this repair, Oelestine will do."
 Gelestine was the name the old man had given his house. He loved this old shed, which he had erected at different times with his own hands. He loved it much, this old ruin that had cost him 20, 900 francs and was not worth four sous. With the tenderness of bachelor deprived of the presence of woman, he had called it Celestine in his old age.
 And Celestine was all his ioy-filled his whole life.
 
 appearance of 8 squat old woman, and the large tower represented for Bernadon the head of his dear idol. He had made round openings high up on the facade, and he mentally called them Celestine's eyes. He had recently given the dwelling a roofing of red tiles-that was Celestine's head dress. Finally his sleeping room, the central apartment and poorly lighted, con- stituted Celestine's heart. The poor thing was not solid. It settled little, day by day, notwithstanding it's youthful age. It had lost one or two little turrets, as one loses hls teeth. And Bernadon, over- whelmed by taxes and deprived of income, had found himself 90 poor that he had been unable to reconstruct them. .
 An he need only have spoken the word to be rich All that would have been necessary would be to sell the shed and the plot of ground on which it stood. They would have been worth several thousands, perhaps. But abandon Ce- lestine--see her demolishedP Never
 The old man left the arbor and az proach- ed his dwelling. asn f .s. e..
 "Yes," he said again, "with this repair everything will do" ..... ..
 He spoke of a large iron brace that he had placed in the interior of the principal tower at the bottom, an ingenious, firm brace that had cost him his very life-blood, but that would prevent Celestine from tumbling down for many a day. <. ...
 And half closing his eyes and inclining his head, like a painter examining his work, he looked lovingly at Celestine, as if seeing her for the first time. ?. -.
 Suddenly he trembled.- Some one had laid hand on his shoulder. 'tAt how much do you value your prop. erty, my .friendT ..a.
 Bernadon straightened himself, as if he would have broken his back, and, with 8 ringing voice, looking the man in the face, he said: tIt is not for sale, sir !; look elsewhere.
 And he terrified the would be purchaser with an injured look, as of a husband whose wife it had been proposed to buy. The gentleman bowed.
 Elf you should ever decide to sell, he said, tI am stopping at the little hotel on the left" ....tl .
 And he went his way.
 Bernadon turned at once toward his house. ., -t...s-... -....'
 "Then fear not i" he said, as if address ing person. With short steps, his hands behind him, and his eyes half closed by the sun, Bernadon returned to his arbor.
 But all at once an exclamation escaped him: 70 --. ..f .--r.. ~- ...
 "It can't be possible r i... ...
 And his eyes opened wide. A child in that arbor? A very small, red child, wrapped in a shawl? A child, abandoned there, was placed beside the wall.
 The old man bent over and looked down.
 "It is impossible r .... ..a..
 But then 8 sharp cry struck his ears, the cry of the child, frightened by sight of him. ,..ll s..- .-.s' ...F s..=s. .....' .. =. ;.
 Bernadon stood amazed. What was to be done with this package2 He looked up and down the street, under the wall. He saw no one. It took him long time to decide what to do. ...t B. The little one continued .crying. He took it up, and, hesitating moment, pass ed into the street.
 "Yes, I will leave it out here some where" he said to said to himself. But people came along and he dared not leave it. The child, calmed now, looked up at him with dull gravity. It might be 10 months old, perhaps 6, possibly 12 the old man was no connoisseur of young chil- dren. ai ffst.i.l D 2!
 He laid the little one down near the end of the wall, but 8 carriage came rolling along. tE ~ '#H'
 "Ha l" he exclaimed, Suppose the ve- hicle should pass over it l' t
 He growled little and then took the child up in his arms again. '.'
 He noticed its hair, beautiful blonde hair, just beginning to curl. How very soft this hair It is pleasure for an old man to stroke it. tst i fss'I will carryit to the police station, ? he decided. q aH Aa3 Z. l3-
 But suddenly, during the journey, the little one said something. Yes, something very strange indeed: .hE
 'Papa." Ata
 It said this with such strange voice. Berpado began to consider. And his heart yes, his heart, which he had not felt beat for so; many years
 But these reflections were arrested by bis arrival at the police station. He en- tered, mechanically. He was questioned but he heard notking. His cans were fill. ed with music, very sweet music, whose only word was ..papa." i
 II want to, know," demanded one of the guardians of the peace, .fwhat you wish us to do with, that child, If you have found it and. wish to leave it with us, do so and go your way. .
 s'iiHey Leave it with yops" demanded Bernadon. F. M
 And the music rang continually in his