Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-11-02

Jim was foundl Jim had returned! r.
Such was the salutation Of his beautiful
sweetheart at the usual morning visit
'And be was-wherea" demanded n. de
Gramont, calmly.
"Stclen, of course, and beaten besides, for
he's savage and wicked, hides from every
one, gets under the furniture, and refuses to
remain upon my lap at any price. No mat
ter; he is herel It is all care for. Be-
sides, I'll caress him so much he'll forget the
fright he has suffered. And now be friendsI
was wrong to be cross with you, but you
see l thought you had done an evil turn to
my poor, dear Jimr'
Roger stifed an ''ohl" of fright in an ''ohr'
OF horror Thus was peace signed that en-
dured this time at the Villa Plagnolles
Roger simply swan in tide Of tenderness,
and Armande was growing almost melan-
choly under the pressing demands Of this
lover, who supplicated her ceaselessly. She
had not as yet pronounced the sacramental
yes, neither had she said him nay.
One evening, when Ii. de Gramont had
shown himself unusually urgent and passion
ate in his wooing, she allowed him to take
her hand and murmured, with a voice that
was slightly tremulous, Tomorrow, Roger,
tomorrow, l will give you an answer;
promise it," and, ma foil NJ de Gramont
was reasonably certain this response would
be the one he had SO long desired and
awaited.
The night was long-the morning more so.
and as soon as les convenances permitted it
Roger presented himself at the villa. What
else could you expect him to doi 1t was a
case of marriage, you see, and he was in q
hurry.
But the villa; well, the villa was topsy
turvy. Mile Armande could see no one, !"
was the announcement at the door and in
the garden the domestics were all assembled
curiously regarding something in the middle
of great cluster Of peonies in the corner Of
the parterre.
Jim, the false Jim, or rather Jim No. Q, as
be saw the moment he approached, accom-
panied-his legs trembled under him as he
counted the catastrophe-by six little cats,
evidently just brought into the world, and
which Jim was licking lovingly.
III. de Gramont had not made sufficient in
Quiries Pressed by the train hour, and with
out second to lose he had contented him
self with asking Show muchm and now, scar
let with embarrassment, Thunderstorm at
the turn Of affairs, he stood there, the gaze
of the servants bent upon him curiously, an
inner voice crying in his ear:
"a nice mess you've made of it! What
will you do now? What will become of youa
The kitchen and tho Office laugh together.
they accuse you already; they knew before
you the habits of the true Jim, his passionate
taste for the chase. Deduction is the SIM
plest thing in the world; they devise instinct
lively the facts of the case; the death of the
poacher, the substitution of this interesting
motheri
Poor. Rogerl poor unhappy lover! He
dared not lift his eyes for fear of encounter
ing Armandes at the window, and remained
there unable to tear his gaze from that young
and interesting family Maternity had
plainly sweetened the nature of the cat; it
vas no longer the least in the world ferocious,
but lay there continuing to cares her chill
dren and to fix her yellow eyeballs upon
Roger with an air of positively thanking him
for having shaped her lot and landing her in
SO comfortable place.
All these thoughts buzzed in the brain of
NJ. &c Gramont like a swarm of bees: to
struggle against fate was useless; this last
stroke finished him. He yielded; he aban-
doned everything, and, tearing himself from
the spot to which he had been nailed he ran
without word, without a gesture, without
turning his head even yes, ran with all bis
legs, gained the gate the outer road and dis
appeared. Returned to his room he fell
upon a chair and wiped his brow, from
from which the sweat ran in streams.
An hour later there was knock at the
door and servant entered with an urgent
letter from II. de Plagnolles. ''My death
sentenced" thought Roger, holding out hes
itating hand.
My dear Roger" began the letter; call
is discovered; your embarrassment, your
fright, your flight betrayed you. Armands
was furious, cried Historically; swore she
would never see you again. Then she de-
scended to the garden She has seen the
substitute for Jim and been seized with a
sudden affection for the new born She is
mad about them already; intends to raise
them ALL and awaits your coming to find for
them collection of good English names
the only suitable ones she contends to be-
stow upon the feline race. Come quickly
all will be forgiven. Thine,
PLAGNoLLEs
Happiness is not to be described, and
Rogers was complete
A month later tho marriage was solem-
nized, and a year later the young Nine.
de Gramont renowned of her own accord the
education and bringing up of cats
One doubtless divines why.-Trapslated
from the French of Praedel by e. c. Wag-
gener for New York Mercury.