San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-02-22
"MA PETITE AMIE."


near Paris. One of the glass bead
crowns with which the grave was
decorated had fallen and he had
stopped to replace it. His face was a
striking one. stopped to look at him
and to read the inscription on the
monument 1t bore the name Celeste
Pirote, a date, and the words ma
petite Annie"
Here, thought, is q man with the
face of the highest type of intelligence,
belonging to a nation first in modern
art; yet even he decorates the grave of his
dead as a barbarian might. The place
was covered with the head crowns and
hearts and paper crosses one always
finds on French grave. l did not like
the French. l believed them in their
decay. thought nothing of the art of
a nation that was capable of such in
congruities. believed the people them
selves incapable of lasting affection.
All day the face and the grave haunt
ed me. Who was the man. and who
was the petite Annie" buried there?
The next day l attended meeting of
the Institute of France and was intro
duced to the old gentleman had met in
the cemetery. Afterwards met him,
frequently, and came finally to visit
him. We became fast friends, and by
degrees he told me this romance:
was young man of 80. without the
habits or tastes of young men, when
INA petite Amie'' came under my
charge.
Madame Prot, my fathers cousin, a
widow, had lately established herself in
Paris for the purpose of lettering her
children's fortune. By his god-father's
aid the son obtained clerkship. The
oldest daughter was soon to be mar
ried. At the time | was sent for there
remained only little Celeste to dispose
of.
at is Celeste that troubles me-" said
Madame after / had heard all the news.
''She is not satisfied with the schools,
and thinks she knows more than her
teachers, the good sisters. Though Ce-
leste has not seen you for five years she
still thinks you know everything. Now
if you will recommend school she will
GO"
What mortal could help being pleased
at such innocent flattery. Ipromised to
Il
knew nothing of schools.
| found my little cousin bright and
quick. and though now Is she seemed
but a child When her mother was
called from the room she came at once
to the point.
81 will not go to the school where
mamma wishes to send me; it would be
waste of time. AS for the others, we
cannot afford them. But, cousin, if you
would direct my studies little l could
do the rest myself. As for you, you have
lived so long away from your home that
you have forgotten your relatives. L give
you this opportunity to become acquaint-
ed with us again"
was amused at the naiyete with which
she disposed of my time, but l thought
'.she is a child; she will soon tire, while
little change will do me good"
The lessons were given in the even
ing, after dinner. They gradually grew
from two week to three or four week.
1t was pleasure to teach MA petite
Annie"
A year slipped by, and Madame and
Celeste went for the summer to the
country. Before they left called to say
adieu. l found Celeste in her first long
dress, and pretended not to recognize in
that young lady MA petite Annie"
You see. good SIR" she laughed, 81
have come out of my cocoon. | am now
in the butterfly state"
81 hope you will stay with us awhile
before you fly away" | answered.
"Well, if you ask me to maybe WILL"
nd oh hnF aid
pretended to be considering.
From that moment saw my danger.
when Celeste comes back you must
give her no more lessons" said to my
self. you can never hope to marry her.
You are too old and poor. She is of good
family and beautiful; though she has no
dot she will marry well. You will hurt
only yourself. You are fool"
Nevertheless when Celeste came back
the lessons went on as usual. With
every year | grew more fascinated and
with every season tried more hopelessly
to call my cousin "Mademoiselle" in
stead of ma petite Amie," as | had be-
gun. always said mile. Celeste" the
first evening after their return to town
and always broke into ma petite Anne
before the close of the second. Then
Celeste would say, without a smile:
"Now that is over for this year; we can
90 on with an easy conscience"
When she was nearly 10 her godfather
died and left her large dot, with, we
thought, the rather strange provision
that she was not to A hampered in the
choice of husband. the girl and her
godfather were great friends and were
both possessed of strange ideas. Her
birthday came soon after. There was
family party, at which was guest. I
hardly recognized the little Celeste in
the tall, beautiful woman that came to
meet me. In the two weeks that had
been away she had changed more than
in all the years had known her.
awkwardly presented my compli-
ments and souvenir / felt still more
awkward when she introduced me to a
handsome young man, a distant rela-
tive of Madame's. had heard moth
ing of the young man before. Who was
hep There seemed to be an air of mys-
terry about the house.
The family spoke of my journey.
They tried to make me talk. At an
other time nothing would nave pleased
me better, but tonight was in rage.
l turned with sarcasm all their re-
marks. After several attempts to draw
me out the young man turned to Ce-
leste, and they two seemed well enter
tanned. Suddenly | saw through 1t all.
This was a betrothal supper, not tete