Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-10-24

we viii telegraph; they Will seno LhenA
to YOU right away. You shall have them,
I swear it to you, even if I should have
to return myself to Tonnerre to get
them"
ssEnough, SIR" she said; "I know
what have to do, land she returned to
her corner, twisting her gloves with an
ger. But, poor little thing, she had not
thought of the cold. She no longer had
warm rugs.
At the end of about ten minutes she
began to shiver. Well might she draw
her sealskin about her pretty figure; posi-
lively she chartered
Madame" said, 81 beg you, upon
| my knees, accept my rug; you will be
| i'll, it will be my fault, and never in my
life shall console myself"
81 am not speaking to you, sir, she
said, dryly.
| was very nervous, very excited. To
begin with, I found her charming, and
then I was furious over my ridiculous
blunder In short, I had arrived at
| great resolution.
MADAME" said, 'taccept this rug,
or, swear to you, will precipitate my
self from the window" And throwing
the rug between her and me, lifted the
window and seized the outside knob of
the door.
Was I determined to throw myself
out2 Between you and me, not alto
gether, think; but it appears 1 looked
as if I were, for she cried Immediately:
"You are crazy, sir, to think of such
thing!
soThe RUG. or I iump!"
She took the rug, and, in tone more
softened, said: "But, sir, you will
perish with cold"
s'Do not disturb yourself about me,
madame; am not chilly, and even If
should be cold, it will only be the just
punishment of my objectionable stu
pidity."
essay of your too great haste, for you
are right, the intention was good; but
how could you have taken that lady for
me?"
"Because she appeared to be charm
ing"
She smiled; the ice was broken-the
ice of the conversation, be it under
stood, for, otherwise, 1 shivered. But
how quickly I forgot the cold and the
Journey and all She was delicious, ex-
y
quisite, adorable.
She loved travel, like myself; she had
been in Italy, like myself; in Spain, like
myself; she dreamed of going to Egypt,
still like myself; in literature, in music,
own. And then, think of thisl
A crowd of general connections. She
was intimate with the Saint hamas,
with the Savnoys, with the Montbacons,
above all. To think that had, per-
haps, met her twenty times in those
salons, and that never noticed her!
She spoke naively, amiably, with the
charming simplicity that I admired so
much. A shght-very slight-provin-
cial accent, imperceptible-a MARBLE
rather-gave to her words the light skip
ping of bird. We conversed, natural
", with keen pleasure.
Though did everything in the world
to conceal it, heavens, how cold wasl
At Dion (two-twenty), my right foot
was seized; we telegraphed to Tonnerre
for the things left behind.
At Macon (four- forty-fve it was the
turn of the left foot; we received a dis
patch from Tonnerre, saying the bag
gage would arrive at Marseilles the fol-
lowing day.
At Lyon-Perrache fve-forty eight,
my left hand became insensible; she for
got her sleeping-berth.
At Valence (eight-three), my right
hand followed the example of the left; I
learned that she was widow and with
out children.
Marseilles at last twelve-fve), I
sneezed three times; she handed me my
rug and said, graciously: eau revoir."
Au revoir! All, was wild!
I passed the night at the Hotel de
Noailles-an agitated night, full of
thoughts of her.
The following morning, when I awoke,
I had the most horrible cold in the head
imaginable. Would 1 dare present my
self in that state to my friends the Rom
bauds2 Bah! Travellers must take
travellers chances. They would take me
as was, and the next day would cure
myself in the sun at Nice.
That excellent Rombaud had invited
several friends in my honor, and among
the persons there was my traveler-my
charmer. -...
When 1 was presented to her, an i'm
perceptible smile played about her lips.
I bowed and said: ''And Tonnerre2"
81 have them," she whispered.