Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-03-15

you have more hard common sense than your
cousin or her mother, and You know that am
not n man to be trided with. / must have $500
before next Saturday. 1t is absurd for my aunt
TO make any difficulty about It, Old Perez is n
gold mine and she has only to put in her hand
and take out as much gold as she wants"
And you are despicable enough to trade
upon your cousins infamy?"
There is no infamy in the question con-
| slider my cousins position as the adored-
adopted daughter. let us say. of an old million
are. eminently respectable. There are duch-
esses in Paris who are not half so yirtuous.
| And if she is ashamed of her position it only
remains with her to regularize it. The old fool
would marry her tomorrow If she were not too
stupid and too indifferent to bring him to the
| point"
'She hates that terrible old man too intensely
! to tie herself to him for Efe-she Is weary of
| her existence az bis slave"
lis she? Let her help me TO make fortune
| then and she shall be my queen. l only want
| a little capital to carry on experiments which
must result in a mine of wealth-yes. as big
gold mine as old Perez has made for himself
ON the bOurse and more glorious fortune: for
il will bring fame with it, the fame OF the in
ventor. Tell her that must have the money.
Louise, or something desperate will come of
her refusal to help me. have tided over
month since I asked her for a loan, but can
not go on much longer. L am deeply IN debt
and all the most precious things in my labora-
tory Will be seized by my creditors, and that
will mean utter ruin. Tell her she must help
me-teil her when You are alone with her.
Leave that old harpy. my aunt. out of the dis
cussiOn. L know Dolores will find me the
money if she is left to her own inclination
Il will not be your intermediary. will have
nothing to do with you, and l only hope that
Dolores will be wise enough to refuse you any
further help. She must know that you have
lied to her about your schemes and expert
ments. your specuations and wild dreams of
wealth. not once but many times She must
know that you have been leading an idle. profit
gate life in the very worst company in Paris
while you were pretending to be genius and
an inventor and to live only for science. She
does not know as much about you as l do, but
she must know that You are false TO the core;
she must know that you have traded upon her
love for you and will so on trading upon it to
the end; that there is no baseness no depth OF
shame. to which you will not stoop to gain your
own base ends. She does not know what
know, that you are as cruel as you are mean
and false"
The livid paIlor of her hollow cheeks was in
tens:tied by the burning hectic spot which
glowed like live coal on each and gave an
added ulster to the cleaning eyes-eyes that
had grown too large for the pinched and bag
gard face.
'.Sacrebleu." cried Duverdier. "you are
usually possessed by dumb devil, but when
you do talk, by Heaven, it is torrent. No
matter, am not generally in need of an inter-
medlary with pretty woman, and have no
doubt 1 shall be able to come to an under
standing with Dolores before long,"
This conversation took place in the morning
Gilbert Florestan called III the Rue Saint Gull
lame on the following evening" He found Du-
yerdier established in fauteuil beside the
sofa on which Dolores was sitting. looking very
lovely in flowing tea gown of palest pink silk,
which set of at once the grace of her supple,
slender figure, and pendant and bracelet of
magnificent sapphires Florestan had never
seen her wear these gems until tonight and he
guessed that they were a recent gift from her
mysterious protector.
He pltied her ali the more when he saw
these new tokens of her slavery, for the wear
er's eyes had a look of profound sadness, while
the mothers hard and cruel face was radiant
with recent triumph. Louise Marcel was not
in the salon. He and Duverdier were the only
visitors, and he had a perfect consciousness
that he was not wanted by any one except
Madame Quijada. who received him with
marked empressement and begged him to stop
till IL O'Clock.
Il fear my salon is the dullest in all Paris"
she said, but you must remember that we are
exilcs and have lived in the strictest retirement
ever since We left Madrid"
Fiorestan protested that there was nothing
he preferred to a small and quiet circle, society
III which conversation really meant the inter
change Of thoughts. He talked of Madrid, a
city In which he had spent three wears of his
diplomatic career, and although Madame Qui-
jada fenced with his questions with supreme
ability, 1t was obvious TO him that her knowi-
edge of the Spanish capital was superficial and
that she could never have occupied good
social position in any part of Spain.
IF she ever lived III Madrid she lived there
as she lives in Paris, an adventurer and an
oucast, outside the pale" he told himself
Her refinement he believed to be the thin
nest veneer laid on in later womanhood; her
education was of the smallest, yet she contrived
to discuss every subject that was mooted
political, social, or literary, with an aplomb
which carried her further than the widest
knowledge Will carry diffdent conversation
alist Duverdier openly sneered at some of
her observations and provoked more than one
vindictive glance from the southern eyes.
Dolores talked very little and for the most
part Ill confidential tones only meant to reach
her cousins ear
Duverdier talked like q man who had seen
the world Of men and knew the world of books
All his ideas and theories belonged to the most
advanced school. He looked forward to q mil
lenium OF sclence-a millennium of socialism
when the forces OF nature should be the willing
slaves of men and hard work, the sweat of the
laborer 5 brow. should be ancient history, and
when the governing powers of the world should
be reduced to the lowest point; when armies
! and navies should have become a tradition of
/ the dark ages, and poverty and starvation
should seem as mythical as the rare of Proser-
| pine or the birth of Minerva
HE spoke with suppressed boastfulness Of
| certain invention OF his own which was fast ap-
l PciAcSlou duu winch WOuIQ reyOlll-
| tonne the coal mines Of France and ultimately
| OF the world, an application of electricity to
| the working OF the mine and the carriage of
the coal which would minimize labor and
! achieve in less than a month the results which
now require year.
! Dolores listened with admiring looks and
4 fullest faith in the speaker. Madame Ouiiada
| looked the disbelief and aversion which she
may have feared to express in words. Florestan
| felt that the atmosphere was charged with cleo
! tricity and that the storm might burst at any
moment, yet heprolonged his visit till a few
made no sign of departure.
| He determined to follow up his inquiries
! about this mysterious family until he should
come at a clearer understanding of their posi-
ton and history. The first point he had to DIS
cover was the identity of the unseen admirer
who supplied the mother and daughter with
their evidently ample means. He had consider
able difficulty in sitting the various accounts
that we're offered of the secluded beauty. She
had been seen in public just often enough to
excite curiosity III that section OF society which
claims 10 be familiar with all the scandals OF
the demi-monde, and she had acquired a kind
OF distinction by her retired life.
After hearing three or four different people
mentioned as the hidden Cresus whose purse
pad for Dolores Quijada's jewels and other ca
prices he was finally informed upon reliable
authority that her protector was a certain
Diego Perez, a Spanish Jew, and the largest
dealer in Spanish American securities upon the
Paris Bourse. He was old and eccentric. OF
nervous temperament and strange solitary
habits He was said to be lavish in his gener.
| Oslty TO Dolores and her voo+bar b,,t 90. a L.