The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1890-04-18
:Balzac was no r.cner ,oan 1 am,

Balzac was no rlcner tnan 1 am"
81 am not afraid Of poverty" answered
the girl gently. why should | fear what I
have known all my life7 Rose and I have
always been poor; but we have always been
happy; except once when she had the fever.
All, that was heart-breakinEl No money
to pay a doctor, no money for wine or fruit
or fuel, no money for the rent, and the dead
ly fear of being turned out Of our lodging
while she lay helpless and unconscious on
her bed, No prospectbut the hospital. Yes,
those were dark days. 1 almost envied the
rich"
almost envied, my angel? l am made
of n different stuff, and | hate and envy
them at all times. That hatred gives bitter
ness to my pen-rancor, acidity, oil the
qualities our Parisians love. 1t is my chief
stock-in-tradc. Icould not live without it"
"Ah, you feel the sting of poverty more
than lido, because you come OF race that
was once rich, a family that was once
noble"
"Yes; I como OF n decayed race-worn
out, effete, passed by in the press and hurry
of a commercial age. That is why l hate
the insolent roturtcr brood that have bat
tened in the sunshine of imperial favor; the
stockholders and gamblers, corrupt to the
core, and swelling with pride in then dirty
gold. My grandfather was a gentleman and
a soldier; he fought for his king till the last
ray of hope had faded. And when his faith
full little band of Chouans were scattered or
slain, and he had escaped by the skin of his
teeth from being shot down by the Blues,
he shut himself up in the old stone tower of
his chateau, and lived among peasants, as
peasants live, and let his son and daughter
run wild. My father was very little in adj
vance of his fathers farm-laborers In educa-
ton or amer when he entered the army,
n lad of fifteen, soon after the restoration Of
the Rourbons. But he was one of the hand
soonest men Of his day. He had good blood
i'll his veins; and 1t seems somehow that
race will tell, for twenty years later he was
one of the finest soldiers In the French army.
lie married a rich wife, loved her passion
ately, spent all her money, ruined her life,
and died broken-hearted and q pauper with
in a year Of heredeath, leaving me to face
the world, penniless, and with very few
friends, at twelve years of age. Tho Empire
was then in Its golden dawn. One of my
first memories is of the Coup d'Etat, that
awful night of the second of December,
when the bullets whistled along the Boule-
ward Poissonniere, like the hailstones In a
summer storm, and the terrified wondering
bourgeois were mown down like ears OF
corn. My father was at the head of his
regiment that night; and my mother and !
were looking down upon the scene from our
apartment at q corner of the boulevard.
Two years later l was an orphan"
80, what a hard childhood and youth you
must have had! said Kathleen, full of pity.
No 1o rl ,c ttp, -o,,rc lt}y1a o,o NN,,
and the sister have not had too much of the
sunshine of life, 1 take It,"
mo; but we have always been together.
We have faced the storm side by side; or
perhaps l ought to say that Rose has faced
1t bravely by herself and sheltered mo. But
you have been quite alone-no brother, no
sister,"
"Not a creature of my own flesh and
blood" answered. Mortemar. 'If ii had
been for a bluff old brother-olfice Of my
fathers l must bave starved, or been brought
up on state charity. He got me a pension,
just enough to pay my schooling i'll n hum
Bile way, from the Emperor, in considera-
ton Of my fathers services on the second
of December, but this allowance was to
cease when I was eighteen. The influence
Of my fathers old friend go. INT accepted at
one of the finest scaools near Paris, the
school kept by the Dominican Fathers at
ArcueIl, where l was educated at a third of
the pension paid for the other pupils, by the
benevo!ence of the Prior, who pitied my
dcsoiate position. Hero ! remained TIL my
eighteenth birthday; and | ought to be a
better man than l am after the care and
kindness those good monks lavished upon
me. When I left school the good old friend
was dead, and from that time I have had to
Lac ,,,,, -,,,,, Iahn. ~ l..-l
or hands. l believe it is considered the finest
training for youth; but 1t is hard, and it
hardens the heart and the mind of a man.
Has it hardened your heart, Gaston"
asked the girl, drawing a little closer to him
in the dim starlit avenue.
ITO all the world-exccpt to you.'
And now, at i. turn of the leafy path, they
came suddenly face TO face with another
couple-a tal~art broad-shouldered man of
about thirty, with a tall good-looking young
woman upon his arm-at sight of whom
Kathleen exclaimed lovingly,
'ltose, where have Philip ad nyou been
hiding all the EVENING"
1--WE have been looking on at TIE dancers,
Kathleen answered Rose; land now
think it is time we all went home"
$50 soon?' cried Kathleen.
ut has struck the three-Quarters after ten.
Did you see Madame Michel in her fine bon
net and gown?'
"What, Suzon Niche. of the crcmcricy"
asked Mortemar. rs she here to-nightm
She is here every Sunday night, believe,
and at the theatre three times a week, said
Roses companion, Philip Durand, as de-
voted to the elder slste: as CASTOR Morte-
mar was the younger. THAT little woman
has a pleasant life of it. She has saved
,,,,n, T., tI,,t -, ,r Jitt1a ot,,,> &c tprr ~
'She is vulgar coIuette, and | hate the
/, sight of her," said Rose sharply.
This was a very ill-naturcd speech for
Rose, who was usually the soul of kindness.
Pray what has the poor little Suzon done
to offend yon?' asked Castor, laughing at
} Roses impetuosity.
1T is not what she has done, but what she
, Is. l hate bold bad women and she Is both
/ bold and bad"
This from you, Rose, who peneve that
the Gospel was something more than ar
epitome of the floating wisdom of the East
Have you forgotten the text, Judge not,
, that ye be not judged?"
, when l think or speak of Suzon Michel
l forget that l am n Christian" answered
Rose gravely. There is something venom
Gus about that woman. I loathe her in
g stinctively, as l loathe a snake. And now,
|, Kathleen, We must really go home"
, One more round, Just one more. Hark
there is the waltz from Lit Grundc Zach
essc,' pleaded CASTOR; and, without wait
> ing for permission, he drew his arm round
Kathleen's waist, and led her INTO the circle
i'll front of the flaring orchestra, under thu
Summer stars.
CHAPTER III.
4 wAYSIDE
y The Rue Git lie Cnur is not one of til;
: fashionable streets of Paris. 1t does 10
belong to the English quarter, OF the Ameri
> can quarter. or the Legitimist quarter, o
the Diplomatic quarter; the quarter Art, o