The Washington critic., 1890-02-03

On my part to draw him out, he had |
elucidaled. " III q Irnnknoss that must J
have satisfied the mos iuauisitivc,
whatever small points of his recent his
tory and present position he hui
previously left in ubsCurity Jne con
vtrsalion began 50 soon as the cloth
was removed and the guests had de-
parted. by testing allusiOn on my part
to his filtration with the actress AMI to
her gracious reception Of his attentions.
1T is no mere Irritation" said Van,
gravely my intentions are serious.
You may depend Mademoiselle Sendel
understands them as such.
"Seriousl You don't mean that you
want TO marry herY'
"Unqueslionably ] do. II is ny only
chance"
Your only chancc" repeated, con.
sderably puzzled. "Are you about to
I turn actor, and do you trust to her for
/ instruction in histrionicsy'
Not exactly. | will explain. IL
Scndcl, You must know, has just termi
! mated her last engagement, which was
at a salary of 10000 forms. She hps
already received and accepted an offer
of a new one, at $4,000, from the
Vienna Theatre. Vienna is u very
pleasant place. Fifteen thousand florins
are $4,000 francs, or 1 200 Of your
English pounds sterling Upon that
sum two persons can live excellenty
well--in Germany, at least.
Unable TO contradict any OF these as
sertions, / held my tongue. The Dutch
man resumed:
you know the history of my past
life; ] will tell you my present position.
II ic critical tn,t I cia1I ~,
prove 1t, for here and he touched his
Forehead, "is what never fails me.
This letter. (he produced an cpistle of
mercantile aspect, bcaiing the Amster-
dam post -mark), II received last week
from my eldest brother. The shabby
schClm declares he will reply to no
more of mine; that his e1fores to ar
range matters with my father have been
fruitless, and that the old gentleman
has strictly forbidden him and his
brothers TO hold any communication
with me, q command they seem willing
enough to obey. So much for that
And now for the finances"
He took out his pockethook, opened
and shook it-a tiimsy, crumpled bit Of
paper fell out. 1t was a note of the
bank of France for / 900 francs.
My last said he. THAT gone, |
am beggar. But it won't come to
that, either, thanks TO Fraulein
Emilie."
Surely" said |, you are too reck-
less of money; too extravagant aud un-
rejecting Six months ago you told
me you had twenty such notes"
"Ay, twenty-five exactly at the end
of January when / left Amsterdam
But whittier was | bound? To Paris.
and who can economise there? I've
had my moneys worth and could have
had no mole had / dribbled the dirty
10000 lolins over three years instead
of three months / take great credit
for making 1t last so long. Such sup.
pers, ard balls. and orgies, with the
pleasantest fellows aud prettiest ac.
tresses in Paris. But the louis d or roll
rapidly in that sort of society. One
. must be a Russian prince or a French
Jtuftletontste to keep it up. | never
fiinchcd at anything so long as the
money lasted. Then, when [ found
, myself reduced to the last note, | GOT
into the Frankfort mail aud came tc
rusticate at this rural roulette table My
next change will be to conjugation and
Vienna
, "But if you had only 1000 francs
on leaving Paris, and have got them
/ still, how have you lived sincc?"
, you don't suppose these are the
, same? There are not many wavs OF
getting through money here unless one
t gambles, which do not; but coin ha:
somehow or other n neculiar ontitud,
{ to slip through my fingers. and th,
.OOO francs soon eyoporated Mean
while. | had written dozens of letter,
| TO nv brothers. who seldom answered
I and TO nv father who never did
promised reform and n respectable Iif,
/ if they would either get me n snuc
. place with little to do and rood nav. nj
, make me n reasonable veorly allow
q ance, something better than the paltr,
3.OO0 forms they doled ont 70 me wheT
. was in the artillery. and ON which. a,
s could not live, was obliged to Get il
I. debt. They paid no attention 10 nv re
a quest. reasonable as il was. The hes
: offer they made me was five francs
day, paid weekly. TO live in n Silesial
village. This was adding insult to In
| Jury, and left off writing TO them. 4
I. few days afterward. takinr ont m,
purse to nav for cigars dolia
a dropped ont. II was nv last + mai,
h il away. walked home. Law down moor
my bed. smoked and reelected. NV M
n sition was gloomy enough, and Tn
6 more | looked at IL The blacker
q seemed. From nv undntifnl relative
q there was no hone: the abominabl
!. Silesian project was evidently their nj
n timatum. had no friend to turn 10
4 no resource left. | might certainl
a have obtained the mere necessities q
v life at this hotel, where nv credit wa
y excellent. and have yeretated n montl
:. or two as man must yeretate wiihou
q ready money. But / had no fancy fo
- such nm eynedient n mere nrotroctio,