The morning call., 1890-08-10
Special to THE SUNDAY CALL


ducing it, but l can give no idea of the tone
of profound conviction in which it was told
to me by the person who was its hero. L
can designate him ouly by his initials, IL. de
P. He was a tall, thin and pale young
MIN. with salient chepk-bOnes, extraordl-
narilv bright eyes and a fine black mus
tache. who concealed his nervous agita-
tion with infinite art,
..,rhe story am about to tell you" said
he dates back to 1873, the year Of the
Trocadero Grand Exposition.
after a very long and very sad youthful
romance | found myself in a physical con-
dition more or less deplOIable My nervous
system was excited to the highest degree,
and l often fell into state OF prostration
which filed me with uneasiness.
'One evening / was returning home after
having dined with my friend, the Count de
H, whose mansion is situated in the
Rue de Grenelle, and was crossing the es-
planade of the Iuyalids. | resided in the
Rue Raynouard at PaSsy.
II lay stress upon the fact that | had
dined very moderately, and you will soon
understand why l do So When l arrived
near the Quay d'0rsay my head grew
heavy and began to stagger like drunken
man. Then | felt that fearful contraction
of the chest which pTeCedes my usual at
tacks, and my misery became such that /
was forced TO sit down as quickly as pos
sihle on one of the benches of the espla-
made.
A SINGULAR OCCURRENCE.
"For an instant or two, three seconds at
most | closed my eyes and when reOpened
them, without looking closely at what was
around ME, was greatly astoniShed to see
pass on horseback, soldier clad i'll light
blue, tight-ftting uniform, with yellow
twiSts-a uniform which does not exist in
the French army. | remembered, however.
that certain number Of military men had
come to Paris from foreign countries to at
tend the exposition and my surprise
ceased. But when l arose and walked
grew so giddy that l plunged ahead as if
in a cloud
" Gradually recovered myself in small
deserted street, which l supposed belonged
TO the labyrinth OF the Grenele quarter. l
advanced at hazard and halted, stupelied,
before an immense avenue, planted with
trees, splendidly lighted with gas lamps
and bordered with sumptuous dwellings
q" For an instant, believing myself in the
Champs Elysees, | asked myself how | had
pasSed7the bridge without noticing it. But
it was not the ChamPs-E!ysees. it was
semi-circular avenue of a foreign character,
Italian perhaps, traversed by rare passers
and by few carriages of heavier and
more solemn aspect than the Partisan yehi-
Giles.
Instinctyely l went toward magnif-
long file of caleches. A mysterious and
Irresistible force attracted me. 1 assembled
a grand marble staircase and suddenly
found myself in a concert hall full of peo-
pie and decorated in the handsomest Louis
XVI style.
IN 4 DREAM, YET NOT DREAMING.
No one noticed me. l was as if in
dream and yet certainly was not dreaming.
1t WAS only in confused way and as if
through cloud that l saw the people who
surrounded Inc.
fresh and smiling visages, then brilliant
uniforms decked with embroidery, then,
here and there, men in black coats almost
all of them standing, whlrling amid the
mqiticolOred toilets like dark butterflies
around basket of flowers.
'All at once there was profound silence.
Everybody stood mOtionless. At the end
of the hall, upon stage, woman clad
wholly in white appeared, and recognized
her-it was shel
Here Mons. a. de P paused for an in
slant, turned paler, and smiled sadly Then
he continued: &CH
81 spare you the recital Of my painful
romance. You know the woman and it is
useless for me TO name her. | had loved
her with all the strength of my soul. l had
loved her for her WOmanly beauty and for
her wonderful talents as a cantatrice. How
and why suffered so much from that love
you know or can guess, and it is useless for
me to dwell upon that point One day,
yielding to the advice of my friends, | broke
the liais0n which was killing my repOse and
compromising my dignity. explained my
self frankly like man of honor.
SO be it,, said she, looking at me with
a singular fxedness. You abandon me
and now it is probable that shall love you
madly. am aware of the irmness of your
heart and the strength of your pride. You
Will not come to me, but take care, you will
then suffer more for your obstinacy than
yon have suffered from my real or apparent
treacheryl My image will haunt you and
yours will not quit me. Without seeing
each other we can do each other great deal
Of HARM
THE PREDICTION REALIZED.
"She spoke in tone that absolutely pen
etrated me- but took that for an artful
trick and persisted in my sage resolution
What she said was truel Her image always
possessed me- Dreaming or awake, | con-
stantly saw her before ME, wrenching my
heart and bur, ing my senses.
But this time it was not the simple evo-
cation OF dear and cruel souvenir; it was
indeed, she whom | saw, and with
pr0digious clearness. Everything surround
ing her grew more and more vague. She,
the beloved torturer of my soal, was mod
eled in the full light, with her long hair
glistening with gold spangles, her opal COM
plexiou, her bizarre and superb eyes of a
metallic gray-eyes with cutting pupils
adorable eyes, which filled me with fear
Her throat arose with Spasmodic move
ment and | seemed to see the beating of
her heart through her corsage Of white
faille.
''She sang / know not what-the words
were Italian-an sir somewhat Greek in
character, which, therefore. might be very
modern, charming, melancholy air Of
tender and amorous sentiment There was
pause. heard piano, which let loose
tempest OF aTpeggOs. She strove to resume
her song, but her pallor became mortal and
she put her cienched hands to her breast,
uttering heartrending cry.
"A great stir took place around her.
People rushed to the stage on which |
climbed before anybody. Then her eyes
her steel-colOred eyes-plunged into mine
and she pronounced my name three times,
after which her face was convulsed and she
fell back stiff.
81 felt very sharp pain In the breast
near the heart, and, after a violent and
wOeful effort to recover my breath"
You woke" said l.
THE AVENUE RECOGNIZED.
'1f you will" resumed Monsieur II. de
P, with faint SMILE "At any rate,
found myself still on the bench, my head
heavy and my eyes obscured by reddish
mist Gid not believe | had been dream
Ing but imagined | was threatened with
madness Fer two days dare not speak
10 any one OF this strange hallucination.
AZ last, deV0ured by uneasiness l called ON
Dr. -, who had already attended me.
lie listened to my recital a little alb
sently at hrst, then with excited attention.
when l had finished "a '''O
Have the air Of joking and do you
know me for jokerP
"'Were you ever in ViennaP,
Never! Why do you ask me that2'
ibid not Mile. N sing in Austria
quite lately?'
4 do not know. A month since she was
in St Petersburg
you have not heard her spoken of for
long whieP'
Not for very long while. My friends
avoid mentioning her name to me-
1.-THE doctor was silent for a moment
then opened large album Of photographs
upon an easel.
Look said he, pointing to a view Of
the Ring, do you recognize that?
YES | replied: 1T is the avenue
thought / saw in the hallueination.'
"'And you were never in Viennap
"Neyer, and this is the first time have