Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-08-13

every year she returned, passed be
fore him without daring to speak tc
him, and he did not even deign to turn
his eyes toward her. She loved him des.
perately. She said to me: He is the
only man / have seen on this earth.
know not if any others exist
"Her parents died She continued
their trade; but she took two dogs in
stead of one-two terrible dogs that nc
one would have dared to brave One
day, on entering this village, in which
her heart had remained, she saw young
woman come out OF the Chouquet shop
on the arm Of the man she adored She
was his wife He was married That
very evening she threw herself into the
pond near the mayors house. A be-
lated drunkard fished her out and car
ried her to the apothecary shop
"The younger Chouquet in dressing
gown came down to care for her, and re.
stored her to consciousness without ap
pearing to recognize her. Then he said
to her in harsh voice: You are madl
You must not be so stupid
ssThis sufficed to cure her. He had
spoken to her She was happy for a
long while He would receive nothing
for his care Of her, though she stoutly
insisted upon paying him And all her
life passed thus. AS she mended chairs
sho thought of Chouquet Every yeal
she saw him through the window of the
shop. She acquired the habit of pur-
chasing of him supplies of trifing medi-
cines. In that way she saw him close
beside her, spoke to him. and gave him
money.
"As told you when began, she died
this spring. After having related her
sad history. she begged me to take to the
man whom she had loved so patiently
all the savings of her lifetime, for she
had toiled only to put aside and be sure
that he would think of her, at least once,
after she was dead
''She gave me 1897 francs. left with
monsieur the cure the twenty seven
francs for the burial and carried away
the rest when she had uttered her last
sigh
"The next day went to the home OF
the Chouquets. They were just finish
ing their breakfast They made me sit
down, and began my speech in an un-
steady voice, satisfied that they would
weep. As soon as he comprehended that
he had been beloved by that vagabond,
that chair mender, Chouquet leaped to
his feet with indignation. His wife was
equally exasperated Chouquet strode
about the room. exclaiming: This is
simply horrihlei Oh, if had known it
when she was alive, | would have had
her arrested by the gendarmes and put
in. prisonr was stupefied at the result
of my pious undertaking, but had my
mission to complete. and resumed:
"'She charged me TO give you hei
savings, amounting to over 1000 francs.
AS what l have told you seems to be
very disagreeable to you, it would, per-
haps, be better to give the money to the
poorr
'<The man and woman stared at me,
dumb with amazement took the
money from my pocket. Then l de-
manded, What is your decision? Nine.
Chouquet was the first to speak. Since
it was the woman's last WISH she said,
1T seems to me that we cannot well re-
fuse to take the money The husband,
slightly confused, resumed, We can at
least buy something with it for our chill
dren-'
Il said, with an air of disgust, 'as you
please. Then handed him the money,
bowed. and took my departure. That
was the only absolutely unselfish love ]
ever met with in my life, the love of the
poor chair mender for so unworthy
man. said the doctor in conclusion.
Then the narquise, who had tears in
her eyes, sighed:
Decidedly, only women know how to
lovep-Theodore de Banville in Newark
News.