Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-06-10

 Fghtful surprise for one who has just begun to feel homesick.
 What brings you here?'' I asked, af- ter the first greeting had been ex- changed; another did not write me one word of your intention of travel ing.''
 "Ah! you sec, my boy, the matter was soon settled. Your cousin Leoniei here, began to cough, and mamma i'm agincd it something serious, because a distant aunt is said to have died of con sumption
 Our old doctor is always of mammals opinion, and advised us to spend the winter in +!4s south. Well, my rheuma- tisln is always troublesome in winter time, hunting is not going to be very good, so we got ready and have been sitting at Mentonc five days"
 But why in that tircsome place, why not herc?"
 Dear boy, you know your aunt never does anything by halves. Mentone is considered the safest and warmest spot in the whole lovely Riviera, and poor Lconir, as you can undoubtedly see, is a great sutrrcr; so we must remain at Mentouc. Your aunt has horror of l l might get into mischief here. She is very much distressed that your mother sent you to such hotbed of vice, and commissioned me to sound the ground little and to find out about your ac- quaintanres."
 'Papa," said Erna, my eldest cousin, ''how you tell everything! Could one believe that you had ever been dip 1 lomat""
 Little one, that was long ago, and did not succeed very well. That just reminds mo. I must go to the con suls. 1 Where shall we mect?"
 suggested to my cousins that we take q walk in the villa Nigicr and meet uncle on the concert place.
 As l wandered through the gardens of the villa with my pretty cousins and showed them the fine palms I saw through the bran ches of the trees a cou- pie ill the distance, and my practiced l hunters eye discovered Lapotin in the company of a lady.
 Although the trcachcrous locks were this time entirely cnveloped in large gray veil, this veil would have recalled to my me mOry my travelling companion, even if the grace of her movements had not already betrayed her. They walked side by side, apparently much interested | in their conversation. | As,wc went out later I saw the lady enter boat and start off alone. Of | Lapotin there was not a trace to be found.
 It was hard for mo to believe my l friend in his present mood engaged in any gallant adventure; still, what else could it be?
 Yesterday at Monaco I discovered a secret understanding; though the matter seemed plain enough, I was worried thinking there might be some thing else, but what?
 My cousins found me dull; they pc 1 litcly called it "abScntmindcd." They accused mo of being in love- and de- clarcd they should certainly wa tch me nt the concert.
 Once arrived there, they were so in tcrcsted in the audience that they for got all else. Now I had to tell them about this, now alb out that lady, whose cNtravagant toilette struck them. I fell into disgrace because I could not an- swcr all their questions
 In order to save myself made the excuse that one must not know Ices damcS."
 Ladies of good standing do not re- main here, any more than you, though you are two pretty girls"
 This compliment was of no avail.
 'But," now said my eldest cousin, ''thcre must be a nice and high-toned society hero. Nice is noted as the re- sgt of such people; and we know from the papers that, besides many others, Princess Simonetti, Princess Trubetz- l1oi and Princess Pauline Metternich and her youngest daughters are here, not to mention those of yet higher rank, such as their majc sites of Wur- temhcry, and so forth"
 That is true, dear cousin; but a plain German baron, who Is nothing out of the ordinary, is not admitted to that society so easily. They bear an altogether French stamp, because they all meet ill Paris, and continue their fctos here, at which the chief amuse- ment now is 'matinccs dansantes.' One sees the ladies driving by in their car ridges, but one does not know them. They di1 not show themselves once at Rubinstcin's concerts; the maestro played for their highnesses at private soirec at the house of a Russian Croesus, who has an immense villa here and