San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-19
THEODORES SACRIFICE.

In certain pretty town of France, sit
uated between Nantes and Tours, on the
river Loire, there stood at the time of our
story number Of very pretty dwellings,
each with its little balcony, its vine wreath
ed arbor, aud its garden full Of gay flowers,
set about with a high stone wall, in the
midst of which stood a prodigious gate,
bolted and barred within as though hun
dred burglars were expected every night.
If it had not been for this precautiCn it
would not have been esteemed proper for
Mile. Rosine Mchaud to walk so often he
tween the bright borders, or sit so much
under the old pear trees in her fathers gar
den. Young French ladies are guarded
very carefully by their parents, and seclu-
sion is their portion during their maiden
hood. No one was more rigid in regard to
this matter than NJ. Michaud. Not that
NJ Michaud intended to doom his daugh-
ter to celibacy; he had already chosen a
husband for her in the person of the son of
an old friend, NJ. Thibault. who was
equally anxious for an alliance between
the families
And strange to say the young people
thus betrothed were very much in love
with each other. Ever since he, little
boy playing with other boys in the road
without his fathers gate, had seen Rosine
Michaud, in her tall white crimped cap
and baby shoes of pink kid, toddle by
clinging TO the hand of her nurse, he had
had an admiration for her, and Rosine had
felt fate only too kind to her in giving her
an atiianced husband like Theodore Thi-
bault, when it might well have been some
one whom she deteSted.
Everything was in fine train-the papers
made out, the little house which NJ Thi-
bault was to beHtOw upon the bridegroom
already furnished, piles of white muslin
in the seamstresses' hands and the very
ring brought, when an awful thing oc-
Cured.
NJ. Michaud and NJ. Thibault sitting
down to dominos one fine day fell into a
quarrel. At first merely a polite one; then
an angry one; then a furious one; NJ. Mi
chaud called NJ. Thibault cheat, and NJ.
Thibault called NJ Michaud a liar. NJ.
Michaud gathered the dominos in his
hands and was about to hurl them at the
head of NJ Whibault. He thought better
of it and caught up his hat, stuck it on his
head sideways, crammed his fists into his
pockets and, without an "adieu," marched
out of the house, calling to his son to fol-
low him.
The end of the affair was a dissolution of
the matrimonial engagement between Ro-
sine and Theodore.
In vain Theodore demonstrated. In vain
Rosine wept The old gentlemen were not
to be moved by the unhappiness of the
children. All the deeds that had been
Il oorpa1a1 Tho 1ittla
which had been furnished for the bride
and bridegroom was let to an English gen.
tleman sojourning in the place, and the
lovers were forbidden to speak another
word to each other as long as they both
lived
Perhaps it was worse for Theodore than
for Rosine. She was permitted to weep as
much as she chose. 1t was only natural
that she should be found sitting disconso-
lately under the pear trees, and she could
eat no dinner, and refuse herself to callers.
Her mother felt great sympathy for her,
and her father felt grieyed that he could
not make her happy.
But Theodore, whose feelings. were prob
ably stronger, and who felt the injustice of
the old mems conduct more poignautly be-
cause he was not so used to consider his
parents word law, was forced to attend to
business, to talk to his fathers customers,
to appear in every way as usual, and was
not allowed a moment of private converse
ton with the old gentleman. Rosine
grew sad, but Theodore grew angry. She
gave up all hope; he began to plan meet
ing. At last, having bribed Roses maid
to keep his secret, he confided to the hands
of the girl a letter to her mistress, in which
he begged her to steal from the house that