The Opelousas courier., 1891-11-21

windows of his fathers shop between
crimson flask and q jar of Ieeches. Sht
only Icved him more than ever, fascinated
and oyer-awed By the splendor OF the
coIored water and the TRANSPORTATION o.
the shining crystals.
ssShe treasured his memory secretly,
and when she met him the next year
7 playing marbles near the school with the
other boys, she rushed up to him, threw
her arms around him, and kissed him
| - Violently that lie BEGAN to howl1th
tear. Ihen n gave him her money to
pacify him. There were three francs
and twenty confines, quite a fortune,
and he stared at it with eyes, took it
and let her caress him as much as she
wanted to.
"For the next four years she gave him
all the money she could get, and he
pocketed it deliberately in exchange for
the kisses which she was allowed to take.
Sometimes it would be thirty sous some
times two francs, once it was only twelve
sous, which made her weep with grief
and shame, but it had been a hard year;
and the last time it was a great round
s1ve-tranc piece, which made him laugh
with joy. She thought of nothing but
him, and he waited impatiently for her
return, and delighted her heart by run
ming to meet her when she came.
"Then he disappeared. He had been
sent away to school. She found that out
easily enough by asking questions. So
she used all her wits TO try and change
the route which her parents took, in
order to make them pass through the
village during the vacation. She sue
ceeded at last, but it was now two years
since she had seen him, and she scarcely
knew himh he had changed so much. He
had grown larger and better looking,
was very imposing in his gold -buttoned
coat, and passed proudly by pretending
not to see her.
"She wept over it Tor two days, and
from that time she suffered increasingly.
She came back again every year and saw
him without daring to greet him, while
he did not even condescend to look at
her. She still loved him hopelessly.
He is the only ma1 in the world that |
ever saw, doctor. / do not even know
whether there are any Others she said to
me.
"Her parents died in the course of
time and she worked on in their trade,
but she now had two dogs instead CT
one, w terrible dogs, with whom no
one would dare to meddle.
.sOne day, on her return to the village
in which lived her hearts idol, she saw
a young woman coming out Of Chou
quet's shop, leaningon his arm. He was
married aud that was his wife.
"That night she threw herself into
the pond in the square by the mayors
house. A belated drunkard fshei her
ont and carried her to the druggists
shop. Young Chodquet came down to
take care of her, worked over her ap-
parsntly without recognizing her, then
said roughly How foolish you are!
How could you do such a thing2'
HE had spoken to her! That was
enough to relieve her, and she was happy
for some time after.
HE would not take any pay for his
trouble, although she tried to insist on
his doing 50.
.tAnd SO passed her whole life. She
mended her chairs and dreamt of Chou
quet, and every year she saw him through
his shop Windows. She fell into the
habit Of buying small supplies Of medi-
cine from him, so that she still saw and
spoke to him and gave him money.
t'She died last spring, as just said.
After having told me her sad story, she
begged me to give the savings of her life
him whom she had loved so patiently,
or she had worked only for him, even
starving herself at times in order to in
,rease her hoard and to be sure that he
would think at least once more of her,
when she was dead.
s'She gave me 1927 francs, twenty
even of which | left with the cure to
,ay the funeral expenses, aud the rest /
ook away when she finally ceased to
aThe next Day I went to see the Chou
luets. They had just finished breakfast
md were seated opposite each other with
satisfied, important look on their stolid,
uddy faces. A strong smell of the
.pothecary's shop peryaded the place.
"TheT ASKED me to SIT down, and Of
cred ME a glass of kirsch wasser, which
accepted. I then began my story in a
rembting voice, feeling sure that it
would make them weep.
aBut as DON as he understood that he
been beloved by this wanderer, this
hair member, Cllouquet, was filled with
Indignation, as if she had stolen from
i'm his honor and reputation, the esteem
+ men, and all that he most valued.
"His wife, who was equally angry, re-
'eated again and again, The impudent
r~eature! the impudent creature!' as If
be could think Of nothing else to say.
siChoueuet rose in his wrath aud strobe
p and down the ROOM, his Greek cap
lted Over n ear, stammering, Did
GU ever hear anything like that, doctor!
What's thing to happen to d maui III
ad only known it | would have had her
and pnt in prison, and she
.ould have found it hard to get out, /
you,
~ was completely surprised at the re-
lit Of my charitable errand, and was at
loss what to do or say; but as I had
i'll my commission to finish. / continued.
s.She instructed me to give her saw
lgs, which amount to 2300f; but as
hat / have jus. told you seems so very
Isagreeable, perhaps it would be botter
give the money to the poor.
THEY both stared at me, dumb with