Evening journal., 1892-09-14

he, and mono Dut ne, should set our
You know my mother gen
orally had her way, and she had it in
this case. The fellow certainly did I'M
his business; his work was
we'll done. as you may have noticed this
evening, A queer. pale, nervous little
chap be was, NOT a Frenchman at all.
but Saxon, born in Dresden. believe,
or some village in that neighborhood
His name was Rudolph-Heinrich Ru-
dolph. He lived and worked in a little
dark shop in the Latin quarter.
He and became quito intimate You
see, had been commissioned to attend
to this diamond business and to remain
in Paris until it was done was to
watch it through all its stages, and be
sure that my mothers directions regard
ing the style Of the setting were accu-
rately followed. When all was finished
was TO pay tho bill and bring the dia-
monds on TO Rome, where tho family
would by that time be established Well,
was a young fellow. Just feeling my
oats, and probably was not much cast
down at the prospect Of spending a
month or two alone IN Paris, as you might
suppose But / doubt whether / should
nave attended TO my ostensible business
so faithfully IA ! actually did had ! not
been so greatly taken with my little
friend Rudolph. He and | ''twigged'
one another. as boys say. from the first
used to sit and watch him work for
hours at time. and as no worked he
would talk, and very queer. captivating
talk a good deal Of it was He was a
thorough artist and enthusiast, and
seemed 70 care for nothing outside OF
his profession. He did not appear to me
to be in the way Of making much money
and it occurred TO me that it might be
acceptable were I. in an unobtrusive
way, to introduce him 10 some wealthy
customers knew few people in Paris
but there was a Mr. Birchmore, an
American gentleman, staying at my
hotel with whom | had foregathered
over a cup Of coffee and a cigar once or
twice: he was a handsome, middle aged
man. with an atmosphere OF refined at
huence about him such as would have
beiitted duke Not bit like your ira
ditional Yankee; In fact, I'm not sure
that ! should have suspected him il !
hadn't seen his address-"Fifth avenue,
New York city, u S Ain the hotel
register about q week after my arrival
He was an agreeable man enough
though not ut all the sort to take liber
ties with: however, made up my mind
that would get him to Rudolph's on
the first pretext that offered
Wen. | had an excellent pretext be
fore long. Mr. Birchinore came into
tho cafe one afternoon. with rather an
annoyed look. and made some inquiries
of the waiter. Francois raised his eye
brows and shrugged his shoulders there
was some further conference, and then
he and Mr.. Birchmore began searching
about the door Of the room. It presently
transpired that he had lost diamond
out OF his ring, which had contained
three matched brilliants. It was no
where to DO found.
Il don't mind tho loss OF the stone it
self" said Mr.. Birchmore at last, sitting
down near my table; but it's one OF 8
Get matched with great difficulty, ane
I'm afraid may never replace it
Here was my opportunity. set fortf
the wisdom, skill and resources Of my
little Saxon friend in glowing colors
mentioned the work no was doing for
me, and declared that If any man il
Europe could help Mr.. Birchinore to re
pair his loss. Rudolph was he. Mr.
Birchmore at first paid little heed to my
representations, but finally | induce,
him to accompany me to tho Latii
quarter, and at least make the attempt
The next morning. accordingly, we Sc
forth, and as we sauntered along tn
wide, pleasant bOulevurds our CONVEX
sation became more free and affabl
than it had been hitherto. found m,
companion could be exceedingly enter
tanning when he chose it, and had vas
fund Of experience and adventure Z
draw upon He had been almost every
where; be had made himself familia
with all varieties Of civilized and an
civilized men; as a matter Of course, toe
he was a versatile linguist.
The only direction in which he CAV
any evidence Of comparative defcienc
was in that Of literature and the fin
arts. His life had been essentially a
active one; he cared little for Tennyso
and Swinburne. for Matthew Arnol
and Carlyle He had. however, read an
| appreciated Macbeth, and some othe
Of Shakespeare's plays; and he was we
acquainted with several of tho romance
| Of "Unabashed Defoe." / did not dii
cover all this IN the course Of that on
stroll over TO the Latin quarter, but
leaked out during our subsequent az
1uaintance, which was destined TO b
come more intimate and prolonged tina
had any idea Of then. As have int
mated, Mr.. Birchmore was quite fran
and open in his talk. except upon on
topic-hinseif.
OF his inner life and circumstances
could learn nothing. Though he nevC
was obtusely reticent, yet he cor
trived never to refer to his own priva'
affairs / could not satisfy myse
/ whether he were married or singh
! whether he were a Catholic or atheist
hardly whether he were rich or poo
Some shadow Of grief, some incubus