Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-09-10


and tiie tiplidity Of the pretty ch;li
who blushci III .er his Fanccs. It
amused and dcli GIFTED hill..
One dsy the young girl burst into
tears as she told the officer of the
near departure of the menagerie for
a neighboring village. They would
see each other, perhaps, but less fire.
quently. Then Henri obtained a
promise that Paula would meet him
after the performance.
It was midnight, the crowd had de-
parted, the lights were extinguished
one by one and silence reigned.
Henri, in citizens dress, walked i'm
| atiently to and fro behind the tent.
All at once he saw the young girl
coming toward him, and he fastened
forward to meet her.
Dear little Paula" he cried, TAX
ing her hand in his.
The colloquy of the two friends
was not to be of long duration;
heavy step was heard and old Will
liam appeared. AT his approach
Paula uttered a cry Of fright and
slipped away. Old William came
forward and placed his hand upon
the officers shoulder.
Monsieur" said he gravely, 'let
me have two words with yo',. / shall
not detain you a great while" he
added, seeing that Henri wished to
get away, "but must tell you that I
have seen your game from the be-
ginning. On the first day Of the fair
you stared at the girl in way that
did not suit me, but as every one is
free to enter my tent could say
nothing. Yesterday / noticed that
Paula, while in the cage, trembled as
soon as she saw you. / said to my
self, L must keep my eyes open;
something is wrong -And tonight,
as soon as she thought l WAS asleep,
she went out to meet you.
"Well, and what of itf" demanded
Henri bluntly, although he was
touched by the simplicity and dig
nifty of the mans language.
"Well, sir, you must cease to see
her. Paula is good girl, although
sne is obliged 10 gain her living in q
menagerie. You know that because
of the difference IN your stations nc
good can come Of your acquaintance.
We have only few days more to
remain here; be kind enough not tc
come to the performance again. The
girl will be sorry at first, but she
will soon get over it, and you will
not have the remorse of having
made her unhappy"
The tone in which the words were
said affected Hcnri strangely. He
was silent for some minutes, then
holding out his hand to tho man he
said, "Wcll, Pere William, promise
you to think no more about Paula.
And he kept his word, though not
without difficulty. During the weeks
that followed he was more than once
on the point Of returning to see the
little lion tanner, but the last days of
the fair passed without his giving
way to his desire In the evening,
on returning to his quarters, he
found letter written on colored
paper and surrounded with lace,
such as children send th cir sweet
hearts on So. Valentines Day.
These words were written in a
trembling hard
II am very sad at not seeing you
any more. thought that you
would come, all the same. 1t is fin
ished, know. Adieu. | will never
forget YOU"
A tear had fallen upon the word
''never."
The poor girl had told the truth
Henri had produced an ineffaceable
impression upon her, and neither old
Williams remonstrances nor her
wandering existence made her for
get the fortnight at Limoges during
which the sweetest dreams had taken
possession of her soul. She often
wept, her fresh face had grown pale
and her beauty had become more
eouSuihS'
But it was otherwise with Henri
Maurel AT the end of six months
he had completely forgotten what
had been for him only a passing
pleasure. He had married Nine.
Clery, resigned his commission aud
had gone to Paris to live with his
wife.
One summer evening after q jolly
dinner, Henri and his wife went with
some friends to the Neuilly fair. All
at once, as they were being pushed
hither and thither by the crowd, he
raised his eyes and saw by the sign
that he was before old Williams me
nagerie.
Let us go in he said; "there is a
very pretty Little lion tanner inside,
For an instant Pau.4's image and
the me,noiy OF Lis romance of the
previor II a. Limoges returned to
H.r,s'a ,,,ts,l