Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-05-07


dark shop in the Latin quarter.
He and became quite 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 the bill and bring the dia-
monds on to Rome, where the 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 ortwo alone IN Paris, as you might
suppose But doubt whether / should
have attended to my ostensible business
30 faithfully as 1 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 he worked he
would talk, and very queer, captivating
talk good deal Of it was. He was a
thorough artist and enthusiast, and
seemed to care for nothing outside of
his profession. He did not appear to me
to be in the way OF makingmuch money
and it occurred to me that it might be
acceptable were ], in an unobtrusive
way, to introduce him to some wealthy
customers. knew few people in Paris;
but there was a Mr.. Birchmore, an
American gentleman, staying at my
hotel, with whom l had foregathered
over a cup of coffee and cigar once or
twice; he was handsome, middle aged
man, with an atmosphere of refined af
fiuence about him SUI as would have
befitted duke. Not bit like your ira
ditional Yankee; in fact, I'm not sure
that | should have suspected him if
hadn't seen his address-"Fifth avenue,
New York city, q. S. Ain the hotel
register about a week after my arrival.
| He was an agreeable man enough,
though not at all the sort to take iber-
ties with; however, made up my mind
that l would get him to Rudolph's ON
the first pretext that offered.
Well, l had an excellent pretext be-
/ fore long. Mr.. Birchmore came into
\ the 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 floor of the room. It presently
transpired that he had lost diamond
out of his ring, which had contained
4 three matched brilliants. It was no
where to be found.
81 don't mind the loss Of the stone it
SELF" said Mr.. Birchmore at last, sitting
down near my table; "but it's one Of a
set matched with great difficulty, and
I'm afraid may never replace it."
Here was my opportunity. l set forth
the wisdom, skill and resources Of my
little Saxon friend in glowing colors;
mentioned the work he was doing for
me, and declared that if any man in
Europe could help Mr.. Brchmore to re-
pair his loss, Rudolph was he. Mr..
Birchmore at first paid little heed to my
representations, but finally l induced
him to accompany me to the Latin
quarter, and at least make the attempt.
The next morning, accordingly, we set
forth, and as we sauntered along the
wide, pleasant boulevards our CONVEX
sation became more free and affable
than it had been hitherto. l found my
companion could be exceedingly enter
tanning when he chose it, and had vast
fund of experience and adventure to
draw upon. He had been almost every
where; he had made himself familiar
with all varieties Of civilized and I'M
civilized men; as matter of course, too,
he was a versatile linguist.
The only direction in which he gave
any evidence of comparative deficiency
was in that of literature and the fine
arts. His life had been essentially an
| active one; he cared little for Tennyson
and Swinburne, for Matthew Arnold
and Carlyle. He had, however, read and
appreciated Macbeth" and some other
of Shakespeare's plays; and he was well
acquainted with several Of the romances
of "Unabashed Defoe." did not dis
cover all this in the course of that one
stroll over to the Latin quarter, but it
leaked out during our subsequent &C
quaintance, which was destined to be-
come more intimate and prolonged than
had any idea of then. AS have init
mated, MIR. Birchmore was quite frank
topic-himself.
OF his inner life and circumstances
could learn nothing. Though he never
was obtusely reticent, yet he con-
trived never to refer to his own private
affairs. | could not satisfy myself
whether he were married or single,
whether he were Catholic or atheist
hardly whether he were rich or poor
Some shadow Of grief, some incubus Of
, fear or calamity seemed to overwheln
: him and impose silence. The most
, | could do was to draw differences, anG
my inference was that he was a bach
r elor, millionaire, skeptic and maj
? who at some period of his life had com
: mitted, either deliberately or by force
Z of circumstances, a terrible crimel You
= will see presently how far my estimate
o was from the truth, or how near to it.
Q However, am anticipating, as it is
q We arrived in due time at Rudolph'
4 little shop and introduced him t,
8 Birchmore. | had previously told tn