The record-union., 1893-06-03

: A4Cl eS Il lIIOI dl pOlIb lu6 Sll6 1IslNl
already given me. If she scolded me,
/ would bear it quietly; but surely when
she knew all she would not be very
angry.
At the door OF the Cafe Pochet heard
the children's voices within clamoring
and crying. 4 voice-not that of Pau
/ line e was raised to enforce order. |
| opened the door. A woman, whom 1 had
never seen, looked at me inquiringly as |
| entered.
| 1T is Jules Bridoux, ma tante." said
the eldest child, by way Of explanation.
rs Pauline gone out?" L asked-why
/ did II all look so strange?
| Pauline has gone right away" walled
the children in chorus. 'She went early
| this morning"
| Has she gone to her father?'' I asked.
That's no ones business but her own"
replied the stranger ungraciously. How
ever, as you're Jules Bridoux, this letter
must be for you. She left it to be sent
TO Sugny; you'd have got 1t Tomorrow"
She spoke i'll hard, unsympathetic
manner. l asked no further questions,
but bidding her good day, turned to go.
l wanted to read my lctter-tO know the
reason Of Pauline's strange sudden alb
sence, to see how she would address me,
to gladden. my heart with any phrase
I that ! could construe into tenderness.
But when, outside in the silence OF the
forest, l bad torn the envelope open, l
read its contents through and through
before the meaning grew clear to my be-
Wildered senses. And this was what L
read on the sheet which l had kissed as |
uniolded 1t, because 1t was my first love
letter:
Pm not much of a letter. writer, Jules"
she wrote; this is only few lines 10 bid
you gOod-by. After what / said TO you
that night before father was took, you
can't expect me to have any more to do
! Nit /
again now you've broken promise like
that. That's why Pm gone away. Most
likely we shall never see one another
again, but II we do, there must be no
more said about what's been between US.
That's all over, and l expect / shall
never feel so happy again. But Pm not
to blame. Pm true to my word il you
aren't. PAULINE"
That was aIl-she had left me-giyen
me up, and without giving me the chance
oteXplaining myself In my first move
ment of helpless rage l crushed her letter
in my hands, then | SmoOthed it out
and kissed it, and the hot tears ran
down my checks and blurred the cruel
words.
! can scarcely say how the days went
after that. l made no attempt to track
Pauline. After all, she was right; | had
deceived her, and if her trust in me was
gone, we were better apart.
! Then we heard that Pochets illness
was going badly-but even that had no
! importance to me. | barely wondered
/ If Pauline knew that his chance of being
defended by AIaitre Letellier was gone.
L had lost all interest in everything
! My neighbors thought it was because
my smuggling misadventure had de-
pressed me. | let them believe what
they chose. Naturally, the license OF the
! Cafe Pochet had been forfeited, and peO-
IT,I1 had tn .l.,. -
result of things that the talk of marriage
between Pauline and Leon Regnault
! should be spoken Of no more. Old Reg
nault tried to insinuate that Leon's uncle
at Charleville wanted his nephew 10
/ marry and settle there, but the tale did
not meet with credence. We knew that
he had other reasons for keeping away
from Sugny.
SO the autumn wore on, till it was time
to plow the land which had borne my
Inflated crop of tobacco.
Il shall grow corn next year." l said TO
myself, as | followed the pillow drearily
up and down the damp burrows II
shall keep my faith TO Pauline better
than she thinks"
Then | thought bitterly of the long
years that lay before me TO spend with
out her. AS to loving another woman IN
her place that thought never entered my
/ head.
ul6S DlIhOuAg Cdllbu u voice across
/ the field, breaking i'll upon my melan-
| choly reverie, here Is a letter for thee. ]
may as well give it thee now as carry it
down to the village"
1t was the posuman on his daily round.
/ l hurried to meet him across the zelda
letter was rare event i'll my life.
I looked at the address,, written in a stiff,
careful handwriting. Did my eyes de-
ceive, or was it really from Pauline? NY
I hands tremDIed as | opened il. Yes.
there at the end OF a few short lines stood
her name.
DEAR JULES" it ran, ''it is very bold
of me TO ask you to forgive me. | was all
in the wrong. 1t is too long to write, and
! | could tell you easier; only, perhaps,
you are too angry to come and hear what
L have to say. PAULINE.n
Angry-too angry! Well, yes, I had
been angry; but ii she was ready to say
she had been in the wrong, if all that had
| been crooked was to be made straight
what was the use of being angry? i
sent my little brother home with the
horse and ploW and went straight as |
was to the quondam inn at the cross
roads.
1 found her where we had parted all
those weeks before, on the bench outside
The door. She looked even paler than OF
old, and she was in mourning. She rose
as l came, and held out both her hands
to me.
"Ah, jules" she said, ''you are hun
dred times better than | am, and Judged
you SO hardly"
tried to tell her that l had forgiven
her, that so long as she was ready to
! come to me the past was no more than a
dream. Then she began her tale.
You have heard of fathers illness, -
she said, land, perhaps, you have heard
how it has euded?"
She touched her black dress and went
on tremulously:
81 He was buried a few days ago. 1 had
taken place as servant in Sedan, but |
left it to. nurse him when at last he got
leave to have me. When it was all over |
began to try and think Of all | ought to
do to put matters straight, and first of all
l Went TO that lawyer whom you told me
Of When l said l had come to tell him
that though father would not need his
services L should like to thank him. he
stared at me IN great surprise; then he
asked me number of questions, and l
could see that though j was in such
trouble he was angry with me. Then he
told me that there must be some mistak q
somewhere, for that he had refused to
plead the case, at which l was greatly
surprised. You were not going to plead.
! monsieur L exclaimed. Mo- he re-
piled, 'and if you want to know any
more about the matter you had better ask
the young man who undertook to raise
the fee, and then found himself unable to
do So Then he babe me good morning
and | could not ask him any more. And
| now, jules" she continued. in the
straightforward way l knew so we'll
/ will you tell me the part of the story |
do not understand l can guess it, but I
had rather hear it from you"
| SO told her all, from the very beoin-
ming, how L had made the mistake about
Maitre Letellier: how the longing 10