The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-05-31
place, that thought never entered my

place, that thought never entered my
head.
Jules Bridoux," called voice across
the field, breaking in upon nv melan-
choly reverie, here is letter for thee. l
may as we'll give 1t thee now as carry it
down to the village"
1t Was the postman on bis daily round.
l hurried to meet him across the field-a
letter was rare event in my life. l
looked at the address, written in a stiff,
careful handwriting. Did my eyes de-
ceive, or was 1t really from Pauline? My
hand trembled as l opened it. Yes,
there at the end of few short lines
stood her name
Dear Jules" it ran, cit is very bold of
me to ask you to forgive me- l was all in
the wrong. 1t was too long to write. and
lcould tell you easier; only perhaps you
are too angry to come and hear what |
have to say. PAULINE"
Angry-too angry Well. yes, had
been angry; but If she was ready 10 saw
she had been in the wrong, if all that had
been crooked was to be made straight.
what was the use of being angry? ! sent
my little brother home with the horse
and pillow and went straight as l was to
the quondam inn at the crossroads.
| 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
Rs | came, and held out both her hands
to me.
"Ah. Jules" she said. ''you are a hun
dred times better than l am, and judged
you so hardly"
tried 10 tell her that I hsd forgiven
her, that SO long as she was ready to come
1 -. - =
Then she began her tale.
You have heard of fathers illness"
she said, "and perhaps you have heard
She touched her black dress and went
| on tremulously:
He was buried few DAYS ago. had
taken place as servant in Sedan, but 1
left 1t to nurse him when at last he got
leave to have me. When il was all over
| began to try and think of all l ought TO
| do to put matters straight, and first of all
L went to that lawyer whom you told me
OF. When | said l had come TO tell him
that though father would not need his
services l should like to thank him, he
stared az me in great surprise; then he
asked me q number of questions, and
could see that though l was in such
trouble he was angry with me. Then he
told me that there must be some mistake
| somewhere, for that he had refused to
plead the case, at which / was greatly
surprised. y on were not going TO plead,
monster" / exclaimed. No. he replied,
and If you wan. 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 He
then bade me good-morning, and
! could not ask him any more. And now,
| Jules" she continued, in the straightfor-
ward way | knew 80 well, will you tell
me the part of the story l do not under
stand? l can guess 1t, but l had rather
hear il from you"
So | told her all, from the very begin
ming, how / had made the mistake about
| Maitre Letelier; how the longing to serve
her had tempted me to break my new
made resolution; how Icons treachery
had ruined my plan, and how. when l had
come TO tell her all, l had found that she
! had heard already, and had misinterpreted
what she had heard. cut ner short when
| she began 10 reproach herself and to beg
me to forgive her. We understood one
another now, and why should we not bury
the trouble that had parted us?
NV parents took more kindly to my be-
trothed wife than l expected Indeed
now tnat fOcnet was dead, there was
nothing they could urge against her
We were married about a year later
and at Pauline's desire | left Sugny and
! all its temptations behind. Since | have
moved further from the border have de-
voted myself more and more to bee.
! keeping. till now, am proud to say, am
considered quite an authority on the sub
ject.
There is certainly less risk in my pres.
emit employment than in running contra
band goods, and bees are, on the whole
| less difficult TO deal with than douaniers.
As to the profits, Pauline, who keeps the
accounts, assures me that they ere some
thing remarkable. The men of Sugny
however. shake their heads at me as
renegade, while the children in their play
still serve their earliest apprenticeship as
| "fraudeurs."