Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-10-14

EelIlcliduf thh nv 81 PNINN'N''f
be said, and that l eat nothing | citn
not pay for
Madame shrugged her shoulders, and
said it was hard she could not offer
an Omelette u points d~'asperges 10 a
friend If she liked.
when | visit my friends take whae
they choose 10 give me, answered
Castor coldly; but l have no friends
in this part Of Paris
Suzou Michel looked as black as
thunder, and took the journalists
money in sulky silence She broke Il
Jug before dinncr-time, and was snap
pish 10 her customers all the rest Of
the day.
What Satanlikc pride" She *
claimel, thinking Of her favorite patron;
and then she muttered a remark which
might have found a place in the col
umns Of the Pere Duchene.
She cried when She went to bed that
night, cried and sobbed, and swOre an
oath or two by way Of solace, before
she laid her head ON her pillow, think
ing that Castor MOrtcnEr would come
no more to the little table ut the end
Of the shop. But at the usual time he
walked into her shop, ana sat him,
self down with an im|pcrturbable Wis
age. She served his coffee as carefully
as ever, but said never a word. He
read il newspaper while he breakfast
cd. paid, and went, without a word on
his part.
Next morning there was a bunch Of
daffodils on the little table, a bunch
Of yellow bloom lighting up the shad-
owy corner. Suzon had trudged TO the
Hower-market before she opened her
shop. to buy these spring flowers for
the man she loved. Yes, she loved him,
and meant to marry him if she could.
He was a gentleman, and she c~anaille
De cauaille. But what Of that? Did
not the gutter throne it yonder on the
side of the Seine, in the Bots, in the
Pare Monceau-the gutter made glori-
Gus in silks ana satins, driving thor
oughbred horses, scattering their lovers
substance In waves Of gOldf Did not
all that was noblest In the llnd lay IT.
self down and grOvcl at the feet of the
gutterY Aud her gentleman was poor
and f~riendless; he lived in a garnet, and
toilcd for Il %pittancc. Surely he would
be willing and glad to marry her, when
he knew that she had saved money,
and had her little investments in the
public funds.
He smiled at sight Of the first flowers
Of spring, looking mp at the widow,
saw that she was smiling too. All her
sullen gloom had melted at sight of
him. She was so glad he had not for
saken the shop. Perhaps it would have
hurt her even more than his desertion
to have known how insignificant IA liz
ure she made in his life, and how little
he had thought about yesterdays dis
pute.
He asked her the news, and her
whole face beamed at the sound Of his
voice. She prattled away gaIly for the
rest Of the hour. and considered every
ether customer an intruder while
Castor sat at his little table.
You ought to put up a plaeard ia
your window, with 'Belache' upon it.
when Monsieur is here said a grumpy
to whom she had served a pat
Of butter with scant Civiity, and whose
keen EYES saw the state of affairs.
This kind Of thing went OH for more
than n year Now and again, when
WAS i'm luck and had made a
few francs more than his ordinary
earnings from the newspapers, he
rewarded the little widows attentions
by taking her to a theatre, and giving
her an ice or a supper i'm the Passage
TouTroy before he escorted her home.
He treated her en- grand Scjgneur on
these occasions. and these evenings
TO Suzon Michel as nights spent
in paradise; hours to dream about for
after they were gone, to long
fol with a passionate longing. Yet
they brought her no nearer to the man
She loved or to the realisation of her
hopes. Not a word was cvpr spoken Of
love or marriage. When they parted
the steps OF the eremcrjc, while the
bells of Notre Dame were Ginning one
of the quarters after midnight, they
were as far apart as ever. If she was
ever to be Madame Mortemar the offer
of marriage must come from her
lipS. Suzon thought; and she would
have shrunh from telling the man OF
her choice of those snug little invest
ments, ana her willingness TO share
her economies With him. Feminine
delicacy would not have hindered such
an ayowal: but there was something in
the man himself which sealed her lips.
Castor was as cold as ice. as calm
marble. He had that admissible IAN
g1lor of speech and manner which clever
young men are apt to affect until it be
comes q second uuturc. lie talked
like i man who had lived through every
experience that life could offer to re
probate youth. who had grown old in
evil before Time had written q wrinkle
on his brow.
"Ah. but he has lived, that youth
said thy knowing oaas of the quarter
Ha