The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-01-18
NINA.

which the Partisan grisette visits regu-
larry in order 70 lose her heaTt-and nof
infrequentiy her rosy cheeks and the
freshness Of her youth
Harcourt pretended 10 study medicine,
and II was among these pretty girls
sellers Of flowers. embr0iGcrers Of linen,
ard uainterS' models-fllat he managed
10 fcrset the terrors Of The hospital and
thu scenes . the surgical alBphltheater.
Charles Haroourt had Just arrived at
the time Of life wien a soft down SHOWS
On the lip. when love knocks al the
breast. and when the heart resembles a
lusty tree. full Of visor, from which has
fallen as vet neither leaf nor fruit.
The t-cmbones Of the orchestra roar,
ike thunder CT . stormy sea; the vio-
lins scream ike sea gulls above the
waves: IRE lusic rolls and growls Ike
some hu.ery beast. All Is confusion
White shoulders and gold lace gleam
through the heavy air. The innocent
and the guilty dance together IN the
same deliriOgas motion.
While tie dancers turn and whlri,
advancing wildly and as wildly retreat
ing. fa- IN a corner sits a slender girl
watching the dance with an AIR Of sad
less. Her m0urnfal eyes follow the
crazy motions Of the crowd with aston
ishment, and a light sign moves the
folds Of null on her breast
Ia the midst Of this iEdescribable
confusion, TINS pellmen Of figures and
voices, appears that Of 4 handsome boy
of twenty-five, remarkable for his yivac-
ity and the holiness Of his speech and
gesture. Finally, when the yiolins have
ended their agOuizing cries and the
lamps are dying before the oncoming
daylight, this boy. whom his friends sa-
lutte as HarcOurt. leaves the bail, new
conquest up0n his arn-it Is the slender
brunette Of the corner.
Charles Harcourt appeared no more
81 the balls Of the Latin quarter, but
spent his days Il LEc0le de Medicine,
passing his first examinations with dis
tiEction. In one Of those fascinating
little houses-such are Beranger pre-
tends 10 have inhabited at twenty
Charles made his home, guarding jeal-
ously the dangerous happiness Of a
union contracted without the help OF
le inaire and which Is called morganatie
10 avoid the useof q less delicate phrase.
us conquest Of the bail was named
Nina. &c was q good and affecri0nate
child, and IN spite Of the anacreontic
QuadTilles OF the Latin quarter, she was
innocent. She lad kept her heart III
tact. It was her sole economy. Charles
ard Nina loved one another like two G.
Ii Fontaine's doves. But Nina was a
cuasumptive, and Charles read with af-
fright the death Of his happiness IN the
paiing face Of his beloved.
His care Of her was untiring; but thi:
implacable malady never releases, and
soon IN a kiss Charles received his mis-
tress's last sigh. Nina died in the hos
pital; her long illness having exhausted
their feeble resources, and Charles had
the cruel courage 10 deliver the body oi
his beloved to the investigations of the
pathologist. He wished TO pursue, even
in the flesh, this rival who had killed
her. he made use Of a cynical usage t
preserve the skull. This. with a plaster
mask nodded upon the emaciated body
Of the dead girl, was all that remained
10 him.
Mina's loss affected Charles profound
ly. Out Of a character frivolous and
careless. devoted only 10 coarse pleas
ures, had grown deep and serious love
This honest and generous affection had
stified the germs Of evil. Nina dead
he was seized as by a vertigo, and b,
plunged into the abyss. lie found him
self face TO face with evil. and threw tc
This monster the rest Of his youth.
Ia this ocean Of false pleasures the re
1rmbrance Of Nina was drowned. and
iletulsnt little grisette called Mariette
took her place. One night IN November
Mariette and one Of her friends, Charles,
and one Of his companions were together
In = little house on the Rue Gres. Tie
J. 10 was cold and sinister: masses of
neslvy clouds were driven across a gray
SKY, the moon showed her m0unful face
only AZ intervals, sudden showers bea:
upon the windows, and the wind howled
az the cracks.
These four Young people drank and
sang. unaffected BIZ the storm and their
strange environment. 1t was the strange
Iledley Of the students life that showed
IA the small roOm-here signs Of work
and there the broken bottles Of a drink
ing bout. A small table held a dried
tbia, a pile OF medical works, some
empty wine bottles ard some articles OF
the toilet. There. TOO. was the plaster
rast Of the dead Nina. a figure slender
TO meagerness, the evCs cavernous and
empty, the lips distorted into a painful
smile, the plaster discolored by the kisse.
placed upon those lips IN eternal fare
well. Upon the chimney were a candle.
8 small clock and human skull. ii
one side a tiny couch. on the walls racks
for pipes and some cheap lithographs.
MsIiette and her friend Rose lounged
about in Untidy dishaMlle. Earnest
made a pretense Of study. while Charles.
dulled by the warm and heavy air Of
the room, leaned on tie long table IN
silence. 1t VAS j grcup verify Of the
brush OF Cal.ot.
What is the matter with Charless'
cried Ernest, shutting his book noisiiy;
she Is as sober As a merchant"
He is thinking OF Nina, said Mari.
cite, bitterly.
when = mistress Is buried, that ought
20 END the affair, said Rose. decidedly.
But often, even when I am here. I
find him sitting before that plaster cast,
said Marietfe, sullenly.
"Oh. its perfectly platonic," laughed
Ernest.
~Bahr said Rose; you don't object
20 a plaster rival, do you.7
To the health of Nina, cried Ernest.
Charles looked I'D quickly. These
Jloes cEt him TO the heart.
Nina was a good girl, he said.
That remains 10 be seen, eried Mari
etfe; i am q good girl, too, am noiy'
You viii be when you are Dead
Knocked Ernest.
Charles, said Mariette, confess that
yon love Nina still!7
No; l 90 not.@
More than You love ne.'
No, no. ! love you.
Very well, then prove it There is
that horTia skull that you keep as a
sacred reaic- I've seen It grinning up
there long eno.sh. Let Us make the
punch IN it,
All. that's an original idear cried
EFnest. ~Aariette, yOu have the imag-
inatiOn Of poet.
80 be it then said Charles, and
rising he placed the skull in the middle
Of the table.
i am the one to light II, said Mari
cite trlumphantly, pouring the liouor