Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1893-08-12
ing again, fam Roger de Morfeuille,
caDfain of Snahis and for the moment

Ing again, am Roger de Morfeuille,
captain of Spahis and, for the moment,
orderly to the Emperor"
twas case of unspoken love. Neither
the one nor the other strove to struggle
against an imperious domination. From
that moment it had seemed to them that
they were born for each other. Without
uttering syllable everything was under
stood.
But the war was at the horizon, and it
was tacitly agreed upon that their life in
union should not commence until after
the fight. Roger was sure of being one
of the first to depart. Jane would wait
for him.
They lived in that constant intimacy
frommwhch the assured morrow does not
Danish respect not knowing in what way
their existence would be arranged, but
saying to themselves that they would be
each others to the end of the road which
lay before them.
When Roger came to make his adieux
to Jane, without a word having been
spoken to prepare for that exchange,
each, at the moment when they rose TO
separate, handed the other ring, and
this supreme betrothal was substituted
for the bitter kisses of last farewell
After the second act of ''La Dameaux
Camellias," when the curtain had been
raised and lowered for the sixth time
upon the acclamations which had greeted
Jane, in the flush of that unparalleled
triumph, the echo of which she hoped
would reach Roger, the young woman.
with that melancholy oppression which
too great fortune gives, was slowly
mounting the stairway leading to her
dressing
However, Roger knew that she was
making her debut that evening, and she
was certain that, even amid the smoke of
the battlefield he could not have forgot
ten her.
But, without daring to admit it to her
self, she had, during the whole day, been
the prey of a sort of indescribable pre-
sentiment. She had watched at the door
and listened to the footsteps ascending
the stairway. She said to herself that the
day could not pass without bringing her
souvenir, some sign of the beloved
one, who was not Ignorant that she also
was going to face the chances of signal
lights which decide, here, the life of in
dividuals, and, there, the life of nations;
she said this to herself and yet she was
uneasy, anxious and oppressed
A flash of joy, love and pride shot
from her eyes when on opening the door
of her dressing-room, she saw upon the
white lace of her toilet table the blue pa
paper of Geographic dispatch.
She rapidly closed the door that she
might not be troubled while reading the
words which had come from the dear
absent one, and, without even perceiving
that Louis Belcourt had silently followed
her, opened the telegram.
Suddenly, amid the deep silence of the
corridor, through the door Jane had just
entered, Louis Belcourt heard fright
full superhuman cry, at once wild and
tender, the mortal accent of which made
a CULVER run through his veins. He
forced the door and sprang into the lit
tie chamber lie arrived just in time to
catch Jane in his arms she was beating
the air with her arms, there was rattle
in her throat; she was livid with grief
and yet held in one of her clenched
hands the dispatch she had run through.
As ne was asking himself in his terror
what he should do, james pallor van
ished, a flood of blood cooring her Wis
age; her eyes, now wide open, fixed
themselves, as if by an irresistible i'm
pulse, upon the fatal dispatch.
She suddenly handed it to Louis Bel
court. who read the following words:
ave have been crushed at Worth.
They have transported me to neighbour
ing chateau. Amputation probable. Pray
for me. This dispatch will be carried to
an open station. | love you.
ROGER"
The young actor stood as if thunder.
struck. Then, making an effort, he
looked at Jane. He saw her, erect and
resolute, putting hat over her theatri-
cal head dress, throwing cloak over her
costume.
Where are you going r" demanded
he.
II am going" answered she, in firm
voice, II am going to rejoin Rogerl''
"But, in Heavens name think that
the curtain will soon be raised and your
entrance on the stage is expected! This
is frightfull You will destroy yourself
ruin your fortune, your life Remain
until tomorrow
Listen, replied Jane. ut is quar-
ter to ten; there is a train at IL o'clock,
l know, since friend of Roger, to
whom | have entrusted a letter, starts at
that hour from the Gard de FEST. If
you prevent me from taking that train -
you see that poignard-I swear to you on
my soul that | will kill mysefm
Louis Belcourt recoiled in terror
Jane quilted the dressing room and
went down the stairway.
The young actor followed her mechan-
ically, overwhelmed, and walking with
the automatic step of scmnambulist
She opened the artists exit door, which
led to the street at the back of the the
atre, hailed a carriage, and vanished in
the night.
When Louis Belcourt returned to the
interior OF the theatre he found everybody
in state of extreme excitement. The
call boy had notified the stage manager
that Mile de Bolney was not TO be found.
The stage manager informed the mana
ger. who had just arrived, and bad seen
Jane in a carriage going In the direction
OF the Boulevard de Strasburg.