The herald., 1893-11-10
THE SECRET DRAWER

arranged his papers, laid his pens away
IN the drawer, and after casting a glance
at his clerks browsing in the neighbor-
ing room closed his desk.
He felt SO gay. so light hearted, that
hecould have slid down the baluster of the
somber ministerial staircase, but he con-
tanned himself, and saluting the conci-
erge, who was surprised to see him leave
80 early, entered the Rue Royale, now
bathed in sunshine. Certainly it was
unusual for such model employee to
be abroad so early. Well, what was
the use of remaining two hours longer
in the office when there was nothing left
to do but snip papers, kill flies or try
to write plays for the theater, occupa-
tions that were equally uninteresting
and unprofitableP -
He was not long in reachiAg liis home,
for since his marriage he had lived In the
Rue Royale itself. How surprised and
pleased his wife would be to see him
home SO earlyi He entered stealthily on
the tips Of his toes, crossed the ante
chamber and stood in the parlor.
1t was empty!
No one in the dining room, no one in
the bedchamber nor the boudoir. Evil
IDENTIFY she was in the garden, hiding to
surprise him, or possibly swinging in q
hammock, enjoying the fragrant warmth
of the beautiful day. He ran there quick
as a thought. He did not find his wife,
This was getting serious.
Why should she hsye gone out? He
knew of nothing pressing that could have
called her awayl 1t was understood
that she was always to wait for him; if
the beauty Of the day had tempted her,
she should have stopped at the minister's
and told him as usual.
In the room everything reminded him
Of her. A vague perfume-her perfume
floated over all. A handkerchief thrown
down on tho edge of the toilet table, a
pair of gloves, too soiled perhaps for use,
left on the bedroom mantel, showed that
she had gone out in a hurry, because she
! was SO orderly generally, and every
thing had its place. There was another
reason for believing that something un-
usual had called her away, or why were
these trifes tossed about so carelessly?
Tormented with doubt, his mind filled
with vague suspicion, he sat down in
the parlor and resigned himself to wait
for her return.
But he could not remain quiet. After
some moments he went toward the Sec
retary and opened the bookcase above
it. AS the classics were in the back, he
took out the volume in front, which he
) placed on table at his side, and began
reading volume of Moliere.
The secretary was of ebony of the
time Of Louis XVI, ornamented with
bronze open work. The desk leaf with
in was covered with stamped leather,
and above it, hidden in the fretwork,
was false drawer. His wife was very
fond of this piece of furniture, which he
had given her one fete day about month
after their marriage. He had hunted
long time before he discovered it at an
old antiquarian's, who assured him that
it had remained in the possession of one
family ever since it was made.
1t was an elegant and graceful piece
of furniture, and in spite of the high
price Louis had not hesitated to buy it.
Then it was installed in the apart
ment during his wifes absence, and
when she came in and saw it how she
had flung her arms about her husbands
neck and thanked him as only true
wife canl
II was indeed a little marvel. She had
Nypened all the little drawers and poured
INTO them the thousand and one little
( trifes that constitute woman's treas
ure, and of which she is more proud
than of her jewels, and she said, "This
! is my secretary" with all the jealous
pride of a proprietor.
Louis soon found the passage he was
seeking in Moliere, and it had diverted
his mind. He was less worried than be-
!, fore. As he was replacing the books,
one slipped from his hand, and in at
tempting to catch it he struck the mold
ing on the top of the secretary. There
was the sound of click, and the front
of the false drawer swung out, display
Ting a hiding place whose existence he
had never suspected. His wife had never
spoken to him about this, nor had the
merchant who sold it, or he would prob
ably have made it an excuse for raising
the price.
Suddenly he saw package of letters
Vim the depths of this tiny closet. Here
was romance! No doubt these papers
were precious documents and had been
placed there during the Revolution. He
|undid the package and then started
sback. Instead of antique manuscript the
| the paper was quite new and the hand
Iwliting perfectly modern, so modern
| that the ink was still black. He was
tempted to throw this package, which
kburned his hands, back in the drawer
land put everything in order again, but
curiosity was stronger than reason, and
with trembling hand he opened the
| |6rst letter.
AT the first word which he read
Ilmist came before his eyes; he fell out
3stretched on the sofa. These letters
without doubt had been placed there by
his wife, who had said nothing to him
about the secret drawer that he had dis
lowered. What he believed to be the
correspondence Of friend, written in
Response to those condolences which a
vopng woman would be apt to make