The sun., 1894-10-21
THE TENNIS BALLS.
A story from the Memo,r- or . Ni.,.tsr oS
France.

| CopurfGhf, fssf, jr the Author.
few weeks before the death of the Duchess
| OF Beaufort, on Easter eve, 1899. made 40 great
change In the relations Of all at court that
"Sourdis mourning" came to be phrase for
grief, genuine, because interested an affair that
might have had a serious issue began, imper-
| ceptibly at the time, in tl-e veriest trihe.
| One dny, while the King was still absent from
Paris. had a mind to play tennis, and for that
| purpose summoned La Trapc. who had the
| charge Of my balls, and sometimes. In the yab-
sencc Of better company played with me. OF
late the balls he brought had given me smull
satisfaction, and babe him bring me the bag,
that might choose the best. lie did So and I
had not handled half dozen before I found
one, and later three others, go much moro neatly
sewn than the rest, and in all points so superior,
that even an unframed eye could not fail TO de-
tect the difference.
Look, man I" I said, holding out one Of these
for inspection. "These are balls: the rest are
rubbish. Cahnot you sec the difrercncep Where
did you buy thesep At Const,ntsY"
He muttered, mo, my lord and looked con-
fused.
This reused my curiosity. "wherc, then ~
said sharply.
"of man who was AT the gate yesterday"
"Oh !" said. Selling tennis balsY"
YES, my lord"
Some rogue OF maker" exclaimed. from
whom you bought filched goods Who was it,
manp"
~ don't know his name" La Trape an
swered. "He was Spaniard."
"wellf"
"who wanted to have an audience Of your
Excellency"
"Ho" said dryly. "Now understand.
Bring me your book. Or. tell me. what have
you charged me for these balls ?"
Two francs" he mutsprpl reluctnutly
And never gave soiL I'll swear" retorted.
"Iou took the poor DEVILS balls and left him at
the gate! Aye. II Is roRues like you that get me
bad name" continued, affecting more an
ger than felt, for, in TRUTH was rather pleased
with my quickness in discovering the cheat.
"You steal and / bear the blame, and pay to
boot! OF with you and find the fellow, and
bring him to me, or 1t will be the worse for you!"
Glad to escape easily. La Trape ran to the
gate. but he failed to find his friend and two or
three days elapsed before thought again OF the
matter, such petty rogueries being ingraned In
a great mans valetaille, and being no more to
be removed than the hairs from mans arm.
At the end Of that time La Trape came to me
bringing the Spaniard, who had appeared again
at the gate. The stranger proved to be a small,
slight man, pale and yet brown, with quick
glancing eyes. His dress decent, but very
poor. with more than one rent neatly darned.
He made me profound reverence and stood
waiting with his cap in his hand. to be ad-
dressed but with all his humility did not fai;
to detect an uneasness Of department and
propriety that did not seem absolutely strange
since he was a Spaniard but which struck me,
asked him ciyiiiy who he was. He answered
that his name was Diego
I am OF Guipuzcoa, my lord" he answered,
where we sometimes speak three tongues"
To make tennis halls 2"
mo. my lord; to use them" he answered with
certain dignity.
You are player, thenf"
III Il please your Excellen,ccy."
Duke Of Segovia's court and at Toledo. where l
frequently had the honor of playing against NJ.
You are a good player?"
IF your Excellency," he answered impul-
sSS soy Eys saGp sSack by hi,
earnestness. "Granted that You are a player.
hnys sns ms not
He drew up his sleeve and showed me that his
n"N3. my lord. he answered bitterly. "of the
IY9u "Y9u are ProtestantH"
On that fell to considering him with more
attention, but at the same time with some dis
trust; rejecting that he was Spaniard, and re-
his tale were true he deserved support; with q
Snt & Sns @
disguised his opinions, until opening them In an
easy moment TO a fellow servant, he found him:
ing himself up for lost in their dungeons he |
maEaSie might believe his soTy IN the
prison with him lay a. Moor, for whose |
the safse pratss an ordsr came DOWN.
1t arrived in the evening; the Moor
70 be snT the
when the two had Just been locked up for tho
i've rs ,bs w s Sy
low, in few minutes he summoned ali HIS wits
biacken his face and hands with charcoal he
changed clothes with the corpse, and muffing
cold climate he succeeded in the early morning
IN passing out in his place Those who had
cape, and once on the road he had little dim
Guilty IN getting away and eventually reached
All this the man told me so simply that I
knew not which To admire more, the daring of
his device since for white man to pass for.
brown Is beyond the common scope OF such dis
guises-or his present mOdesty in relating IL.
However. neither OF these things seemed 20 my
considered that an impOstor would have put
forward something more simple; and as To the
who have strange experiences tell them in a
very ordinary way. Besides, had fresh in my
fhluu ulNtftlHR OF luke OF Ne |
mOurs from Lyons. On the other hand. and
despite all these things, the story might be false;
50, with view to testing one part OF IL at least,
] bade him come and play me that afternoon.
My lord, ;" he said bluntly, ~ had rather not.
For II defeat your Excelleney, | may defeat
also your good intentions. And IL permit you
10 win shall seem To be an impostor."
Somewhat surprised by his forethought re-
assured him on this point; and his game. which
proved 10 be one OF remark able strength and
fnesse. and fairly on an equality, as II seemed
to me. with that Of the best French players per-
suaded me that at any rate the first part of his
tale was true. Accordingly ! made him pres
snt, and In addition bade Maignan nay him
small allowance for a while. For this he showed
his gratitude by attaching himself tn my house
hold; and as II was the fashion at that time TO
keep tennis masters of this class, | found il Oc-
,asiOnally amusing to pit him against other
Unknown players, In the course Of few
weeks he gained me great credit and though
am not 81 foolish as 20 attach importance To
such trines, but on the contrary, think an
old soldier who stood fast at Coutras. or even a
clerk who has served the King honestly-if such
! prodigy there be--more deserving thaa these
still | do not err on the other side;
but count him a fool who. because he has solid
10 yalV iFna al A.Ia |