Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-01-27

desire with an expression OF pleasure.
ON the contrary he said; III such
outrageous, such indiScrect steps con
+ time, shall close my bop mmedi-
atc.y, m'Sieur Never before. and l
have dwelt in every capital in Europe
wlth--with my head-neyer l repeat,
have ! suffered before persecution
that equals this!'
But monsieur" urged Marcel you
look at this matter Ia an odd fashion
Allow me a word Of explanation, You
are uadesman and possess an object
that / fancy, and ! offer to buy II,
What could be simpler particularly
as | am willing to pay whatever price
YOU choose to ASK
And | tell YOU. monsieur, returned
the enraged little man, mo matter
what price YOU offer, my-my object,
as you call it, is not for sale
The case was hopeless. Marcel de
parted i'm no amiable state OF mind.
The beautiful dgcre was regularly in
I her place for quite a week or more.
when the window was empty, and,
stranger than al else, it remained
empty. Comte Castor Leopold, too.
had strangely disappeared and was to
be found neither at home nor at his
( club nor at the theater, nor any place
that he frequented Marcel inquired
for him Of friends and beSieged the
servants who answered his door.
M. le Comte had left AlgierS very
suddenly" they responded. without
saying where he was going or how
long he would remain"
4 departure like this naturally led 70
many comments and suppositions.
But in Algicrs one thinks only of those
whom one meets every day, and for
gets in some degree those chat one
docs not see.
\ month passed, and then one even
ing at club Marcel and Benoists wager
upon the coiffcrs wonderful figure
brought up the subject again. But
she's there no more You know de
clarcd Captain Rochefort
What, gone forever some one
asked
so ii seems"
And SO eventually it proved The
window was reaTanged now and fill
ed with miscellaneous collection Of
al sorts OF things for a lady's toilet
-tichus, flowers, combs, brushes, per
fumes and buckles, but no pretty
blonde head
But she wasn't there always at
first Rochefort, you know cried a
voice at the back, only occasionally,
Perhaps we miss her
''No, she has departed, said Roche
fort I've watched and waited; ii Is
total eclipse Deuced hard, | take it,
for that pretty face was a mascot TO
me When stopped to look at her
and she seemed 10 smile upon me /
had invariablc luck at piquet and b2c-
carat"
And as for me" remarked another,
"whcn She gave me a look 80
This was too much Disturbed in
his game OF cards the old Comte Clair
vile brought the chatter to an end
Will a sharp rap ON the table A wax
figure, smiling and gazing at passers-
by? Pooh! What rubbish! Not to be
tolerated in I; serious game of ptquct
Marcel alone remained thoughtful, and
next morning he betook himself to
. the ,afa that once before had served
him as nm observatory. The window
opposite was still minus the figure
and appeared not even to expect one;
the place once graced 10y the beautiful
head was otherwise occupied. Watch
ing and rejecting over this strange
turn of affairs. Marcel suddenly saw
coming and going in the shop the lit
tie c0iffeur; but. heaven! was 1t real
~ he or only his shadow? The little
, mau had aged full ten years. He
was neither powdered pomatumed
nor curled His costume even betray-
ed careless air, and the shopwoman
watched him as though disturbed in
her mind Marcel, moved by curiosi-
", crossed the road. The coiifeur
recognized him instantly.
II would ike to speak with You
priva tely. monsieur" began Marcel,
IF you can kindly spare a moment
with pleasure" the coiffeur mourn
fully replied, promptly leading the way
into an apartment at the back that
was filled with boxes Of hair
Excuse me, monsieur" said he
apoIogetcally, for bringing you here,
but ! guess what you are going to
say, and as I can not speak without
weeping, II do not wish to be seen
from the outside"
Certainly certainly" Marcel return
cd seating himself like n man who
this time intends to have his say out
you received me rather brusquely the
other day, when first I approached
you, but bygones are bygones, and
wish to know what has become Of
OF her"
"Ah, monsieur" cried the coiffeur
j interruptlug him, "how right you were
She was beauty lncarnate she was
life, she was love. IF she seemed 80
enchanting to you, a mere outside ob
server, imagine then what she seemed
him who had consecrated himself to