Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-05-13
THE LOST PURSE.

Nine. Daurcl stopped In front Of tho
pOstofilcc. Iier right hand held up her
skirts. She released them with "a sudden
movement and thrust her hand into her
muf, which she held In her left hand. At
tho Same moment she uttered u cry OF sur
prise. Tho little purse that she always car
ricd In her mun was no longer there A
few feet away from her there stood man
OF about 90 years Of agc, clean shayen,
stout well dressed. Hc was looking nt
hor attentivcly. Then he suddenly came
toward her, and with polite bow and an
evil smile he said;
MADAM, / live near by In the Rue dc In
Michodiere, No. CO. M. Chouinot; man OF
business. II you desire TO have news re-
garding the purse you have been 10 unfor-
tunate as to lose, can furnish Il to you."
NJ. Chouinot was q fine specimen Of a
rascal. IL must be confessed life was diff
cult for him. He had endeavored to make
success Of several enterprises, but every
time Just as the longed for end was In
view an obstacle had risen up and over
whelmed HIM. That obstacle was justice
The clients whom he had attempted TO
dupe had made complaints 70 the police,
and tho police had started Investigations
which had finally brought M. Chouinot
face to face with the superintendent Of po-
lice, the Judge on tho bench and then the
prison Of Mazas. Happily he had 80 far
been ablo to avoid long terms OF imprison-
ment, which was something, but he had
been obliged In every case to disgorge his
gains and restore to their rightful owners
the sums OF money that had been confded
by them to his care. In short, he had SO far
been successful only In putting to one side
his scruples
That day no was walking behind Nine.
Daurel. Was he looking at her? 1t Is prob
able that he was, for Nine. Daurel deserv-
ed It, Rarely has more charming woman
been seen.
That she had the appearance OF the smart
woman, a supple and graceful figure, beau
tifully propoNioned, could loo seen from
her back. In front 1t was seen that she
had a lovely face, dark ardent eyes, an
adorably chiseled nose, fine mouth, and
besides these an infinite and subtle charm
that was indefinable. She was a woman
no man could help looking at.
So, as has been said already, M. Choui-
not was walking behind Nine. Daurel
Suddenly he saw that she had dropped
something on the pavement. He was about
to call her attention to the fact when an
idea presented itself to his mind.
"Never trust a first impulse" thought
he.
No one happened to be passing at the
moment. Why should he not take posses
sion of the article provided it was worth
the troublep
NJ. Chouinot opened the purse, for it was
purse that Nine Daurel had let fall, q
mignon little purse with her name on 1t
In neat silver letters. 1t contained a 80
franc bank note, several scraps Of paper
and letter In an envelope ready to be
posted.
M. Chouinot rapidly looked over the
pieces of paper They were letters that
showed signs of having been read and re-
read many times. They were almost In
pieces, and all bore the same signature
Henri. The letter in the envelope was ad-
dressed to NJ. Henri de Prejailles. So the
owner Of the purse was answering love
| lettersl
"Ha, hal" exclaimed M. Chouinot to
| himself. Then he found some cards bear
| ing the name, "Mme. Andre Daurel," and
| M. Chouinot commenced to think deeply.
| "Mmc. Daurel to a male friend. Henri dc
| Prejailles. Excellent affairp'
Without tremor he opened the envel-
| ope, and taking out the letter began to
read. "It remains to be seen now whether
| Nine. Andre Daurel is rich," said NJ
! Chouinot to himself. "In any case it will
be sufficient if her friend is. Henri de
! Prejailles sounds well. will find this out
as quickly rs possible"
Talking thus to himself, nj. Chouinot
kept following Nine. Daurcl. When he
saw her stop in front of the postofiice he
stopped also. 1t was the decisive moment.
| 'She wants TO post her letter now and
| discovers that her pocketbOok is lost, -
continued M. Chouinot in monologue. II
will approach her very politely and beg
her to come to my office for news OF the
lost article. There 1 shall tell her my con-
ditionsp'
M. Chouinot's deductions were perfectly
accurate. Is it necessary to say that when
Mime. Daurel heard M. Chouinot address
her she turned in SURPRISE which rapidly
changed to confusion and terror and left
her without word to reply?
AS soon as she recovered her self posses
sion M. Chouinot who had turned upon
his heel as soon as his little speech was
concluded, was already disappearing down
| the street
Thus she found herself at the mercy OF
this man. Doubtless he had opened the
pocketbook, had read her letters and now
would only restore them to her I'm return
for large reward. Nine. Daurel faced the
| situation.
"There Is no use hesitating," she
thought. II must go to this man.
And she went
| M. Chouinot was waiting for her, and
rs soon as she had made known her name
she was introduced into the private office
of the man of business. M. Chouinot rose
| to meet her and bowed.
Here is your pocketbook, madam, he
said to her, holding out the article he had
picked up shortly before on the pavement.
Nine Daurcl, little surprised, was about
tc thank him warmly when he began:
II hand you back your pockctbook, but
honesty compcls me to state that 1t does
not return toyouintact. 1t still contains,
indeed, the note for 30 francs, because
| ,nppav 10 nlyvnva eapral Won will ulGp III p1