Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1895-01-31
Is being found, let us have supper.

was more beautiful and gayer than
ever. fairly sparkling with wit and the
life Of the party.
To tell the truth. I had no appetite.
The Princess even had the audacity to
rally me about 1t.
"Come, NJ. de Clomat," she called
out-I was at the farther end Of the
table" you are solemn as an owl to-
night. Have you left your wits at the
lake withlmy mum"
My wits. They certainly deserted
me. How could l have failed to think
Of the one thing to do? Fortunately,
the Princess ingenious phrase had put
me in mind Of it.
"The fact is. madame" I replied. II
am not very well. l feel quite chilly
in truth, I had not a dry stitch on me
"ano I am afraid 1 was imprudent in
not going home directly. With your
permission, and that of these ladies, I
shall do SO at once"
Two minutes later 1 was in a cab on
my way to the lake in the Bots. Heav-
ems! how far it is from the Cafe Anglais
to the Skating Club, at . o'clock in the
morning, with the thermometer 20 de-
grees below freezing point, when one
is in a cab, and his head full of awful
ideas!
Evidently" said I to myself, "the
husband suspects something. To-mor-
row, that Othello will move heaven and
earth to find his wife's muff-and my
nnfn A nd a fool nDfn - ss rov,, that 7
think it over in cold blood. But one
needn't write like Voltaire to get a
woman into a horrible hole. I must
find that muff. The Princess gayety
was only feigned-I could see that in
the look she gave me just now. Not
only my life depends on it, but hers,
too. Oh, the devil fly away with love-"
At the lake the last torches were be-
Ing extinguished. The g%littering arena
was almost empty. At the buffet, in the
dressing room, on the ice, where,
my search was useless. l had offered
100 trans reward for the muff, but in
vain. Many things had been lost that
night; handkerchiefs, gloves, jewels
and even-pardon my fidelity to detail
three or four circlets of silk elastic IF
various hues. That was all. There
was no more sign of q muff than there
was of the Venus de Milo, who had no
need Of a muff, and for an excellent
reason.
Perhaps it had been stolen. Perhaps
whoever had found it intended to de-
post it with the police next morning.
Perhaps it had already been left with
some fic Of the police. In any event,
l must be before the Prince. Without
losing another minute, l jumped into
my cab again. The driver, half dead
with the cold and more than half drunk
with the brandy he had taken to warm
himself up, stared at me with a Devil
dered air when l ordered him to drive
me to the nearest police station. There,
after having aroused the unhappy man
In charge, l charged him to deliver the
famous muf only to me If it should be
brought to him, promising him q good.
ly sum If he returned it to me. At three
other stations I did the same. II l had
had time, l would have visited all the
twenty-four stations in the city. I
minded neither fatigue nor cold. I
must save a woman-an adored wom-
an, but not too clever. The idea Of for
getting her muff in such weather! She
would have forgotten her umbrella on
Mount Ararat in the deluge!
One last precaution, and the most es.
sential, remained to be taken. l abso-
lutely must 60 to the prefecture Of DO
lice. The first difficulty was that the
Siberian cold-it was now 3 in the
morning-had been too much for my
driver. The unhappy mar was dead
drunk on his seat. l had to climb up
beside him, gather up the reins, and
drive his old nag with one hand, with
the other passed around my Jehu, who
was snoring away like a steam engine,
emitting fumes that I feared would in
toxicate me myself, by simple odor
alone.
At the prefecture l had a relative. an
uncle whom l never went to see, be-
cause he always read me lectures. The
good man certainly did not suspect that
he was going to receive his nephew
that night. His functions being such
that he might be called on at any hour,
he lived in the same building. l had
no scruples in having him aroused, so,
after having set my driver near the
stove to thaw, l irrupted into my
uncle's apartment in such a ~disheveled
state that the old man-who really
loved me-seized me in his arms.
my God, boy" he cried. "What ter
rible business is this?'
There has been no murder done yet,
my dear uncle" I stammered, for l was
SO cold my tongue refused to do its
work. II have come to beg your aid
to prevent the killing Of two persons,
In at least n Of them you are strongly
Interested"
Thereupon, my teeth chattering like
the clatter Of a mill, I told him the
story Of the note and the mum.
My uncle began by giving me a TWEEN
ty-minute lecture, which, however, had
the virtue of giving me time to get
warm again.
"And as for your discreetness," he
concluded, this is no time for such
f~oolishness. You must tell me the hus-
bands name, in order to prevent his
finding what he is loking for, and also
what he is not looking for"
I had to give in. Besides, my uncle