The Opelousas courier., 1895-06-29

ing's rooms he was saying:
But you must be interested in
sword play-in fencing. It is the no.
blest of all the exercises for gentlemen
and your physique is precisely made up
for it. You must be a master, OF you
could be-"
II have had good masters" Harding
replied in an evasive tone, but | am
losing interest in it,"
Your masters were in New York;"
'No; Paris. l had M. Duval for
three years."
M. Duval! You had NJ. Charles Du-
val for three years."
Yes"
"Ah, what fortune! He, and he only,
| teaches the stroke of ruin the pass
| which pierces across from shoulder to
| shoulder, disabling the victim for life,
yet never killing him!" Rapin spoke
enthusiastically, and after a moments
pause added ALMOST breathlessly:
"And you LET .rned his stroke! Oh,
but am overjoyed; and you will teach
me to do it? All, monsieur, | shall be
your lifelong debtor. l have dreamed
of that incompatible thrust; l have
made two journeys to Paris to learn IT.;
but, you must know, NJ. Duval is an
ancient enemy of my fathers. could
not 60 to him, and his pupils are so
few and so, so, SO distinguished and
exclusive that l could not reach one Of
them"
Harding laughed at the youths
frankness and told him pleasantly that
he should be glad to give him the Sc
cret instruction. Thereupon Rapin al
most Rugged him, and they were just
entering the opera house.
A great curve Of splendor, a flash OF
faces, Threats, bosoms, jewels, laces,
eyes, fans-a bewildering horizon OF
corsages, coiffures, necklaces. brace
let's, rings; a foam of airy gowns sink
ing and swelling gently, like surf froth
against a beach of fairyland. Harding
gazed in h%alf-blinded stupidity, SO he
felt, and could see no details, could
make out no individual face distinctly.
1t all struck him as some vast spectacle
of barbarous gew-gaw %splendor, and
yet nothing that he had ever seen could
compare with it in unity of effect. The
boxes were all full, and full Of beauty
and queenly costume, so accentuated
that nowhere else could such insist
| ences upon decoration have been toler-
able. There, however, it was the per-
fiction of color, grace, b%rilliance and
condensed, passionate beauty of ex-
preston such as the Greeks of Alex
andria dreamed of in their luxurious
exhibitions.
Harding and Rapin were the only
persons in their box, which was we'll
to one side of the great r On the
| stage a celebrated ballet ~favorite was
kicking featly through n of her cap
tivating passages.
wye will begin the lessons to-mor-
row." murmured Rapin; II shall be an
apt scholar, monsieur.
YES said Harding, absently. He
was gazing along the great sweep of
beauty and light.
But excuse me a moment or two"
the Creole added after awhile when
the curtain was down. II am going to
call at the box of a friend"
~ "CAt. YIN III IL
survey, which. now that his eyes had
somewhat accustomed themselves to
the glamour, became more real and alb
sorbingly interesting.
Presently he saw Rapin in a box, a
magnificent one, near the center, talk
ing with a tall young woman-and it
was she. There could be no doubt for
n moment. %h, fh~it1 fh~o,,~h orlirr
heart told as much as the girls re-
splendent, yet, in a way, subdued
beauty.
Harding's eyes were fixed; the trance
of that old-time love which men used
to acknowledge was upon him. His
strong, healthy, boyish nature plunged
into the thick of a passion-romance Is
fervid as it was pure and sincere. And
at the very central moment she turned
from Rapin and looked straight at him.
Moreover, he could see a light of quick
interest come into her face; they were
speaking of him.
The prosy fact was that Rapin, in his
enthusiastic way, had been telling
Mile. Marie de Montmartin-that was
her name-about his good fortune in
finding a master to teach him the
''stroke of ruin" and he had directed
her attention to the young man in his
box. But for Mile. Marie de Montmar-
tin, we may as well say that she
glanced mechanically, then looked
again. Harding was a superbly hand
some Young athlete, a flower Of per-
feet manhood, with a face never to be
forgotten by any woman.
Rapin presently returned to the box,
bringing with him, or at least Harding
fancied it, a breath OF that exquisite
violet perfume which had been haunt
ing Harding's memory for days and
nights together.
"Who is she-the young lady in the
box where you've been?"
The abrupt inquiry and a certain
timbre of Harding's voice betrayed his
emotion to the quick Creole.
"Oh, she-that is Mile. Marie de
Montmartin. Lovely, isn't she? You
might envy me, M. Harding. She is
my betrothed."
O"Ah-,' Harding hesitated and a
palish change passed over his face,
like a feece-cloud over some glorified
space of sky. Then he coolly added:
II do envy you. Yes, she is the most
beautiful girl that I have ever seen.
She is the I met in the old book
store door. You are quick to find."
Rapin colored.
THANK YOU" he said, as the curtain
went up and the prima donna strobe
forth with a superb swing.
The next day Rapin came to Hard
rooms for his initial lesson; but