The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-02-09


hearts. He was 35 years Of age; she
was 30. They lived in Paris and had
no children.
Claire was employed in the Bank Of
France and Charles worked in the Gre
dit Foncier. Their combined salaries
amounted to 400 francs a month and
made possible certain luXuries-Thea-
ter des Batignolles, excursions to Saint
Ouen, fried fish suppers at Auteil
Sometimes they went for picnics into
the Depa Ptrlent Seine-et-Oise.
One day they climbed up the heights
of Montmartre. and from the summit
they caught sixht>of the peaks of Chau-
mont. Then they went into ecstacies
over the beauties of nature.
1.-THE real mountains must be Won
demul," declared the husband.
Said his wife: What If one day We
were to go and see the Pyrenees? Your
family came from there, you know. and
you have an aunt at Pau"
Charles soon remembered his aunt
there-even recalled her name, Adele
Beyries. He wrote to her to say they
would go to spend q week at Pau dur
ing their next vacation. They at once
began to make preparations for the
trip. In order to live we'll in the Pyre-
nees they deprived themselves of many
things in Paris.
At length the month Of August came
round. Charles and Claire had their
vacation at the same time, and they
left Paris on a Sunday night.
They arrived in Pau twenty-four
hours later, and found the aunt without
difficulty. She was selling bonbons and
photographs Of Henry ~. before the
gateway Of the castle. She gave her
nephew the name of a good hotel.
1t was raining when they arrived
and the mountains were not visible
The next day the sky was still overcast,
and the great mountains were shroud-
ed in heavy mists.
Never mind" said Charles, let us
go for a walk; the mists are sure to rise
before long"
Unfortunately, instead Of going in
southerly direction, where the Pyrenees
were, they turned their faces toward
the north where lay the fiat lands OF
Point Long. They walked for two
hours with confidence. Suddenly, on
their left, the land began to rise in low
hills.
There they are" cried Charles, and
his awe-struck eyes began to search
for a sign of the everlasting SHOWS.
You think those are the real Pyre-
nees?" said Claire, doubtfully.
"Why, of course" was his confident
reply.
They attacked the hills bravely and
20. pla
to break up. Patches of deep blue be-
gal to show themselves through the
mist masses. Presently the sun itselt
shone out, and before his fierce arrows
the vapors rolled to one side and He'd
like an army of ghosts and specters IN
rout.
The two Parisans continued to climb.
Suddenly they saw before them wind
MILL an old windmill whose arms were
slowly turning in the wind on the sum-
nit of the hill. Charles was somewhat
surprised.
Do they have windmills on the high
est peaks of the chain? he thought.
Perhaps the people have danced there
as they did at Montmartre.
"Peuh! The Pyrenees don't amount
q shrug of her shapely shoulders.
Still they kept on climbing, and in a
quarter of an hour found themselves at
the foot of the mill There was not a
cloud in the sky. Claire turned round
tuddenly and uttered loud cry.
"Oh, Charles, look over there"'
Charles turned at his wifes wo s
md stood in amazement. The real
Pyrenees rose up in the distance with
such indescrlbable grandeur that
Charles and Claire were overcome with
emotion.
They stretched away in long blue
ranges, rising higher and higher into
the sky, ever more and more indistinct
md blue. And over all were the great
lopes of everlasting snow standing out
white and grand against the deep blue
skies. Claire and Charles had never
seen such a sight before and their eyes
hiled with tears Of enthusiasm.
They waited there several hours and
the next day they came again. And the
day after they came again. How they
.onged to see those mountains close.
But they We're not rich enough. Per-
haps next year. This time they
must be content with looking at them
from a distance. They bought plans,
photographs and a guide book and
looked up the names of the peaks with
sagerness that was almost passionate.
Charles and Claire enjoyed themselves
more and more as the time passed and
when the day came for them to leave
they were almost in tears. Oh, the
tr,y
Why were they not born there? Oh,
to live in the open air, away from the
madding crowd, face to face with the
big mountains, and never to hear the
street vendors crying their ware!
Charles especially was sad.
He was @ child of the Pyrenees, be-
cause his parents had lived there and
lied there. 1t seemed as If their dust
was calling to him, the exile in a great
.ity, to return to his true hom and
live again in the pure air of the noun
tains and forests.
The last day, when he was making
his adieu to the mountains, Charles saw
the miller come out of the old windmill
and an extravagant idea came into his
head.
SSoN AiOAAih6i old lcllOW, ne Sdlu
10 him.
Good morning, sir"
ITO whom does this mill belong"
'"To me-"
"Do you have any land round it?'
Eight hectares"
"Are you willing to sell?"
"Well, that depends" replied the mil
Ter, eyeing his interlocutor from head to
loot.
How much do you want?"
How much do I want? Oh! 5000
francs"
"Oh! You'would let 1t go for 10.00O?'
"Ah, non monsieur, non. BY my soul,
no, could not go lower than 10000"
And the miller went into his mill
again to prove that he would 60 nc
lower