The Portland daily press., 1895-01-30
"Anl the money!"

mountains every u1y anu ehJoy oA0ih. S-'
how happy we shall be! Kiss me, kiss
me- Mrs. Miller!"
And Charles embraced his pretty young
wife as If he was holding the entire range
of the Pyrenees to his breast.
They went back to Paris and worked
with enthusiasm. In order to realize their
dream they economical in every direction,
lodgings, clothes and even food. Claire
succeeded in obtaining copying work, and
Charles kept books for small storekeeper.
In this way they were able to set aside 200
francs month.
At the end of the first year Charles
showed his vito @ roll of bills.
/ tThere is one OF the arms of our wind
! mill. /" he said, and together they sang the
well known air. 1.-THE Pyrenees Noun
tains."
So they worked on, and in the evenings,
when the pen fell from their tired fingers,
they looked at the photographs Of the Pyr.
enees.
Another year passed, and Charles again
showed his wife large roll of bank notes.
s.Hera is another arm of our windmill, :"
he said, kissing his wife and calling her
lsNrs. Miller.
They had both grown little thinner.
He was even a trife bent, and she had
cough. But still they worked on, theiE
eyes dazzied by the dream of the future. AS
the end drew nearer their impatience and
earnestness increased. The tenderness they
would have lavished on child was direct
| ed toward the promised lani for their old
age. All their dreams and thoughts were
of the mountains those distant blue
| mountains with their majestic feats and
white eternal SHOWS.
| When the third arm of the windmill
was gained, Claire fell i'll, and the doctor
| forbade her to return to the bank. Charles
| found out that she had consumption.
Then he wavered.
| 'sWretch,'' he said to himself, sit ia
| who am the cause of all this. allowed
you to work too hard, and have not Civ
en- you proper food. God is Furnishing
me!'
He felt he was going mad. She was
then going to die! She whom he called
my Lady Millerl To die even before shs
got her mill! Oh, it was too bitter!
Don't fear anything, be said to his
| wife. ''You will not have your mill, buE
| you will live"
Charles sent her to Pau, where she
passed the whole winter. She refused to
| go at first and was unwilling to give up
| their dream and spend on a doctor the
money they had SO painfully saved.
She said she could get well in Paris, in
| spite Of the cold and the fog. She said
this in feeble voice, holding her hus-
| bands head in her hands and shutting her
eyes tightly to prevent the tears coming
| out.
But Charles was firm. He went with
| her to Pau, and together they went up to
SEQ the old mill
| Claire spent the winter with Adele Bey-
| ries, her husbands old aunt. He received
| two letters week from her, and Claire
assured him she was getting better
| He sent her 800 francs month for the
doctors bills and her living expenses,
while shs wrote loving letters, saying she
| did not need SO much money and urging
| him to put it away in the savings bank.
| But Charles urged her TO take good care
of herself and continued to send the
money. One after another the arms of the
old windmill disappeared, and he had
nearly had them all in his grasp! If his
wife had not fallen Ill, they might have
owned the whole mill by this time.
But what good was there in thinking OF
such things at all9
In the month Of May he received tele
| gram from Claire.
"Come at once Bring all the money"
Charles turned pale. He left on the
same day. His wife met him at Pau.
| How thin she was, howwhite, how hollow
her cheeks! He wept as he kissed her.
"Oh, Claire, you did not tell me the
truth when you said you were growing
better!'
eyes, y she said, 81 told you the truth.
7 am batter, assure you'll Ali am
not very strong nor very fat-that will
come-bnt, oh! Charles. you do not know
| yet what have to tell you. 1t belongs to
us now-it is oursP'
"What is ours?" he asked in amazement
| 1.-THE mill"
"What--you say
"Yes. See here are the bank notes you
sent mel Two thousand seven hundred
| francs And here is some more earned
myself" pulling $50 francs out of another
pocket.
ssYou knew she explained, CT did not
stay in the hotel, because I felt just as ill
there as did in Paris. So got work as
O governess in an English family. Not
| only have I not spent our three arms of
the mill, but have saved large portion
| of the fourth. "But had to leave because
+ was too Ill. Anyhow here are $3.50
francs. With the 1000 you have we can
buy our mill at once. Kiss mo, dear,
again-apd again!'
And Claire tainted away.
'Poor girl, you have killed yourself"
said Charles, taking her in his arms to
carriage They went to druggist, and
Claire came back to consciousness. She
was able with great difficulty to stand up
right.
Thus far she had deceived herself, but
| now that her dream was about to be real
| ICED, and she was with her husband again,
she knew and recognized the gravity OF
her position. She knew that she was go
ing to die.
They carried her into a hotel and put
her to bed and sent for doctor. All they
could do for her, however, was useless.
She grew daily weaker and weaker.
One evening, feeling her life slipping
away from her, she took her husbands
face in her hands, which were already
growing cold.
''Adieu, Charles" she murmured. "Do