The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-02-09
This Is a Simple
Tale of a Windmill.
But There Is a Tear
For Every Smile in Its Narration.

you think Of buying that mill?
You?"
Eyes, me; that is, L"
And the money!"
I'VE shall have it. You'll see. Well
work day and night and economiZe. In
four years we will have our mill; in four
years, perhaps three. And when once
we have got it we will retire and be-
come millers. Then we shall be able to
see the mountains every day and enjoy
Kiss me, kiss me, Mrs. Miller.'
And Charles embraced his pretty
young wife as If he was holding the en>
tire 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 We're able to set aside 200 francs a
| month.
At the end of the first year Charles
| showed his wife a roll of bills.
"There is one of the arms of our wind
MILL" he said, and together they sang
| the well known air, THE Pyrenees
| Mountains
So they worked on and in the even
| ings, when the pen fell from their tired
fingers, they looked at the photographs
of the Pyrenees
Another year passed and Charles
| again showed his wife large roll Of
| bank notes.
Here is another arm of our wind
mill" he said, kissing his wife and call
ing her Madame la meuniere"-Mrs.
Miller.
They had both grown little thinner.
He was even trihe bent and she had
| a cough. But still they worked on, their
eyes daZZled by the dream of the future.
AS the end drew nearer their impa-
tience and earnestness increased. The
tenderness they would have lavished on
child was directed toward the prom
ised land for their old age. All their
dreams and thoughts We're of the
mountains-those distant, blue mount
aims with their majestic peaks and
white eternal SHOWS.
When the third arm of the windmill
| was gained Claire fell i'll, and the doc
| tor forbade her to return to the bank.
| Charles found out that she had con-
sumption. Then he wavered.
wretch, he said to himself; 'it is I
who am the cause. of all this. l al
| lowed you to work too hard and l have
not givsn you proper food. God is
Furnishing me!'
| He felt he was going mad. She was
then going to die! She whom he called
| Madame la meunlere"- Lady Mil
| Ter. To die even before she got her
mill, On, it was too bitter.
Don't fear anything" he said to his
wife; you will not have your MILL but
you will live"
Charles sent her to Pau, where she
| passed the whole winter. She refused
to go at first, and 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 a feeble voice, holding her
husbands head in her hands and shut
ting her eyes tightly to prevent the
tears coming out.
| But Charles was firm. He went on
with her to Pau, and together they went
up to see the old mill.
Claire spent the winter with Adele
Beyries, her husbands old aunt. He
received two letters week from her,
and Claire assured him she was getting
better.
He sent her 300 francs a month for the
| = -
while she wrote loving letters, saying
she did not need SO much money and
urging him to put 1t away in the say
| ings 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 i'll
they might have owned the whole mill
by this time.
But what good was there of thinking
of such things at all?
|
In the month of May he received a
telegram from Claire.
| Come ait once. Bring all the money"
Charles turned pale. He left on the
same day. His wife met him at Pau.
How thin she was, how white, how hol-
low her cheeks! He wept as he kissed
her.
"Oh, Claire, you did not tell me the
| truth when you said you were growing
better"'
| Yes" she said, 81 told you the truth
| r hat 4 Ia
not very strong nor very fat; that will