Kansas City daily journal., 1896-07-14
THE EMPRESS AUTOGRAPH.


Scarcely had the postman gone out o'
the housc. after having left tho morning
letters. when Jules Duprc, who was watch
| ing from his siNth-stoty window. descend
ed hnrricdly to the portet's Office.
| Any letters for meF' he asked.
The porter put OH his spcctacics, gath
| cred up the letters which had just come
| in. looked them over one by one. and
RENTED, laeonicalIS'
| "Thank you" said the young man. and
h. slowly slowly rsmonn'cd Tho stairs wsSrc ,,,
n,ed IN The same room. There Mere to
De- seen az their tnrniturc; all their books.
| of them ran manuscript mills. We regret
to say that while the two young mcn
they succeeded In placing very little once
| In a while, one OF them would get an
article inserted in one of the papers. but
| they scarcely made enough to live on.
even by making partnership OF their
"Weli2'' said Armand. seeing his com-
Nothing, as told YOU. We shall have
70 wait untIl the end OF the month. My
uncle Is a man who Is II believer i'll fixed
The .deylll We have hye days yet to
| tasting to-day Instead OF five days from
| now"
49,. I'VE nesdn'! breakfast. IN that way.
'N'' 'hh'liN At 'pNhthlls
cry. as wolf. You know we hni rather
| light supper yesterday"
Yes, II Is true that smoked herring
Toy two is scarcely gluitony."
Armand. his hands in his pockets walked
"scc here" said he, don't YOU know
anybod% who could loan us n hundred
fi9gSs" agss ,,ow ,,,. ,.,. .,,,,, ,,. +,
know no one who would" '
Armand suddenly cried out: ~ have an
- 1t a good onc?"
Listen, Have, you not often spoken to
me-. me Of i, an ih old SoilsS!or of autographs who
Yes. Hs lives on the first floor. man
What sort OF man is hc?"
seen him more than u couple OF tines
:, Isuppose We try and sell him some
That Is a good iiea.. 1t is true we have
nr plenty H, OF 1intosraphsi i nnt they are mostly
.Arc yom sure that no celebrity ever
responlcncc corer., Look through i."
Armand seated himself at the table. emp
SO through the letters. For at least half
an hour he carefully turned over the sheets
of paper.
suddenly. he cried out:
The Empress Marie Louise
ialis SE sheet of paper almost cut in two by the
Jules looked at it, "why. recognize
Marie Louise. who used to be- saicswoman
a tn lace counter in the Louvre. got
my volunteer term of year, with the
grade OF corporal
81 tel you, pld man. that is from the En-
the ,sI Ersai Go S9pol.s,9nr!." ,S3 pis.,sr!
"lsl3. my dear fellow. The seven looks
exactly like one. 1t is after the victori-
Gus battle of lu,2cn, and this is what the
my Little Corporal:-You have won
enough of laurels for the moment Leav"
your army, ani come to me at the Louvre
Ws ioWs of lae" n S"" hRE thE midTi p6IisE :! g!I
%And yp4 think yoa San sal that to our
nI.iGh1girr i, Gnmir hitiaonXi ~ WY are you joking?
You can aid me. Have YOU that false
beard that You wore at the masquerade
Yes, | think IT is around somewhere"
Listen. then. and l VIII teach You your
In few words Armand Instructed his
trend what he mad to do, and then putting
vi vi pr"I,io"n aurtngr.ph IN ms pockcthook,
OF an hour"
Armand repaired at once to the apart
lived alone, He was a man OF about 90
Years OF age. Armand looked at him ciit-
u wish to speak to NJ Erdoux."
That's my name, SIR
81 Wish 10 soc yon on u serious affair"
Come in" said BritOuN
Armand entered, and Bridoux offered him
Sir" said Armand. 81 have heard of you
graph collectors in Paris, and | wish to
show you something very rarc--a auto
So saying, Armand unbuttoncd his coat
carefully took out his lank pocketbook
placed under the eyes of tho autograph
collector.
Bridous read it, mused. and said;
"It Is very short You say that those
characters are from the hands of the En-
press Marie Louise? Her autographs are
=, 1T Is authentic. The empress addressed
4 10 thc. srcnt Napoleon the day after the |
"Iint the emperor lived at the Tuileres
then"
,rn,.,, %Ger'ainly ;siri and that observation
history of the tim" But If you will rcmcm- |
bcr, during the absence Of the Little Cor
Por1l, as, he whrled from battlefield 10
retiring to the Louvre"
Brld9uN was evidently hattorcl at his His |
blnr his nose reilectvoly, he said:
How. did the letter fall into your
"oh, in the most natural manner in the |
world. got the letter from my father, |
who rot it from my grandfather. Ny |
9rnndta'hgpa ann dmier soldier e. ,he smprs and
this letter one day when 1t had fallen from |
the pocket OF the great man. and preserved |
II as a precious relic. Sir nothing but the |
most urgent need would force me to sell il, |
Bur l must have 100 francs. II Is for mo |
u question of lie and death. Nevertheless |
| beg YOU TO believe | am patriotic for II / |
come 10 you, II Is because you are French
and because. II You purchase II, this pre-.
cious document will remain in my country.
could have had ten times the price I |
asked you. Just now an Englishmnn tried
To buy 1t on any terms. lie followed me-
even dosgng my steps TO the door of this
house"
But Briioux evidently did not appear in
4 hurry TO bind the bargain.
~ would willingly buy It, but / wish to
consult an expert first"
81 regret sir replied Armand, that I
,annot wait" He turned cold inside as he
said to himself: This affair is going TO
At this moment the door bell rang. Brl-
ioux went 10 open 1t. Jules entered. He |
Vas unrecognizable. His hat was on the
lack of his head. his coat was buttoned to
he chin, and he had on Il pair of long rod
yhiskers not unlike those which adorn the
english tourists who travel around with
hose queer personally conducted" par
les.
At the sight of this curious parsonage the
collector stared In stupefactiun.
pardon me-" said the false EnGlishman
lIst came into your house,
Bri,louX was about to reply. when Ar |
nand interrupted.
How" said he, ''you here again. man?'
Yes; will give you 200 francs for your
"But told you would not sell it."
81 will give YOU 500 francs"