The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1896-11-01

had not interrupted it. and told him
about the woman? Or gone back
I returned and tried the door. 1t
was locked. At my knock a gruff
voice-the voice OF Isidore-said in a
mOnotonous tone, as if repeating
formula. M. lie Directeur is engaged.
Hours for patients are over for the
day." tried to open the door Of the
waiting-room. but that was locked also.
l went back again and waited outside
the door Of the bureau. Within a con-
versation was going on in low tones.
beard quick, decided questions from
the doctor, and the mprmuered an
swers of the patient. The nurses
voice then gave some directions. Then
al! was still-'a rustic now and then, a
word from the attendant, and then 81
lence. An examination was going on;
that was evident. I became rather
nervous. / drifted off into a reverie,
again wondering why l had allowed
myself to leave the woman at all; but
then l had the address Something
should be done for her or for the child
if-and at that instant there was a
n sh across the room, and a sharply
given order. A chair was overturned
and the door was thrown Open Air"
said the doctor, ''all she needs is air."
And a chilly gust swept through the
~ en- A dower-pot on the window sill
blew over and rolled unregarded to the
TaVemenf without. On the floor was
heap of black clothes. The nurse
was bending over it. while the doctor
brushed past me, calling for an assist
ant. He returned in a moment with
frightened looking young man, in an
apron all smeared with medicines. Then
there was a pause. and they all knelt
over the figure on the ground
You are too late-as usual" said the
doctor, rising, to an elderly priest who
entered hurriedly a moment later. 1T
Is over now and the nurse nodded
assent to the physicians verdict. 1T
was curious case" said the doctor to
the inferno, very curious And, since
she is dead, wish you"-and they went
on for some time in low tones.
Then" said the younger, as the con-
Versation came to an end, you would
not have told her had you known? ?"
NO" said the other, had 1 known l
certainly should not have told her as
L did, But she was not a woman who
would be satisfied with evasions. She
truth killed her. And you, Monsieur"
ne SAID, turning to me, you were in
te,ested in the deceased? All. / re-
member the gentleman to whom I gave
the permit for S. Lucien Perhaps you
XII ew'-and he pointed to the figure
upon the floor. over which the nurse
was spreading a white cloth
Yes / said, Il do know" and 1 felt
III my pocket. The card was not there
in the other pocket-nor there, either
in third-yes, thank God, there it
was, the last thing touched by the dead
woman's hand-the only legacy she had
to leave her poor little one I read my
name upon it mechanically. Then I
turned 1T over and there, in cramped
printing-as if the work Of a child or
trembling paralytic-was one word, all
that she had been able to finish
.Lucie"
l waited in Paris for a week. Every
DAY l went to the hospital and learned
nothing. No one had applied there.
NO one had recognized the woman NJ
l@ Dlrecteur was very civil, even kind.
The woman, he said, had been to the
hospital but once before. to consult
about her child. An inferno had first
seen her and then had called his at
tention to the case. But his examina-
ton was unsatisfactory, since he was
in hurry that day-it was. in fact
only long enough for him to know that
the child was well and to make an ap-
polntment with her for a further con-
suItatlon on her own account. The
assistant did not know her name. He
himself had intended, of course, to ask
both name and address, but the good
God-here he shrugged his shoulders
as If he was making use of a facon de
parler entirely understood between men
OF the wOrld-had decided otherwise
There was not much likelihood that the
case would be reported to the authori-
ties. A child would not necessarily be
considered an incumbrance by the fam
lily with whom her mother had left her:
she would soon earn her living in one
way or another. He personally greatly
regretted the woman's death Even her
end was curious-a rupture-'did not
one call it in English the breaking
hearth But had she lived few weeks
longer she would have been, from a
point Of view, a case of
supreme interest
l began to hate the man. AS I came
cay by day, he, in turn, became puzzled
at my interest, and little ANNOYED at
my persistency. 1T is easy to see."
said he that like all his compatriots
Monsieur has warm heart But the
woman's death-such occurrences are
not uncommon. Distressing as it is to
think Of her child being destitute and
subjected to hardship or evil influences.
still 1T is becoming in the mind Of Mon
sieur an idee fixe-always a bad thing
for persons OF nervous temperament
and highly organized sensibilities." He
advised me to divert myself a little.
a round of cafes chantant.
and hoped / would not fail to visit S.
Lucien-indeed he offered to go with
me. But / declined. / waited on for
some days over the week / had set to
stay in Paris: finally, ashamed to go
any more to the hospital, l left my adj
dress with him that he might let me
know If any inquiry was ever made.
But / never heard from him-nor have
I ever seen one of the plus beaux mon
uments de Paris-S. Lucien-le- Pauvre.
New York Tribune.
NEVER TOO LATE.
There is good and bad in the wayside inns