Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-10
THE MAGIC SKIN.
III
The Agony.
The Agony.
rs NJ Raphael in?'

seek out the old and devoted servitol
of whose affection he knew that he
was secure.
Il should like to speak with M
Raphael. sir" said the elderly person
to Jonathan as he climbed up the
steps some way into a shelter from ne
rain.
ITO speak with my Lord the Mar
uuis?" the steward cried. He scarcely
speaks even to me, his foster fatherr
But l am likewise his foster faith
er," said the old man. IF your wife
was his foster mother, l fed him my
self with the milk of the Muses..
"Ah, sir, then you are NJ. Porriquet?"
But is the marquis i'll, sir?" the pro
fessOr continued.
My dear sir" Jonathan replied
heaven only knows what is the matter
with my master. My Lord the Mar
quis had this hotel purchased for him
it formerly belonged to a duke and
peer of France; then he spent 100000
francs over furnishing it. Good said
| to myself when | saw this magnif-
ceEce, it is just like it used to be III
the time of my lord his late grand
father, and the young marquis is going
to entertain all Paris and the court"
Nothing of the kind My lord refused
to see anyone whatever. IT'S a funny
life that he leads, M. Porriquet, you
understand An inconciliable He
rises every day at the same time. ain
the only person, you see, who may
enter his room. ] open the shutters az
I o'clock, summer or winter 1t is all
arranged very oddly. AS l come in |
say to him:
You must get up and dress, my
lord marquis
Then he rises and dresses himself.
/ have to give him his dressing gown,
and it is always after the same pattern
and of the same material. | am obliged
to replace it when it can be used no
longer, simply to save him the trouble
OF asking for a new one"
Jonathan left the old schOOlmaster
in the vestibule, signing to him TO
come no further and soon returned
with a favorable answer. He led the
old gentleman through one magnifi-
cent room after another, where every
door stood open. At last Porriquet be
held his pupil at some distance seated
beside the fire.
Raphael was reading the paper.
The intense melancholy that preyed
I I Iii lon
guild posture and feeble frame; it was
depicted on his brow and white face;
he looked like some plant bleached by
darkness.
Good day, Pere Porriquet," SAID
Raphael. pressing the old schOol-maS
ter's frozen fingers in his own hot,
damp ones. how are yOu?'
Parriquet spent an hour in telling
him about the prosecutions directed
against him ever since the Revolution
of July.
Too late Raphael called to mind the
verbose eloquence and elegant circum-
loCutions which in a long professional
career had grown habitual to his Old
tutor and almost regretted that he had
admitted him, but Just as he was about
10 wish to see him safely outside he
promptly suppressed his secret desire
with a stealthy glance at the Wild ASS
Skin. 1t hung there before him, faS--
ened down upon some white material,
surrounded by a red line traced accur-
ately about its prophetic outlines.
Since that fatal carOuse Raphael had
stifed every least whim, and had lived
SO as not to cause the slightest move
mCnt in the terrible talisman. The
Wild ASS Skin was like a tiger with
which he must live without exciting S
ferocity He bore patiently therefore
with the old schOOl-master's prOnXity.
Porriquet came to entreat his former
pupils interest with the new minister.
He did not ask to be reinstated, but
only for a position at the head of some
provincial school.
Well my dear Porriquet," he said
q wish very heartily that you may
succeed"
All at once Raphael Sprang to his
feet like a startled roebuck. He saw
a thin white line between the black
piece of hide and the red tracing about
it and gave a cry so fearful that the
poor professor was frightened by it.
"Old fool! Co.. he cried. You will
be appointed as head master! Couldn't
you have asked me for an annuity OF
a thousand crowns rather than muir.
derous wish? Your visit would have
cost me nothing. There are a hundred
thousand situations to be had Il
France, but I have only one life
The old school-master went away
full of keen apprehension as to Valen
Vn's sanity.
As Raphael entered his box at thu
Theater Favert he turned abruptly:
stranger made a similar movement
startled no doubt at being brought il
contact with stranger. and they re
manned face to face. each with LIT
same thought
'Pauliner'
M Raphaelr'
Each surveyed the other. both G
them petrified with establishment.
Come to the Hotel de Saint QuentiI
tomorrow. she said Il will be Their
at noon. Be punctual"
She rose hastily and disappeared.
II want Pauline to love mer' +
cried next morning, looking at the Ia
1sman the while in unspeakable ar
guish.
The skin did not move in the leas