The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-08-15

himself. he, Ostrander, would much rath-
pr see that satiu-faced Partisan girl who
had got the prize Sinking at the critics
from the boards on the Grand Opera than
this countrywoman! The COuservatoire
settled things for Paris; but Paris wasn't
the world! America would come TO the
fore yet IN art of all kinds; there was
free academy there now! there should be
n consprvatoire Of its own. OF course
Paris schooling and Paris experience
weren't to be desp:sed in art, but, thank
! Heaven, she had that and no directors
could take it from her! This and much
more. until, comparing notes, they sud
denly found that they were both free for
/ that day. Why should they not take adj
vantage of that rare weather and rarer
opportunity to make a little suburban eX-
cursion? But where? There was the Bots;
/ hut that was still Paris. FOntainebleauE
Too far; there were always artists
sketching in the forest, and he would Ike
for that day to ''sing the shop" Yer
saiIles? All, yes! Versailles.
Tbithpr they went 1t was not new to
either of them; Ostrander know it as an
artist and rs an American reader of that
French historic romance, a reader VIC
hurried over the sham intrigues of the
| Dell de Boeuf the sham pastoralS of the
! Petit Trianon, and the sham herOics of a
Shifty court to get to Lafayette. Helen
| knew it was child who has lodged
these lessons from her patriotic father,
but had enjoyed the woods, the park,
the terraces-and particularly the res
tuurant Mt the park gates That day they
took it like a boy and girl-with the
amused omnisc:ent tolerance of youth
for Il past so inferior to the present.
| Ostrander thought the grey-eyed indie
pendent French-American girl far supe-
rior to the obsequious files d honneur
whose brOcades had rustled through those
lquinquonces, and Helen vaguely realized
1.-THE truth of her fellow pupils mischiev-
GUS criticism of her companion that day
at the Louvre. Surely there was no elias
steal statue comparable to the One-armed
soldier painter All this was as yet free
from either sentiment or passion. and was
Ionly the frank pride of friendship. But
oddly enough their mere presence and
lcompaniOnship seemed to excite in others
that tenderness they had not yet felt
themselves. Family groups watched the
handsome paid in their innocent conf
licences, and with French exuberant recog-
milton thought them the incarnation Of
| love! Something in their manifest equal
| ity of condition kept even the vainest and
most susceptible of spectators from at
| tempted rivalry or cynical interruption.
And when at last they dropped side by
side on a sun-warmed stone bench on the
terrace, and Helen, inclining her brown
head toward her companion, informed
him of the difficulty she had experienced
| - al III
corn cakes, or any of her fayorite home
dishes in Paris, an exhausted but gallant
| boulevardier rose from a contiguous
bench and, politely lifting his hat to the
handsome couple, turned slowly away
from those tender condolences he would
not permit himself to hear.
But the shadow OF the trees began to
| lengthen, casting broad bars across the
ale, and the sun sank lower to the level
of their eyes. They were quite surpris-
ed on looking around a few moments
later to discover that the gardens were
quite deserted, and Ostrander, on con-
sulting his watch, found that they had
| just lost a train which the other pleas
ure seekers had evidently availed them
selves of. No matter, there was another
train an hour later. They could still
hnger for a few moments in the brief
sunset, and then dine at the local res
taurant before they left. They both
laughed at their fOrgetfulness, and then,
without knowing why, suddenly lapsed
into silence. A faint wind blew in their
faces and thrilled the thin leaves above
their heads. Nothing else moved. The
long windows of the palace in that sum
set light seemed to glisten again with
the incendiary fires of the revolution.
and then went out blankly and abruptly.
The two companions felt that they pos
sessed the terrace and all its memories
as completely as the shadows who had
lived and died there.
81 am so glad we have had this day
together" said the painter, with a very
conscious breaking of the silence "for l
am leaving Paris tomorrow"
Helen raised her eyes quickly to his.
''F'Or a few days only" he continued.
"My Russian customers-perhaps ought
to say my patrons-have given me a
commission to make study Of an old
chateau which the Princess lately
bought"
A swift recollection of her fellow pu-
pills raillery regarding the Princess's
possible attitude toward the painter
came over her, and gave a strange arti- |
ficiality to her response.
II suppose you will enjoy it very |
much" she said, dryly.
mo-" he returned with the frankness
that she had lacked. "I'd much rather |
stay in Paris, but" added with a faint
smile, cts a question of money, and
that is not to be despised. Yet, II
somehow feel that l am deserving you,
leaving you here all alone in Paris"
GIVE been alone here for five years."
she said with bitterness she had never
felt before, "and 1 suppose I'm accus-
toned to it,"
Nevertheless she leaned little for
ward with her fawn-colored lashes drop
ped over her eyes, which were bent upon