Evening star., 1897-01-30

III.
he added. smilingly, "As you say in France,
The man who pays his debts enriches him
SELF"
The boarding house keeper looked rather
confused. l believe the insolent fellow
thought we had no money. Perhaps he
had heard that curates are not usually
very, very rich. He hesitated a moment
before picking up the money but he took
1t at last, and, laying down the receipted
bill, bowed himself out of the room.
I suppose these people have to be very
careful" said John. after he had gone,
"and cannot trust any strangers"
said nothing, for was afraid of saying
too much.
The next morning, after breakfast which,
as usual, we had In our room. We set out
for long day at the Luxemburg. AS we
LETT the pension 1 noticed a man in work.
ingman's clothes-a cap. blue blouse. and
cor duroys-who was lettering about out
side. saw him again as we were waiting
for the Batignolles-Odeon omnibus on the
Boulevard des Italiens. He was lighting a
clay pipe at the gas jet outside the little
tobacco chop which adjoins the omnibus
station.
The day was rather showery, so we de-
cided to ride inside the omnibus, and as we
were taking our seats saw the neither ex-
tremities of pair of corduroys vanishing
up the spiral staircase which leads to the
imperiale or knifeboard of the omnibus.
However, corduroys are so common in
Paris that paid no heed to this besides
my attention was soon entirely taken up
with the busy scene through which We
numbered. Here was the Rue de Richelieu
and there On the left was the splendid Ma
tional Library. In the square opposite il,
on the right, so John told me, Louvel the
murderer of the Due de Berry, was execut-
ed. Then came Moliere's statue, and pres
emily the theater known as the House Of
Moliere. Now we passed through the Place
du Carrousel, and John pointed out where
the Tuileries had STOOD and told me many
ticed on the left. Then came the Seine, the
quays. the Rue des Saints-Peres. Soon the
Cdeon was reached. where we alighted,
making our way on foot to the neighboring
Luxembourg Gallery. We spent two delight
full hours there, and both John and I par
ticularly admired Whistler's portrait of his
mother and Friand's Leaving Church"
At noon We were both hungry. and so We
decided to go out and get some lunch at the
nearest Bouillon-Duvan before continuing
our inspection. We found a restaurant
without much difficulty, and ordered SIM
pie lunch. Simple as 1t was, I should have
enjoyed it very much but for the fact that
somebody who was sitting just behind me
was eating something dreadfully seasoned
with garlic. This became SO unpleasant
| that at last looked around, and, to my
| surprise, saw that the man who was sitting
behind me was the workman whom 1 had
! already twice noticed that morning He
paid no attention to me, and went on eat
ing heartily.
AS soon as we got outside I said, John.
| We are being followed" and told him what
He laughed heartily. What goose it
| isr' he cried.
Goose or no goose.'' said. 'ff you will
| look back will wager you will see short
| nan in blouse and corduroys behind u.s.
| He has got black beard and rather red
dish nose. and smokes a nasty clay pipe"
John looked back. There is certainly
| man of that description some way behind
| us; and now that look at him 1 remember
having noticed him in the gallery. But
| what of that? No doubt he has crossed
| the river for identically the same purpose
| as ourselves. In France workmen often
| take a very keen interest in art, and mary
! visit the museums whenever they can get
a holiday 1t is good thing. That imam is
| spending a happy day at the Luxembourg.
! He looks very intelligent man, and 1 only
wish 1 could speak French well enough to
| talk to him.
| was not satisfied with this explanation,
for. putting together all the things 1 had
| noticed since the previous evening, I felt
] sure that In some way we had bee ome OBJ
| jects of suspicion. However, 1 was SO
| frightened of spelling Johns pleasure 10y
| telling him what thought that l said no
| more. 1 may add that though I kept a
| sharp lookout for the man in the blouse. 1
did not see him again that afternoon. We
| stayed in the Luxembourg till 1t closed, and
then had a delightful walk home, only
| losing our way twice on the road.
| At the pension an unpleasant surprise was
in store for us. AS We were going upstairs
| to our room to prepare for dinner, M. Mont
| barbon came running after us.
Monsieur Wilson! Monsieur Wilson, he
i
With these words he thrust yellow pa
per into my hands. 1t was sheet folded
ever and sealed, without an envelope Or
| the outside were printed the words Com
| missariat de Police, underneath which were
| my husbands name and address
Look at this JOHN" cried turning pale
and feeling my heart beat
I'VE will look at 1t In our room," said
Jcbn, taking my arm and leading me up
stairs.
When we had reached our rooms he kiss
naughty paper. which made my little wo
| man turn SO pale''
He broke the seal, and. unfolding the pa
| per, laid 1t out on the table. 1t was print
ed form. with some blanks filled in in writ
ing. After much puZzling. and frequent ref
erence to a pocket dictionary, we trans
lated the communication follows:
| You are requested to attend at the of
hce of the Commssary of Police of the
I - reimbursement, at 10 o'clock to
morrow, on business concerning yourself
The woman Wilson is also requested to at
tend. Bring this letter with YOU"
| An illegible signature was affixed to tfi.
document.
The woman WILSON," I cried.- indig
| rantly. French politeness, indeedr'
MY dear" said my husband, that 1.
only the French legal form. Don't you re
member that Marie Antolnette was Away.
referred to as la femme Capet.' And wha
peter title can be given to woman thai
that of woman?'
But what can be the meaning of thi.
precious document" I cried "Oh, John
why did we ever come to Paris?"
| He soothed me and kissed me. Don't b,
alarmed dear" he said. mo doubt som,
mistake has been made. Perhaps the,
want to see our papers. 1 read something
recently to the effect that foreigners wer,
obliged. by new French law to registe
their names at the police office. That ma,
| be the business"
As we were going downstairs we saw on,
OF the lady boarders coming out of he
room in the passage ahead of u.s. Whe,
she saw us coming. she suddenly slammed
the door and locked 1t.
Il am sure we are being taken TO
thieves" I said feeling ready to cry will
modification.
John. however. only laughed.
Our dinner might have been even NOR
unpleasant than on the previous night. w,
were received in icy silence and during tn,
whole course Of the meal nobody spoke t.
either of us. It Is true that 1 never ad
dressed word to anybody, but continued
the conversation that 1 had mad with m,
husband on our walk home, about the beau
tfful pictures and sculpture which we ha,
seen. And though John does not talk a
meals he understood why kept addressing
him and exerted himself to keep me ii
countenance. So that, after all, enjoye.