The record-union., 1898-09-11
THE PIANO TUNER.
Do. do. mi SOL

hlcnelleu, the tuner was WOFklHS Oh
this gloomy afternoon of Partisan
winter 1t was cold and growing dark
and although it was not yet 3 o'clock,
the gas would soon have to be lighted
In the shop men and women, erranc
boys and porters came and went, the
wells of the women and boards of the
men covered with a fine frost and all
complaining of this exceptional weather
which for the past week had been
Transforming Paris into a kind of ST.
IBERIA.
The tuner, through the partially clos
ed door, could half follow the conversa-
ton in the outer room. He was man
OF some forty years, tall, thin, already
much bent, his face furroWed with deeL
lines, the hair gray upon his temples
prematurely aged, apparently, from
suffering. He was evidently very poor
to judge from his clothes, which were
neat but threadbare. His expression
had in it something of disenchantment
of bitterness, which would have struck
the least observant. At first sight you
would have felt him to be a man who
had been varluished in the struggle OF
life.
pretty maid, a true comedy SOU
brette in gaudy costume, with an apron
of changeable silk, and upon her friz-
zled hair a delicious little hat with red
roses, entered the shop and began to
talk volubly to the salesman
An instant later the tuner heard him
self called.
You are wanted, Monsieur Pierre, at
the Hotel du Louvre
1t is very urgent" added the SOU
brette in the bewitching little hat.
AT your service!'
On the second floor of the great hotel
Pierre Morel was ushered into an ele-
CANT salon, where stood open an ebony
grand piano, draped with a Japanese
cover. Immediately the tuner set him
self to work
Doubtless they are afraid 1 shall
carry off some of their costly knick-
knacks," he said to himself, seeing the
soubrette linger near him.
But long since in his life of labor
he had had to resign himself to these
little humiliations; they no longer wor-
ried him.
And he played some chords
Still the maid, chattering like a par
rot, danced around him and never clos
ed her mouth for an instant.
Madame will be we'll pleased! We
just arrived yesterday; this evening af-
ter the opera there will be some COM
pany; they will dance; and these hotel
pianos are always SO dreadfully out of
tune. But madame will find one all
right, for oncen'
Is she an artist?" asked Morel.
amused in spite of himself by all this
prattle.
1 should say so! And there are not
many like her! For a long time they
have been clamoring for her in Paris.
but she had engagements. Finally. here
we are. 1t seems that not a seat is to
be had this evening at any price,"
Pierre Morel started: This even
ing?"
Why, yes. Don't you know? AT the
opera, Faust with la Salvani,"
Is it la Salvani who is your mis-
tress?''
He stood up and trembled like a leaf
in the wind.
rs it la Salvani?"
4es, but what is the matter?"
Nothing, nothing. Heavens. you
were right, quite right; this piano is in
great need of tuning"
WITH violent effort of will Pierre
seated himself again and resumed his
work
But in spite Of the effort he made to
conceal it his agitation was very evil
dent
The sound of a bell ringing in tbe
next room just then saved him from his
embarrassment
Madame is calling mel"
AND the soubrette disappeared.
1hen Pierre Morel let his head fall
INTO his hands, While incoherent words
escaped his lips:
She! Shei Is it possible, And
VINO was wishing to avoid her To be
so near! Ahi Juliette. Juliette,''
Then, suddenly:
But l cannot stay here a moment
longer! No, not a moment. Let her
get some one else.'
He started to make his escape.
But the door opened and La Salvani
appeared, enveloped in magnificent
furs = famous furs which had been
given her by the Czarina Tall, slen-
DER, OF an exquisite beauty, she did not
look over %, though she must have
been past 40. Splendid turquoisas
shone IN her ears. A spray of minosa
perfumed her corsage.
Pierre gazed at her, glued to the SPOT.
like one dazed
She finished buttoning one of her long
Suede gloves, and scarcely glanced at
him.
Nelly. Won nav this man.
And she passed on You pay this
mani She had not recognized him,
and when the edge of her wrap had
touched him, in her ungrateful memory,
in her frivolous heart, nothing had
awakened. crying: 1T is hel"
And yet the two had spent their
younger days side by side; dreams,
hopes, labors, once they had shared
everything, and Pierre Morel, in his
foolish confidence, had believed that
this happiness was to last all their
lives.
Juliette Saivan was studying singing,
and destined for the stage. She had
the finest voice in the conservatory, and
every one predicted for her the future
of star" Admirers were not lack
ing, and her beauty made many envi-
Gus. Very pale under her black hair,
her face was lighted up with a pair of
superb eyes, black also; her mouth was
redder than the cornrose: her figure of
a suppleness and grace unspeakable.
She was kind of queen, this young
girl, in the little world of the conserva-
tory, where no one could help admiring
her. however jealous one might be.
Besides, she was wise, either by ma
ture or by calculation no one knew
which. but no one would have dared 10