Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1899-01-05

moth been dead this many a year.
There was thinking of CONS, and
the Swiss girl stood before them, still
.nliLg as she extended little metal
tray-wIh,ch might have held some
Two francs in copper. The speaker
,v,rled his mustache and dropped in
half franc, with the ghost OF
faded swaggcr. The professor drop
pel in the penny he had been fise:
ing in his 1ara, and detained me
,Y4y while le went through his pock'
Il for three sous more. lie put two
iraues in the dish, and CALAMITY sum-
neoned the waiter to minister 10 her
wants. As an international courtesy
she drank English "portaires,' a dark
mixture served in tumbler al Ihe
cost OF franc.
The professor drained his glass and
it the cigar-end which he had allow
ed to die out.
This place is very warm he sad;
arhe gas is indeed sitting. If could
indu"e monsieur. whose conversation
ILLS me with interest, to allow me &c
offer him such hospitality as my
mean lodging will atford?'
"Monseur is too amabe." The
commercial traveller threw away his
ciyarette-end and followed the pro
lessor. who shuffled out into th,
street.
) 1t began to rain; the leaden cutters
, began to drip, and the great drops
, from the sky rebounded from the
Lodges into the abysmal depths OF the
old Flemish street below. The com
mercial traveller buttoned over his
chest the feeble defense OF the thread
bare frock-coat and strobe after his
retreating guide,
A corner, turning into a still mar
rover by-way, hid the professor from
SIGHT, and his guest found him COW
. ering under the drip-stone OF the
doorway of a majestic old house in
its decay The professor pulled again
| and again at the crealsing bell-wire.
| A lesser door opened in the side OF the
+ greater one. and, with grave bow
=! to his guest. the professor led the
. way up the great staircase. instlnc'
d lively avoiding a broken step. At the
foot of the great carved rail OF the
lalustrade squatted little wooden
: lion. NJ. Lefevre laid kindly hand
+ upon the head as he mounted the
$ stairs, parting it as if it were stray
+ dog. Poor BEAST he murmured,
n "lost in a strange century,
They were mounting by dark and
: narrow back staircase. past floor
after floor of closed doorways.
n MANY of these rooms have no
k iodgers,' said the professor, because
9 the dry-rot has been there so long,
] and one would not desire to dlsap-
G pear suddenly through the floor OF
0 ones room like Arlequin through The
. trap-door."
!, The professor chuckled grimly as
" he inserted large key and pushed
open the door of a room. They were
u in the talest gable of the house, and
after stumbling up the dark stairs
y the room seemed very light.
The guest sat down in the chair by
e. the window. and the host pulled aside
J The white curtain Of the acove and
seated himself on the edge of the bed;
the walls were bare, but for the place
where the professor had nailed up a
Is penciled scheme of the hours of his
is classes and pupils, The floor was
} bare of carpet, in one corner was
pile of newspapers-the independence
l. Beige, the Petit Journal-and in this
n strange company a heap of the Eng
y lish Times. its stout, respectable pa
per and clear type protesting agalns
o the association. Besides these was
m tattered assemblage of novels. many
p Of them having been rebound by The
simple eXpedient of piece OF string
# tied round their bodies. \ squad o.
e. empty Jars ranged themselves II
Il double file in the shadow Of the oppo
site corner: blackened k-bottl'
,s mrked by the Fireplace in ambusl
a. behind a number of old boots, nov
m in the last stages of shabbiness.
.. An old walnut table, with tea
cup ana a tobacco-iar. completed The
furniture of the chamber. Absolute
+ ly nothing more, save what might liz
in the recesses Of large cupboard
:, And man had lived here thirty
4, years.
= cone obtains quiet here" said The
!, professor, "a silence which encour
a ages meditation. No one else on Thu
If floor. which you will have noticed II
a. your cost. is the seventh. No one bu
,r the N>ld,
IS "rhe view from the window is in
deed charming" said the guest, pc
70 ltely, turning in his chair,
" III monsieur will stand at THU
,e side said the professor, coming for
IT ward to the light, 'he will see thu
,e patch of sands uncovered beyond thu
lie harbor."
lie NJ. Lefevre stood up and gazed a
the distant sea, and the black speck
,e with long trail of smoke, which wa
"a steamer that would lie Tomorrow
lie morning in the London docks. Whel
,e he saw that he sighed little.
Old NJ. Durand was hobbling bacl
m from the cupboard, with a yellow
,e and -uhumbed number OF tn
he Times.
X. "There is something here" he said
h indicating, with trembling fore
finger, a paragraph surrounded b.
;pE lime