Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-25
CHAPTER I.
How Pompon Hecamc an Oracle.


,gEru rom my ..tD.He AMI placed with ton
der hands before me
1t IS "a week Ego since HIaucheforet. on
his way back from Paris. drew rein al
I:rsrn- 70 give M tn. news of that deed Of
.nf7my. aud left me stunned and bewudered
as ~, eaIIopeI of rcd-Spurred to bear the
t.dings TO MaIe-.eux.
There are those who say she deserved her
Ieath. there are stories. I know. about her.
but they lie in their throats who repeat
them, and 1 blush with shame for my coun-
Try that no sword was drawn to save her
who was once queen Of France.
As stare at the flowers before me their
delicate fragrance returns To them; they
seem to bloom again in their rich, crimson
spIeudor and the memory Of that night in
June when I received them from the hands
of Mary Of Scotland comes back TO me, so
that my heart is full and my eyes grow
dim
She was Of those women born to be
queens over men, of those women who
come once in a Thousand years, who are
in themselves the embodied spirits Of ro-
nance, and for whose mile men would
throw as. de life, riches, empire, even honor,
as lightly as a WORKOUT glove.
It was my fate to come within the range
of her power, and I did as the rest. ]. the
poor gentleman Of QU'rcy-the kings jes-
t.T-Gared to love her
And Yet l Wa not mad. the feeling in my
heart was as # I hai met IN flesh and blood
that vision Of the perfect woman which
lies in all men souls There wa an I'M
measurable distance between US. / knew
all that. / nursod no idle hopes. l looked
upon her as a shepherd on the mountains
might gaze upon the morning Star-aS
sorle wandering angel Of light that had
come to rrss away, yet never to be forgot
ten
And so. because a Jester must have some
thing Of the poet in his spirit | was accus-
toned to day-dream a little, and used to
slip out from the Louvre into that wilder
ness of garden that stretched as far as
the walls Of Paris, between the Tours de
Bots and the Porte St. Honore, and lose
myself there In enchanted dreams. The
place exists no longer. 1 hear 1t is all
changed now, since the Meiicis began the
new palace OF the Tuileries. near the tile
fields. and the sweet disorder Of my gar
den has given place to sedate parterres,
trinity cur hedges and walks that look Ike
diagrams in the book of Euclid that Lorg-
nae used 10 pore over at college, and l
hated with bitter hatred.
But AT the time l speak Of when the sun
was bright and the flowers We're out, ex-
cept my own home in the far-off Que-cy
there was no spot more lovely to my mind
than those neglected walks. where the
bind-weed and the dCg-rose starred the
hedges. where the ceIandine and red cam
plon made gay border to the green rides
and from amid its spotted leaves the
cuckoO-pint lifted its purple wand dripping
with dew. Here on a grassy bank, near an
old oak. l would lie for hours listening to
the wind in the trees, listening to
the hum Of the city. that was so near and
Yet so far, and building my castles in cloud
laNd. While P'mpon my ape. gamboled IN
the branches above me. And here one
morning IN June I took my lutte. and with
Facnpou hobbliug grave.y at my heels
sought my retreat. TO eat my lotus and be
happy In my dreams I had 4Irnost come TO
f..v =
my oak. when met L1rgnac face to face.
as he stepped through d gap in the hedge
ana stood IN the middle Of the path. HIS
drawn sword was IN his hand and for once
The color was out Of his cheek. and his lips
st ani hard. making him look though he
was but five and twenty, q man touching
on middle ace
You cannot pass he said. stiffiv. with
out any other greeting; and while l stopped
I.F 2 man-ut N amaze p0mpdu. WA0 knew
MIN Wei. ran Up 10 him and began clutch
ing az his cloak for Caress; but he shook
the ape from him with a curse saying
You cannot pass. De Besme Go back"
H called me by my own name, which he
Knew well, for We We're next-dOor neigh
b'rS IN the QUcrCy. and sworn friends at
college, and ever after. Only last night
he had hidden me laughing adieu ca ling
me lie BTuSguet. the nickname bv which I
was known 10 my intfmates and indeed
u all the court. and now here h was cold
and sun as a Spaniard, ordering ne off the
if-.-L d. II / were a street begg4T
But I took him quietly WhistIircs Porn
pom back 10 me. I said:
oak ~ MY
ing Ike machine.
-Tu-5ieE.' 2 burst out. my temper rising
II II Is IN" king order 1 go back; but If It
Is some Sr'lSShopper YOU have in your head
In1HSieur- / clapped my hand 10 nv
side, forgetting that I wore but a giIfed
wooden sword, and as my fingers touched
the hilt ] stopped. Disconnected. and began
L" laugh And while I laughed Lorgnac
caught The humor Of It. and began smiIire,
too as he stepped forward and nat his
hand ON my shoulder
". old friend There must be no quar-
r"I between US. but I pray YOU 20 bac<l'
Is the road then blocked"
heS, ne SAID, in a hesitating voice and
was about To shTug my shoulders and
urn away. when there was Il rustling in
the h-d4e, and man Ieaped lightly
through. saving In an alarmed voice:
l-'TSi4@ct We are WatrIed-SDied up0rl -
Ana then ne stopped and stared at me. and
l. Zoo. stared back IN blank astJnishmcut
for II Yves the Prince of C0rde the sc,T,1,i
prince If the blood, whom We al thought
a- the eye of Naricubourg
Ills face was haggara and wan orf !
was gray with dust as one who Tad ,i,i,7o,
lasi the lar lie struck uervuusIv M Ms
".''t Win mis- riding whip. ana as We looked
II, ''-,i' ''HeE j noticed that in his cl"nched
Ls-i-u lay - woman $ glove. small and white.
Took his words Jp apply 10 me. and re-
covering myself. FASTENED To explain.
--il'. r''t sped upon by me.
But Corde himself lnterrupted mo
III was not YOU J meant, Brusquet II
Was aUc one else
N one has passed this way. rnonseig-
Then some one was in hiding before We
came IurSudc. Listeu-I was i1Isr about
u" come for you when I heard a laugh and
81 TH~i.'s IN the hedges. / rushed for
ward BUT t-rfIl