The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1900-07-26

II
day, evening, night all were one long
: orgy. l gambled madly, frantically.
as one does at the first 60. won at
/, the outset and then suddenly my luck
| turned. One night In a cafe Of Bah
Azoun street lost $4,000 francs-all
my own private funds, as well as my
share of the booty money. The sum
was a large one, and it's loss was COM
mented upon in Algiers.
| Toward 10 O'clock in the morning
was requested to call upon the colonel.
Palesand restless, hardly knowing why,
l. entered the eol0nePs room. Itfound
him paler and more nervous than /
myself.
captain" he began, in a deep. de-
spairing voice, "my regiments strong
box was broken into this morning.
Fourteen thousand francs were taken
$4,000 francs, do you hear, isir?" And
the old officer stepped toward me, with
his arms crossed and his eyes lowering
under their bushy brows. felt my
temples humping and my head split
ting. l drew back with a cry Of in
dignation. Here Is q handkerchief
lost by the thief and found under the
treasurer's chair. Look, sir, it is mark
ed with your initials, e, W" took
the handkerchief mechanically 1t was
mine without a doubt. My knees
quaked, tears sprang to my eyes, I
could not speak. st'And now, SIR" the
colonel wound ND. .go and blow your
brains out"
/ left the room without a word, as
crushed, as abject as If / had been the
thief. l did not try to Justify myself
nor to claim an investigation. No! /
went back to- the officers cramped
| quarters, l took a loaded pistol out of
my saddle case, l cooked 1t. At this
Ipoint 1 stopped. Thick sobs clicked
me. i had a rapid vision of my happy
childhood, my first martial exploits,
| my mother and Georges Georges
above all! ITO ,diew murmured. ITO
die dishonoredv' "You must not die"
said sOnOrOus, vibrating voice, metal
lie and yet soft, with nothing human
about it. The pistol dropped from my
fingers. Georges was standing before
me. His eyes were fixed. They glow
ed with an unknown light Illuminating
his face, as white and translucent as
alabaster.
Explain this, major. AS tell you
this terrible occurrence feel my hair
standing on end. my teeth chatter, my
| voice shakes, whereas In Georges pres
ence experienced only serene joy,
ideal calm, nnalloyed happiness. My
youth, my: fair dreams of love and Of
glory surrounded me in all their radi-
ance. Only the moment before crushed
under the weight of an Uncomfortable
fatality. l now felt myself under pow
erful, almost divine, protection. Shall
l say more? Georges presence did not
astonish me. l accepted it as simple,
natural fact. We talked like brothers,
like friends long separated.
''Etienne, what were you about to
dew he, asked me gently. my poor
boy! I've come to save you. Your
servant is the offender. He stole the
ID, 600 francs, as he stole the handker-
chief found by the colonel. You have
trusted the fellow. He used to be hon.
est. But he has mistress, a Moorish
girl who sells her favors high. 1t was
for her that he took the money. Two
mattress and 1900 on the girls person.
Hurry to the colonel. have told you
what had to say. Goodby." Georges
vanished, and l found myself alone.
The sentiment of reality came back
to me. dashed my head against the
window panes. The glass, splintering,
cut my brow and made the blood flow.
In the courtyard, between the daz-
zling. whitewashed walls, below the
torrid sky, luminously blue, soldiers
were nonchalantly smoking. The white
minarets of the Casbah rose above the
peaceful, silent scene. Far in the dis
lance the waters of the blue Mediter-
ranean glittered like gems. was ac-
tually alive; / was not dreaming! And
all this impossible hallucination, this
phantasmagorla was the truth. Ter
ror seized me-mad, implacable, de-
vouring terror. Icy shivers ran down
my spine to my heels. My fingers dug
their nails into my palm. From that
day 1 counted my first gray hairs.
Events justified all that the specter
had revealed to me. The criminal ad-
mitted his guilt, and the money was
|
broken at his unfounded suspicious,
was almost ready to follow the advice
he had given me. The officers of the
squadron came in a body to make me
visit Of affectionate coincidence. A
few days later, at the coloneps solicita-
ton, I was named chevalier Of the
Legion Of Honor. The reparation was
complete.
The major seemed In a reverie.
"You don't believe me, mon ami? l,
too, have caught myself doubling the
evidences. l saw Georges, 1 am sure
Of 1t, and L don't believe it any more
than you do. Yet, major, it must be
SO, or l am out Of my mind"
HAS the apparitiOn ever been re-
peated" questioned the major, singu-
larly struck by the tale.
Eyes, l saw Georges a second time"
replied the general somberly. 81 saw
him the night before killed Com
mander Bernard de Ris In a duel.
That evening, just back from drill,
tired and in low spirits, hastily en-
tered my room, lighted only by a great
fire of dried branches. Georges was
sitting in my big leather armchair. He
rose gravely and impressively. L was
waiting for you,' he said. You are go
ing to fight tomorrow with Command
er Bernard de Ris, who is blade.
YOuneglect practice too much Georges
leaned against the wall, and l saw
that he had sword in his hand.
took down a foil and fell into position.
Look out said Georges. L am going
to give you what Grisier used to call
SO CALAMITY lesson in dueling. ITEMS,
here Is an irresistible thrust. Engage
your sword, bring back the left foot
while you toy with your adversary's
blade. One, two, forward! Good! But
you didn't lunge enough
"a pale smile fitted over Georges
lips. We started afresh, and this time
l lunged 50 violently that my sword
snapped against the wall 1t had