The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-03-16

Forty francs for Roland and Fin
ville..'
The clock struck the half hour. Bes-
son looked down at the manuscripts.
The ring en- his finger caught his eye.
Take them" he said.
He threw the papers on the table,
grasped the money held out to him and
hurried from the place. He had only
30 minutes. He tore off his ring as he
went along. He meant to pledge it.
He darted into a shop. They would
advance no more than 10 francs on it.
1t he wished more, he might go to an
honest a in the Rue Scarelle, who
would buy 1T by weight for old gold.
Out hurried Besson. A clock In a
window told him that ten minutes Of
the half hour were gone. Only 20 min
utes till noon! .
The Rue Scarelle was another ten
minutes of, but then it was only five
or six minutes from there to the Place
Lacrosse and Mamzelle.
He ran now. At the corner of the /
Rue Scarelle he stopped abruptly. He
was dripping with p%erspiration; his
face was CHASTITY.
He looked at the ring lying in his
palm. 1t had been Marie's ring. She
had given it to him when she had
thought to marry him-before be had
begun to make those mistakes which
forced her to cast him OF.
He had always kept the ring. No pri-
walton had caused the suggestion that
he should part with it. 1t had belonged
to her. She had worn it. 1t had been
warmed by the blood that coursed
from her heart, and the possession of
it had seemed to keep her not quite so
far away. To part with it, it appealed
to him, would sever him entirely from
the past, when he had been hopeful
and respected and loved.
But Mamzelle's word would be bro
ken. She relies on me-my honor"
He made for the shop. He was offer
ed % francs for the ring after it had
been tested with acids.
"Of course said Besson.
You take it merely as old metal?"
"Of course"
And you would give as much for it
If it were broken?"
Certainly"
VIII you leuu Tue a uuLlLueE!
The hammer was given him. He
stopped to the stone floor. He looked
inside the ring and saw Marie's name
there. Then he laid the ring on the
floor and with a powerful blow of the
hammer crushed it into a shapeless
mass. The ring had been the last tie.
He was now irrevocably separated
from the past.
He handed the gold to the a and
received % francs.
THE timer he asked.
ut is sly minutes to II" was the an
swer.
Besson left the shop. He now had
,, the 60 francs, and 5 over.
EYES," he said. the 5 will get me
: several small glasses. need them.
> What! From the proceeds of that
: ring!"
He dashed the 5 franc piece into the
!. road, crowded with vehicles. and press
' ed on to the Place Lacrosse. He en-
. tered the house as the loon hour
sounded.
Mamzelle glanced at him and nodded
> pleasantly.
o 1.-The 60 francs" he said and laid the
money on the table among the bios
) SONS of her manufacture.
"There, now. Dalcour." she said.
A man Besson had not noticed came
from a corner and pointed to the little
> flower maker.
"Mamzelle never breaks her word"
q he said. THE tombstone goes up this
afternoon. Bon jour. Mamzelle! Bon
Jour, monsieur!" And he took his leave.
n Mamzelle laid aside the flower whose
q petals she was forming and rose to her
feet. She put out her hand.
"You have saved mt so much" she
said. "Let me be your friend. l am
old enough to be your mother. | am
not learned, like monsieur, but we wo'
re men give love, and that is sometimes
as valuable as learning. You have
l. helped me so much. Let me help you
II Monsieur, my father was as you have
o. been. He died, and he vas forgotten
IT before he died. You are young. YOU
r must live and vindicate your worth tt
e. the world, as you have vindicatet
IS your word to me"
Besson stood there, tall and grim.
lie For a moment a smile twitched tn
u r,
~ corners of his mouth. Mamzelle tool
t. his hand and held it up to her cheek.
le DO. not be like my father" sh
lie pleaded softly. Honor is dear to you
Is You have shown me that. You will
e. promise me?"
n. A SILVER passed through Bessor
Tx Marie's face seemed to loom in the dis
Is lance.
Mamzelle regarded him with stream
IL ing eyes.
"You promise?" She appealed to hin
n "Surely there is some one you love.
it be a woman, think what your homo
g must be to her. You promise?"
Marie was near, so very near that h
It felt that he might touch her, and sh
was smiling. pleading.
81 promises" he said, "Marie!"' an
IN fell at Mamzelle's feet, pressing th
&c hem of her common frock to his lips.