The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-03-28

find the things sticking In our clothes
for months"
Eyes; they're small but insIdous.
You have no idea Of the mischief one
OF these scraps OF paper can do
The speakers were two fresh-colored.
good-looking Englishmen. wearing light
oyercoats and dress clothes, and drink
Ing their after-dlnner cofiee outside a
cafe at Cannes.
1t was $3.50 on an evening i'm the be-
ginning of February. Two days earlier
they had left their native London, an
kle-deep In siush and dirty snow, and
yelled IN sulphurous fog; here, in fa-
vored Cannes, they sat beneath a sap
phire sky, fecked with diamond stars.
and watched the carnival maskers In
their gay costumes of stun or satin
dancing upon the asphalt which sur
rounded the band kiosque and even
pirouett.ng gayly upon the open road
All around them was life and color,
laughter and movement, the sound of
many languages intermingied I'm gay
banter, the democratic jostling OF Pie
rots and Pierettes la satin with whites
capped market women, townsfolk in
cheap and gaudy dominos and tweed
clad tourists armed with guide books
and kodaks.
To Norton. the younger OF the two
tire novelty. At the battle of confetti.
earlier in the day, he had exhausted
himself by two hours and half OF con-
fetti-throwing under blazing sun, and
now, after an excellent dinner. he was
laughingly complaining OF the confetti
which passersby every now and then
east in the faces OF the two friends
over their coffee.
Fleming, the elder OF the two. and the
one who had complained Of the mis-
chiefmaking capabilities OF the little
paper missiles, was rich and indepen-
dent, and spent his time in perpetual
travel Carnivals were nothing new to
him. and as "a rule he avoided them,
but this spring the fancy had taken him
10 revisit Cannes in the company OF his
relative Norton, and now, as he sat
watching the dancers under the palm
trees in the starlight. the spirit r}oved
him 10 be confidential
He lit cigarette and blew slowly up
into the night air. A curious wistfu-
ness passed into his gray eyes. and
softened the lines OF his mouth under
the closely trimmed golden brown mus
tache.
Its odd" he began. dreamily; "but
ten years ago, almost In this Identical
spot, / had the happiness Of my life
ruined by one of these same mischiev-
Gus Confetti"
His companions round blue eyes grew
rounder stll in amazement.
by tove! Are you serious?" he ex-
claimed.
1T was a night like this" went on
the other, "only II seems TO me that
the stars were brighter, the music was
jollier. the fun more spontaneous. Mind
i only say seems. Probably the fall
ing off Is in me. not in the music and
the stars and the fun. i am five-and-
thirty now, was five-and-twenty then.
There was "A girl on my arm-such "A
spfr IN A
round face. like peach, lips made for
kisses and laughter and a figure az
1.-THE and light as willow branch. 1
know my SMILES are old. but / can't
find words to tell you what she was like
TO me. You see, was in love with her,
and she was my Wife
Your wife," Norton repeated. in as
tonishment. Why. ! never knew YOU
had been married. Though remember
i did hear there was some romance or
other"
"Or, there wasn't much romance
about IT," Fleming said bitterly, low
ering his voice as a laughing party OF
three maskers took possession of the
seats at neighboring table. The
whole thing only lasted six weeks"
Your wife is dead. then? Old man
j am sorry"
There is no need TO be sorry. and
she isn't dead. She simply divorced me
on the ground of incompatibility OF !
temper, or Heaven knows what. accord |
ing TO the laws OF the state to which |
she belongs"
And where Is she now?''
"Oh. she has consoled herself with "A |
German baron. Three years ago, being |
dead tired OF knocking about the world. |
I was actually fool enough TO decide To |
go over TO America and persuade Ma |
mie--that was her name-to marry me |
all over again. You must know she
was an heiress, the only child OF a |
mother who spoiled and idolized her. L /
met her on n short visit to the states, |
ard fell in love with her. and married |
and brought her over 10 honeymoon in |
Europe. London was too cold and we
came TO Cannes for the carnival. one
night we left her mother at the hotel |
and came out to see the funl"
A lady in a blue domino who formed
one OF the group OF three at the neigh
boring table turned in her seat and
fixed the gaze OF two bright dark eyes.
shining through a black velvet mask
upon Jack Fleming's face.
Then your wife's mother was with
youf"
"That was the beginning OF the mis-
chief. She insisted upon following uS
10 Europe in week. AS L told you,
we left her at the hotel, and here. un-
der the palms. felt my shoulder
touched and heard my name called out
Don't you recognize me:' II was Ethel
Marlborough. AN old sweetheart of mine.
We were. engaged once. but she was
such fiirt she drove me half mad, and
/ broke IL off. She was in n mask and
domino. but knew her voice in a mo-
ment.
II felt Mamie's grasp tighten on my
arm, and saw her face change. i don't
know whether Ethel knew l was mar
ried The whole thing hci been very
sudden, and l hope. for her sake, she
didn't. But, just TO plague me. she
hung on to my arm, and kept on whis-
pering about old times, and finally,
after I had broken away. declaring
a. not know her. she slipped a scrap
of paper into my pocket and ran away
laughing. Mamie seized IL. and never
spoke n word until we got 20 the hotel.
Then, in the presence % her mother.
she opened Il. II was nothing in the
world but pink confetti-disc with
the name Ethel written across n. but
81 cut short my happiness most effect
lively.
"The two women worked themselves