The Red Cloud chief., 1900-02-02

and marvellous. too. ! am inclined &c
think, monsieur. as does madam Il
marquise. that II might be found In
some old chateau or some place i'm the
provinces. where the family might part
with IL II II were made worth thei,
while
III you think so. my friend said
the dealer. why not undertake this
commission yourself? II Is more III
for your legs than siias. which have
done me sixty-five years OF service.
IL replied that my work confined me
to my shop and that | had no leisure
left except on Sundays to make the
search.
Monsieur said the marquise de la
Rayonne de Cluny, turning To me
what sum do you earn a day?'
Five francs. madam la marauise.'
Eth bein! will undertake to give
you five francs a day, and instead of
working in the shop all day long.
which must be- exceedingly monoton-
Gus and. Of course. confning. You can
traverse Paris in search Of the brown
brocaded velvet. IL Is also understood
that IL any trips outside OF Paris are
necessary | will pay the expense
Then she added smiling: But we
must put a limit to this piece of ex-
t~ravagance. and say that II after six
months search you have not found the
tissue. we must admit with Mr.. Le-
moine tina my brocade Is unique and
II exists nowhere out of the Chateau de
%Iayonne.'
The marquise gave me the sample,
saying that she would not accept any
thing merely approaching II closely or
initiating 1t. but only the identical fab
re woven at the same loom. She add
ed maj II | found the fabric | must at
once send a sample Of it to her chateau
In Normandy, the address Of which she
gave me, or still better bring II myself.
1 have often thought, as I recall the
sweet and affable manner OF this beau
titui and cultured woman and her kind
ness to a poor lad, how unjust il is to
can people above MS In rank hard and
PROUD and grasping, because their lot
10 hoDle ana ours is humble. You may
imagine ] lost no time In carving the
news 10 my dear mother. was to be
paid hve francs a day by the marauise
Tor the by no means disagreeable task
vi waking through all the shops of
rarls IN search of the brown velvet
procade; to Interview brokers and
ueaiers and ransack pawnshops and in
spect peddiers' ware and hunt up old
families who might have this fabric
n be willing to sell II at a good price
l went to every old house in the
rauoours st. German to which / could
sam access; also to every old chateau
III the Seine and in the Disc
! ".tended every sale OF furniture and
read all the advertisements of family
eHects that could be had by purcbase
private or public. went to every pri-
Vate sale and every public auction, and
10 the sales Of old museum duplicates.
III iact, taxed my conscience day Inv
Jay that / should leave no means nm
tried by which l could search for the
brown brocaded velvet and bones,,v
earn my five francs a day.
While was diligently prosecuting
my search too odd things happened,
ABOUT two months after | had accented
my mission thought | had got the ar
ticie at last. There was to be n sale NJ
FURNITURE at an old chateau near Pom |
toise, where a great many we'll known
second hand dealers and amateur col
lectors for miles around would congre-
gate, n there | saw a roll of about |
thirty yards OF brown brocaded velvet. |
as l thought. identically of the same
pattern and weave. | couId mt ro-
strain a cry of JOY and surprise. But
aias! II was not quite the same. Two
small details in the design differed. and
the lighter tint Of the brown in the |
background was more ac%centuated. fl
was on the point OF writing about Il
TO madam la marquise. so beautiful
was this fabric, and so impossible did
IL appear to me to get anything better
or as good IL l lost this chance. But
hesitated. for | remembered she pro-
tested hat nothing but the identical
thing-absolutely the same brocade-
would be accepted. And l reasoned ~
could not be successful, l could at
least be obedient.
THE second incident was really
startling. At the end Of the fourth
month got To be so well known-and
had my sample Of ~brocade-that all
the secondhand shopkeepers began to
laugh at me as a sort of crank and call
me Old Mr.. Brown
=" Here comes old Brown Brocade.
they would say whenever they saw me.
But ] did not heed their bandinage.
On the contrary. it rather spurred me
on to greater assiduity. II by their
noisy mockery they would make Others
aware that someone was searching for
a web OF old brocade, there was all the
more hope of the news reaching the
family who might be In possession of
the very thing wanted, and their rail-
lery would act as a sort of free adyer-