The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-02-20
Ia DAME A LA CLEF. "
By Walter Littlofeld.

| Observation-Disclosures @dssA! SaANATtsG
There Mere three OF Us one evening
| IN the reading room of the Press club
M. Paul Blouet better known az
Max O'Reif'' through his sketches OF
| French and English life and character;
| NJ. Charles l.. l.cbon. Instructor of
| French Who. by the way. Is II ilttera-
teur OF Some little nutc, and myself.
| The conversation. after various fuetu-
ations, lad assumed II story telling
drift NJ Mouet Ind Just related an
amusing aneedote Of his Boston so
journ, and We We're silently pulling In
that agreeable languor that arises from
| Il good weed and IL good story.
On drawing his eardcase from hls
pocket NJ Lcbon brought forth IA small
! bright object that glistencd Il second In
| the lampllght as II fell TO the floor He
stopped for It with rather undue haste;
with 50 much haste In fact. that he
| called our attention To Il movement that
| Otherwise would have passed un
noticed
What IS :" inquired VI Blouct
| Without word Lebon handed him
the object lie had dropped. but eyed
| him carefully as ii was examined.
"A key" remarked NJ Blouet: "a key
and evidently Of gold" And he passed
II TO me
| held in my hand ii key of perhaps
an inch IA length aud half "a Wide
There was nothing particularly re
markable about Ii unless 1t were the
| I'll
that appeared to be gold. Suddenly
my eye caught sight of n date aud an
inscription upon the ring OF the key
Ter JUN. 1918 Memento morin'
a curious key" suggested as | re-
turned 1t to NJ. Lebon. Tell us about
| it."
The one addressed pulled assIduously
for moment or two as he twlrled the
mysterious key between his forefngcr
aud thumb but he made no reply
Come, come said VI. Blouet az he
leaned forward with interest. "therc
must be something to tell about key
like that. why MT let us have ltE''
you are right. gentlemen. There Is Il
curious stofv ,.Jncctuinf this key. aud
since you Gcs.,,. 1t | VIII tell ii 10 YOU,
for truly, gentlemen, without cxaggcra.
ton, this little bit Of metal that hold
in my hand has one or the most re-
markable " histories"
Tell 1t! Tell #" we both exclaimed
In II breath.
Fresh cigarettes were lighted and,
still holding the key In his hand us If
to bear witness to what he said. NJ.
Lebon began his story.
at was IN 1871. just after the surren-
der OF Paris The second empire had
fallen. NJ Theirs and his party held
the government Evidences of the ter
rlble commune were on every hand.
still the city was beginning 10 look like
the habtation OF civilized people
One morning lie journal DIES Debats
announced the death at Versailles OF
Russian lady who for more than 20
years had kept all the gossips or the
Paris salons busy concerning mystery
that seemed to surround her For rea-
sons that | shall presently explain she
became known as La Dame a la Clef'
Now, a nickname In Paris means a
great deal more than 1t does here
When one IL nlcknamed there, one car
ries that name to the grave.
THE notice In lie Journal des Debats
mentioned La Dame la Clef est
morte.' 1t did not give her own name
That would have signfied nothing The
paper concluded by saying that she
died, aged A. In complete solitude. 1t
seems that her husband who was much
older than She had visited her regular
ly every six months during the past ten
years and then had disappeared no one
knew where. All was mysterious about
this Lady of the Key. one day came
to her the news Of her husbands death
She survived him but II short time, and
1t was whispered that she had allowed
herself to die from hunger. That was
all the notice OF her death had To say
about the matter The mystery still
remained unexplained. and the Interest
concerning her grew less and less and
gradually died away altogether"
NJ. Lebon paused to rellght his olga
rette. which he had allowed to 90 out.
After doing this, he settled back In his
chair, pulled once or twice, but did not
seem at all inclined to continue the
story
We'll" 1 calculated, ''go OH. That is
no story. Why. you haven't even said
what the mystery was. or why she was
called La Dame q la Chef"
"Ah, yes he replied penslyely.
quite right. | lad forgotten. Gentle
men, | have not said that she was
beautiful, yet such was the case. Her
face was one OF the loveliest that /
have ever seen her figure was perfect
and
"Wellf' interrupted VI. Blouet some
what impatiently.
Gentlemen, viii not bore you"
continued NJ. Lebon smiling. Simply
imagine her beautiful In face and form;
then, gentlemen, around her neck,
which was of the purest mold. was
riveted a golden chain to which was
attached this key. And, gentlemen,