The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-02-13

-Wn!.e crossing the a'ont Royal, I saw
man ON the point of throwing HIM
seit into the Seine, when policeman
hci@cd him by the lapel of his coat and
pulled him back. l would 10 the ss:ua
Tor you. Edmond" pleaded De Yer
neuiA earnestly. pull you back while
there Is yet time from the troubled
waters OF matrimony"
out Duvivier only shook his head in
answer as he announced gayly his COM
ing marriage to Mile. Helene Dc.
schamps on the 18th Of May.
Helene name of i'll omen.' growl.
ed DE Verneuil. with disgust. "wclI,
! men y ye,. s:is;st-so ~ tie devii-or
the hymeneal altar, which ,s enc and
the same thing
Edmond de Verneuil was fast gnllop-
Ing out OF his thirties, and the princi.
pies which he had just laid down were
those which: had governed his entire
lie and kept him n bachelor In spite
or the tempting opportunities which
had come In his way and which he had
repulsed with horror. A few years
Dack he had been considered one Of the
handsomest men In Paris, and even to.
DAY his refined air and well groomed
i EcsSon nidde nim q marked figure In
his drives through the Bois, which he
t0oH with clocklike precision. Rich,
clever and well known In fhe fnsh!cra.
Die world, he had received innumera.
Bile hints from designing mammas and
the sweetest smiles of encouragement
! from their eligible daughters. To the
first he haG always been delightfully."-
gracious, particularly when their ad.
vances assumed the form Of excellent
dinners. but totally Indifferent to the
latter, scarcely deigning to notice their
fresh young faces. With advancing
years the dinners AND smiles had ceas-
ed, but De Verneuil hardly felt their
absence. Indeed he congratulated him.
seiI with pride upon having escaped
the many ambusAaS laid by these
daughters of Eve to entrap him. Su-
premely content in his bachelor bliss.
ne lived entirely alone in his elegant
apartment, rs free as q bird on the
mountain tops, following his own
sweet caprices, amusing himself with
what pleased him and avoiding all that
was irxsome or tirescme. Shut I'D Sc
cure In his egotistical citadel, which he
had built and fashioned with his own
hands, he fancied himself the happiest
Of mortals in existence.
one morning shortly after Duvivier's
visit, as he sat at the window content
eoiy smoking his pipe, he was tempted
Dy the inviting March sunshine to take
q promenade along the boulevard. but
the treacherous March sun had deceiv-
ed him, and before he had gone yery
far he began to feel chilled beneath his
! light cvercoGt, willie m unweIcome
sneeze foretold cold in the head. Like
all egotists, Edmond de Verneuil was
painfully careful Of his health, SO he
Immediately dropped into cafe and
ordered a smoking hot punch to ward
Off If possible the disastrous effects of
the chilly air. While he sat languIdly
slipping his drink his eyes rested on a
highly colored placard on the opposite
wall representing a series Of enchant.
ing views on the Mediterranean and
under them this inscriptions:
TO THE BLUE COAST
Express trains to Cannes, Nice and Monaco The
journey made in II hours.
The blue sky. the blue sea, the warm
southern sunshine. the gorgeous flow.
ers OF Nice and the perfume Of the or
ange trees all appealed to De Yer
neuil's aesthetic fancy. "There, at
least" he thought, II shall be safe
from influenza" And Immediately he
made up his mind to so to Nice That
very night his trunks and valises were
packed and strapped by his trust
worthy valet, Pierre, and the next
morning Edmond de Vcrneuil struttcd
I,nY rclr to-
partment Of the Nice express after hav-
ing selfishly strewn his hand baggage
over the unoccupied seats in the hope
Of securing the entire compartment to
himself.
But complete happiness does not be-
long to this mundane sphere, and In the
twinkling Of an eye De Verneu!rs
hopes OF solitude were shattered by the
arrival Of a phiegmatic Englshman
who, without asking any questions and
with that impossible air which distin-
guishes the travelling Briton, deliber-
ately removed the valises and Installed
himself In their place. The Partisan
was tempted to protest, but moments
reflection convinced him that this was
bad policy, for he had no right to re-
serve the entire compartment for his
own use. So the cruSty bachelor con.
tented himself by an innudible growl.
Hardly had he recovered from his frst
disappointment, however, when the
compartment was again invaded by
handsomely gowned elderly lady with
sweet. high bred, patricIan face. ac-
companied by a younger woman, whose
pale gray travelling gown set Off to ad-
vantage her wealth or blond hair, fair
complexion and sympathetic blue eyes
and holding by the hand delicate boy
of5.
A glance at the child Immediately
told De Verneuil that the little fellow
was Ill and probably going south in
search Of health. and while the two
women placed him tenderly on the
cushions and tucked the light, warm
Roman blanket around him De Yer.
neuil growled again to himself. "a