Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-01-24

~ AASNC a. AC aAAAAOAACC0 E1yAN HIS
coming marriage to Mile. Helene Des-
champs on the seventeenth of May.
"Helene-a name OF ill-omen!"
growled De Verneuil, with disgust.
well, then, if you insist-7go to the
deyil-or the hymeneal altar, which
is n and the same thing
Edmond de Verneuil was fast gal
looping out of his thirties, and the prin-
ciples which he had just laid down
were those which had governed his
entire life, and kept him a bachelor
in spite of the tempting opportunities
which had come in his way, and which
he had repulsed with horror. A few
years back he had been considered one
of the handsomest men in Paris, and
even to-day his refined air and we'll
groomed person made him a marked
figure in his drives through the Bots,
which he took with clock-ike pre-
cision. Rich, clever and ~well-known
in the fashionable world, he had re-
ceived innumerable hints from de-
signing mammas, and the sweetest
smiles of encouragement from their
eligible daughters to the first he had
always been delightfully."- gracious, par
tieularly when their advances assumed
the form of excellent dinners. but to-
tally Indifferent TO the latter, scarcely
deigning to notice their fresh young
faces. With advancing years h din
ners and smiles had ceased, but De
Verneuil hardly felt their absence
indeed he congratulated himself with
pride upon having escaped the many
4 a"hFShpc Ibid Nv 1h1Sa of
Eve to entrap him. Supremacy on
tent in his bachelor bliss. he lived
entirely alone in an elegant apart
ment. as free as a bird upon a noun
tain top. following his own sweet ca
prices, amusing himself with what
pleased him. and avoiding all that was
irksome or tiresome. Shut up secure
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 Duvi-
vier's visit, as he sat at the window
~contentedly smoking his pipe, he was
tempted by the inviting March sun
shine to take a promenade along the
boulevard. But the treacherous March
sun had deceived him, and before he
had gone very far he began to feel
chilled beneath his light spring over
coat. while an unwelcome sneeze fore
told a cold in the head. Like all ego
lists, Edmond de Verneuil was pain
fully careful of his health, so he i'm
mediately dropped into a cafe and or
dered a smoking hot punch to ward
off, if possible, the disastrous effects
of the chilly air. While he sat Ian
guidly slipping his drink, his eyes
rested on a highly colored placard on
the opposite wall, representing a Sc
ries of enchanting views on the Med
~iterranean, and under them this in
scription:
"To the Blu Coast.-Express trains to
Cannes, Nice, and Monaco-the journey
made in seventeen hours."
The blue sky, the blue sea, the
warm southern sunshine, the gorgeous
flowers of Nice, and the perfume of
the orange trees, all appealed to De
Verneuil's aesthetic fancy. 'There,
at least" he thought, 81 shall be safe
from Influenza" and Immediately he
made up his mind to go 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 Verneuil strutted
about nervously in a luxurious COM
partment of the Nice express, after
having selfishly strewn his handling
gage over the unoccupied seats, in
the hope OF securing b entire COM
partment tc himself.
But complete happiness does not
belong to this mundane sphere, and
in the twinkling of an eye De Yer
neuil's hopes of solitude were shat
tered by the arrival of a phlegmatic
Englishman, who, without asking any
questions and with that impossible
air which distinguishes the travelling
Briton, deliberately removed the va
Uses and installed himself in their
place. The Partisan was tempted TO
protest but a moments reflection con-
vinced him that this was bad policy,
for he had no right to reserve the en-
tire compartment for his own use
So the crusty bachelor contented him
self with an inaudible growl. Hardly
had he recovered from his first dis.
appointment, howeve<, when the com
partment was again invaded by 9
handsomely gowned elderly lady, with
a sweet, ~high-bred, patrieian face, &C
companied by a younger woman
whose p~ale-gray travelling gown sci
off to advantage her wealth of blonde
hair, fair complexion and sympathetic
blue Y and holding by the hand
a delicate hoy of five.
A glance at the child Immediately
told De Verneuil that the little fel
low was i'll and probably going south
in search of health, and while the
two women placed him tenderly or
the cushions and tucked the light
; warm Roman blanket around him
De verneuil growled again to him
+ self. "a charming voyage 1 shall
. have,' thought he, with a phlegmatit
: Englishman and a sick child!" And il
disgust he left the compartment ant
went in search of another. But ht
: soon returned in a worse humor, fol
I the compartments were all filled
When the train started, the disgrun
tied bachelor threw open the win
4 dow to let in the fresh March air, but
the pretty woman in gray, in her low
sweet English voice. begged monsieur
. to close it, as she feared the air wa
4 too strong for her little boy, and D.
Verneuil, with the politeness of
4 true chevaIier. complied with her re