The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-25
Conscience Money
A TALE OF THE PARIS LATIN QUARTER.

/, bought the head from sudden, care
| less pity for the boys red nose and
| chillblains. If she had peddled
| sketches on the bridge, with her nose
| red and her toes coming through her
| boots, she, too, would have made
money, she thought, as she hungrily
wondered how much the boy had made
| by his sale.
The lady unclasped the little bag
! that hung by chain to her wrist, and
| searched for money. Shewas evident
| ly careless, and carried many things
| therein. Suddenly she jerked out
| WhiSp Of Northumberland, and I'M
| der 1t found the cache where the mon
| ey had been secreted. She bent her
| face to search for the desired coin and
| so did not see that with the handker-
| chief five-franc piece had been
| tWitched out
| Celia did see She saw it spring out,
and then drop into bank of snow, ss
| if purposely to avoid detection She
made a step forward to pick it up and
| return it. And then she stopped--a
| thought went through her like a zig
gag of lightning. Cupidity, born of
| hunger burst into life in her, and nail
! ed her to the spot, her mouth dry, her
| eyes vacant of expression. For the
| first time in her life Temptation grip
| ped her.
|
! seemly New England forbearS cried
| out upon her and struggled within her.
But she stood her ground. The coin
| lying in the snow seemed of more I'M
| portance to her than everything else
| in the world.
| AS the lady passed away, Celia drew
near the images The boy was rear
| ranging them. When his back was
| turned she bent down and CROPPED in
| the snow. Then rose with her face
| red.
! She crushed down the shame that
| surged in her, and turned to leave the
| bridge. There is Duval on the Boil
| levard ST. German, and she almost
| ran to 1t, thinking as she went of what
| she would order. She would spend
| two francs and half, allowing a
| girl She knew the Duvals well, and
| how one could get the best for ones
| money.
1t was not the crowded hour, and
| she had no need to hurry. She ate
| sumptuOusly and slowly, and began
| to feel the revivifying tide of life fow-
| ing back into her starved body. The
| The river called no more. In the
| liesurely French fashion she sat a
| long time over her meal The day
was darkening to its early twilight as
| she emerged and Jared down the bou-
| levard.
She was walking slowly down the
! great street, her body warmed, the
enormity of her act began to force 1T
self upon her. She refused to ac-
knowledge 1t at first. Hunger was
sufficient excuse. But not so much her
| conscience as her sense of dainty self
respect insisted on her shame. She
was thief. Her whiteness was stain
| ed forever. She had never before done
anything for which to blush or to lie.
/ Her poverty, her disbursement, her
| pitiful, proud struggles, had always
| been honest. She would as soon have
| thought of numbering some one as of
stealing from them.
Now she had done it. One moments
temptation had marked her forever.
AS the money had fallen into the snow
| something in her had fallen, never to
| rise.
| Pursued by harassing thoughts, she
half unconsciously wendell her way to-
+: ward the river. Here, unencumbered
! by houses, daylight still fingered. The
| gray afternoon was dying with a fros-
| ty brilliance. In it's death throes 1t
| eXhaled a sudden, angry red which
broke through the clouds in smolder-
| ing radiance. It's flush tinted the sky
| and touched the tops of the wave.
| lets. Celia felt it on her face like the
| color of shame.
| AS she stood staring at it, her pallor
| glazed with an unnatural blush, an in
| SEPARATION came to her which sent q
| tide of real color into her face. A
manner of redeen1ing herself sudden
| ly was revealed to her. She would give
| the rest of the money to the most needy
| person she met that evening. She
would walk the city till she found some
one more deserving of 1t then she.
Then she would give all she had
share her theft with some other pauper
| to whom two francs would mean sal
| walton.
| She felt instantly stimulated and re-
vived by return of self-respect. Eth
| er side of the river would be rich in
case Of heartbreak and hunger. Stand
| ing in the middle of the bridge she
| looked from the straight line of gray
| houses on the Quai Voltaire to the vast
| facade of the Louvre. Then some whim
| impelled her to choose the side of the
! city where wealth dwells, and she
walked forward toward the guichets of
| the old palace.
The city had on the first phase of its
| evening aspect of brilliantly illumined
gayety. People were dining; one
| caught glimpses of them over the half
| curtains of restaurant windows. Wo-
men in voluminous wraps were making
| mincing exits fro mthe hotel doorWays
| to waiting fiacres. There was the
! frou-frou of skirts, whiffs of perfum-
| cry, the shifting of many feet under
| the arcades of the Rue de Rivoli.
| Passing the entrance of one of the
| largest hotels, she was arrested by
familiar voice, and a richly clad and
rustling lady DETECTED her course from
| the carriage that awaited her at the
kerb toward the astonished artist
! Celia felt a curious sensation Of fate
| fulness when she saw in the face be-
fore her that Of an old patron, long
absent from Paris. The lady gave her
warm. greeting; she wanted to see
her tomorrow, apropos of some copies
to be made. Had Celia time to make
the copies? Well, then, would she
come to lunch tomorrow and talk it
over?
The little artist blinked in the glare
| of the doorway and the lady's dia-
| monds. She would.
And now would she go to the theater
with the lady? Only her niece was
with her, and they had box.
No-Celia could. not do that. She
Observation-Disclosures that might
keep her up very late.
The carriage rolled away with the
lady and the niece. and Celia turned
UP one Of the side streets that lead
" lllS SlCdt pOQiCNoiN' Nv l. VI tuiiO
was going to smile on her once more.
All the more reason to square things
with her conscience. She grasped her
purse tightly and looked about her as
she passed UP the narrow thorough
fare. Misery often lurked ashamed in
corners. She knew just how and why.
A few moments more walking, with
an occasional turn into cross-cuts.
brought her into the spacious widen
ing of the ways before the Care ST.
Lazare. 1t was particularly lively in
side the depot Enclosure, as the boat
train for Calais was soon to leave.
There was an incessant rafting of