Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-02-17
A STORY OF
The CARNIVAL
[OriginaI.l

winter; summer is my delight. This is
often the case with those who are
ideal, imaginative, impressionable. To
escape the cold season Of 189- | went
to Nice and took rooms in a hotel look
ing out on the quay, decorated with
| tropical plants, and the Mediterranean
beyond. Going to d window to take
! " the pleasant view, l noticed a name
sShat had been scratched on the pane
with a diamond.
! have said that l am of an impress
sionable nature, but this does not ex-
plain satisfactorily the effect this name,
Marguerite, had upon me. Besides the
curiosity natural to any one under the
! Gil circumstances as to who Marguerite
might be, felt some mysterious link
inS OF her personality with mine.
! l remained in Nice for the carnival
| Wlen the streets were full Of merry
ms kers l sailed forth to ming!e with
| the fun. | walked back and forth,
| jostled by the crowd, for an hour and
YVES about to return to my hotel when
| met two girls sandwiched between
! two men. My attention was called to
! them by receiving a handful of con-
! fetti-bits Of paper the size of snow
| lakes and somewhat resembling them
thrown in my face by one of the
| girls. Her eyes scintillated with mis-
chief A few seconds was the period
we looked at each other; then / was
! again confronted with the crowd in
which | had no interest I walked the
street till the last merrymaker had
! left it, hoping to see her again, but
was doomed to disappointment.
went to sleep thinking of the pretty
face of the girl who had covered me
with confetti and the next morning
awoke to see the laughing eyes looking
into mine, and, to my surprise, they
did not fade away with time
/ l spent the coming summer at Paris.
! Whoever has been there in the month
of June will not be likely to forget the
gay throngs, the sparkle of sunshine,
the young leaves in the Champs d'Ely-
sees, the universal brightness. While
reading my paper one morning at
breakfast l came upon an article at
variance with all this liveliness. It
was an account of the case of Mime.
! Thurier, who had married an old man
for family reasons, who had been bru-
tally treated by him and a few weeks
after her marriage had been accused
1 by him of infdelity. 1t suited his pur-
pose to get rid of her, and he hired
people to swear to facts that were I'M
| true. By her adroitneSs she exposed
the plot and got a counter divorce.
was much interested in the case, espe-
cially in the ingenious methods by
which the lady proved her innocence
and exposed her husbands villainy
The article stated that she was much
broken down by her trying experience
A year later 1 was in Paris again
One night at the opera my friend Jean
ChappOral between the acts told me
that he wished to present me to his
cousin. | was about to leave to keep
an engagement and suggested taking
another opportunity. Il have no right
to say So" he said, "but she will be
disappointed" This was enough, and
l went with him to his Cousins box.
"Mlle. Martel, have the
nO u1OE0. 1uor0 D0IOr0 me, q
vision Of loneliness in silk and lace
was the girl who had covered me with
confetti. She had noticed me sitting
in the parquet and had seen her cousin
speak to me; hence the introduction
The only change / noticed in her was
that her face lacked the roundness I
had noticed when l had first seen 1t,
| thnrn in 70
mind me Of a fair landscape on WHICH
the sun is shining, but over which a
storm has recently crossed.
81 will leave you for a few minutes"
said ChappOral, with Nine. Thurier.
l mean He retired in confusion.
An expression of pain came over the
lady's face.
"Do not think" she said, chat l am
sailing under false colors. Everybody
knows that am Nine Thurier, though
l pass under my maiden name"
She was about to explain further
when l spared her the pain of doing
so by telling her that 1 knew her
story.
What she said to me and l to her
during those few minutes that l was
left alone with her l have no remem-
brance. l was wholly taken up with
a great joy that 1 had found the girl
Of whom l had been dreaming since
4 the carnival. Just before the curtain
rose Chapporal returned, and | arose
to leave.
'My COUSIN" said the lady, twill
show you the way to our house. Won't
you, Jean?'
Certainly, Marguerite"
l started.
"What's the matter now?'' exclaim-
ed Chapporal. "Have 1 Numbered
again.
''Mademoiselle," 1 said, "were you
ever at Nice before the season during
which 1 saw you there?"
eyes; several times"
"Did you stay at any time at the
i Hotel Pr