Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-23
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.
Copyright, 1907, BY Thomas H. MeKss.
CHAPTER ".

payet watched the carriage till it passed out OF
sight He admired her enormously-she was
pretty, SO plucky, high-spirited, so kind.
noble woman She was right however when she
said she was no genius. She had a personality,
and had been perfectly trained by the nuns at
convent school and old French professor from
the Conservatoire in Paris. From the nuns she
had learned distinction and from the professor she
had learned technical SKILL she had inherited vi
vacious emotional temperament.
Paget had been drawn to her in the first instance
by her sympathy. He felt himself interpreted,
justified, and subty fattered as he had never De-
fore been interpreted, justified and hattered even
by his own conscience. That she was very young,
very attractive and sweetly in love with him added
to the enchantment of their relationship. On ms
side it was marriage of tender devot1on-sne
was always sacred to him, and therefore little
remote On her side, it marriage of roman
tic sentiment longing for self-sacrifce The long
ing at least destined to be grat1hed
Her unselfshness was a constant reproach to
Paget who was manly enough to appreciate her
virtues but not saint enough to emulate them. IL
shamed him to see the refined, delicate girl living
with patience, In surroundings which he found ao-
soutely intolerable-actually degrading. They
had between them something under two pounds
week-she washed and swept, and cooked, ana
mended; cleaned windows, and boots SCRUBBED
foors and worked, as he declared, like a deck
hand But whereas she never surrendered, ana
kept m her gaiety, laughing at the squalor, dis
cerning humor and divine intentions under every
repellent appearance, he became morose' 1ll-hu-
She could think Of her unborn baby; he could
only think of his wasted career.
The suggestion that they should separate came
mercifully from strangers They had been TO- to-
gether for year; the boy six weeks old the
mother tsbe was not seventeen) was ordered
change of air, some fears were expressed lest
she might sink into decline. The nuns who had
brought her up and from whom she had run away
in order to marry Paget, offered to take her and
her baby as boarjers for a trifing sum for an IN
definite term. Such promise seemed the opening
Df
with thanksgiving
Paget pawned his fathers old meerschaum. in
order to pay the cab fare from Edgeware Road to
Charilg Cross, and his watch paid the journey
money first-class to Paris. Funds did not allow
but he them safely into the train for the joyous
city, and wildly kissed the two poor creatures,
mother ana child and, after their departure, wildly
went during the solitude and under the of the
might as he paced the quay 1t was all for the best
but what best! What downfall!
Youth, however, is full of resources, even while
it seeks humiliation. Paget thought seriously OF
leaping into the sea, but while he contemplated the
action he strolled in the direction of the hotels
which were glittering with lights and from each
one of which the strains of band, playing love
songs and dances, put gay Tilt into his tagging
pulse BY chance destiny he entered the largest
and brightest of these establishments and studied its
register in the fantastic hope that he might find
name there that he knew. The fifth name
under his hand the autograph of the conductor
of the Opera at Brussels.
"Was he III?
Eyes, Monsieur was in his room.'
Paget had no card, but he wrote note saying
that he in Boulogne, without plans, seeking
an engagement, and, by way of introduction he
mentioned the name of his teacher at Milan
'If he will see me, need not throw myself over
the edge to-day" thought Paget.
He was surprised to find himself waiting calmly
for the answer. 1t came after twenty minutes de-
lay. Tho great man would him. Paget's ap-
pearance, although he travel-stained and his
eyes showed tho traces Of misery, astonished Mon
sieur Ribardo, his two secretaries and his manager
What trouvaille! When he sang, although he
was little hoarse, his hearers exchanged glances
"a fortune! Another MaureP' He sang second
soag. The conductor urged him to come to Brus-
sells.
What for?"
"I might do something for you"
''I can go nowhere an uncertainty"
The manager now felt quite certain that there
would be something
Ten days Inter he made his first emphatic success
as a singer-appearing in Les Huguenots. The
first check he received was spent in purchasing a