The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-06-07
"A Blight.
lorIginall


celyIng his education be went abroad
10 complete medical studies IN Paris.
AT his departure he was full Of hope,
life, vigor. He returned a changed
man. His exuberant spirits were re.
placed by melancholy. lie Stunned
social life aud for several years instead
Of practlcing his profession did moth
Ing. He never Will DO the man he
would have been because of an episode
that occurred to him while abroad.
In Paris Throop fell In with FLIP
Marchand, man ten years older than
himself, with whom hc became intI-
mate. Marchand was not medical
man. He appeared TO be gentleman
Of means. haillng from the south OF
France Tfe and Throop usually dined
together at cafe aud when not other.
wise engaged visited places Of amuse-
ment IN company. One evening after
Throop Ind been out 10 social gather.
Ing he called at Marchand's rooms In
nm ecstasy over a woman he had met
there Milo. Annette Beauchemln.
"what Ia she iikei' asked his friend.
"Tall. fair. hair light an swede's.
blue eycs. But all this Ia nothing com.
pared with an indescribable expression,
an expression that denotes a depth OF
character 10 III her 10 BIO queen"
Throop did not rest III he had called
upon Mile. Beauchemin, Ills Infatua-
ton did not cool. On the contrary, II
grew apaee, fed by mystery that
hung about the lady. Her name was
French, and she claimed TO DO q
Frenchwoman. but she spoke the Ian
guage with an accent She explained
this by saying that she had lived much
IN other countries. She was about
Throop's nge and lived alone with n
maid IN an apartment whose furnish
ings dcnote1 that she was possessed Of
considerably means. What people she
knew were OF the best, but she knew
very few and did not seem to care to
know more. For one 50 well fitted 10
shine In society she seemed singulariy
ayerse 20 II. Indeed. Throop found II
impossible 10 induce her 10 appear with
him In public.
All this the young doctor communi-
Gated TO his friend. II fear something
wrong about her" be added, "and II
there Is shall be O wrecked man. for
I feel that my very life IL dependent
upon her. am gaining her affection
that know-but II there Is any OBJ
stncle 10 marriage what will II be
worth 10 mef'
II win give you q plan by which you
may find out ali about her." said Mar.
chand. ''if you can contrive to put It In
practice. A woman's history IL writ
ten In her clothes. Get sight Of her
wardrobe. and you shall know ALL"
The idea. at FIRST secuted. took hold
OF Throop, aud one afternoon, having
called on Mile. Beauchemin when she
was not at home, he told her maid that
he would wait for her to come In. The
maid was about to go out herself, but,
knowing Of Throop's intimacy with her
mistress, left him In the apartments.
The temptation was too great to be re-
sisted. He went Into the different
rooms and inspected the wardrobe.
The costumes varied A few were
rich, others ordinary, and there was
one that he thought should have be-
longed to peasant. What surprised
him was fur trimmings on most Of the
garments. and fur wraps We're in abun-
dance. But when he came upon
mans suit, with hat and boots, he was
astonlshed. dismayed.
Returning to the living room, he
wrote with feyerish hand few
words on his card giving an excuse for
not waiting and hastily left the apart
ments. From there he went straight
TO his friends rooms. Marchand9 no.
ticed that there was something on his
mind, but waited till he should ex-
press II. The confidence did not come
at once, but Throop finally told the
whole story, asking at the finish:
"What do you think II meansT
at is mystery indeed" replied
Marchand, "and looks bad. would
advise you to cut mademoiselle out OF
your heart. Go home to America and
marry some one who doesn't need peas
ants dresses and mems suits. And
now l must leave you, Tomorrow |
expect to go away from Paris, not to
return for some time. Goodby."
Throop was too intent upon the rev.
elatlons and their possible consequences
to himself to think much about his
friends departure.
The next morning he arose and went
to cafe for breakfast, After giving
his order he languidly opened his pa
per. One of the first items that arrest
ed his attention under an appropriate
heading was the following;
"At midnight an arrest was made Of
q woman who is charged with an at
tempt on the life Of the chief of police
at st. Petersburg. She has been living
in Paris under the name Of Annette
Beauchemin. By some she Is supposed
to be the daughter Of prominent
Russian nobleman, by others peasant
and by others the person who threw a
bomb six months ago In Warsaw. One
Of the cleverest of French detectives,