The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-12-17

coupe driven by q coachman wearing
= tricolorod cockade,, lie WAS going to
he prefecture, tha P-erinanencc, when
the Rue des Bons- Enfants he was
tstinctivcly attracted to n shop win
ow where rusty old arms, tattered
uniforms, worn shakos. garments With
out value, smoky pictures, yellowed en-
cravings and chance rare
old copies OF books, old roinances, an
Client books with eaten bindings. a
mass of dissimiIar obiects-ioSt keys.
belt buckles. abolished medals. battered
sous-were mixed together lE an OBJ
long space as III a sort OF trough.
ON either side .: this shop WIN
dow hung some soiled uniforms. a
zouave's vest, an academician's old
habit, lugubrious with It's ~embroider-
les of green. a soiied costume which
had been worn by some Pierrot ut the
carnival. 1t was. I'm all its sad irony,
the vulgar hand me down that"
which makes ane think OF that other
morgue where the clothing has been
rejected by the living or abandoned by
the dead,
Berrardet was neither OF n melsn-
choiy temperament nor a dreamer. and
he did not give much time to the tear
ful side OF the question. but lie was
possessed OF q curiosity, and
the sight, however frequent. OF that
shop window always attracted aim.
With. moreover. that sort OF magnetism
which the searchers. great or small.
in~tuitively feei-a collector OF knick-
knacks. discoveries or unknown coun-
tries. bookworms bent over the volumes
at 4 sous apiece, or chemists crouched
over a rstort-Bernardet had been sud-
denly attracted by a portrait. exposed
as an object rather han the others, in
the midst Of this detritus OF abandoned
luxury OF of past military glory.
Nna an1nN0 .thn fAhannn AArA1 khA
belt buckle. the Turkish poniard.
watches with broken cases, m
place Japanese ornaments, a painting,
oval in form, lay thert-a sort OF large
medallion without a frame, and at first
sight. by a singular attraction, IT drew
and held the attention of the police
officer.
"Ah!" said Bernardet out loud, but
this Is singular"
He leaned forward until his nose
touched the cold glass and peered fix
eddy at the picture. This painting. az
large as ones hand. was the portrait Of
a a and Bernardet fully believed at
the first look he recognized the person
whom the painter had reproduced.
AS his shadow fell cross the window
Bernardet could not distinctly see the
painting. for II was not directly I'm the
front line OF articles displayed. and he
stepped to one sid to see IL he could
B'A ~ DClNCI NlCNs ASSutCulgy NtISES
could be no doubt. the oval painting
was certainly the portrait OF Jacques
Dantin. now accused OF a crime, There
was the same high forehead. the point
ed beard, OF the same color: the black
redinGote. tightly buttoned up and
edged PIT tho neck with the narrow lire
OF a white linen collar. giving. In re-
sembling a doubiet. to this painting,
the air of a trooper, OF a swordsman,
of q Guisard "a partisan Of the Duke Of
Guise), OF the time Of Clouet.
Something OF a connoisseur in paint
ing. without doubt. In his quality OF
amateur photographer, much nccus-
toned TO criticise q portrait II II were
not q perfect likeness. Bernardet found
In this picture a startling resemblance
to Jacques Dantin. II was the very
man himself. He appeared there. his
thin face standing out from it's green
ish black somber back ground: the poise
OF the head displayed the same vigor
as In the original: the clear cut feat
ures looked energetic. and the skin had
the same pallor which was ~characteris-
tic of Dantin's complexion. The head. |
admirably painted. displayed an as
tonishing lifelike intensity. 1t had been
done by a master hand. no doubt of
that. and although I'm this portrait JAG
ques Dantin looked somewhat younger
for instance. the hair and pointed
beard showed no silvery streaks in
them-the resemblance was SO marvel |
Gus that Bernardet Immediately ex-
claimed, "It is he!" s".
And most certainly II was JACQUES
Dantin himself. The more the officer
examined 1t n more convinced he be-
came that this was, u portrait OF the
man whom he had accompanied to the
cemetery ard to prison. But how could
this picture have come into this brio
a-brac shop, and OF whom could thu
dealer ave obtained It? A reply to
this would probably not be very dim
cult to obtain. and the police officer
pushed back h door and found him
self I'm the presence OF a very large
woman. with a pale. puffy face. which
was surrounded by a lace cap. Her
huge body was enveloped In a knitted
yrnolen ahawI She wnra RpectacTez |