Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-12-18

, coupe driven by O. coachman wearing
= trico,ored cockade." He YVES going to
he prefecture, ths Permanence, when
I the Rue des Bons- Enfants he was
,stinctively attracted to a shop win
ow where rusty old arms, tat.ered
uniforms. worn shakos. garments with
out value. smoky pictures. yellowed en-
cravings and chance ornaments, rare
old copies OF books. old romances, an
cient books with eaten bindings, a
mass OF dissimiiar objects lost keys.
belt buckles. abolished medals. battered
sous-were mixed together iE an OBJ
iorg space as in a sort OF trough.
On either side oc this chop win
dow hung Some soiled uniforms, a
%zouave's vest, an academician's old
hahi:. lugubrious with It's embroider-
les OF green, Il solled costume which
had been worn by some Pferrot at the
carnival. 1t was, in all its sad irony,
the vulgar hand me down that"
which makes one think OF that other
morgue where he clothing has been
rejected by the living or abandoned by
the dead,
Bernardet was neither OF a melan-
choly temperament nor q dreamer, and
he did not give much time to the tear
ful side OF the question. but he was
possessed OF a raYenous curiosity, and
the sight, however frequent. OF that
envy W I ~ = I AAhiAha
With. moreover. that sort OF magnetism
| which the searchers, great or small,
intuitiVely feel-a collector of knick-
knacks. discoveries Of unknown coun-
tries, bookworms bent over the volumes
st 4 sous apiece, or chemists crouchcd
over a retort-Bernardet had been sud
denly attracted by q portrait, exposed
as an object rather than the others, in
the midst OF this detritus OF abandoned
luxury or of past military glory.
Yes. among the tobacco boxes, the
belt buckle. the Turkish poniard,
watches with broken cases, common
place Japanese ornaments, u painting,
wal i'm form, lay therC-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
d and Bernardet fully believed at
the first loOk he recognized the person
whom the painter had reproduced.
As his shadow fell across the window
Bernardet could not distinctly see the
painting, for II was not directly in the
front line of articles displayed, and he
~ Pp@N I SAlN PAA'N ~ w IL IN NoAA'
get a better view. Assuredly, there
could be no doubt, the oval painting
was certainly the portrait Of Jacques
Danttn, now accused Of q crime. There
was the same high forehead, the point
ed beard, OF the same color; the black
~redingote, tightly buttoned up and
edged at the neck with the narrow line
of a white linen collar, giving, in re-
sembling a doublet. to this painting,
the air Of a trooper. of a swordsman,
Of n Guisard Ca 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 accus-
toned TO criticise n portrait If 1t were
not q perfect likeness. Bernardet found
In this picture n 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 Characters
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 In this portrait JAG
ques Dantin looked somewhat younger
illStdAASEs Nilo ain oAiiNS |
beard showed no silvery streaks in
them-the resemblance was so marvel
Qua that Bernardet- Immediately ex-
claimed, 1T Is he!"
And most certainly 1t was Jacques
Dantin himself. The more tho officer |
examined it the more convinced he be-
came that this was a portrait of the
man whom he had ACCOMPANIED to the
cemetery and TO prison. Blu how could
this picture have come into this brio
a-brac shop, and Of whom could the
dealer nave obtained It? A reply to
this would probably not be very diff
cult to obtain, and the police officer
pushed back the door and found him.
self In the presence of n very large
woman. with a pale, puffy face. which
was surrounded by a lace cap. Her
huge body was developed In a Knitted
wooden shawl. She wore spectacles.
(continucd Next Weekl