The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1908-12-17

coupe driven by a c~oachman wearing
a tricolored cockade." He was going to
the prefecture, the Permanence. then
in the Rue des Bons-Enfants he was
instinctiyely attracted to a shop win
dow where rusty old arms, tattered
uniforms. worn shakos, garments with
u value, smoky pictures, yellowed en-
cravings and cnance ornaments, rare
old copies of books, old romances, an
cient books with eaten bindings, a
mass Of dissimi!ar objects-lost keys,
belt buckles, abolished medals, battered
us-w mixed together in an OBJ
long space as in a sort of trough.
On either side of this shop Win
dow hung some soiled uniforms, a
z%ouave's vest, ar academician's old
habit. lugubrious with its embroider-
les of green, n soiled costume which
had been worn by some Picrrot at the
carnival. Il was, in all its sad irony,
the vulgar hand me down that"
which makes one think Of that other
morgue where the clothing has been
rejected by the living or abandoned by
the dead
Bernardet was neither of 81 melan-
choly temperament nor a dreamer. and
he did not give much time to the tear
full side Of the question, but he was
possessed of a taVenous curiosity, and
the sight. however frequent, OF that
shop window always attracted him..
With, moreover, hat 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
at A sous apiece, or chemists ~croucled
over a retort-Bernardet had been sud-
denly attracted by a portrait, exposed
as an object rather than the others, in
the midst of his detritus of abandoned
luxury or of past military glory.
Yes, among the tobacco boxes, the
~. - ~ uN,-I,-1. -; .
watches With broken cases. common
place Japanese ornaments, q painting,
oval in form. lay there-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, blu
this is SINGULAR"
Flo leaned forward until his nose
touched the cold glass and peered fix
edly Mt the picture, This painting. as
large as one's hand, was the portrait of
a man, and Be1nardct fully believed at
tie 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 1T was not directly in the
front line of articles displayed. and he
stepped to one side to see II he could
| get d better View, AssuYedly, there
could be no doubt, the oval painting
was certainly the portrait of jacques
Danttu, DOW accused of a crime. There
was the sane 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-
sernbling a doublct, to this painting,
the dir of a trooper, of a swcrdsman,
Of q Gaisard Ga partisan of the Duke of
Guise), of the time of Clouet.
. 49, 1-s "a ~f o-a~,N ~ =, -, =, III
ing. without doubt. in his quality OF
amateur photographer, much accus-
toned to criticise a portrait If it We're
not a perfect likeness, Bernardet found
In his picture a startling resemblance
TO Jacques Dantin. 1t was the very
man himself. He appeared there, his
thin face standing out from it's green
ish black somber background; the poise
of the head displayed the same vigor
as in the original; the clear cut feat
urcs looked energetic, n the skin had
the same pallor which was characters
tic of Dantin's complexion. The head.
admirably painted. displayed an as
t%onishing lifelilse intensity. 1t had been
done by a master hand. no doubt Of
that. and although in this portrait JAG
ques Dantin looked somewhat younger
for instance, the hair and pointed
beard showed ne silvery streaks In
them-the resemblance'was so marvel
Gus that Bernardet Immediately ex-
claimed, 1T Is he!"
And most certainly 1t was Jacques
Dantin himself. The more the 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. But how Gould
this picture have come into this brio
a-brac shop. and of whom could the
dealer have obtained it? A reply to
this would probably not be very diff
\ p1,It tn obtain and tho nn1iCa nfipars
pushed back the door and found him
self in 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
wooden shawl. She wore spectacles.
(C~onS:aued Next Week1
To E~,I+ad T,eLec