The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-01-21
CHAPTER XIV.

And now. after having accused Dan
tin OF lying. believing that he was act
ng q comedy. after smiling disdain
fully at hat common ~nvention--a vov
which one could mol break-the per
ception OF a possibility entered tn,
he sincere. Hitherto he had closed mi!
Leart against sympathy for this man
They had met IN mutual hostility.
The manner in which Jacques Dan.
tin approached the question, the reso'
luton with which he spoke, no longer
resembled the obstinate attitude which
he had before assumed in this SAM
room.
Reflection. the prison-the cell, with
out doubt-a frightful n Sitting Gel
had done It's work. The man who
had been excited to the point OF not
speaking o wished to tell all.
Yes" he said. since nothing has
happened to convince you that l an
rot lying
Il am listening to YOU" said the
magistrate.
Then in a long. close conference
JACQUES Dantin told M. Ginory his
story. He related o from early
youth he and Revere had been close
friends: OF the warm affection which
had always existed between them. OF
b shams and receptions of which he
had been guilty Of the bitterness of
his ruined life. of an existence which
ought to have been beautiful, and
which, SO useless, tho life of a viveur,
had almost made NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
tiiic ugh need of money and a lack OF
moral ense. descend to crime.
This Revere. whom he was accused
of killing. he lcved. and, to tell the
truth, In that strange and %troublous ex-
astcRce which he had ltye't Revere had
been tho only .ruc friend whom he had
known. Revere. g sort of pessilnistic
philosopher, a recluse. lycanthropic.
after 4 HE spent In feasting, having
surfeiteG himself with pleasure, recOg-
nixed also in his last years that disin
ttreSted affection is rare in this world
u his savage misanthropy sOftened
before jacques Dantin's warm friend
ship. He continued to search for In what
fs called pleasure and what as ones hair
Whttens becomes vice, in play, In the
uproad of Paris. forgetfulness of life, Of
the dull life OF a mar growing old,
alone. without rome or family, an old,
stupid fellow, whom the young people
took at with hate n say to each other,
Why is he still here?' Revere more
and more felt the need OF Withdraw
Ing into solitude, thinking I'VE his
adventurous life. as a II as ruined
as mine. and he wished to see no one
ia wolf, q wild boar In his lair. a you
understand this friendship between
W old fellows, n OF whom tried In
every way to dlrecs his thoughts from
hiInself and the other waiting death in
q corner OF his fireside, solitary, n
sociable2"N
Perfectly. Go n
And@the magistrate, with eyes rivet-l
edAup0n jacques Dantin. saw this man,
excited, making light OF this recital Of
sSiae past, .evokinE remembrances OF for
gotten events. . { this lost affection
lost.EAs all his life was.
This ia no q conference. Is It not
sO9 You no longer believe that It Is q
comedy loved Revere. Life had
often separated Ms. He searched for
fortune atEthe other n OF the world.
I made 9 mess OF mine and ate 1t in
Paris. But we always kept up our re-
lations.s and when he returned to
France we were happy In again seeing
each other. The grayer turned the
hair. the: more tender the heart became.
Iahad always found him morOse-from
his twentieth year he always dragged.
after him a sinister cOmpaniOn-cnnuf.
He had chosen a consular career, to
aliNesfar away and in q fashion not at
all like ours. I have often l%aughingly
9 4 to him that he probably had met
peFienced some unhappy passion. He
said no! I feigned to believe 1t. One
10 mo somber n melancholy like that
without some secret grief. After all,
there are others who do not feel n
gayer with a smilc on the lips. Sad
~ 49, ~ o0Jlky w.
His face took on a weary, melan-
scho1y expression which at first aston
Nlshed the magistrate; then he expert
elced q feeling OF pity. He listened.
silent n grave.
81 will pass over all the details of
u life. shn1l / not? MY monologue
would be too long. The years OF youth
raised with q srapidity truly astonish-
Ing. W. ON to the time when we
found Ourselves--he, weary of life, es-
tablished ! his chosen apartments in
the Boulevard de Clichy. with his
paintings and hooks, sitting in front OF
his fire and awaiting death, I continue
Ing to spur myself on like q foundered
horse. Revere moralized to me-. I
teereds ut his sermons. and I went to sit
Ny his freside and talk over the past.
n OF his Joys had been this portrait
rad hung It up In his salon, at the
corner OF the chimney piece. at the left,
n he often; said to me:
sDost thou know that when thou
Sre not here i talk to it?s
i was not there very often, Pari-
sian siife draws us by It's thousand at
fractions. The days which seem In
tarminable when one Is 20 rush by az
lf on wings when one is SO. One has
not overtime to stop to see h friends
z loves. At h last moment. 4 one
10 right, one ought to ay: How ]
hayescast to the winds everything pre-
cious which life has given me. How
foolish INhaveS been-how stupid Pay
no attention to my philosophims-the
cell. Maxas forces one to think.
.sdOna sday-it was one morning-on
returning from the club where I had
passed the night stupidity losing sums
witch would have given Joy to hun
dreds Of families. I found on my desk
"a message from Revere. II one would
look through my papers. one would
hndsit IT, there. I kept 1t. Revere begged
me to come to him Immediately. ]
shirered-a sharp presentiment OF
death struck me. The writing was
trembling. unlike his own. / struck
my forehead In anger. This message
had been waiting for me since the
night before. while 1 was spending the
hours in gambling. II, when I hurried
toward the Boulevard de Clichy, I had
found Revere dead on my arrival. ]
could not. believeSme, have experienced
greater despair. Has assassination
seemed to me atrocious. but 1 was al
least able tt assure him that his friend
tsshipHWhs returned. hastily read the
telegram, threw myself into a fiacre
ard FASTENED to his apartments. The
woman who acted as housekeeper FOL
him. Nine. M0niche, the Fortress, rails.
" Inn her arms az h opened h dool
me. said: