The Falls City tribune., 1909-07-09

The interview would last barely
five minutes. and then she would re
turn home. Surely it was a slight sac.
rifiee to make for the man who was
going To lose her-perhaps forever"
Where does the w-asherwoman ele-
ment come in?' asked Van Loo. who
began to feel bored.
I'm coming to that. Now. as Du-
val sat waiting for her, in came a lot
of men he knew to wish him good
luck on his voyage-just as you chaps
came here tonight. Among them.
Barret, was a man she knew. His
name was Belfontaine. He was an
old friend of hers, and a constant VS.
itor at the countess house. He knew
! nothing, of course, Of Eugenie's en-
gagement to Duval,"
"Well?" asked Barrett in the same
stifled voice.
WELL resumed Denton, lighting
another cigar, the men were loafing
around Duval's room, talking, when
suddenly in came Eugene. She had
lett her maid in the hall and had
come i'll alone-to confront a roomful
of men. She just stood still a second,
painting with terror. She saw Belfon-
tame and knew he recognized her. IL
he once let out the secret of her pres
ence there she was disgraced forever.
The visit was innocence itself; but
the whole world would condemn her
unheard."
How did she get out of it? What
did acknowledgements"
Before Belfontaine could say a
word, Duval used almost the same
words | did to that washerwoman's
girl tonight. He asked If she had
come for the wash, or some such ques-
ton, and sent her away, leaving the
other men to believe she was really
some working-girl."
And B~elfontaine?" asked Van Loo.
Denton laughed.
why he said, that's the very
point of the whole story; and that's
just where this miserable memory of
mine fails me. | don't remember
what Belfontaine did. You see, Eu-
GENES safety, her whole future, hung
oh ASiApiihAiliC' MI IhC OllCl Hull
present We're strangers to her. But
B%elfontaine was a different PROPOSE
ton. Why, Barrett, the poor girls life
lay in the hollow of his hand"
Denton's voice had lost its habitual
carelessness and there was a ring of
genuine appeal in it.
I'll tell you what Belfontaine did,"
suddenly announced Barrett.
What! Do you"
Yes. | remember the story per-
fectly now. | must have read it in
the same magazine that Denton did.
| suppose, Denton, the magazine may
have been lying about your o
somewhere and | picked it up"
no doubt, no doubt" assented his
host eagerly. And Il
What ala the man do?" broke in
Van Loo.
Barrett sat silent a moment before
continuing. His ace was very white,
and there were in it lines that had
not shown earlier in the evening. He
was looking out of the high window.
across the city.
you forgot n point in the Seal
of Silence Denton" he began at last,
his eyes wandering over the distant
riyer-lights as he spoke. COR perhaps
you never grasped the point at alb;
Belfontaine loved Eugenie."
Denton started, then tried to cover
his confusion with a laugh.
"He loved herr went on Barrel.
They had been friends all their lives,
and from childhood he had worshiped
her. She knew nothing of his love. He
had tried to succeed in life with the
wild hope of winning her. Then came
hat horrible evening when he met
her face to face in Duvals rooms He
knew nothing, at first, of her motive
for coming there. All he knew was
that his idol and his ~life-hopes lay
crushed in the dust. Then Duval
found a means of telling him the
whole truth, and he"
And he-"echoed Denton.
Say" broke in Carter, this is a
fake story from first to last. I've read
Balzac's works from beginning to end,
n he never wrote a story on such
lines. The plot, the style, the han
ding, are utterly unlike Balzac. l be-
lieve it's a story Denton made up, and
that he told it to us by way of try
ing 1t on the dog before sending II to
a magazine. And believe Barrett
knows it's a fake, too, and is just try
ing to help Denton out"
Pardon me-" remarked Barrett,
but | happen to know it is not a
fake as you call It,"
We'll, then" said Carter trium-
phantly as the men rose to go how
do you reconcile your knowledge of
the story with what you said half
an hour g about never having resd
anything of B"alzac's?"
Laughing to think how easily he
had detected the fraud and routed his
foe, Carter shook hands with Denton
and left the room without waiting for