The Washington herald., 1911-02-19

tnlS nSnt suggestion was climbing the
hill with that tirelsss resilient step of
one born to mountains. No task ap-
Feared visibly to weary this man. Small
! as he was his bones were as strong
and his muscles as stringy as a VOLTS
! If the butterfly was worth while he
would follow till it fell to his net or day
! light withdrew its support. Never he
| lost patience, never his smile faltered
never his mild specialized eyes wavered-
| He was a savant by nature; he was a
secret agent by choice Who knows any,
thing about rare butterflies appreciates
the peril of pursuit; one never picks the
going and often stumbIes. He was a
| hunter of butterflies by nature; but he
possessed something more than a mere
smattering of other odd crafts. He was
| familiar with precious gems, marbles he
knew and canoes; he could point out the
weakness in drawing. the false effort
| in symphony; he was something OF
mutual interest to every man and woman
he met.
So it fell out very wen that Admiral
killigrew was fond Of-butterffies- Still he
should have been equally glad to know
that the sailors hobby inclined toward
the exploits OF pirates NJ Ferrard was
modest man. That his exquisite bro
chure on lepidOpterOus insects was in
nearly all the public Libraries of the
world only gratified, but added nothing
TO his vanity.
AS it oftentimes happens TO a man
whose mind is occupied with other
things, the admiral. who received NJ. Fer
raud in the library, saw nothing in the
name to kindle his recollection. He bads
the savant to he seated while he read the
letter of introduction which had been
written by the Secretary of the Navy.
Ny Dear KiIligrew This viii intrufrec To you
Monsieur Ferraud. q the butterfly fame He has
learned Of the saIccsss If your efforts In the West
Indies and South America and is eager to your
collection DO what you for him. I know yusI
will for you certainly must have his book. my
self do not know butterfly from a Jupe-bng. but
It will be pleasure TO bring you two tngeth-.
Breitmann arranged his papers neatly
and waited to be dismissed. He had seen
NJ. Ferraud at Swans, but had formed
no opinion regarding him; in fact, the
growth OF his interest had stopped at in
difference. On his part, the new arrival
never so much as gave the secretary a
second glance-the first was sufficient.
And while the admiral read on NJ Fer
raud examined the broken skin on his
palms.
M. Ferraud, Well, well, This is
great honor. I'm sure 1t was very kind
Of them to send you here. Where is
your luggage
Il am stopping at Swans Hotel"
We shall have your things up this
very night"
oh said Ferraud, in protest, though
this was the very thing he desired
Not a word The admiral summoned
the butler. who was the general facto-
tum at the Pinies, and give a dozen or
ders.
"Ah. you Americans laughed NJ Fer
raud. pyramiding his fingers. You leave
us breathleSS'
Your book has delighted me. But I'm
afraid my collection will not pay you for
your trouble"
That is for me to decide. Nv South
American specimens are all seconds. On
the other hand, you have netted yours
yourself
And straightway bond of friendship
was riveted between these two men
which still remains bright and unfair
nished by either absence or forgetfulnesS.
They bent over the cases, agreed and dis
agreed, the one with the sharp gestures,
the other with the rise and fall of the
voice. For them nothing else existed;
they were truly engrossed-
Breitmann, hiding a smile that was
partly a yawn, stole quietly away. But
terflies did not excite his concern in the
least
NJ. Ferraud was charmed. He was vol
uble. Never had he entered more
homelike place, large enough to be called
a chateau, yet as cheerful as writer's
fire. And the daughter! Her French was
the elegant speech of Tours, her German
Hanoverian. Incomparable! And she was
not married? Helas! How many luck
less fellows walked the world desoiate?
And this was NJ. Fitzgerald, the journal
ist? And NJ. Breitmann had also been
one? How delighted he was 10 be here,
All this flowed on with perfect natural
ness; there wasn't a false note any
where. At dinner he diffused a warmth
and geniality which were infectious
Laura was pleased and amused, and she
adored her father for these impulses
which brought to the board. unexpect-
ed!y, such men as n. Ferraud
NJ. Ferraud did not smoke, but he dis
sipated TO the extent of drinking three
small cups OF coffee after dinner
You are right he Acknowledged
there had been a slight dispute relative
to the methods OF roasting the berry
Europe does not roast its coffee. it
burns it. The aroma, the bouquet, I
am beaten.
80 am l." Fitzgerald reflected sadly.
snatching a vision of the girls animated
face
Three days he had ridden into the coun-
try with her, or played tennis. or driven
down to the village and inspected the
yacht. He had been lonely so long and
this beautiful girl was such a good COM
rade. One moment he blessed the pros
pective treasure hunt, another he exc
Grated it To be with this girl was to
love her, and whittier this pleaSurable
idleness would lead him he was neither
blind nor self-deceiving. But with the
semi-humorous reckleSsness which was
the leaven of his success, he thrust pru-
dence behind him and stuck TO the prtm-
rose path. He had played with fire be-
fore. but never had the Goals burned SO
brightly. He did not say that she was
above him: mentally and by birth they
were equals; simply, he was compelled
to admit of the truth that she was be-
yond him. Money. That was the OBJ
staCle. For what man will live on his
wife's bounty? Suppose they found the
treasure land with his old journalistic
he was still skepticaD and di-
vided it, why. the interest on his share
would not pay for her dresses. To the
ordinary male eye her gowns looked in
expensive, but to him. who had picked
up odd bits of information not usually in
the pathway Of man, to him there was
no secret about it. That bodice and
have eaten up the gains of any three OF
mis- most prosperous months.
And Breitmann, dropping occasionally
The ash of his cigarette on the tray. he.
100. was pondering But his German
strain did not make 1t so easy for him
as for Fitzgerald to give concrete form to
ris thought. The star, as he saw il, had
l nebulous appearance
NJ Ferraud chatted gayly. Usually a
nan who holds his audience is OF single
purpose. The little Frenchman had two