Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-03-30

that country who practiced every
trade. There were cobblers, there
were goldsmiths. All had learned to
know her and to love her, for she al
ways interested herself in all their
troubles and all their little hobbies.
She knew unsupported corners that
were secretly occupied by little old
couples. She knocked at Their door
and introduced Raoul to them as a
Prince Charming who had asked for
her hand; and the two of them, sit
ting on some worm-eaten property"
would listen to the legends of the !
opera, even as, in their childhood,
they had listened to the old Breton |
tales. Those old people remembered |
nothing outside the opera. They had |
lived there for years without number. |
Past arrangements had forgotten |
them; palace revolutions had taken |
no notice of them; the history OF |
France had run it's course unknown |
to them; and nobody recollected their
existence.
The precious days sped in this
way; and Raoul and Christine, by af-
fecting excessive interest in outside
matters, strove awkwardly to hide
from each other the one thought of
their hearts. One fact was certain,
that Christine, who until then had
shown herself the stronger of the
two, became suddenly inexpressibly
nervous. When on their expeditions,
she would start running without rea-
son or else suddenly stop; and her
hand, turning ice-cold in a moment,
would hold the young man back.
Sometimes her eyes seemed to pur-
sue imaginary shadows" She cried,
This way" and This way" and
''This way" laughing a GREATNESS
laugh that often ended in tears. Then
Raoul tried to speak, to question her,
in spite Of his promises. But, even
before he had worded his question,
she answered feverishly:
Nothing ! swear 1t is
nothing"
Once, when they were passing be-
fore an open trapdoor on the stage,
Raoul stopped over the dark cavity.
you have shown me over the up
per part Of your empire, Christine,
| but there are strange stories told OF
the lower part. Shall we go DOWN"
She caught him in her arms, as
though she feared to see him disap-
pear down the black hole. and, in a
trembling voice, whispered:
Never! win not have
you go therel Besides, it's
not mine everything that is
underground belongs to him!"
Raoul looked her in the eyes and
said roughly:
$50 he lives down there. does he?"
81 never said so. Who told
you thing like that? Come away!
I sometimes wonder If you are quite
sane, Raoul. You always take
things in such an impossible way
Come along! Gomez"
And she literally dragged him
away, for he was obstinate and want
ed to remain by the trap-door; that
hole attracted him.
Suddenly, the trap-door was closed
and so quickly that they did not even
see the hand that worked It; and they
remained quite dazed.
Perhaps he was there" Raoul said,
at last.
She shrugged her shoulders, but did
not seem easy.
No, no, it was the 'trap-door-shut-
ters.' They must do something, you
know. They open and shut
the trap-doors without any particular
reason. It's like the door
shutters; they must spend their time
somehow"
But suppose it were he, Christine?'
mo, no, He has shut himself up
he is working"
"Oh, really! He's working, is he?'
yes, he can't open and shut tEs
trap-doors and work at the same
time" She shivered.
What is he working at?"
, ooh, something terrible! -
, But it's all the better for US.
When he's working at that, he seei
nothing; he does not eat, drink, OF
/ breathe for days and nights at
: time he becomes a living
: dead man and has no time to amus'
T himself with the trap-doors."
4 She sh1vered again. she was SUI
8 holding him in her arms. Then sh
y sighed and said, III her turn:
d Suppose it were he!"
"Are you afraid OF him?"
d mo, no, Of course not" she said.
r For all that, on the next day an
/ the following days, Christine wa
s careful to avoid the trap-doors. He
| he
e passed At last, one afternoon, sh
+ arrived very late, with her face s
r desperately pale and her eyes so de!
), perately red, that Raoul resolved t
( go to all lengths. including that whic
l. he foreshadowed when he blurted on
- that be would not go on the Mort