The Washington times., 1912-01-29
80 HI very well "

Il came here this afternoon said
| Des Fontaines, ito meet Fry DreWey,
| the American millionaire; he Is a great
collector of antiquities, and we are both
interested in certain statuette OF
Doorgha, rare work of art have
the counterpart, and we are going to
| have little talk to decide which OF US
will have the pair"
| you say that my husband is COM
ng?' said Nine. Burnet-Dufour, turning
| to Johannes.
| YES madame"
I'm glad, for am rather tired. I'll
go for a few minutes and rest In the re-
ception room. win you mind my table.
you, NJ des Fontaines. for do not sup
pose that / shall have the pleasure Of
| seeing you again.
| "Oh! I'm not leaving yet"
| mo, but 1 prefer to say good-by
| now, because I feel very tired, and I
may, give up my table; besides 1t Is
Smiling gracIously, Sabine walked off
| to. the reception room. M. des Fon..
talnes and Johannes merely exchanged
a few words after Nine. Barnet-Dufour
flower stall and mingled with the crowd.
! Three minutes later a little messenger
came up to Johannes and handed him
note. He tore 1t open and read 1t
quickly; he told the boy 1t was all right;
then he left the flower stall to look after
itself and hurried from the room
Dufreny had been watching Johannes
| from the distance.
| That's strange" he muttered. "Won-
| der what's up?"
| lie quickly followed the spaniard into
| thc gallery leading from the hall and
| ma himself in a, corner behind some
! tall palms.
Nine. Bcrnet-Dufour came out of the
| reception room and spoke quickly to
Johannes. A few minutes later her
and found himself face to face with his
| wife and her friend. They began to
speak to him hurriedly. as though they
! were telling him some important news.
to think deeply. 1t was impossible for
nufreny 10 get nearer to hear what
they were saying, but it was not diff
| ficu!t for him to guess the sense. The
=! agreo to something about which she
n ttrnt demurred: finally she gave her
consent.
! me three friends separated; Sabine
Johannes left the building. and Barnet
Duiour strolled into the bazaar.
Duf.":.i went back to the hall and
j net me I4crchant face to face; M. Bar
net-Dufour held out his hand to him
at once and said gayly:
And so at last we find you: we owe
It merely to chance, and yet you prom
ised to come and see US. l shall not
whore is my wife? She has the flower
s!all. | don't see her at her table"
Madame was tired, and she went
into the ladies' reception room to rest"
= "Oh! Then we'll go and find her.
, Come with me-
"Il wait for you here"
! no. you don't. I know you too we'll;
- YOU viii break your word again"
The merchant seemed quite decided
not t" let Des Fontaines escape; he
linked his arm in his and together they
wa,krd to the reception room. sabine
ia nd Iph tnC 90 nth ha,
lyoun. women. Barnet-DufCur went up
to her.
"Chcre." he said. "you seer to be for
getting your duties rs a saleslady: NJ
one is looking after your flowers Yo1r
customers are asking for you. and your
friends also. Here Is NJ. des Fontain"s.
I found him in the hall sighing, before
yonr table. for I believe" added her
husband. laughing. that he is in love
with vou.''
1T would not be much of a compi-
ment to madar,e's charms II l were
not said Des FontaLnes. bowling gal
lantly.
Listen to him: ought to be jealous
but. joking apart, you ought to be at
Yes. Tm come now: I have rested
sufficiently"
Barnet-Dufour and De Fontaines
walked with madame to hs- table. and
then the two men strolled off, arm IN
, arm. the merchant chatting gayly all
the time.
| DCfreny could not understand the
change in their attitude toward him.
At irst Sabine had been SO cold and dis
tant and had left him abruptly when he
had mentioned the Doorgha statue. anl
nuw she and her husband were as
friendly as it was possible for them ~
be.
Some newcomers arrived at this mo-
mcnt and created quite a sensation.
There was n father, mother. Ave girls,
and ~ governess. The head Of the FAM
ilv man with an oliye-tIhted skin,
wore diamonds as large as nut in
his tie and on his fingers: the mother.
twice as stout as the Hottentot Venus.
was decked out like An idol with neck
Ilaces, earrings. and rings. Behind these
imposing parents came the family OF
FIVE girls, as thin as laths and all
crossed alike in bright pink. In tho rear
came the governess. tall, beautiful
girl dressed in black from head to foot.
1T was a rich South American family. a
NJ. and Nine. Heriqun. their daughters,
and the governess. Mile. Gisele Provins
| Dufreny, who had seen GiSele at
court when she had given her testi-
many, recognized her at once. The
! Herquas, who lived most of the time
on the Riviera. had now taken up their
3bode in Paris The far,::y pAtronizcd
each st all, and as t!tsy bought usually
.unle trih2 that theT could wear, the
girls enjoyed themselves hugely in
decking themselves out. NJ. Hcrtqua
carried . dozen little flags in his hand
and Nine. lieripua pinned da@Zhne
paper sun on her enormous chest
Everybody laughed. And the good