The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-02

.'In any case said Lupin, she
has nothing to conceal, for she has not
! look ed round once.
He had hardly finished his sentence
whom we heard the sound of footsteps
behind us. 1t was two old begRars, u
man and woman, tattered, dirty;
squalid, covered in rags. They passed
us without paying the least attention
| to our presence. The man TOOK from
his wallet a key similar to my neigh
bor S and put it into the lock. The
door closed behind them
And suddenly, ut the top OF the lane
came the noise of mOtoT-car stopping
Bupin dragged me fifty yards
| down lower to Il corner in which we
were able to hide. And we saw com
ing down the lane, carrying a little
dog under her arm, Young and very
much over dressed woman, wearing a
quantity of iewelry, n young woman
whose ewes were too dark, her lips too
red, her hair too fair. In front of the
door, the same performance, with the
same kew. The lady and the dog
disappeared from view -,
"This promises to be most amusing,
said Lupin, chuckling. What earthly
connection can there be between those
different people2'
There hove in sight successively two
elderly ladies, lean and rathor poverty
stricken in appearance, very much
alike, evidently sisters; footman IN
livery; an infantry corporal; lat gen
tleman in a soiled and patched jacket
suit; and, lastly. workman s family;
father, mother, and four cmldren, All
six Of them pale and sickly, looking
like people who never eat their fill.
And each Of the newcomers carried n
basket or string-bug filled with pro-
visions.
"Tt's picnic," I cried.
''It grows more and more surpris-
ing said Lupin, E'nnd ! shan't be
satisfied till / know what is happening
behind that wall
To climb it was out Of the question.
We also saw that it finished, at the
lower as well as at the upper end, at a
house none of whose windows over
looked the inclosure which the wall
contained.
During the next hour, no one else
came along. We vainly cast about for
a strategem; and Lupin, whose fertile
brain had exhausted every possible ex.
pedient, was about to 90 In search or
ladder, when, suddenly, the little door
opened and one of the workman s chill
dren came out.
The boy ran up the lane to the Rue
Raynouard. A few minutes later he
returned, carrying two bottles Of wa
ter, which he set down on the pave
ment to take the big key from his
pocket.
By that time Lupin had left me and
was strolling slowly along the wall.
When the child, after entering the en-
closure, pushed back the door Lupin
sprang forward and stuck the point Of
The bolt failed to catch; and it became
an easy matter TO push the door ajar.
THAT'S done tho trickl' said Lu-
pin.
He cautiously put his hand through
the doorway and then, to my great sur
prise, entered boldly. But, on follow
ing his example, | saw that, ten yards
behind the wall, a clump Of laurels
formed sort Of curtain which allowed
us to come up unobserved.
Lupin took his stand right In the
middle Of the clump. [ joined him and
like him, pushed aside Che branches Of
one of the shrubs. And the sight which
presented itself to my eyes was so un-
expected that ] was unable to suppress
an exclamation, while Lupin, on his
side, muttered, between his teeth.
BY Jupiter! This is g funny job. "
We saw before us, within the con-
fined space that lay between the two
windowless houses, the identical scene
L had bought at secondhand deal
er'sl
The identical scenel At the back,
against the opposite wall, the same
Greek rotunda displayed its slender
columns In the middle, the same
stone benches topped O circle Of four
steps that ran down to a fish pond
with moss-grown flags. On tho left.
the same well raised it's wrought iron
roof; and, close at hand the same sun
dial showed its slanting gnomon and
its marble face
The identical scenel And what add
ed to the strangeness Of the sight was
the memory, obsessing Lupin and nv
self, Of that date of The 18th of April.
inscribed In corner Of the picture,
and tho thought that this very day was
the 18th Of April and that sixteen or
seventeen people, so different in age,
condition and manners, had chosen the
18th OF April to come together in this
forgotten corner Of Parisl
All Of them, at the moment when we
caught sight Of them, were sitting in
groups on the benches and
steps; and all were eating. Not very
far from my neighbor and her daugh-
ter, the workman s family and the beg.
gar couple were sharing their provis-
in the soiled suit, the infantry corpo.
raj and the two lean sisters were max |
ing common stock Of their sliced
ham, their tins Of sardines and their
gruyere cheese.
The lady with tho little dog alone.
who had brought no food with her, sat
apart from the others, who made show
of turning their backs upon her, But
Louise 'Ernemont offered her a sand. |
vvieh, whereupon her example WAS fol- |
lowed by the two sisters; and the cor
poral at once began to make himself
as agreeable to the young person rs
he could.
1t was now half past ono. The bog.
gar-man took out his pipe, as did the |
fat gentleman; and, when they found |
that one had no tobacco and the other
no matches. their needs soon brought |
them together. The men went and |
smoked by the rotunda and the women
joined them. For that matter. all |
these people seemed to know one an. |
other quite well
They were at some distance from
where we were standing, so that we
could not hear what they said, How
ever, we gradually perceived that the
was becoming animated. |
The young person with the dog, in |