The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-04-04

| furnished drawing-room, in which por-
traits OF Professor Valerius and old
Daae hung on opposite walls.
| Madame begs monsieur lie vicomte
| to excuse her, said the servant. She
! can only see him in her bedroom, be-
| cause she car no longer stand on her
| poor legs"
| Five minutes later, Raoul was
| ushered into an ill-lit room where he
at once recognized the good kind face
| of Christine's benefactress In the
! semi-darkness OF an alcOye. Mamma
| Nalerius hair was now quite white,
but her eyes had grown no older;
| never, on the contrary, had their ex-
| preston been so bright, so pure, SO
| child-like.
M. de Chagny!" she cried gaily,
| putting out both her hands to her
visitor. "Ah, it's heaven that sends
! you here, We can talk OF
| her"
This last sentence sounded very
| gloomily in the young mans ears He
| at once asked:
| Madame where is Chris
| tine?''
| And the old lady replied calmly:
She is with her good genius"
What good genius?" exclaimed
| poor Raoul.
Why, the Angel of Music!"
The viscount dropped into a chair
Really? Christine was with the An
gel of Music? And there lay Mamma
| Valerius in bed, smiling to him and
| putting her finger to her lips, to warn
him to be silent; And she added:
You must not tell anybody"
| You can rely on me-" said Raoul.
He hardly knew what he was say
ing, for his ideas about Christine, al
| ready greatly confused, were becom-
| ing more and more entangled, and it
| seemed as if everything was begin
ming to turn around him, around the
| room, around that extraordinary good
| lady with the white hair and forget
me-nOt eyes
II know, | know | cam" she said,
with happy laugh. But why don't
| you come near me, as you used to do
when you We're a little boy? Give me
| your hands, as when you brought me
| the story of little Lotto, which Daddy
Daae had told you. l am very fond
| of, you, NJ. Raoul, you know. And so
| is Christine too"
She is fond Of me-" sighed the
young man. He found a difficulty in
| collecting his thoughts and bringing
them 60 bear on Mamma Valer1us'
|
/ of whom Christine had spoken to
him so strangely, on the deaths head
| which he had seen in a sort of night
mare on the high altar at Perros and
also on the opera ghost, whose fame
| had come to his ears one evening
| when he was standing behind the
| scenes, within hearing of a group OF
scene-shifters who were repeating the
| CHASTITY description which the hanged
man, Joseph Buquet, had given of the
| ghost before his mysterious death.
| He asked in a low voice: What
makes you think that Christine is
fond of me. madame?s
''She used to speak OF you every
day"
| Really? -. And what did she
tell your
she told me that you had made her
| a PROPOSAL"
And the good old lady began laugh
ing whole-heartedlyI Raoul sprang
! from his chair, flushing to the tenn
| pies, suffering agonies.
whats this? Who're are you go
! ing? Sit down again at once,
will you? Do you think | Will
| let you go like that? ;. If you're
angry with me for laughing, | beg
happened isn't your fault Didn't
you know? Did you think
! that Christine was free? -
rs Christine engaged to be mar
| ried?" the wretched Raoul asked, in
a choking voice.
"Why no, Why no. You
know as Well as l do that Christine
couldn't marry, even il she wanted
to!
But | don't know anything about
it! And why can't Christine
marry?"
Because of the Angel of Music, OF
| course! -
81 don't follow -
Yes, he forbids her to -
He forbids her! The An
| gel of Music forbids her to marry!
! ooh, he forbids her with
| out forbidding her. It's like this: he
tells her that, if she got married, she
would never hear him again. That's
| all! And that he would go
away for eyer So, you I'M
! derstand. she can't let the Angel of
Music go. It's quite natural
Yes, yes echoed Raoul submits
| siyely, its quite natural
| Besides, l thought Christine had
| told you all that, when she met you at
| Perros, where she went with her
| good genius"
.Oh, she went to Perros with her
| good genius, did she?"
| THAT is to say. he arranged to
! meet her down there, in Perros