Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-01-24

p
GUS. bu- with saving sense Of humor
which. together with a certain art
Icssness OF nature. attracted Paul
And so YOU wish 10 investigate the
phenomena of the monk Apoliodorus.
young man" he said. when he had
finished reading the letter. Lord
Trcsham and | are very old friends.
dating from the days when he was
first a,tache al the Russian court |
am sure that ] can obtain permission
from his majesty aud you have come.
luckily. az precisely the most favor
able tire TOR his majesty departs for
Nishikod ON Wednesday next with al!
the gentlemen OF his court. 10 qucs-
ton hfs late father concerning an
important matter Of foreign policy.
upon whose adoption or rejection /
may say i'm confidence. grave issues
depend His majesty is only too anN-
ious to make converts, and anyone for
whom I vouch can accompany his
gentlemen
His voice grew low and he bent for
ward and began speaking earnestly.
1T will convert you my friend" said
Count Gabel 1T is positively the
most wonderful exhibition ever vouch-
/ safe to man. knew the late Tsar
Alexander. And. since his death. |
/ have seen him az the Nishikoff monas-
/ terry seen him. touched his hand
/ just as it was in the flesh and spoken
with him face to face and heard his
own voice answer me. II is wonder
ful' Imagine what it means to us
who have been privileged thus to
learn for surety that death is, in truth,
only transition Imagine what 1t
means tC the Tsar TO have the advant-
! age of his fathers counsel upon mat
ters of state,"
He suddenly became aware that he
was taking with utter abandon to
stranger and. sitting up in his chair.
resumed his severe manner
Mr. Lane, it will be necessary to
make use of a very harmless decep-
ton" he said You are not mar
ried?"
No" answered Paul.
Good, Good" exclaimed the jovial
old man. Because of course you must
have some sort of excuse for being
taken to Nishikoff You must be
some relative of mine. for instance.
You don't speak Russian? Ha, Hin,
Then you can't be blood relation.
Ha, | have 1t, You shall pass as
the fiance Of my wife's cousin, very
charming lady of royal blood who is
staying with us and is a friend OF the
Tsaritsa. She will. | am sure. will
ingly accept you in that capacity for
she loves a jest. She is as convinced as
in the reality of these phenomena
and so will you be too Now You must
send to your hotel for your baggage
and come home with me"
Paul was completely disarmed by
the oil counts hospitality. In fact
nothing but strong sense of duty
prevented him from throwing away
the dark lantern and calcium powder
which he had brought in his suitcase
But he conquered this impulse and at
the end Of the day waited upon the
count again. entered the droshky
which was waiting outside his office
and was whirled away to Gabel's resi-
dence in a fashionable part of ST
/ Petersburg. where he was warmly wei
, coined by the countess. A few words
/ of explanation from the count in Rus
/ sian vastly amused her.
"Clothilde will be here in a few
> minutes" she said to Paul in English
But wait, | myself will go and tel
her that her fiance is expecting herr
2 And she tripped out of the room, leav
( ing Paul and the count alone.
) Clothilde! 1t could not be thu
t same. unless she were ubiquitous
r and yet the mere sound of the beloved
o name brought up the memory of hi
q lost love. and the old wretchednes:
s wrapped itself round his heart again
s Her name was like music. His lov'
e for her was measureless; and. ever
@ though he despised himself for hi
s weakness. he knew that it was des
l. tined to be eternal.
T, Yet Paul was hardly surprised whel
3 she came in. for fate seemed resolved
d to link their fortunes together. Thu
s sight of her set his knees to trembling
e and heart a-quiver She was fairer thai
e ever in his sight though more mature
s but with the loss Of the first bloom o
5 youth she had acquired something
k which he had never read in her face
a quality of womanliness, an awaB
r ening of the soul that drew his Owl
l. in rapturous responsiveness.
s The strangeness of that meeting
g filled him with a realization of tn
d dramatic nature of the parts the,
& were to play. He. posing as the in
# vestigator yet pledged to tear tn
mask and trappings from the falls
q monk. and she. the chief aid to tn
d impostor. we're bound to be compar
T.: ions on that strange journey; We
l. neither could denounce the othe
v since both were equally guilty in dc
d ceiving their host and hostess. Pau
e went forward to meet her.
1t well, how do you like each other?
/ inquired the countess amiably. ID
u you think you can permit Mr. Ian
g. to act as your 6ance for a day. Gle
h thilde?"
< She raised her eyes for an instant
al IL think | can" she murmured an
S the blood flushed her checks an