Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1914-04-23
"TKE PLACE OF HONEYMO0N>."
Continued from page s

llolll .'dSC
limousine was vel, known in Paris,
and he was growing weary Of these
endless inquiries.
Are you in her employ directly, or
do you come from the garage?"
81 am from the garage, but drive
mademoiselle's car most Of the time,
especially at night. 1t Is not madame
but mademoiselle, monsieur"
my mistake" A slight pause. 1t
was rather a difficult moment for
Courtlandt. The chauffeur waited
wonderingly. Would you like to make
five hundred francs"
"How, monsieur"
Courtlandt should have been warned
by the tone, which contained no un-
usual interest or eagerness.
Permit me to remain in mademoi-
selle's car till she comes. wish to
ride with her to her apartment"
The chauffeur laughed. He stretched
his legs. Thanks, monsieur. 1t is
very dull waiting. Monsieur knows a
good joke"
And to Courtlandt's dismay he real
lied that his proposal had truly been
accepted as jest.
81 am not joking. l am in earnest.
Five hundred francs. On the word of
a gentleman l mean mademoiselle no
harm. / am known to her. All she
has to do is to appeal to you, and you
can stop the car and summon the po-
lice"
The chauffeur drew in his legs and
leaned toward his tempter. Monsieur,
If you are not jesting, then you are a
madman. Who are you? What do I
know about you? / never saw you be-
fore, and for two seasons l have driv-
en- maGemoiseT1e IN Paris. She wears
beautiful jewels tonight. How do /
know that you are not gentlemanly
thief? Ride home with mademoiselle!
You are crazy. Make yourself scarce,
monsieur; in one minute l shall call
the police"
"Blockhead!"
English of this order the Frenchman
perfectly understood. LA, la" he
cried, rising to execute his threat.
Courtlandt was furious, but his fury
was directed at himself as much as at
the trustworthy young man getting
down from the limousine. His eager
ness had led him TO mistake stupidity
for cleverness. He had gone about the
affair with all the clumsiness of boy
who was making his first appearance
at the stage entrance. 1t was nightly
disConcerting, too, to have found an
honest man when he was in desperate
need Of :: dishonest one. He had faced
with fine courage all sorts Of danger
Gus wild animals; but at this moment
he hadn't the courage to face a po-
liceman and endeavor to explain, IN
foreign tongue, a situation at once so
delicate and so singularly open to mis-
construction. So, for the second time
in his Life he took to his heels. or
the first time more anon. He scram-
bled back to his own car, slammed the
door, and told the driver to drop him
at the Grand. However, he did not re-
turn to the hotel.
Mademoiselle da Toscana's chauf-
feur scratched his chin in perplexity.
In frightening off his tempter he rec
ognized that now he would never be
able to find out who he was. He should
have played with him until mademoi-
selle came out. She would have known
instantly. That would have been the
time for the police. To hide in the
car! What the devil! Only mad
man would have offered such propo-
sition. The man had been either an
American or an Englishman, for all
his accuracy in the tongue. Bah! Per-
haps he had heard her sing that night,
and had come away from the Opera,
moonStruck. 1t was not an isolated
case. The fools were always poster
ing him, but no one had ever offered
so uncommon a bribe; five hundred
francs. Mademoiselle might not be-
lieve that pat of the tale. Mademoi-
selle was clever. There was stand
ing agreement between them that she
would always give him half Of what
ever was offered him in the way OF
bribes. 1t paid. 1t was easier to sell
his loyalty to her for two hundred and
fifty francs than to betray her for five
hundred. She had yet to find him un-
truthful, and tonight he would be as
frank as he had always been.
But who was this fellow in the Ba-