The daily star-mirror., 1915-05-25

vent. We lived in an old chateau
older than the history of your coun
try, ma chere, and had no dot. Rob-
ert de fremont and l used to play to.
gether in the allees of the park, on
the terrace. When his mother brought
him over when she called on my
grandmother, he teased me horribly
because the weeds grew between the
stones of our terrace He was very
| rude.
Throughout our childhood, until I
was sixteen, we teased each other
and fought and quarreled"
"This is not a.love-affair, Therese,"
said Miss Redmond.
There are all kinds, ma chere, as
there are all temperaments,' said
Madame de la Maine. "At Assump-
tion-that is our great feast, Julia
the Feast of Mary-it comes in Au-
| gust-at Assumption, Monsieur de la
| Maine came to talk with my grand
mother. He was forty years old, and
bald-Bob and I made fun of his few
hairs, like the children in the Holy
Bible"
Julia put out her hand and took the
hand of Madame de la Maine gently.
She was getting so far from a love
affair.
'T married Monsieur de la Maine in
six weeks" said Therese.
"Oh," breathed Miss Redmond, 'hor-
rible!"
Madame de la Maine pressed Julias
hand.
when 1t was decided between my
grandmother and the comte, 1 escaped
at night, after they thought l had gone
to bed, and l went down to the lower
terrace where the weeds grew in
plenty, and told Robert. Somehow, l
did not expect him to make fun, al
though we always joked about every
thing until this night. 1t was after
nine o'clock"
The comtesse swept one hand to-
ward the desert. "A moon like this
only not like this-ma chere. There
many years.
81 thought at first that Bob would
kill me-he grew so white and terrible.
He seemed suddenly to have aged ten
years will never forget his cry as it
rang out in the night. You will marry
that old man when we love each 9TH
err? l had never known it until then.
1--WE were only children, but he
c,1ddnn1u n1d II thpn - |
said Madame de la Maine intensely, Il |
knew it then"
She waited for a long time. Over |
The face of the desert there seemed to
be nothing but one veil Of light. The
silence grew so intense, so deep; the I
heart fairly echoed, and Julia grew
editative-before her eyes the cara
van she waited for seemed to come out
If the moonlit mist, rocking, rocking
he camels and the huddled figures of
he riders, their shadows cast upon the
sand.
And now fremont would be forever
,hanged in her mind. A man who had
suffered from his youth, warm-heart-
d boy, defrauded of his early love. 1t
eemed to her that he was charming
igure to lead Sabron.
'Therese," she murmured, won't
ou tell me?"
"They thought l had gone to bed"
aid the Comtesse de la Maine, "and I
vent back to my room by little STAIR
ase, seldom used, and 1 found myself
lone, and 1 knew what life was and
hat it meant to be poor"
But" interrupted Julia, Mortified,
girls are not sold in the twentieth
entury."
"They are sometimes in France, my I
ear. Robert was only seventeen. His
lther laughed at him, threatened to t
end him to South America. We were t
ictims."
"It was the harvest moon," con- {
nued Madame de la Maine gently, {
and it shone on us every night until a
y wedding day. Then the duke kept
is threat and sent Robert out Of t
rance. He continued his studies in c
ngland and went into the army of t.
frica' O
There was silence again. O
Il did not see him until last year." a
i'd Madame de la Maine, "after my S
lsband died" IL