The Washington herald., 1915-01-10


the sole heir to a great fortune
Raphael suddenly rose with startled
movement. The guests began to talk in
a low voice to each other of the sudden
good luck of the young marquis. Ho,
laid the Magic Skin on the table and
measured it with a napkin. He saw that
1t had shrunk perCeptibly. What is the
natter" cried one. support him. he is
fainting." cried another.
dreadful pallOr defined every rnrISCIfR
in the hagEard face of the new heir HisN
eyes were fxed-hc saw death This
splendid banquet. surrounded by faded
prostitutes this deathbed of ioy-was il
the image of his life?
He looked three times at the taIisman
which lay on the napkin before him He
tried to doubt. but there could he no
doubt. He saw that every desire would
cost him days of existence: he believed
in the Magic Skin. He listened to his
own breathing-he felt i'll. lie sank intAl
his seat and. amid the clamor and rail-N
lery of the company. drank immoderataIv,t
to forget for the time being his fatal
power
The Bitter Harvest.
Some months after Raphael had come
into the possession of the Magic Skin he
sat in large and gloomy house in the
Rue de Varennes before a fire reading
showed it. Thin hands and hollow tenn
Piles; worn. thin face-consumptive ono
would say to look at him.
An,' yet the pervading feebIenes- ~
his frame seemed belied by the blue evoe,
in which life seemed concentrated ~
which shone with an extraordinary nor
ception of everything around him Tho
look was painful to behoId-son,n vvo,,I5<I
nave called it despair others have said
remorse- It was, I'm fact the deem and
all-embracinC pOwerlessness of q man
driving all his desires back into tba
depths of his soul
On the wall before him hung tho Magic
Skin upon white ground with A red
mark around the edge of the skin On
that whenever Raphael should so far
forget himself as to wish for ANYTHING
shrunk.
The first thing he had done unon COM
ing into his property was to seek out an
old family servant. Jonathus by name.
and place the ordinary routine Of life in
| his hands
The compact between them was that
Jonathus should so arrange for everv
| thlng, even for his breakfast: il was
always ready as A certain hour and JON =
athus told him. Monsieur il is time -
eat! The bill Of fare was mgde out ION
a whole year: no changes allowed. Hen
! had nothing to wish for. He hal straw
! berries when there were straw berries.
ana the first mackerel which came to
| Paris.
II the weather was fine. Jonatbus told
/ him. You ought to go out today. mas
ter'-and Raphael went. When he en-
| gagged Jonathus he said: You are to
take care Of me like a babe in swad-
ding clothes" and Jonathus did So VAL
! entine dared not live like other men: be .
dared not desire anything.
He had become a species Of autonN
atom; he abdicated life that he might \
live And yet, before he could get really
settled down into life, the Magic Skin
had shrunk noticeably; and in spite Of
everything IT sometimes shrunk now. For
example, an old professor Of his school
days came to see him asking his in
fuence to obtain position 'T can real
ly do nothing for you." said Raphael; II
sincerely wish you may get the position
As he spoke he suddenly sprang unH
like a frightened deer. He saw slight
white line between the edge of the skin
and the red mark, and uttered such a
dreadful cry that the professor was ter
riied. Go. go. you old fool" he Shrek
ed. you will get the place. whatever it is.
that you want"
Meets and Marries Pauline
One night Jonathus told Raphael thas
ODeTa-and
phael went. In the box next to him
sat young and beautiful lady It was
Pauline. no longer poor, hut rich Her
father had returned, as Madame Gaudfn
always said he would. and had returned
rich from India. Then he had soon died,
leaving Pauline a large fortune.
Pauline and Raphael recognized each
other and their acquaintance was re-
newed. Love triumphed over even the
fear of death-but the Magic Skin shrunk.
Raphael, however, convinced himself that
he had been all along under some hail.
lucinatiOn. some morbid fancy, with 4
gard to the taIisman.
He and Pauline were married Ra-
phael said Thou art mine forever andN
ever. Thy presence has driven away my
griefs and refreshed my soul. new
life opens to me and the cruel past. with
my sad follies seems like a dream
They lived in luxury and love. Raphael
threw the Magic Skin into a deep we'll
in the rear court Of his house and strOvo
to forget that il had ever existed. He
dared to desire now like other men
One day old JOnathus brought to NhHs
master something which, he said was
a curiosity. brought up from the bottom
Of the we'll when they went to draw va
ter. II the Magic Skin shrunk to q
piece six inches square JOnathus
thought it was a new marine plant
Raphael was greatly aEitated. hut dis
semhlinG his emotion. he took the piece
of skin and carrying 1t to eminent srien-
tific men tried to have it DESTROYED by
strong force and by powerful acids. But
the thing resisted all attacks. He put
it in his pocket and returned home in Y
panic.
He called in physIcians. who told him
that he had consumption and must seek
rest and recuperation at some German
baths. He fled with only Jonathus rs
an attendant. forsaEing Pauline. and rdN
solved to live again a mere vegetable,
to have no wishes. no desires. At tho
baths he was provoked into duel and
his desire that he might kill his man
which he did-still further shrunk the
Magic Skin.
He wandered to the mountains and
lived for a while in a peasants hut.
Finally a great desire came over him,
which he could not resist. to see home
again and Pauline. He returned. Pauline
came to him. He was the mere shadow
of man. The Magic skin had shrunk
to the size OF an oak leaf.
The Inevitable End.
When the first raptures Of the meetiuk
were over Raphael became terrified and
said: Pauline, | am a doomed man"
Then he told her the story of the Magic
Skin, and, taking Il from his pocket,
showed it to her. shrunk to a mere frag-