South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-11-13
Tnumphs of
M. JonqueHe
THE MOTTLED BUTTERFLY.
BY Melville DaUisson Post
1922 Ma service. Inc.

THE MOTTLED. BUTTERFLY.
The opera had opened. The music
began 90 al the corridors But ".
Jonquclle did not go in.
He remained idl.ng in the foyer.
a cigaret tn his fingers. his manner
and cir. weIl-brcd. bored indiner-
ence The whole house was crowded.
There was not a vacant seat
II was the last performance in
Paris Of Nine. Zirteuzon's SaIome.
few beIated persons passed VI.
Jonqueile and entered the doors 10
the boxes. Some Of these persons
addressed hiIn. an regarded him.
lie was a weIl-known figure in Paris.
His friendship was worth some
thing, and whether one knew him.
or cared 10 know him. all we're
curious about the man
The vast music assembled and
extended Itself
The foyer became empty, and still
NJ Jonquelle did not 20 in Per
maps 10 was because Nine. Zirtcnz0f
had not gone on She was famous
beauty; her Salome had the abandon
which stimulated even the faded
nerves of France. 1t had been on
at the Opera for 80 days and Paris
was stu keen % see j..
The woman was a Russian exotic.
one OF those alluring creatures that
J always assemble a fabulous legend.
There was a wild passion in her
Salome, and her conquests were
the gossip OF Paris.
The opera had continued for per
hapS 80 minutes. Nine Zirtenzof
had come on; her voice, like a silver
bell. reached NJ. JonqueHe clearly
where ne sauntered in the foyer
Presently the door to a box opened
and one OF the pages Of the theater
appeared with an immense bouquet
of orchids. The flowers were worth
a thousand francs. They could have
been grown in Paris only with ex-
IRENE care and under every perfec-
tion Of light and temperature. 1t
was a mass of flowers that would
have drawn the attention OF any
body exquisite orchids of the genus
Oncidium Kramerii, called the Mot
tied Butterfly
It seemed TO have drawn the atten-
ton OF NJ. JOnquele. He stopped the
page as he passed him.
"GarcOn" he said. handing him a
piece Of gold, find me a box Of
cigarets before you go on with those
flowers Quickly - run; will hold
them until you return"
The boy knew the great chief Of
the Service de Ia Surete.
He gave NJ. Jonquelle the bouquet
OF orchids and disappeared down the
stairway. He was gone hardly a
moment; when ne returned. II. JON
quelle had not moved from his posi-
ton by a pillar of the foyer He
handed back the orchids to the page
and received the box Of cigarets
He paused a moment. fingered the
box but did not open it; instead. he
walked "a few steps down the foyer
and entered the box from which the
page had come out with the or
chids.
One looking on would have won
dered why the Prefect of Police re-
quired a pack of cigarets. at the
cost OF ten-franc gold -piece-espe-
cially as, after having turned il in
his hand. be had put it carelessly
into his pocket and entered box.
Il would appear that he waited for
these cigarets before entering the
box But TO what end? One could
not smoke i'm a box at the Opera. at
sts most expensive point i'm the ultra
fashionable audience of Paris Al
though the great opera house was
packed with people - not a vacant
seat visible 10 the eye-therN was but
one person IN the box which NJ.
Jonqueue had entered.
He was a person that anyone
would pause almost anywhere to
observe. Hp was young: he was ex-
quisiteiy dressed dress i'm which
there was some of the -extrava-
gance Of detail that suggestion Of
elegance. which the Partisan cannot
avoid
tie was a young man and extreme
ly handsome. blond French type
with a dainty mustache and regular
Italian features. and thick. soft.
yellow hair presenting the gloss Of
Che seals coat. In his physical as
pect. Tor perfection Of detail the
man had no equal on the Paris
boulevards
10 had got him rich American
wife and lifted him as by a fairy
lamp. out Of the sordid environments
90 an Old family in decay. The thing
seemed piece OF the design Of a
Providence with an esthetic sense.
This exquisite person would have
ceen incongruous except i'm an at
mosphere OF wealth He had an
apartment now beyond the Arc de
Tr.omphe. one of those wonderful
apartments that the American in