The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1922-10-26

I Twelfth Night Revelers soon after
Christmas and is closed by that OF the
Krewe of Comus on Mardi Gras night
Upon this evening of Fat Tuesday"
| Indeed, both Rex and COmus hold
forth. Rex is the popular ball, the
! affair of the people, and is held in the
Athenaeum. From here, about mid
night, the king and queen proceed to
| Comus ball.
COmus Is an assembly of such rigid
exclusiveness that even the tickets to
| the gallery are considered socia!
prizes. The persOnae of the KreNe.
on this particular year, as in all prevl.
Gus ones, would remain unknown !;
there Is no unmasking at Comus. Thit
institution, tremendous social power
and potentially financial power also,
during decades of the city's life, IL
held absolutely above any faint OF IA
voritism or commercialism. Even the
families Of those concerned might net
always be certain whether their sons
and brothers belonged to the Krewe
of Comus.
Henry Gramont did not attend the
ball of Proteus on Monday alght In.
stead, he sat in his own room. while
through the streets of the French
quarter outside was raging the carni
val at its height. Before him were
| maps and reports upon the gas and
| oil fields about Bayou Terrebonne-
fields where great domes of natural
gas were already located and in use
and where oil was being found in some
quantity. Early on Wednesday morn
ing Gramont intended to set forth t.
his work. He had been engaged tC
make n report to Bob 'Maillard's com.
pany, and he would make it. Then he
would resign his advisory job, and be
free. A smile curled his lips as he
thought of young Mailard and the
company.
The young gentleman will he sadly
surprised To discover that I've gotten
out from under-and that his respect
ed father holds my stock" he reflect
ed. "That was good deal; l lost a
thousand to old Maillard In order TO
have the balance Of thirty thousandl"
A knock at his door interrupted the
thread of his thought. Gramont
opened. to find the concierge with
note which had been left at the door
below by a masked Harlequin, who
had then disappeared without await
ing any reply.
Gramont recognized the writing on
the envelope, and FASTENED to the note
inside. His face changed, however, ae
he read 1t:
"Please call promptly at eleven to-
morrow morning. l wish to see You
upon a matter of business.
LUCE LEDANOIS."
Gramont gazed long at this note. his
brOws drawn down into q harsh line.
II was not like Lucie In its tone,
somehow; he sensed something amiss,
something vaguely but mostly decided
ly out of tune. "Eleven tomorrow
morning, eh?" he murmured. That's
queer, too, for she's to be at the Pro-
teus ball tonight Most girls would
not be conducting business affairs at
eleven In the morning, after being up
all night at Proteus! 1t must be
something important. Besides, she's
not in a class with anyone else. She's
a rare girl; no nonsense in her-full
of deep. strong sense Of things
He forced himself from thoughts Of
Lucie, forced himself from her per-
sonality, and returned to his reports
with an effort Of concentration.
When Gramont went to bed that
night 1t was with startling and auda.
cious scheme we'll defined in his brain;
scheme whose first conception
seemed ludicrous and impossible, yet
which, on second consideration, ap-
peared in very different light. 1t de,
served serious theught-and Gramont
had made his decision before he went
to sleep.
The following day was Tuesday,
Mardl Gras, Shrove Tuesday, the last
day before Lent began, and the final
eliminating day OF carnival. Henry
Gramont. however, was destined to
find little in It's beginning Of much
personal pleasure.
At eleven In the morning Hammond
drove him to the Ledanois home.
where Gramont was admitted by one
Of the colored servants and shown into
the parlor. moment later Lucie her.
self appeared. At first glance her
smiling greeting removed the half.
sensed apprehensions of Gramont. AL
most Immediately afterward. however,
he noted perceptible change In her
manner. as she led him toward the
rear of the room, and gestured toward
a mahogany tilt-top table which stood
In corner.
"Come over here. please. l have
something which l wish to show you"
She needed TO say no more. Ora
mont, following her, found himself
staring blankly down at the symbol of
CONSERVATION which overwhelmed him,
For upon that table lay all those
boxes which he himseJ had packed
with the loot OF the Midnight Masquer
the identical boxes, apparently un.
...Itot hod haan StoIan from