Evening journal., 1922-11-14


NJ. Jonquelle did not go in.
He remained idling In the foyer
q cigaret in his fingers, his manner
and air, well-bred. bored indif-
ference. The whole house was
crowded. There was not a vacant
seat.
II was the last performance IN
Paris OF Nine. Zirtenzoff's Salome.
A few belated persons passed NJ
Jonauelle and entered the doors "a
the boxes. Some OF these persons
addressed him; all regarded him
He was a well-known figure in Paris
His friendship was worth some
thing. and whether one knew him,
or cared TO know him, all were
curious about the man.
The vast music assembled and ex-
tended itself.
The foyer became empty, and stili
NJ. Jonquelle did not go in. Per-
haps IL was because Nine. Zirtenzoff
had not gone on. She was a famous
beauty; her Salome had the abandon
which stimulated even the faded
nerves Of France. It had been on
at the Opera for fifty days. and
Paris was still keen TO see Il.
The woman was a Russian exotic.
one of those alluring creatures that
always assemble a fabulous legend.
There was a wild passion in her
Sslome. and her conquests were the
gossip of Paris.
The opera had continued for per-
haps thirty minutes. Nine. Zirten-
zoff had come on: her voice, like a
silver bell. reached NJ. Jonquello
clearly where he sauntered in the
foyer.
Presently the door TO a box OPEN
ed and one of the pages OF the
theatre appeared with an immense
bouquet of orchids. The flowers
were worth a thousand francs They
could have been grown in Paris only
with extreme care and under every
perfection. of light and temperature.
It was a mass Of flowers that would
have drawn the attention OF any
body. exquisite orchids OF the genius
oncidium Kramerii, called the
Notified Butterfly.
It seemed TO have drawn the at
tention Of NJ. Jonquelie. He stopped
the page as he passed him.
"Garcon." he said, handing him a
piece OF gold. "ind me a box OF
cigarets before you go on with those
flowers. Qulckly-run; I will hold
them until you return"
The boy knew the great chief OF
the Service de la Surete.
lie gave NJ. Jonquelle the bou-
ouet OF orchids and disappeared
down the stairway. He was gone
hardly a moment; when he return
ed NJ. Jonquelle had not moved
from his position by a pillar of the
foyer. He handed back the orchidaI
TO the page and received the box of
cigarets.
He paused a moment. fingered the
box. but did not open Il: 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 Perfect of Police re-
quired A pack Of cigarets. at the
cost OF a ten-franc gold-piece-
especially as. after having turned It !
in his hand, he had put II carelessly |
into his pocket and entered a box.
It would appear that he waited |
for these cigarets before entering
the box. But 70 what end? One
could not smoke in a box az the
Opera. at its most expensive point |
in the ultra-fsshionable audience OF
Paris. Although the great opera
house was packed with people-not /
q vacant seat visible to the eye
there was but one person in the box
which NJ. Jonquelle had entered.
He was a person that anyone
would pause almost anywhere 10
observe. He was young; he was ex-
qu!siteiy dressed-a dress in which
there was some Of the over-extrsva-
gance Of detail. that suggestion Of
elegance. which the Partisan cannot
avoid.
He was a young man and extreme
ly handsome. a blond French tyne
with a dainty mustache and regular
Italian features. and thick. soft. yell
low hair presenting the glass Of the
seals coat. In his physical aspect, for
perfection Of detail. the man had no
equal on the Paris boulevards.
II had got him rich American
wife and lifted him. as by a fairy
lamp. out Of the sordid environ
ments of an old family in decay.
The thing seemed a piece Of the de-
sign Of a Providence with an esthetic
sense.
This exquisite person would have
been incongruous except in an at
mosphere Of wealth. He had an
apartment now beyond the Arc de
Triomphe. one of those wonderful
apartments that the American inva-
81 on after the great War had set up
in Paris.
The Marquis was the envy Of the
boulevardier
But Il was rumored that he had
not the freedom of his wife's money
saeks. He got what she allowed
him. but IL ought 10 be written here,
IN justice 10 the Marquis, that it
was not he who complained. Why
should he7 The allowance was evi-
IDENTIFY enough for any reasonable
man. He had tho best of every
thing; II he felt any sense of stint,
there was no sign either by word
or act.
In form, the Marquis was above
There could be no sur
prise to the fashionable audience OF
Paris in the fact that the Marquis
was alone in the box. His wife was
better fitting that the Marquis
I :