, 1922-11-14
The MouIed butterfly.

But NJ. Jonquelie AID not go IN.
He remained idiing in the foyer. a
ciEaret in his fingers, his manner
and air. n weil-hred. bored indiffer-
ence. The whole house was crowded
There WAS not a vacant seat
It was the las performances IN
Paris of Nine. z~irtenzoffs Saiome.
A few belatcd persons passed N.
Jonquele and entered the doors to
the boxes. Some OF these persons
addressed him: all regarded him.
He was n wcli-knovn figure in Paris.
HI. friendship was worth something.
and whether one knew him. or cared
20 know him. ali were curious about
the man.
The vast music assembled ans e-
tended itself.
The foyer became empty. and SIN
" Jonaueue did not 20 in Perhaps
II was because Nine. zirtenzoff had
not gone on. n was a famous
beauty: her -Sziome had h abandon
which stimulated even the faded
nerves OF France. II had been on
n. the Opera for fifty days. and Paris
vas still keen TO see it.
The woman was n Russian exotic.
one OF those aliurin2 creatures that
away assembled a fabulous legend.
There was n wild passion in her sa-
lone. and her conqueSs were the Cos
sip Of Paris.
The opera had continued for per
hGps thirty minutes. Nine. zfrtenzon
had come on: her voice like n silver
bell, reached NJ. Jonquelie clearly
where he sauntered in the foyer.
Presently the door 20 a box opened
and one OF the pages OF tie theater
appeared with an immense bouquet
of orchids. The flowers were. worth
. thousand francs. They could have
been grown in Paris only with ex-
treme care and under every perfec-
ton OF light md temperature. II
wa n mass Of flowers that would
have drawn she attention OF anyone.
exquisite orchids OF the n On
cldium Kramerii. called the Notified
Butterfly.
II seemed to have drawn the at-
tention of NJ. Jonquelle. He stopped
the page as he passed him.
''Garcon." he said. handing him n
piece of gold, find me n box OF
c~igarets before you go on with these
flowers. Qulckly-run: ! viii Fold
them until you return"
The boy knew the great chief Of
the Service de Ia Surete.
Tie gave NJ. Jonquelle the bouquet
OF orchids and disappeared down the
stairway. He vas gone hardly a
moment; when he returned. NJ. Jon
querie had not moved from his post
ton by a pillar of h foyer. He
handed back the orchids TO the page
and received the box OF c~igarets.
He pause a moment. fingered the
box hut did not open 1T; instead he
walked q few steps down the foyer
and entered the box from which the
page had come out with the orchids.
One looking on would have won
dered why the project OF police re-
uuired n pack of cigarets. a: the cost
of a 1o-franc goldpiece-especially as
after having turned It in his hand
he had put st carelessly into his
pocket and entered a box.
It would appear that he waited for
these cIgarets before entering the
box. But 10 what cnG? one could
not smoke in a box at the Opera at
Its most expensive point In the ultra
fashionable audience of Paris. Al
though the great opera house was
packed with ~pehple--not- vacant
seat visible to the eye-tnere was
but one person in the box which NJ.
Jonquelle had entered.
lie was a person that anyone would
pause almost anywhere to observe.
He was young: he was exauisitely
dressed-a dreas in which there was
some Of the over-extravagance OF de-
iaii, tina. suggestion of elegance,
which the Partisan cannot avoid.
He was a young man ans extreme
~ handsome, a blond French type
with dainty mustache and regular
Italian features. and thick, soft. yell
low hair presenting the gloss of the
seals coat. In his physical aspect.
Tor perfection OF detail. h man
had no equal on the Paris ~boulevardz.
It had got him a rich American
kife and lifted him, as by a fairy
lamp. out Of the sordid environments
OF an DID family in decay. The thing
seemed a piece OF the design of a
providence with an esthetic sense.
This exquisite person woulo have
been incongruous except in an atmo-
sphere OF wealth. He had an apart
ment now beyond the Arc de Tri-
omphe, one of those ~wonderful apart
ments thnA the American invasion
after the great war had set up in
Paris.
The Marquis was the envy of the
b~ouievardier.
But It was rumored that he a
not che freedom Of his wife's money
sacks. He got what she allowed him,
but It ought to be written hero. in
Justice % the Marquis. that st. was
not he who complained. Why should
he? The allowance was evidently
enough for n reasonable man. He
had the best Of everything: z he felt
any sense of stint. there was no sign
either by word or act.
In form. the Marquis was above
reproach. There could be no surprise
TO the fashionable audience OF Paris
IN the fact that the Marquis was
alone in the box. His wife was on
a visit to America. n 1t was bet
ter fitting that the Marquis should
be alone than to be with another who
might console him for his wtfe's
absence. If the Marquis was not the
best of men. he was a. any rate not
- 1N.-@