Evening star., 1924-05-16
CHAPTER !.
One Day in Paris.
NM going to tell a story

story to tell. With many men
there are no others--just the one.
Perhaps it is that this is the one |
have-the only one. At any rate.
while l have told many others. | have
treasured this within my seul--and
"ithln my heart for many years
Ana think this is the best story ]
&hIve ever told-and the one which
haS IN 1t more of the things which
very story should possess-romancc
thth, love, tfagedy--and Il lesson.
1t was in Parl that first met hel
Whom am going to call Elise.
was sitting outside the cafe de la
FaiN in the sunshine one aftt rnoou
Mnen L saw, crossing the Place de
opera with another man. an old
'Hthool chum of mine. an EngliShman
who had lived in Paris for d great
many Years. He saw me as | recog
1,ized him, and came right across to
the table at which | sat. His com
pdnion / found to be a charming and
distinguished looking old Frenchman,
typical boulevardier, and after the
usual introductions they seated them
selves with me.
One may sit on that corner of the
cpera and watch all the world pass
ny, the lines of traffic. the broad
houlevards with their trees. their
sunshine and their shade, their gay
little kiosks, the crowded pavements
on which one sees everybody, and yet
notices only the women, those wom-
Ell who have taught the women of
every country how to carry their
clothes, but still have preserved for
themselves some little secrets undi-
Vulged.
1t may not be France, but it is Paris
-taris of the wide-stretched arms
and the song. Paris to whom one
goes that one may learn to laugh;
liaris who can teach the world the
meaning Of tears.
An hour went by before saw Elise
During this hour the old bouIevardier
entertained my friend and myself
with anecdotes concerning this or
that celebrity who passed anecdotes
sometimes gay, sometimes triste,
often truly French. and tinged with
that light fingered irony which is
altogether GalliC. IL was all delight
ful, ia awdlIno on the edge OF Iife's
dream, with a man of experience at
ones elbow TO point out the almost
unnoticed ripples beneath the surface
of the current.
The horstman in the center of the
opera had Whistled a traffic direction
and the vehicles on the Boulevard des
'apucines had been pulled up. Di-
fectly opposite where We sat a great
cpen lTispano Suiza had slid TO
silent standstill in the waiting line,
light against the curb.
The old houlevardier glanced to-
yard 1t. and for the first time lost
his air of amused disinterest and be-
came genuinely intrigued.
See, he said quietly. she who
1ui?'
looked toward the Hispano Suiza.
IRVING II was smart chauffeur in a
.!very Of gray with mauve facings
lie held the big. polished steering
wheel in gloved hands no bigger than
a womans.
Behind him, al the back of the car.
sat Elise
How may l tell you what she was
Ike to me in those few minutes dur
ing which | first gazed at her across
cineso
Picture d rose leaf of pink and
white laid softly on d pile of costly
furs. and you see the checks of Elise
as they showed above the great cloak
which swathed her
From beneath the little hat which
Only woman could adequately de-
scribe her hair showed bIack-blue
black, like the wing Of a raven Her
S.Tsr S.a5@; eves~ xnisnsrsa ,ns o'o no,,,,
vardter. rs there not a history in
her eyes?"
/ looked at her eyes and forgot all
the other beauty OF her.
They Were wide and blue. dusky;
euight, and yet not with laughter:
+'neu Win hho" leuSe ana Yet open
with innocence; the eyes of youth
marked with that restfulness which
age may bring. There was sadness in
them, and longing; yet with it was
had scared them, yet left them fresh
as little child'S To me they in
carnated an eternal paradox.
turned TO the old boulevardier.
Ny friend Withdrew his gaze from
Elise and turned to him also The
Old gentleman glanced from one to
the other of US and chuckled.
"Ah. She has caught you, heinz"
lie. moved his hands in a gesture
which meant more than any words
could compass. You are intrigued"
We admitted that we were.
He spoke conf1dentia1ly. IT know
You would wish for an Introduction ~
We said, with enthusiasm, that
1here was nothing we wanted more
So he took us across the pavement
and introduced us to Elise.
That was some time ago. I have
Maid many visits to Paris since, and
rach time ] have met Elise. for to me
Paris would be incomplete without
her.
She and ] are friends now. Our
Friendship started and grew from
those moments during which we chat
ted to her as she sat in the Hispano
on the CapucineS. Yet it was only
recently that 1 heard her story, and
learnt all that which was written in
her eyes.
The old boulevardier must have
known it all the time, but he said
nothing, standing by, watching until
Elise should choose to tell me herself,
which am sure he was confident she
would do from the first.
And one day she told me.
The story of Elise interested me
tremendously, although not so much
as Elise herself. l am going to try
to tell it to you. not as Elise told it,
sonnet times with hating phrases and
deep flush, sometimes with. quick ened
white hands moving swiftly in ges-
sures no words can paint because that
Is impossible; but plainly, at length.
so that you who have not seen Elise
might gather something of her from
what have set down. For, after all,
5lise is her own story. Only in one
thing I am departing from the truth,
and that is in the names of the peo-
ple YOU will encounter in it, of Elise
and those others she met during it's
course.
There will be hate in the story. and
passion. love and forbearance, wick
edness and much good. 1t is set in
Paris, on the darkened outskirts
where the creatures of shadow cling
10 Hfe's edge and watch for the days
daWning with wide, frightened eyes.
IT is set where the night lights CLEAN
white to the skies on the hill at
Montnfartre, and the butterflies fiut- |
ter i'm their glare till the fiame
tpuches their wings and they sink in
agony to oblivion
will try to tell you of the men
and the women who gathered there
about Elise, and who still gather
their lust, of their lives and their
deaths: but, above all, / will tell you
of Elise herself. Of what happened to
her, and why we saw her that sunny