Evening star., 1925-06-11
LOutre
BY LISA YSAYE TARLEAU.
Copyright, 1926. by the Ridgway Co.

cigarette. and began the usual CONVEX
| sation.
! Awful weather. l said, L am
frozen through and through.
| Yes, admitted Satan, it's pretty
bad; but then, what can you expect
After all, it's Winter
For you it must be especially dis
agreeable. I ventured then. You
are accustomed to quite other tenn
| peratureS.. =.
Satan looked coldly at me. How
SOP he asked.
Il stammered embarrassed, Well
so far as l know, you have it pretty
hot down in your place; the hellish
fires, the burning sinners, and so on,
that must
Satan interrupted me impatiently.
It's Incredible, he exclaimed, the
childish superstition of you people.
Even you, a literary man. cultivated,
enlightened, can repeat such nonsen-
sical nursery fables. Let me assure
you that you are greatly mistaken.
We enjoy the most perfect climate
subtle blending of the freshness of
Spring and the mild mellowness of
Fall. In our gardens-they are more
beautiful than your limited fancy can
imagine-blossom and fruit mingle
on the very same tree Our birds
L
the same time they sing with most
melodious trills. And the perfume of
our flowers is simply unsurpassed
Your ideas of my abode are,' therefore,
vastly incorrect
i blushed under his reproach, but
my curiosity was piqued. I wanted
to know more. So persisted And
the lost souls?' / asked timidly, the
damned, what
He did not let me continue. He
lifted his hand and his face expressed
his panied disapproval. What words
he sighed, what expressions, what
crudity! Lost souls-damned-I am
grieved to hear you speak like this.
Our guests, as we call them. are made
perfectly free of the place, and what
ever we can do to provide amusement
and entertainment for them is done
in the most elaborate manner Con-
certs, theaters. dinners, art exhibi-
tions, balls masque-all this is Of
fered in profusion. And for those
with more quiet and scholarly tastes
we have libraries of rare books and
manuscripts, collections of prints and
etchlngs, anything, in short, you can
imagine. We do our best to crafty
every possible wish. No expense is
too great,
II was staring with surprise. How
wonderful!' / exclaimed; why, that
sounds more like heaven than any
thing else
Satan seemed pleased. Yes. our
place is an exact replica of heaven
he conflded. Anything you can get
there we have, too. and even more
elegant, more elaborate, more exqui-
site, more subtle. Our guests get
everything Just as in heaven,
only
Only repeated with a vague
terror clutching my heart
Only, said Satan sadly. they can
never, even not for a moment forget
that they are not in heaven.
And that | asked, that is
Yes answered Satan wearily,
that is it To have everything heav-
en- can grant you and yet not be in
heaven-that's hell
And while I was still pondering
over these awful words he disap-
peared from my table,"
Aristide, having finished, leaned
back in his fauteuil and lighted his
cigaret. Then he had to get up to
acknowledge the applause, which was
generous and spontaneous for, slight
las his little tale was, his manner of
delivery had been very effective and
his hearers were undoubtedly inn
pressed. Next to NJ. MondeIl sat two
ladies'; the one evidently tres grande
dame, the other equally evidently
her dame de compagnie, and the one,
the great lady, said quite enthusi-
astically to Mondell:
''But he is charming, this young
man. Very spirituel and at the same
time delightfully."- good-looking. You
know, 1 somehow thought all the time
what a splendid figure he would make
in a cinema play. He is your friend.
1 understand. Do bring him to me
and present him.
Mondell bowed and went to fetch
Aristide and while he was on this
errand he inquired discreetly who the
great lady was that had been so
pleased with Aristide. He was highly
elated when he was told that he had
spoken to Nine. la Comtesse de Segur.
who was known to belong not only
to the aristocracy of birth, but also
to the literary gentry: who, being a
descendant of an old family of schol-