Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-03

haps?"
yes"
And 50, madame, your affection for
monsieur became hatredp"
Gould 1t have become anything
else? I've told you this before. He
wanted fear and hatred-and that was
all: did not give him fear, but I did
nate him-with every fiber Of my body.
Didn't he trample underfoot every ideal
ever had? Didn't he offer me every
conceivable insult that entered his head?
l mated him enough to kill him. but
didn't Kill him. Remember thAtp
Perhaps
Flique twirled his mustache. "Ard 40
madame conceived ridee magnifique of
her revenge?"
Mrs; Parados clenched her hands. 81
don't know what you mean"
Flique leaned forward, waRsing a
plump finger.
Madame will remember those little
ones. LIE Balafre and Ciceron Bee. who
escaped from Lille du Diable seven
months ago? The journals everywhere
were full of It,"
Yes: Why?"
Madame" Flique continued gently. 81,
was month after that escape that the
notlces about the jade phoenix of M.
seille journals"
The little muscles at the corners OF
Mrs: Parados' mouth began to culver.
L don't know what you mean, Mrs
Parados whispered
Have the perceptions Of madame
lost their subtlety2" F1ique inquired
spreading his hands. 1T speak OF
madaneS discovery that mon.
sieur was the famous Jules La
cote the accomplice of LIE Bala.
fire and Ciceron Bee whom he
betrayed. Madame will remember that
when those little ones robbed the
6anque du Midi, a patron Of the bank
was shot. And who was that patron
but the merchant Of antiques from
whom the infamous Lacote had bought
his lucky piece, that jade phoenix, the
day before2
"Ah, but madame was clever! Too
clever to kill monsieur, whom she hated
Non, non, she will have Messieurs LIE
Balafre and Bee, who have Just come
out OF the black horror of that lie du
Diable, attend to that little matter. And
so madame puts her notices In the Mar.
seille journals. Does she not know that
those wretched ones will be hungry fol
news OF the city of their birth? It was
an astonishing cleverness, that revenge
Madame has the genius" Flique bowed
ironically.
A drop Of blood trembled upon Mrs.
Parados' lower lip. She shut her eyes
and clenched her hands, then suddenly
flung her head up and broke into q tor
rent of words.
Eyes, did insert that advertisement
hoped 1t would bring those men here,
And hoped they'd send a bullet into
Dams black heart. There! It's out. I'm
glad
"I suppose you want to know how
knew about Dan and those men and
the phoenix. 1t was this way:
Dan was always Dragging. especially
| q few days after that escape from Dew
us Island, he drank enough to make
him talkative and he boasted he had
sent those two men there Is years ago
He said something about that bank rob-
berry and the phoenix-connecting them
with lie Balafre and Bee and another
man named Jules Lacote.
II questioned him. He wouldn't COM
NIT himself, but the little he did say
made me feel that he was Jules Lacote
and that his phoenix was the one the
newspapers had mentioned. Dams past
had always been a mystery to me, but
I knew he had come from France rs
years before. He must be Lacote.
"It was then that thought of letting
the convicts know where Dan was
There was only one way in which
could get to them the Information they
would need. was sure they would gel
hold of their hometown newspapers as
time went on. I'm glad I did 1t. II
YOU tell me that one Of those men shot
, Dan, shall feel I have accomplished
something useful. That's all"
Mrs. Parados stopped as defiantly as
she had begun.
"What are you going to do about It,
M. Flique?" she demanded.
Flique spread his hands. Have I not
complimented madame?"
"You know what mean" she ex-
claimed. did those men kill my hus-
band?"
Fiique made her wait perhaps half
q minute before he answered.
docs madame speak seriously?"
what do you mean2"
Flique held up the pendant. "Has
madame forgotten this?"
what do you fnean?"
'"That monsieur offered madame the
unbearable humiliation and that she
could not content herself to wait for
might never come at all"
'You are crasyl" Mrs. Parados
screamed.
Madame Is not herself. Is it because
I am about to remind her that Friday,
the day monsieur was killed, was the
anniversary Of their wedding and the
BIRTHDAY OF madame? Is it because I
remind you that this trifle which mon
setlr purchased for-35 cents, was it?--
was his gift to madame on that tender
occasion5"
"No no, moi" Mrs. Parados was beat
ing upon the arms Of her chair.
at was the final humiliation. Madame
could stand no more
"You are lyingl It isn't my pendant!
never saw it beforel" -.
"a green stone is missing-you sect
Fliaue held the pendant in front Of Mrs.
Parados' agonized eyes. "But that ex-
cellent Manning found 1t on the floor
Of rnadame's room-and madame"
"You DEVIL"
her hand"
mrs. Parados covered her face and
rocked back and forth in her chair.