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Show sntuy and sent back to the dnncora their image somewhat dimly, as if melted by regret by oil these elcganciu. M. Majesty felt himself out of piano. He got bchi ad a box and looked on. Little by Jittlo, however, tho day broko. Through the bIahi door of the warerooms tho good innn saw the court yard grow lighter, thou the tops of the windows, then nil one side of tho union. As the brightness increawd the figures faded and were confounded together. Soon M. Majesty saw only two violinist lingering In a corner and evaporating a the light touched them. In the court yard he could ( till see, but very vaguely, tlie shu)0 of tt sedan chnir, 8 powdered bead adorned with emeralds, and the hist sparks of a torch thrown by tho servants niwn tho flagstones, which mingled min-gled with the light of the whocl lanterns of o truck at tliut instant coining through tho in gale with a trenwndotis clatter. AJphontse Daudet in Chicago MaiL I adorned the ceiling, surrotinaeil tne tnir-. rors and floated over the doors in vague ' colors, somewhat soiled, like souvenirs of departed years. Unfortunately there were neither curtains nor furniture. Nothing but baskets, great boxes filled with siphons, with pewter heads, and the dried branches of an old lilao bush which still hung In inky- blackness black-ness behind tho windows. M. Majesty Ma-jesty on entering fonnd his ware-rooms ware-rooms full of light and company He bowed politely, but nobody .paid' the least attention to him. Tho women, In their satin cloaks, on the arms of their cavaliers, continued their ceremonial affectations. They promenaded, chatted ond separated. Truly, all tho old marquises mar-quises seemed to bo perfectly at home. A little figure poused, all in a tremble, in front of a painted wall. "That's me exactly! Look at my portrait!" and she gazed smilingly upon a Diana on a panel, slender and pink, with a crescent on her forehead. "Nesmcmd, do como here and look at your arms!" And everybody luiighod a they saw the arms of tho Nesmonds stamped upon some bogging with the ' name of Majesty underneath. "Ah! ha! Majesty! Th"y Btill have majesties then in France?' And there j wero endless gaycticn. little fifo like. I bursts of laughter, uplifted fingers and affected speeches. Suddenly somo one cried out: "Here's champagne! Hero's champagne!" "No, it isn't!" "Yes, it is it's champagne! Come, coiintesn, let's have a bumper." It was M. Majesty's seltzer water they had mistaken for champagne. They found it a trifle flat, but they drank it all the same, and as these poor ghosts were not strong in the head little by little lit-tle the weak seltzer water . animated them, excited them and put them in a i frame of mind for dancing. Minuets were organized. Four good ; violins that Nemnond bad brought in his train began one of Uamcaa's airs, simple and melancholy in ita vivacity. It was a right to see all these old women turn and salute their partners gravely, keeping time with the music. Their at- tire seemed to grow young again, and so did the gold embroidered waintcouts, the brocaded coata and the shoes with diamond brickies. The panels themselves them-selves appeared to revive on hearing the ancient melodies. The old mirror, in- ' closed In the wall for 200 years, recog-i recog-i nixed them also, and scratched as It was j nd blackened at the corners lighted tip ... , . t - Jr. quickly, so suddenly, that the lamp was extinguished, and for several minutes, In the shadow of the gateway, there was a confused sound of whispering and of vestments rubbing againBt each other. People . disputed, and hastened to enter. There were valets, plenty of valets; coaches with glass windows reflecting the moonbeams, and sedan chairs balanced bal-anced between two torches, which flared in the draught at tho gato. In no time the court yard was jammed. But at the foot of the steps the confusion ceased. People descended from the vehicles, saluted each other, and went in chatting as if they knew the house. Upon the steps silks rustled and swords clattered. Nothing but white headdresses, heavily loaded wHh powder; nothing but small, shrill voices, somo without melody, and light footsteps. All the people seemed to be old, very old. . There were dull eyes, dim jewels and ancient brocaded silks shot with changing chang-ing hues, which the light of the torches caused to shine with a soft luster, and above all floated a tiny cloud of powder, which mounted from the curled headdresses head-dresses at each courtly bow, a trifle pompous because of . the swords and great paniers. Soon the whole house had the air of being haunted. The torches shone from window to window, mounting and descending the winding stairways until oven the dormer windows of the mansards had their sparks of fete and life. The entiro Hotel of Nesmond was illuminated as if the setting suit had flooded it with its brilliancy. - "Great Jove! they'll burn the house down!" cried M. Majesty. And, recovering recov-ering from hie stupor, he strove to shake the heaviness out of his legs and descended de-scended quickly to the court yard, where the servants had just kindled a rousing ; fire. M. Majesty approached and re-i re-i monstrated with them. The servants made no reply, and continued to talk in ! low tones among themselves without the i least vapor escaping from their lips in I the icy gloom of the night M. Majesty ( wag uneasy, but one thing reassured : him, and that was that this great fire i which flamed so high and so steadily ; was a most singular fire a flame devoid ; ot heat which sparkled but did not burn. ' His fears having been tranquilized, the ' good man descended the steps and entered en-tered his warerooms. These warerooms, which were on the ground floor, must formerly have been magnificent reception salons. Particles of tarnished gold ye glittered at an the angles, t ilytholotrical paintiiun ' T . .'. ' capitals, which arose in the topmost stories sto-ries like so many little roofs in the roof, and lastly, upon the summit of alL amid the slates, with the round and coquettish dormer windows of the mansards man-sards enframed with garlands like mirrors. mir-rors. Added to this were immense Btone steps, eaten and turned green by the rain, a meager vine clinging to the walls as black and twisted as the rope which hung from the pulley away up toward the garret, and a pronounced air of age and sadness. Such was the former hotel of Nesmond. In broad day the aspect of the mansion was altogether different The words "counting house." "warerooms," "entrance "en-trance to the workshops," shone out everywhere in gold letters upon the old walls, filling them with life rejuvenating rejuvenat-ing them. The trucks from the railroads Bhoolt the portals, and the clerks came to the steps with their pens behind their ears to receive tho merchandise. The court yard was encumbered with boxes, with baskets, with straw and with bagging. bag-ging. In short, the place had all the look of a manufactory. But at night, in tho deep silence, beneath the winter moon, which, amid the disorder of complicated com-plicated roofs, cast and intermingled shadows, the ancient residence of tho Nesmonds resumed its lordly appearance. appear-ance. The balconies were covered with lace, the court of honor grew larger and the irregularly lighted old stairway became be-came full of cathedral like recesses, with empty niches and dimisteps which resembled re-sembled altars. The night of which we are speaking, especially M. Majesty, thought his establishment estab-lishment had a singularly grand aspect. As he passed through the deserted court yard the sound of his footsteps made a deep impression on him. The stairway seemed immense and terribly difficult to ascend. It was the effect of his little supper, doubtless. Arrived at the first landing he stopped to take breath and approached a window. So mnch for living liv-ing in an historical mansion! M. Majesty Majes-ty was not a poet, oh, no; but, nevertheless, neverthe-less, as he gazed out at the beautiful aristocratic court yard, over which the moon spread a sheet of blue light, and at the noblo old edifice, which had just the air of sleeping, with its roofs stretching stretch-ing away beneath their covering of snow, he began thinking of the other world. ... "What if the Nesmonds should return?" re-turn?" murmured he. At that moment the bell rang violently. vio-lently. The gate was throws open so GHOSTS AND SELTZER M. Majesty, manufacturer of seltzer water in the Marais, had been to a little nipper given by some of hi3 friends of tho Place Royale, and was on his way home shivering in the cold air. St Paul's clock struck 2. "How late it is," muttered the good man, and he quick-' ened his step: but the sidewalk was Blippery, the streets durk, and, besides, in that ancient quarter of Paris, which dates from the time when carriages were rare, there are numerous turns, angles, and lii tching posts before the doors for th6 accommodation of horsemen. All these impede fast wnlMng, particularly when one's legs are a. trifle heavy and one's sight confused by the toasts of a little upper. , . ... At last M. Majesty reached his destination. desti-nation. He paused before a large ornamental orna-mental gate, upon which glistened in the moonlight a newly gilded shield containing contain-ing a restored ancient coat-of-arms, which he had adopted as his trademark, "Hotel Ci-Devantde Nesmond. Majesty i Jeune, Fabricant D'Eau de Seltz." On all the 6iphons of the establishment, on all the note blanks and on letterheads , the venerable arms of the Nesmonds j thus spread out and shone. Within the gate was the court yard an immense court yard, airy and light which, when thrown open during the day, flooded the whole street with brilliancy. brill-iancy. At the extremity of the court yard stood a vast building of great antiquity, an-tiquity, with embellished and ornamenfc-td ornamenfc-td black walla, with balconies of ronnd-! ronnd-! ed iron and stone balconies with pilas- 1 ters, with very lofty and tremendous Windows, surmounted by rjedimenfa and ( . ,vf -V-t- if. ; Vj" ! -1 '. |