Show T r. r A f a 0 Worlds World's Greatest f Short Stories F No II A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT M 24 Bj By B Robert Louis Stevenson tt H tt Twenty-four Twenty famous aut authors ors were n asked recently to name the best short story tory in the English lan lan- guage The choice of Booth Tar- Tar Jade Jack London Alfred Henry Lewis and Richard Harding Davis Wit was A A Lodging For Far the Night ht by f Robert Louis Stevenson LOUIS BOOTH ST STEVENSON VENSON T I I T was Ras late in fn November vember 1450 1461 s The snow fell teU over Paris with r rigorous orous relentless persistence Sometimes the wind made a sally and scattered it in flying Dying vortices j sometimes there was wag a lull and flake after flake descended out of ot the black blacks black's g s 's night air silent circuitous hl tile ble f The rhe cemetery of ot St. St John had bad taken k It Its Iti own share of ot the snow The clock w was 8 hard bard on 10 when the patrol went t. t by with halberds and ond a 0 lantern beat beat- lug 1111 their hands bands and they saw nothing a. a suspicious about the cemetery of St. St i John Yet rt there was waso wasa a small house backed i up against the cemetery wall which r gas T.-JIS R still awake and awake to evil purpose in that snoring district There Therewa was wa not much to betray it from without with with- out only a 11 stream of ot warm vapor from the tbt chimney top a 0 patch where the snow now melted on the roof root and a few half obliterated footprints at the door But wit within bIn behind the shuttered win wini win i lows dows Muster Master Francis Villon VUlon the poet and some Nome of ot the thievish crew with whom he consorted were keeping the f night alive and passing round the bottie bot hot bot F tie tle f f A great grent pile of living embers diffused a strong trong and ruddy glow from the arched chimney Before this straddled 1 Dom Nicolas the monk with his skirts picked up and his bis fat tat legs 7 r I bared to the comfortable warmth His Hia face taco hud had the beery bruised appearance of ot the continual drinkers drinker's s On the rl right ht Villon VUlon and Guy Tabary I t were huddled together over a scrap of ot parchment Villon making a u ballad which be he was WaR to call caU the Ballad of ot d Roast Fish Flab and Tabary spluttering Admiration n at his hid shoulder The poet 1 Y Rasa was n 11 rag of ot a man dark little and Ienn lean with hollow bollow cheeks bt eks and thin 7 g black lo locks ks He carried his four and twenty twenty years yen with feverish animation Greed had made folds about his eyes eyes- Evil ErU smiles s had bad puckered his mouth f Tut- Tut wolf and sod pig struggled together in his face It was an eloquent sharp ugly earthly countenance His ills hands bands a were small and prehensile pl with fingers knotted like Uke a n cord com and they were ere continually con con- 1 L flickering in front of ot him In violent and expressive pantomime As As for Tabary ft a broad complacent admiring imbecility breathed from his squash nose nOSH and slobbering lips He had become a thief Just as he might have b become come ib the most decent of ot burgesses bur bur- gesses gesses by the Imperious chance that rules rule s the lives of ot human geese and hn- hn t It 7 man j r At the monks monk's other hand r t and played a n game of t chance About the first th there re clung v J some flavor flavor- of or good birth and tra training L as u about n 1 i fallen angel Something long Iong lithe and courtly in the person I something aquiline and darkling in the face poor soul was in great tent feather er He had bad done a u good t h- h stroke of knavery that afternoon In fa far f- f r the Faubourg St. St Jacques and all night he be hud had been gaining from Mon Mon- Doubles or quits said Bald L t Hi 1 nodded grimly Some may prefer preter to dine in state 7 wrote wrote Villon on bread and cheese on P Silver plate platt Or or help or-help help me out 4 Ouido Ta ba ry giggled Or parsley on a golden dish scribbled scrib- scrib r f bed bled the poet i I i. i k The wind was freshening without It drove th the snow Inow before It The cold k was growing sharper i Cant you bear benr It rattle in the the- gibbet gibbet gib- gib f bet bett said Villon They are all aU dane M log lag the tho devils devil's Jig on nothing up there thre i i f You Yon may dance my gallants You'll Y ft t be none nono the warmer Whew what a II S a gust guilt Down went somebody Just now A the fewer on the three Ie leg legRed j fc 4 Red d r trees tree I say Dom Nicolas kolus r it'll be b cold Old tonight on the St St. t. t Dents Denis road ro ld 7 he hl- asked J d Tabary laughed hed Immoderately over the n He had bAd ne i r heard any 1111 anything i thing more users' lI be he held bold pi his sides and rowed i Ilion Villon tet fetched f him n a fillip oti un the which turned l his mirth Into nu Ck att tta k of ot coughing Oh stop that row said Mid Villon I tend and think of ot rimes rimE to tn tl fish h Look c 4 at j All e p peered covertly at nt the th gamester He nl did not lIot seem to be bl enJoying en I jo lug h his II luck Ills His mouth was a It lit littie littie tie h to tu i 11 n tilde side one nostril nearly shut Ihm and tl the other uther much mUllI inflated Thet The TIll t black blatto dog dog- was Will u on 1111 n hl his back as 1111 people say sn- sn In terrifying nursery and he lIt breathed hate bard under the grew iron Home harden burden There was 11 a n brief and II ra fatal shove move me meet meat t among th lh- lh gamesters I lie rot round lId 4 cd wa wl completed td and aDl was Just t f w j. j J i lj I opening his mouth to claim another I victory when leaped up swift us liS an adder and stabbed him to the I I heart The blow took effO erect effect before he bl blI I had bad time to utter a cry before he be had bad time to move A tremor or two convulsed his frame His Ills hands open opened ed and shut his heels rattled on the floor then his head rolled backward ud I o er over one shoulder with eyes wide open and spirit had bad returned to him who made it Every ery one sprang to his feet but the business was over o in two twos My fy God said Tabary and he be began to pray in n ra tin i I Villon broke out into hysterical laughter He came a n step forward and nd ducked a ridiculous bow v at Theve Theve- nin and laughed still lo louder der Then h he sat down suddenly all of or a heap upon a 11 stool and continued laughing bitterly as though he would shake himself to pieces Montigny recovered his composure first Lets see what be he has bas about bIm Im he be remarked and nd he picked the dead deadman's deadmans deadmans deadman's mans man's pockets with a practiced hand and divided dl the money Into four tour equal portions on the table Theres for you he said J The monk received hIs bis share with adeep adeep a adeep deep sigh and a single stealthy glance at the dead who was beginning begin begin- fling ning to sink Into himself and topple sideways off oil the chair Were all sit In for tor it it cried Villon swallowing his mirth Its a u hanging Job for tor every man Jack of ot us that's here ber not here not to speak of ot those who vho arent Then he be pocketed his share of ot the spoil and find executed a shuffle with his feet teet asIf as ns asif if It to restore the circulation was the last to to help belp himself He Ht made a dash dish at the money and r retired retired re re- tired to the other end of the room stu k The upright ht in inthe inthe the tbt r chair bair and drew out tb the dagger dater which was followed by a Jet of ot bloo blood You fellows had better be moving he ht said as liS he hp wiped the blade on his bill victims victim's doublet I 1 think we Wt had bad returned Villon with a II gulp D D his fat tnt bead brod he hp broke out It sticks In m my throat thront like mt phlegm What right has baR a at man to toba ba have red rECI half hair when he bp I N is dead And nd h be fell all of ot a heap again upon the stool and fairly covered I his hla face with his hands and Dom Nicolas laughed aloud even en Tabary feebly hinting chiming In Cry bab baby said the monk I l always said he bl was a woman woman added with a rt sneer Sit un up cant can't you ou he hc went on on cm giving o Ing another r shake to the murdered m body Tr Tread td out that fire Nick But Nick was lItI better employed He Ut was wal quietly tn taking Inking kin Villon's IlIon purse parse as 81 the poet sat limp nod and trembling on Oil the stool where he hl had bud been hellI making a II ballod bal bil lad lod not nut three minutes before Monti n ny and aud labary dumbly demanded a 11 ashare ashare share of the hoot boot booty which the fist monk silently promised t-d t n as he lie pissed passed the littie lit lit- littie tie bu big bag lull lot the bosom of his bis gown In many wAys an un artistic nature unfits a moan man for tor practical I XI existence No o had the theft Peru been pushed I than Villon shook himself Jumped to his bit feet teet stud and began begau helping to scatter and extinguish the embers Meanwhile Montigny opened the door and cautious cautiously I peered Into the street The coast was clear I r. r There was no meddlesome patrol in sight Still It was judged wiser to slip sill out severally ond and Villon was th the first h hy by general consent con clIn consent sent to Issue forth The wind 1 had hod triumphed and swept all aU the clouds ull from Prow heaven H a afew few vapors as Ul thus thin as its moonlight ht dieted fleet diet fleeted ed rapidly across the thc stars star It wits was bitter cold old ii and tirl II hy by a n common optical effect things thing seemed U almost st more deti nit In Lu the i daylight VII VII- bas Am cursed his l fortune Would II Il were I still sUIl snowing Now wherever tr he went he Iw left Itt an nil Indelible trait Two Iwu things preoccupied him hint a II its be hi went the aspect t pelt or sr I the th h Callows a II II II at sit t n II n this bright windy phase of cor the fur for one I and for fur another the look gunk of or tilt the dead deadman man WillI with his hI huld genii hend steal and garland I of ur red curls euris Hoth struck cold his hili heart 1111 and 1 he ht II kept pt itil Ills his II pa pae pa-e II e eUK I UK 1114 If he lit could t t from runt no unpleasant j I thought thoughts I. I In fleet net M nf ut foot I III he hI sow saw a II 1 Ion long uta I before before- I hut him a it lu lila sh klump k lump nod and 1 rt I of low Ian I terns tenus Tin The clump In III III II till II II and ud the tbt lantern- lantern 1 as its I uh hl is i's IU carried I liy Iy men hits It U I was 1 s a I patrol II i 1 I lust Just on 1111 his left hand I re ili-re hI stood a J great hotel wit vii with Is 11 some silo ill sod and II I a n j I IIII III large 11 ii porch r ii I the h. h ii door or It wu nl I dark Inside hl ld tin iii J of or tilt the streets trets and nud he was was- t for I I I Iward ward want with outspread I hand hand- ien he tw i I stumbled user over nr Mime J J I j j H It- It f. f Y 2 k y Ji y s 1 Kr i M l h v oA- oA offered an Ie mixture or ar If i r I hard nl and alid suit oft Ii lien Ill I'll I at u loose loo e nl Ills Pearl e a II leap hap ii h 4 two sti I ps k In-k and alid MI tsi I ri dreadfully at lit till the 00 u li 1 Ilien II lie ii race pave d a little lift lau laugh li of If relief It II Wis WI only a nod and she dead II II knet lit iii side her to Make inake sure lIrt Ux ugo n ltd r point She be be wax was freezing old fold and rigid rUid like ilke a II t A little rugged ragged finery fluttered in lu the wind about her hair II and nud her cheeks had been bleu heavily lIy routed 41 that thIn same afternoon Her Iler i M ock ets et c were tr re quite empty but In III her herto to stork o k kIng lag Ins underneath the garter Villon Ilion found two of ot the small coins coln that went b the Ih name of whites It was little enough but it was always something and the tbt poet islet was us mon moved d with a n deep sense of or pathos that she bhe should have ht died life before be bl- before fore tore she ht had spent her money While th these e thoughts were passing through h his bis mind be he was feeling half halt mechanically for tor his purse Suddenly his bis heart stopped beating A feeling of t f cold scales passed up the back of his legs leC and a cold blow seemed to fall tull upon Ulon his bis scalp He lIe stood petrified for tor a 11 moment then he felt again ag with one feverish movement then bl his bis loss burst Durst upon him He cursed He threw the two whites into the street He Ill shook his bis fist at heaven beaven He lle stamped stamp stamp- ed and was not horrified to find himself him self trampling the poor corpse Then he began rapidly to retrace his steps toward the house beside the cemetery He bad had forgotten all aU fear of ot the tbt patrol which w was s long gone by at any rate and had no Idea but that of ot his bis lost lust purse It was in vain that he be looked right and left upon the snow Nothing was to be seen He lIe had bad not dropped It It in the streets Had it fallen in the house bouse He lIe would have bave liked dearly to togo togo togo go In and ond see but the idea of ot the grisly Isly occupant unmanned him and he be saw besides as he be drew near that their efforts efforts efforts ef ef- ef- ef forts to put out the fire bad been un un- successful On the contrary It bad broken Into a blaze and a changeful light played in the chinks of door dour ant and window and revived his terror for the authorities and Paris gibbet He lie returned to the hotel with the porch and groped about upon the snow for the money he be bad had thrown lbrown away awny In his childish passion But nut he be could only find one white the other I had probably struck sl sideways and I sunk deeply deply in With a single white in his pocket all his projects for tor a rousIng rous rous- fug Ing night In some wild tavern vanished vanish vanish- ed utterly away And It was not only pleasure that fled fied laughing from his bis grasp positive discomfort positive pain attacked him as he stood ruefully before the porch His ills perspiration had bad dried upon him and although the wind had bad now fallen tullen a n binding frost was setting In stronger with every hour bour and he be felt benumbed and sick at nt heart beart What was to be done Late as was waR the hour Improbable as liS was success sue sue- cess ess he bt would try the house bouse of hi his adopted father tather the chaplain of ot St St. n. n Benoit Be Be- u nolt l He lie ran run there all the way and und knocked knock knolk ed timid timidly I There was no answer He U. knocked again old nod again taking heart with every ery stroke nn and at la lat last t steps l were werl heard beard approaching from within A 4 barred wicket fell tell open In the tilt luau Ilon studded door and emitted a gush of yellow light Hold up your face to the wicket t. t said ald the chaplain from within Its ts t's only me whimpered Villon on Oh Ob Its It's only you Is It In returned the chaplain and he Ilc cursed him with foul oaths for disturbing him at lit such u b an hour and bade bade- him be beo o off f to hell bell where he hc came from My hands are ure blue to the wrist pleaded l Villon my feet fet are dt dead a and full tull of I m my nose aches l with the sharp air the cold old lies 1118 at nt my heart beart I 1 Ima Imay ma may li be dead before morning Only this once father and before God Hod I will wail never ne ask INk again You should have come earlier said the ecclesiastic coolly Young men mell require a lesson 1111 now and then He lIt shut Rhut the wicket and retired deliberate deliberately I ly Into the tb interior of the flu house Villon was Willi beside himself lf Fie Ile h beret beat upon Ib the dour door with his biN hands list tais it and sal feet I and und t shouted h d hoarsely after the tbt chap chaplain lain lainA A dog door dOIr r shut In the bl interior faintly audible to tel the |