Show so S A SILVER COIN 5 djoi mass when hector merot left his office he found it was nearly midnight he was rn annoyed oyed at having had to go back just 0 0 correct his proofs but the week before in one of his finest articles an bourd printers error had just taken iway away the effect ot of a phrase which had been his pride and turned the whole thing into ridiculous nonsense since hen he had made a point of going himself every night to look over the final root roof I 1 it was VMS the beginning of winter and a ool wind was blowing As he passed along the rue montmartre Mont maHre on his way to the boulevards it occurred to him hat he would have a glass of some hing to drink before returning home to his lonely bachelors bachelor lb quarters he sat down at ont on of the tables outside a cafe and watched the passersby passers by while sipping his punch when he be had he be put a silver coin on the able ready for the waiter and turned aund to pick up his stick the lights inside the cafe were beng ing put out so that ever everything Ming was beginning to look very dreary just as bector ruse rose a hand suddenly snatched ap the silver coin and the thief immediately nedia tely disappeared round the corner of the next street in an instant hector drew another coin from his pocket ind threw it on the table called to the waiter and then started off in pur sult it waz was very evident that the thief know knew he was being followed and it was also evident that he was inexperienced in his trade for he ran on and on up one street and down another coming out again yards away from the place he started from hector was interested for he was too 1 much of a parisian not to know that the man in front of him was not an ordinary pickpocket hector himself knew all the side streets and paa passages ages thoroughly and he suddenly turned down one ran at full speed and came out again under a lamp just as the wretched man an reached it both men stopped short and hector said shortly give me bade back my money the thief stood motionless and the journalist saw by the light of the street lamp the saddest human face he had ever looked upon I 1 the man before him was apparently quite young but his bis face ace was pale and pinched and his black hair and moustache I 1 gave him a ghostlike ghost like look his ELIZ clothes were shabby and he had altogether what the french describe as the look of a drowned man hector at the sight ot of such evident misery felt es as though he himself had been guilty of some crime and when the wretched man held out the silver coln coin to his accuser without attempting to offer a word of apology but with an ex expression of utter otter despair in his sunken eyes eres our journalist could not find a word to say cay he took the coin put it in his bb purse and then pressed the purse pum into the mans kiwe hand band and made off as though he had bm been the thief after ten years of uphill work wom und and struggle sector nector had gained tor for himself an important SD Ortt boumal ism lai as an art M 9 ii adli a mertty and t ft I 1 lp e ten ty qa arg wa o r j a gc g L 7 4 V i lr S g aki ii V 1 4 1 15 L I 1 V I 1 lie and his fits verdict on all matters wt can necked with art and lite literature W ways awaited with anxious imlay 2 a dw W in spite of all his success MA anc I 1 fame the first hard years of tn Z 9 had bad left their traces on him was always a touch of melancholy which he had never quite succeeded la Is throwing off he had seen the comedy of human life too near and it is ali no comedy for those who are am behind the scenes on this bright may day however hector was quite gay aa he be entered enterer Le doyens restaurant it was the opening day of the salon and there was an animated discussion going on among a group of artists sculptors and journalists as to the respective merits of at the works exhibited this year rectors Hec tors arrival made a sensation and many hands were held out towards him somewhat absently and yet with the easy cordiality of a man accustomed to society he answered the various greetings and then took his customary place at a small table where paul Niels sery the young landscape painter and charles virtius lus tius the rel list opre awaiting for him with these two friends hector could always enjoy himself he knew and sympathized with them thoroughly in their love or art and in their utter contempt for all that was mean or mercenary why hector exclaimed paul you look positively radiant this morning what has happened and what have you been doi doing n g why precisely the same as everyone else I 1 have been looking at pictures and sculpture but I 1 discovered one piece which has done me good for or the whole day A perfect masterpiece an inspiration hectors hectora Hec tors friends listened eagerly and at the neighboring tables the conversation ceased for it was worth while hearing what the great art critic had to say and hearing it from his lips before the papers got it next daa da there are certainly some fine things this year in the salon but in my opinion there is one that surpasses all one such as we only get once in about ten years I 1 mean jean M maiers Meun iera wreck A murmur of approval was wa heard from the other tables as hector pronounced the young sculptors name very soon the buzz of conversation was again heard and hector and his friends continued their repast all three of them in the best of humors with themselves and with all the rest of the world during dessert charles virtius got av ap from the table and went across to uk tf other end of the restaurant he soon returned accompanied by a tall band some man about thirty well dressed and bearing the unmistakable stam stamp p of a gentleman his dark deep set brown eyes were full of restless energy but there was an expression of earnestness in them which almost amounted to sadness this morning however his I 1 delicate oval face was lighted up with happiness fame had appeared to him glory had touched him with her wings Hec hector toc said charles 1 I want to introduce my friend to you jean meunier the journalist rose quickly and s shook hook hands warmly with the young I 1 acu sculptor lator 1 I must thank you he said for the enjoyment I 1 have had ad this morning your wreck is a marvelous work of art and I 1 certainly think I 1 have never felt so much pleasure in seeing a piece of sculpture sculpts re as in that the artist drank in these words from the critic with delight and on hector heator s invitation he took a seat at the little table where the coffee was giving out its inviting aroma during the conversation hector looked hard at jean trying hard to recall where and when he had seen that refined face with the intense expression in its dark he thought of various acquaintances he had made at clubs artists studios cafes but no he could not recall ha haa ing met this man before and still the look in those eyes haunted him finally he decided that it must be a resemblance that he saw to someone else and he got so interested in the conversation of the three artists that he forgot it at last and ceased to ransack his memory gradually the tables around were deserted and hector called the waiter and paid the bill he left some change on the table tor for the waiters and seeing thai he had not picked up a silver coin halt hidden by a plate he called him back saying take this too 1 suddenly jean ennier looked at it and then at hector his pale face became beame c still paler the expression in his eyes still more intense a shudder ran through him and at the same time the memory of an utterly wretched face seen on a november evening ly 17 the light of a street lamp ten years ago flashed across hector they were all getting up from the table he smiled sympathetically at the young sculptor and held out his hand which tho the latter grasped and wrung silently bw ba i with gra gratitude titu d e of his whole soul hector and jean were from this day forth n firm friends and the sculptor told the story of the utter misery and poverty he had been tn in when hen hectorl hectors Hec tors timely and sympathetic help had rescued him from despair and his beautiful young sister from deaul death she was I 1 now 20 20 years old bright happy and gay the very sunshine of his home hector was a frequent visitor at the sculptors toes studio and he often joined the brother and sister at their dinner the tinge of melan melancholy a 0 ly gradually disappeared from his face and one morning the fal lowing announcement aut was seen in the papery toe marriage Inar ruge of our am eminent anent critic hector berot with mlle helens maraur the jean muen ler oe well of ar rho W feck ia I 1 i I 1 aia gai arec taw jag jf 1 14 g I 1 R 0 i IT 3 |