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hart Conlplete Tales by c; Renowned Writers. ). kb" he P [COPYRIGHT. J CLOWN'S ? LOVE STORY. 00 aft «< By ALETHfcA PHILLIPS, t(t,i thoress of "A Romance of the Revotution,"&c. ^1 a JI In, *• lefffcOfty called him Picotin. was not his real name. Nobody knew • ttilt-r he had a run] IWIBP or not, but it was of re J JJO'ir qii"nsf. for he was only a clown. I j -r Picotin He bad been tumbling about tflij *Jd» fhe circus-ring ever since he could remem- I How he first cfitne into it no one could tell Ilow he tir. ine iiit, i Y more than hiiii-el excpt a very deaf old ,<* ^"Per, who recollected that a trainer had tli "ftfCht him th(-re as a mere baby, capable .f Vo '.nf? balanced on the tip of an «crobat's top or & .ly folded up in a tritveliiiig b-ig. From this j stage of a perfm-mer, and from lispinsr droll noi I'fcrtinences, the boy developed gradually into a | clown, but like many another^ mirth- I poking genius, Picotin was sad and solitary in •Tl^ays. ylA^'th a heart that yearned for sympathy, for fciijB^tion, he found himself doomed to appear [^H'Culous even wh^n he most wished to be serious. KK*dolorous face was provocative of laughter, a^rfTl without its paint; his smallest utterance jJ8 greptwd as a juke; for a clown, in the eeti- tion of most people, must always be merry ^|T* liave quips and cranks for everything under J'eotin was the Prince of Jesters, yet he had Q tory. 3*Jji Vf course there was a woman in it. Well, was nflS »fe ever a life-tory yet worth relating that had | woman in it of some sort or another ? rfl*W WHS very young, with the face of a seraph JjE/) a slight, roundnd figure, reminding one of a Bal^-beil swayed to and fro by the wind, as she ,«»Vk"Ced heiself on the tight-rope night after before an admiring multitude. A little J WHS always on her lips a* if she experienced A PM delight in the supple grace of her own ø e body, and her starry eyes shone with the jJ^ence of a child. f|cotin adored her. evening during the performance some k^less person, either drunk or too fond of a J Epical ioke, let off several cr ckers all of a 3 L^*n und threw a squib down into the ring r Babinette. d 0* Rave a terrified stream and fell from the jf -Picotin rusned forward and received her in lb ju*rn'6- The pretty face wa* pale beneath its r0 rouge, and he saw tliac she had fainted. he carried her out, and, having left her » care uf some women, tore up among the of the audience and seized the offender by I War. made way for him as he hauled the 0 ,nto fc',e r'nS- ( 'nee there the infuriated 0 administered a sound thrashing before the the pub! c. The management did not $e^ re' see'nK'hat the chastisement was richly 9 T'j'ved and that it was also applauded. f g*ter Picotin was more popula than ever. #Au Wa8.tt'8° happier;for Babinette had thanked » prettily and ne had ventured to speak to her ft 'Jt9 about his desire to make her bis wife, to ^°u tht-y hnd consented. 1 J^'etty Babinette meanwhile, as the heroine of | h/1 exciting episode of the crackers, had r 1)1* great enthusiasm among a set of idle ■ iu 9 who were always thrusting their admira b11 upoti her, and when Picdtiu threatened tr them all she laughed in his face, crunching bon-hims they had sent her, with teeth sharp ?J* ^hite as those of a litfle field mouse. Was it ^'ble, thought the poor clown, that this child J thf* starry eyes was becoming a mere coarse k vulgar vvoniaii, sueli as the others about ? Bar he xhuddered at the thought, thmst- jjf ■i' froui him, and waiting patiVntly to over- the petulant distaste she se^mud to have all at once to the idea of being married. Babinette, how much money they give /€ wife can be quite a fine lady if she VoI* lie t0 ',er ul,e ^'9 Q'iee1, tiiat had a crack in it and never could be J/^R'it to murmur soft sentences, such as he l^jd have liked to caress her ear with, after the ^'iou of a lover. Ji*l>inette looked wistfully at the gold pieces. took them up in her dainty finger«. and let 7,n' drop again into his palm. v Yes, she answered, mulling a rosebud of her "'but you—you will always bo a clown." i £ or the first time in his life the poor fellow felt Jfraded in following the only profession lie had known. He did net reflect that her own w*lk in life was very similar to his, and that it £ ld be solely through him she would be at to quit it, which he was quite determined shouid do on becoming his wife. He was too in love to reflect at all; he was simply &*oious of some vague sense of injustice, n^f-w days after tha.t he was strolling in one of public gardens when a murmur of voices ^ght his far. In a shady side path he a couole of young lovers seated on 0.,«bnch hand in hand, and gazing into each < eye->. He would have walked on ^ind them without paying further attention Iiot thegiri turned tier profile in his direction. was no mistaking those lines of cheek, brow, and chin, almost cherubic in their soft- nor the delicate, scarcely perceptible upward of the tiny nose that made Bubinette a future of childish innocence, yet Picotin gazed *|Pidly at her, doubtful whether to believe his )?*" senses. What was she doing here with her J&d io that of another when she was hi3 aflBanced *lfe 1 did not have to wait long for an explanation, i *ows and protesiations fell upon his ears ?lllRled with entreaties and contemptuous »>x- r^teions regarding hin>self, to which the girl j'teiied in silence, while one by one tears crnpt |Na between her curled lashes and fell into her v"l?oor Picotin! He is so good," she mur- r'fed once or twice and he loves me. It will his heart." v 'Noclown ever had a heart," cried the young ^••»_v.ithconviction. "'Doyon think he could pass l^Jife making jukes it he suffered as I do? It v^kes me treu.ble and turn sick every time I see Ik? l*,at <'rea^(u' rope, my darling. It is o~0»t;inable, horrible, to see ail those eyes, too, i upun you. What is your promise to that Picotin^ compared with my love V' And so this youth wooed her with soft voice ^irdent words, while the girl listened with bent, like a blush-rose tremulous on its b-ncath the warm breath of a summer j^nd. Little by little the haunting face of the failed from her mind as she nestled closer her lover. She was huppy—oh, so happy— vhis arms clasped about her, and n ean- the man, whose heart would have been J?1"11 oat a bleeding sacrifice to save her pain, ?°od there behind them both, unlifpded, with j^iwn face and dull eyes ga2ing blankly into the ^tnre. fc,, ,at night Picotin failed in several of his tricks, the peop e roared with laughter. « ■They thougiit it funnier to see him fail than to him succeed, for he looked at them so mourn- and shook his head in such a dismal manner, Ijr^hough it was all up with him, that they took it ^fcranted he did it on puri>ose. wt* ^hat is the matter with Picotin ?" asked one **> knew him well, of Babinette, behind the j^Oes but she only shrugged her shoulders with as she tried to get another peep at a ^-haired young man, conspicuous in one of the I ■A.t the end of the performance a pompous red- 'n^'T'<"ua'» who had the look of a ^successful t *Clfriey, and who had watched Picotin with un- *'ing interest throughout the evening, came » frfld to the back and asked whether he could him on a matter of importance. Alie man iger smiled rather contemptuously, but It l 8 orders to admit the stranger, who was £ iibtrey to interview the famous clown in his t^in« -room, where he was at that moment hIs suit of motley for mere ordinary Qolr. „«icotin was sitting dejectedly on a wooden box ll»«C served to hold liis theatrical wardrobe. He not taken off his clown's dress, and his (it were still thrust into the pockets of trousers, just as one was accustomed VtL. them when he strutted about ^'•h tnrned-in toes inside the ring. His chin dropped down into the immense ruff stood out all round his neck, and this, with Vacant expression of his eyes, g*z>ng upwards, a sufficiently ludicrous appearance to the slight chuckle with which his visitor •poached him. ,¡ ;hink, Monsieur Picotin,you will forgive my it* wt)en y°u ar» made acquainted with hi <faas«>8 «d the bland personage, holding out VSnd. *0a ,Cot'n ,nst'ncts of a gentleman. He bowed ai only an acrobat who has not an tit trained muscle in his body can bow, and offered fent.leman a rickettv chair, the sole article of jj. 0,ture of that description in the small apart- ^len "tood with his logs wide apart ? his hands still in the baggy pockets, waiting m br:r to what he owed this strange interruption n.Pdltatlon. ^icu u haVe always passed under the name of I believe, and been known as a clown of jJ? >^pute ? nodded gloomily. He thought of his tricks, the only ones he had ever att which the audience had taken so good- ^ouredly. k. I I "\VeIJ, Monsieur, if you are tired of your pro- 'I fession, there is an opportunity of relinquishing it. Y Olt are heir to a fortune of 50,000 francs a year." I The red-faced man seemed to swell with the magnitudf of his cwn importance m announcing this piece of stupendous intelligence, and the ricketty chair creaked beneath his weight, but neither the attitude nor the expression of the clown changed. i If Monsieur will be pleased to look over these papers he will he convinced that what I tell him is correct." Picotin put out his hand and took the papers mechanically, quite as if they were a matter of utter indifference to himself. "Admirable. What talent!" thought the lawyer, convinced that the clown was still acting and more, than half inclined to burst out laughing, for the eye- brows pencilled high up on the white face, almost to the roots of the hair, gave it an expres- sion of uncoucem approaching nob cility. A long fantastic shadow was cast upon the wall from Picotiii's figure as hnatoud before the fUring gas-jet turning the papers over. The lawyer thought it possible he might not be able to read their contents but be ashamed to own it. This, however, was a mistake. In his way the jester had a certain amount of education, and he under- stood enough of the jargon of formalities through which he now glanced to know that an un- expected stroke of good luck had befallen him. "I am a rich man." he murmured a.t last, letting the papeis rustle down on to the floor as his hands fell dejectedly at his side. "You are, indeed," cried the lawyer, laughing outright at the wue-begoue expression with which these words were uttered. Itis too iate, too late," said Picotin, shaking his head mournfully. There were tears in his eyes, but his voice had a break in it that was irresistibly comic, and the lawyer rolled in his chair till one leg gave way and made him jump up to save himself. "In Monsieur Arnaud Bertin, rentier, tho world will have lost an incomparable artiste," he exclaimed, with a polite flourish, carefully re- collecting the documents it was his business to keep safe. Picotin sat on the wooden box, nursing one leg with an air of gloomy meditation. Why had itnot happened before—a month ago even? Then he might have gone to Babinette and told her it was in his power to make her a real fine lady, who could have a carriage and as many gowns as she pleased, for he was no longer a clcwn but a gen- tleman of fortune. She would l'ave been delighted then. and might perhaps have danced round him, clapping her hands in the pretty, airy fashion bo so loved to see. Now, he knew it would be all different. He could not buy her love, since it was given to that fair-haired youth whom in his heart he hated. II. Monsieur Entile Bertio was furious. He had received a letter from his man of affairs that morn rig with the unpleasant information that he was no longer inheritor ot tha fortune he had been brought up to expect. His rich and eccentric old uncle, to whose death he had so long looked forward, had after all left a son, the rightful heir to all his wealth, and the nephew found himself encum- bered with debts he now saw no possibility of paying, besides being an idle fellow, with no power or inclination to gain a livelihood by hones meuns, so that his rage and disappoint- ment knew no bounds. Add to this the fact of his being in love with a girl he bad no idea of lelinqmshing. and the state of mind, bordering on distraction, which caused this young man to paceupa.nd down his chamber, may be in.agined. \VP-IJ. Babinette, must keep me," hb said at last, with a cynical laugh. We will go away to some great city where her beauty and her talents are sure to get an engagement. She will set up as a star, and they will give her any amount of money if she can only once become the vogue Meanwhile that will give me time to look round. Well, why not ? She loves me to distraction, the dear little thing. It would be crvelty to Wve her to the mercies of that odious clown. Oh if I could only come across that precious fellow who has stepped into my shoes I would find some means of killing him," cried Monsieur Emile aloud, shaking his fist at the empty air, while a cruel expression of hatred finmed un his handsome features, displaying the hidden possibilities of a nature ill-disuipbned and extremely selfish. He was intetrapted by the entrance of a valet, at whom he sClJwled fiercely. A-a person wishes to see you, monsieur. I think it is Picotin, the clown," added the man, with a broad grin full of pleasurable recollections. I What the devil "—cried his master in a fur/, when Picotin himself appeared upon the thies- hold. For a moment the young man of aristocratic Connections recoiled, drawing himself up with an air qf arrogant displeasure, but something m the steady gaze fixed upon him made him feel un- easy, and he stammered a few words of intended condescension. This is indeed delightful. Artistes of any kind always bring their own welcome." The man who comes to call another to account is not aiwaya so welcome," answered the clown, drily. I do not understand," said Emile, with a shrug of the shoulders as he proceeded to light a cigarette, but Monsieur Picotin is always en- titled to his joke." Which is of a different kind from those in- dulged in by young gentlemen who are capable of throwing fireworks at a woman and nearly causing her to hreak her neck." Cur*e him," thought Kunle, he knows me again." Aloud he said in a tone of some humilia- tion, Oh I as to that, a mere student's Ireak, I was drunk at the time—besides you had your re- venge." No," answered Picotin, choking, I merely chastised the offender--I might have told some- one who it.really was." His eye was full of menace as it rested on the other, who from deep crimson had gone suddenly pale. What Babinette She could never know. It was carnival time. We were disguised. I had on a black wig and my face was stained walnut-colour. I did not mean to hurt her, but I was orunk." "And yet you have since then had the audacity to make love to her," cried Picotin. all the scorn and loathing he felt for this man apparent in his quick gesture. Excuse me. I do not quarrel with persons like you, nor do I consider myself accountable to them for my amusements." said Kmile, with supreme insolence, as he took the cigarette from between his lips an 1 watched the smoke ring they emitted curl above his bead. Quick as thought the clown stepped forward, plucked the tiny roll of tobacco from between the young man's delicate fingers, and threw it in his face. where the lighted end raised a blister on the cheek. There was a moment's pause, and then Emile sprang upon his adversary like a tiger-cat, but he had nut paused to consider the strength and flexi- bility of those muscles with which he had to deal. Before he knew what had happened the flaneur of the boulevards was lying with the breath half- crushed out of him, prostrate beneath the stern gaze of Picotin. Apologise." A sull"ii silence succeeded this brief command, j With swollen empurpled countenance, and the Ctown's knee and hands holding him down lik*- iron weights, Kmile Bertin still could not bring himself to obey, but mu tered something almost inarticulate about its being beneath him. "00 the contrary, you are very much beneath me." exclaimed the jester, catching at the oppor. tunity out of sheer habit, and pressing more heavily even, while he half expected the usual laugh to follow this repartee. "Usrh! I-I apologise," gasned Emile. "That is asweil for you," remarked Picotin gravely, as he removed himself and allowed the other to stagger on to his feet again, where some of his insolence returned with his recovered breath. You have forced me to apologise for I know not what, through the exercise of that mere brute force you have acquired in your training. It was taking an unfair advantage of an enemy, but I, Monsieur Emile Bertin, will do you the honour of meeting yon, Monsieur Picotin—clown —a* one gentleman tuefta another. You will be waited on by my second. Now go." He pointed peremptorily to the door. Picotin came a step or two nearer, his square. strong-set figure seeming suddenly im|>osing, while all the mobility of his features had vanished and left a mask of stone, rigid, im- placable,. as he answered hoarsely— It Mon-ieur Arnaud Bertin, clown, refuse to Monsieur E nile Bertin, scoundrel." With that he turned on his heel, and ramming • « «jfc OWn on to his brows, left the room. He-—-he the heir. He the man who has ii f-w*" rn<s my rights," shrinked Emile. ii f-w*" rn<s of my rights," shrinked Emile. "011, man Die" I would that I had killed him." But at the rentt-mbranoe of that terrible, scornful face he ming himself down, shedding tears of venom at his own impotence and humiliation. III. Babinette was gone. That was all that Picotin comprehended in the n.tdst of the shrill outcries and uphraidmgs of her distracted parents. He stood there sullenly listening, with bent he»d, as again and again they asked hun why he had not put an end to his toobsh counting by marriage. Was a young girl like that to be consulted? I He had contrived she should run away with one of those penniless students now he was rich and too proud to hav. their child. Yet she was pretty and good enough to be any man's wife, 1st alone a clown's. But they knew it wus his fautt oh, yes, he alone was to blame-and what would they do now, the poor old parents, without the child's talents to help U1 supporting them ? He knew that was the sum total of their grief, and that the annuity he eonld settle upon them now he Was a rich man would dry up their tears and even cast a halo of grateful remembrance round the day on which their child had deserted thein. It took so little to console some people, but with himself it was different. Babinette was gone He tried not to think of the rascal who had de- coyed her away, for when he did so a fierce re- srret shook his soul for not having strangled him as he lay at the mercy of his Strong grasp. Oh, that sweet child face, with its starry eyes, he never should see again Picotin crept back to his own little chamber *|!ke a wounded animal that seeks some .-pot in which to moan out its ebbing life in solUude. Not that he felt himself about to die. Far from it. He was a man, and could fight out his anguish and bury his dead heart away from human eyes, so that none would know he lived henceforth without one. When evening came he went down to fulfil his engagement, as usual. He put on the old dress, tumbled head over heels into the ring, plunged both hands into the baggy pockets, with legs wide apart, and nodded comically to the audience in acknowledgment of their applause. He has 'nad a fortune left him, but he treats even that as a joke, and means to oontinae bis even that as a joke, and means to oontinae his foolery and give the money all away to the poor," whispered the red-faced attorney, over whom Picotin seemed to have cast a vpell of fasoina* tion, for he came to see him every night and laughed more than anyone there. To him it was the most exquisite of jokes that a man should prefer to stand on his head and be poor rather than live at his ease the right side up like other people. Three years passed, and Picotin travelled through many towns and cities, always with ,growing reputation as the most inimitable clown there had ever been. Everywhere people held their sides at recollection of nis jokes, his antics. his thousand and one ways of drollery, and every- where where Picotin's name was qnoted, as an embodiment of laughter, some great charitable institution rejoiced in a mysterious donation, and some poor wretch blessed an unknuwn benefactor, At last he Callie to Paris, and the people went mad over him. The ladies introduced a littlt! "i es more motley into their costumes than usual even, a la Picotin. They preferred the fool's cap to any other form of he-td gear, and no doubt it suited some of them admirably. Picotin found himself surrounded by flatterers. Rumour-t of his fortune and his eccentric ways were grossly exaggerated, He might even have thrown the handkerchief like a great pacha, and found the most fastidtousready to pick it up but he passed them all by with unseeing eyes, solitary and mournful as he had been in the cold beginning of his career. He is so charmingly absurd, this dear Picotin," said the ladies. If one speaks to him of himself he looks at one in that heartbroken way of his, a,nd says that outside the ring be ceases to exist. He is rather brusque, and un- doubtedly queer, but he is adorable." One night, after an ovation more brilliant than usual, Picotin had escaped from his admirers, and wandered out alone under the stars to commune with that second self no one amongst them could understand. Such moments were his nearest ap- proach to happiness, for in them he strengthened those resolutions to do what good lay in his power and to mitigate a little the misery he saw others born to. This man of earnest and deep affection had been early thrown back upon him- self, but his nature welled up and oveiflowed in that chanty he was now able to dispense at will. Nothing appealed to him in vain, though he had a morbid fear of discovery. As he walked along- now, shivering slightly beneath his furs, for the night was cold with an intense frost, a woman, who had been crouching in an angle of one of the bridges, suddenly rose in front of him, swayed to and fro, then fell senseless at his feet. In a moment Picotin was kneeling by her side. He tore off his rich coat and wrapped it gently round the stiffened limbs. The child clasped to the woman's breast gave a cry that went straight to his heart, and he hastened to call assistance. Where to?" asked the commissionaires. Picotin reflected for half a second. The nearest hospital was far away, and his own luxurious apartments close at hand. He gave the men that ditection, and, sending one of them for a doctor and nurse, took his place in assisting to remove the helpless cieatures. An hour afterwards the religkuse, who had taken her place by the bedside of the rescued woman, came softty into the adjacent room where Picotin was and touched him on the arm. The clown had been sitting with his head be. tween his hands. He raised it slowly, exiting to see the red-faced lawyer, the flaring gas jet, and the wooden walls of his old dressing-room, for at that moment of his life it was strongly before him. Instead of this he saw a black-robed sister, with the head-dress of her order standing out like white wings on each side of her pensive countenance, a softly-lighted apartment, and there upon the floor a woman's- ragged shawl re- calling him to the present. M"naieur, the doctor says she cannot last long. I have already sent for the priest. Come, quick, she seems to have something on her mind she wishes to say." IV. It was all over. Life was exceeding cruel, and love had made a mock of the wan.faced woman who had once been starry-eyed Babinette. Only Death was kindly, thought Picotin as he turned away with a numb feeling of anguish and a bitter remembrance of that which might have been, while his clown's existence seemed, as it often did, the only natural one upon this earth, where all went by contraries. But ever since that night a new interest had crept into his life. The woman who had wronged him bad died in peace beeause he ptomised to be a father to her child and that of the one man whom he had hated as an enemy, even while struggling to forgive. Poor Picotin Much had been asked of him, and as for the first time he stooped over the sleeping infant and marked how the mother had I starved herself to preserve the rounded softness of thoselittle limbs, some of the repugnance he felt for the father recoiled, in sfcite of himself, upon this poor innocent he had vowed to cherish. But suddenly it woke and looked with baby won- derment up into his face then crowing with baby confidence and delight held out its chubby arms. As those arms closed round his neck, and the curly head rubbed against his cheek, Picotin's heart expanded with the consciousness that he had at last found something to love. Henceforth the intercourse between these two strangely- assorted beings was one long laughter and rielight. As the years passed on only one feftr-that the real father might one day claim his child—marred the clown's happiness. He idolised her with a rapt devotion far more satisfying and less dis quieting than that which he had felt for her mother long ago. Nothing was too good for 61iioq in the opinion of papa Picotin, and no amount of carcases were too many for papa Picotin in the opinion of B6bee. It was with a terrible sen>e of self-saorifice that as she grew older he .placed the child in a convent school where she could be better cared for and trained in those accomplishments he vaguely believed necessary to a young lady destined to inherit a considerable fortune. As for himself, he still continued his old career, partly from habit, partly from love of that to which be seemed to the manner born, and becmse he was still so great a favourite with the public. Not lang after-Picotin had taken the painful step of sending Bébétt to school, she fell ill of some childish malady, which suddenly taking a serious turn caused them to send for him in haste. He was just qnittmg the ring amid a burst of laughter when he almost fell over the white-faced messenger, who gasped out his bad intelligence. The clown stared a* him witdty the audience were clamouring for their favourite's return, and their acclamations sounded like a muffled roar. To leave now would be to spoil the whole even- ing's entertainment and throw everyone else out, and Picotin had always been the most con- scientious of artistes. As he hesitated, it seemed to him confusedly as if this insatiable public were demanding his heart's blood shed for their amusement, and the first shudder of repugnance he had ever felc for his long-pursued career shook him from head to foot. A quarter of an hour had scarcely flown in that bin ried drive when the pious Sisters attending the sick child were startled at the strange figure which flung itself down by the little crib. Picotin had not stayed to change bis dress; he had only thought of Bebee delirious, tossing her golden head from side to side while she called aloud his name. He bent with passionate anxiety over the tiny flushed face, murmuring words of tenderness, but the child turned round on her pillow with a cry of terror.. She did not know that white and red apparition with the huge ruff standing out all round and the eyebrows drawn almost to the roots of the hair. She sobbed and screamed with fright. Picotin rose bewildered, as the grave nuns shrank from him as if he had been an incarnation of the Evil One; only the good doctor smiled a little at the scene as he wlii-p-red- Wipe the paint from your face, Monsieur, and put this coat over your dress; then perhaps the child may recognise you." "To-night will have been my last appearance," said the clown, sadly, doing as he was bid, for it occurred to hiin if B £ b6e died he would never have the heart to joke again. Then he approached the crib once more, hesitat- ing, fearful of those large eyes filled with feverish apprehension turned once more in his direction. "Papa Picotin 1" Withalittle sobof infinite content Bébée nestled into his breast, as the clown wrapped his arms about the tiny wasted form, and held her close to his heart. "Papa Picotin; good papa," she murmnred, stroking his cheek, while the doctor nodded approvingly as he saw the sleep, for which he had been watching, gradually seal up the small patient's eyelids in a slumber that meant salvation. salvation. It was a strange and touching sight-th. man with his haggard face and fool's dress sItting there motionless with the child throughout the long I hours, and when at last she woke refreshed, and the doctor bade him lay his burden down and go horne to rest awhile, the grave nuns looked at him with admiration in their eyes. No mother could have been more patient, more tender than this curious being in his antic dress who ministered to the world's folly. Daylight was only just about to dawn as Picotin stepped out into the sir. The lamps in the streets hllld not yet been extinguished, and a few of those miserable wretches or late r vellers who haunt the night still crept in and out of the shadews. One of these, a man in rags, wil b vice stamp,} upon his featurs, stopped Picotin and hoarsely demanded alms. He had been squatting near the convent gates, and had dogged the clown's footsteps for some distance before he made his appeal, atid an uneasy sense of thi9 mad* the latter look at hitn inquiringly. The man shivered as the cold wind blew hi# rags about. He was a ghastly spectacle, stand- | ing there in the pale, uncertain light, one hand, not unlike a claw, held eagerly out, tne other buried in his breast. Picotin shuddered too. He hastily thrast all he had into the upturned palm, and was about to pass on when a face seemed to leap out of th& recesses of his memory and press with a look of concentrated malignity close to his own. "Yuu he cried, staggering backwards; then almost before the word had left his lips a blow from that hidden hand had stretched him lifeless on the ground. All Paris rang with the netva. They were crymg it along the boulevards and amid the traffic of tile streets. Assassination of Picotin, the clown Even the quiet nuns heard this rumour of the outer wot Id as they watched by the bedside of the little child sleeping peace- fully, her golden curls spread out that had all night been pillowed on the breast of that strange, tender-hearted being, whom dawn had found lying face upwards, still clad m his jester's dress, alone and silent in the deserted street. The pious women still lowered their heads and sighed. They did not doubt it was a judgment of Heaven that had laid him low for ministering to the depraved tastes of a wicked world still their lips moved in silent prayer, for they re- called those tender, haggard eyes which had watched with them ail through the troubled night. And their prayers were aTlSWel ed, for Picotin's body, if not his soul, was saved. He had been picked up and taken to the hospital as dead, but the wound in his breast was found not to be mortal after all, and a month later Béhée radiant, joyous, was leading papa Picotin by the hand, laughing to think that he, too, should haVe been iIt as she bad been. She never knew that the miserable creature who dealt the blow was her own father, and that his body, dragged from the river, had been identi- tied by the clown at the Morgue quite by chance and so gained decent burial. Picotin folded all these secrets in his heart where the sunny-haired child nestled confidingly, repaymg him through the long bright yeara with her laughter and her love. Paris had to digest its disappointment as best it might, for, after all, the clown had defrauded his admirtrs of a sensational exit by getting wen; still that night was positively his last appearance in the ring, where he never came tumbling head over heels again, though his old suit of motley always hangs ready to hand, and Bebee declares he shall some day go to a fancy ball in it with her. Parcequ 'il fat 8i beau commt 9"-si beø." [THE END.] Mwvm Wxu- MRS SKCKHAM'S SON, BY Fn ZQKRALD MOLLOT.

CARMARTHEN BOARD OF GUARDIANS.

NEWPORT GUARDIANS.

A MYSTERIOUS VOCALIST.

SMALLPOX AT NEW QUAY.

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A SWANSEA APPEAL CASE.

THE FATAL FIGHT AT GARTH.

CREDITORS' MEETINGS AT .CARDIFF.

RHONDDA AND SWANSEA BAY RAilWAY.

DEATH OF THE SQUIRE OF PENPONT,…

CONGRATULATIONS.

MR GLADSTONE AND THE EIGHT…

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I LIBELLING A TRADE UNION…

. —■ * SUNDAY DRINKING IN…

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A SUFFOLK SCANDAL.

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MR CHAMBERLAIN S OCEAN EXPERIENCES.

DEATH Of A NOTORIOUS LADY.

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- THE BRITISH NAVY.

TRIAL BY JURY AT CARDIFF.

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.

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