THE BLUE SATIN SUPPER.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11320, 2 September 1899, Page 5

THE BLUE SATIN SUPPER.

A WEDDING-NIGHT TERROR. Leon and his bride were seated in a eompartmeat by themselves. They had given the guard a tip, and promised themselves solitude on their wedding trip. Just as the train was about to move, an elderly man sprang on the step and entered the compartment. The door slammed, the bell struck, and the train moved away. Althongh annoyed by the intrusion, the yonng conplo oontinned their conversation in English, when they were interrupted by their fellow-traveller in a much better English than their own. ' Monsieur,' he said, diyly, 'If you have any seoreta to relato I would advise you not to do bo before me in English, as I am oonveraant with that language. lam sorry to intrude upon yon, bat this is the oaly compartment I oonld find. However, I will try to go to sleep.' Aod he tried (o do bo. But hla efforts were vain, and finally he draw a book from his valise and began to read. When he plunged into his saok he d ew therefrom a large roll of Bank of Eogland notes, and, showing them to Leon, asked if he oonld change them at the next town. Leon replied that It was probable he could do so, as the road was muoh frequented by English travellers. When they readied the next town the Englishman descended first. After him oarae Leon, who endeavored to conceal his wife's ankles as abe descended the steps. Such are yonng husbands ! Suddenly there darted from the gronp of loungers on the platform a yonng nun of peonliar appearance. He was sallow and unßhaven; his eyea were bleared and bloodshot; bis clothing was shabby to the last degree. His once blaok oo*t was buttoned closely to the chio, probably to concept the lack of a shirt. He advannd toward the elderly gentleman. • Unole, 1 Eaid he, humbly. ' Is that you V said the.'other angrily ; 'be off 1 I don't want to have anything to do with yon.' ' Come, unole,' said the other, with a mixture of menace and hnmility, ' don't be bo hard on a man.' So seizad the elder's arm, and led him aside. After some moment's conversation the unole seemed to soften, and opening bis valise cave the other some bank notes. The nephew devoured the remaining roll with hla eyes, and after a curt word of thanks disappeared in the orowd. Leon and his bride entered the hotel, and were shown to the best room in it. Their status as a newly-married couple procured th6m that honor. The walls were covered with paper representing scenes around Naples. Unfortunately, certain idle travellers had added moußtaohes to all the female f aoes, and pipes to all the male, so the effjot was, to a oertain extent, lost. The room was called 'the blue room,' the furniture having onoe been of that color. Leon ordered dinner to be served in their room. The difficulty in procuring it e xoited his wonder, and on inquiring he found that the officers of the FiftySecond Hussars were giving a dinner to tbeir comrades of the Sixty-First Ohas* aeurs that very evening, hence the oonfusion. To bis horror he learned that the banquet was spread in the room immediately adjoining the blueobamber. However, there was no help for It. The host swore by all the gods that the officers were the quietest men he ever saw in his life; that — exoepting the chasseurs— there were no more lamb-like individuals In the eervioe Jthan the hussars. Apd besides, they always lose from the tables before midnight. As Leon, somewhat troubled in mind, returned to the bine chamber, he notioed that his English fellow-traveller oooupied the room on the other side. The door was open, and through It he saw the Briton seated before a bottle and a glass, and oontemplaiiog the oeiling. ' Well, it makes no difference, after all,' he said to himself; 'the Englishmi n will soon be tlp9y, and the officers will be gone by midnight.' When he entered the blue ohamber he looked to bolts and bars- On the Englishman's side there was a donble wall, and a door, whioh he bolted. On the officers' side there was no door, but a very thin partition. The young oouple had s medioore dinner, whioh they would have enjoyed more had it not been for the talk of their military neighbors. The conversation of those gentlemen had nothing whatever to do with taotios, strategy, or the art of war in any way. On the contrary, it oonsieted of highly seasoned stories. And suoh stories 1 They were followed by. roars of laughter, and even onr friends of the blue room found it difficult at times to preserve their gravity in quiet. But the stories grew broader, the laughter grew louder. Although he was not prudish, Leon thought the situation rather embarrassing for his bride ; and sending for the landlord, he requested him to beg the gentlemen not to make io muoh noise, as there was an invalid, lady in the next room. The host entered the baaqueting-roomi and his request was followed by a roar of dissent. Finally one voice prevailed over the others, and oried : — ' What sort of a woman Is she P' ' Well, gentlemen.' replied the host, 'I don't know for sure, but I think ahe'n a bride, and that they're on tlieit wedding tour.' " A bride !' roared the revellers ; ' briDg her in. Fetch 'm both here ; we want to drink to the bride aad talk to the husband.' Our f riends in the blue room trembled; they feared an assault would be made. But the same voice prevailed over the din, and it was evidently that of a fUperior officer. He lectured them on their laok of courtesy, and there was comparative ouiet for awhile. But from the muffled laughter that broke out from time to time, Leon and hia bride bad an idea that they were still on the topic. Suddenly there was a roar from the left hand room. ' Garaong !' shouted the Englishman, ' gimme another bottle o' port.' The port was brought, and the Englishman grew quiet. Finally, the officers, having drunk all they could carry, and come of them more, departed, after having joined in a parting toast to tie bride * * * Quiet at last reigned over the hotel. The night was dear and the moon shining brightly, Leon and his bride looked oot from the window, and Inhaled the fragrance borne from the fbwers below. Suddenly Leon's gaze fell upot. a man who was sauntering amid the shrubbery. He walked with his head bent down, a cigar In bis mouth, and his hands thrust down into his pockets. As he turned the moonlight fell upon bis face. It was the Englishman's dissolute nephew. The night wore on, Laon and bis bride bad almost forgotten their Eng lirh ntighbour, when they heard a strange noiße in his room. It was that of tbe fall of some heavy body. Mingled with this there waa a peouliar orashing, grating sound, followed by a stifled cry. Silence. Then there were two or three muttered oaths, and allenoo again. Tbe young couple shuddered. What oonld it mean f Leon tried to reassure his trembling companion, but he was interrupted by the cautious opening of tbe next door. It was softly oloaed again, and then slow and apparently oareful footsteps were heard in the hill. They were lost in the distance. They ceased. Again all was still. Soon the young bride was sleeping oalmly. Not so Leon. Daopite himself the sinister face of the Englishman's nephew returned to his recolleotion. There was batted, he though, in the glance oast upon tbe undo by the young man when he left him ; and then tho roil of bank notes in the valise. And that dull, heavy sound, but now like the fall of a body upon the floor — the cry-?* the ourses. Such was tbe train of thought that ran through Leon e mind. Meobanlcally he fixed his eyes upon the door whioh communicated with the Englishman's room. There was a little Bpace between the bottom of the door and tho fiooiing. By the dim light falling from the partially turned. dowu ga", he oonld so* something foroing its way under tbe door. It seimnd at first like a knife-blade, for tbe tdge eras thin, and reflected baok the light. Id moved slowly toward a little aalin slipper, which had bien thrown careleEsly near tho door. ' Want can it be ?' thought Leon. 'le

'It a knife ? No, for it has divided into two parts, And now it divides again — and yet nguin. What oan it be P It is some liquid.' The thing slowly crawled towards the little blue slipper. It encircled its heel It stained, its front. It was a liquid. It was a liquid of strange and unmistakable colour— the color of blood. For a long time Leon lay and gazed upon the stained slipper nnd the reddish stream which enolroled it. Ho pioturod to himself the corpse lying in the next room ; Its discovery the following morn ing ; the door opening into the room, of which the bolts were on his side ; the blood. stained slipper. Thoßo things passed through his mind, and a oold sweat started out upon him. He attempted to rise, and hide the slipper; as he did so, his wife awoke, and started with affright as she felt his icy hand. • What is the matt9r P' she cried. Laon explained to her the terrible situation in whioh they were placed, lio arose, and attempted to remove the telltale stains from the slipper, but It was useless. Day was breaking. Already the servants were moving around the hotel. In a few hours the crime would be discovered, and the officers of the law would be upon them. ' Alas ! ' said Leon, ' our only hops is this : At eigbt o'clock the train leaves for Paris. If the Englishman's body is not discovered before that time we are safe. We will take the train, and lose ourselves In the great city. There we shall be safe.' His weeping bride flung herself upon his bosom. She felt almost as .though flhe had committed the deed. Bat there yet remained two mortal honrs before the train left. At eaoh step in the oortidor they trembled with affright. They made their preparations for departure. Leon'a bride wished to burn the bloody slipper, but he restrained her, and concealed it on his person. Sevon o'olook sounded. The hotel was alive again with bustling servants Leon foroed bis wife to take a onp of coffee, although she declared that her parched throat refused to swallow. They tben descended to the waitingroom, and Leon demanded bis bill. The host presented it and begged his pardon for the noise of the previous evening. Leon assured him that they had passed a very quiet night. ■ Well, I'm glad of it,' said the host ; 'however, your neighbour on the left didn't disturb you muoh, I'll be bound. He's sleeping like a dead man yet.' Lson shuddered. His wife grasped his. arm convulsively, ' He's an English milord,' continued the host. ' We've got another Englishman here, too, who paid his bill and left this morning. He gave me an English bank-note. 1 hope it's good. Look at it. What do you think P ' He showed Leon a bank-note. On on corner of it there was a reddish stain. 'It seems to be a good one,' said Leon with foroed oalmnese. 'How long before the train goes P ' ' Half an hour yet,' replied the host. At this moment a waiter entered. ' Gimme some brandy and soda, quick, for the English milord,' he remarked ; 1 and send up a chambermaid with a mop ; he dropped a bottle of port on the floor last night, and the room is flooded.' To tbe amazement of both landlord and waiter, Leoa and his wife sat down and laughed until they oried. ' Order us a good breakfast,' said he to the landlord, ' we won't go until the two o'olock train,'