BELLE YVONNE. AND HER HUSBAND THE DWARF.

Otago Witness, Issue 2303, 21 April 1898, Page 51

BELLE YVONNE. AND HER HUSBAND THE DWARF.

Feom the Fbench of Daniel Riche, (Strand Magazine ) (Concluded ) Belle Yvonne and the well-meaning servant wept. It was abominable that two such gay and "well-bred little singers, who had made them dance so delightfully, should lose their lives in so miserable a manner. AYhen they became somewhat calmer Yvonne wondered what would come of this .Ut'ul adventure. Had they done wrong in i flulging in a little recreation, in dis<.dien.ee to the will of the lord and master, .fid had this accident occurred to punish them? }larie-Jeanne, with a shrug of her broad shoulders, cut short her mistress's lamentations. " Don't be downcast, madam," she said ; " this misfortune had only, one cause — my weight — which made the lid of the chest airtight ; so that J alone am responsible for what has happened. It is for me, therefore, to find some way of getting rid of the i proofs of our disobedience before your husband returns." For a long time she cudgelled her brains. Night was ' closin£*in upon the castle and filling lt'sVli^f^vitfrf sinister gloom, when she suddenly "crieS,- in 'tones of triumph : <: I have it !. " T 'T.^ * " ' " Speak quickly;! " exejaimed Yvonne, glad exceedingly to liave" a servant so resourceful. " This is my plan," replied Marie- Jeanne unhesitatingly : "In the wildest depths 01 the forest there lives by himself an hones fc woodman. He knows nobody, and does not even suspect that he is the vassal of tout noble husband. I will go and ask him to relieve me of these poor little musicians, and for a trifle he will be sure to do us this piece of service."* ' Do you think he will not be astonished? " "" " Don't worry yourself on that account, mj r dear mistress, but leave all to me," re- • plied Marie-Jeanne, hurrying oft", for time pressed. I In his hut Marie-Jeanne found old Guido, j whose hair and beard had so long been left untrimmed as to cover his entire face. Squatting before a fireless hearth, the wood- j man was seeking the solution of the difficult j problem — how to live on nothing. Astonished at receiving a visitor, he hastily ■ "ose and offered a plump faggot as the only substitute for an armchair he was able to command. i "To what do I owe the honour of your presence, demoiselle? " he asked. " The lady chatelaine, of whom I am the servant," replied Marie- Jeanne boldly, " this morning' admitted to the castle a frightful Jittle starveling, and, moved by compassion, for she has a tender soul, she had a meal set before him, of which he ate so gluttonously as to choke himself and die of it." " The clumsy fool ! " said Guido, wishing that such a chance might fall in his way. "He would have done better to fill his ] pockets .instead of choking himself, so that _he_ might have doubled his pleasure next day" ' . { " That is what he ought to have done, I wasn't it?" said Marie-Jeanne. "Well, my mistress having invited this poor wretch in the absence of her lord, and fearing his anger,' has sent 'me to beg j^ou to come and take away the body, for which service she will give you three pistoles." Guido closed his eyes, and under the closepressed lids saw a river of gold. Three pistoles ! Never had he possessed such a fortune ! He replied : " What the lady chatelaine desires is an order. I will immediately come for your gonnandiser and throw him into the sea." " That's it," cried Marie-Jeanne. Running, back to the castle, she drew one of the dwarfs from the chest and descended with it to -the grand vestibule, and waited against one of the thousand marble columns which supported the antique dwelling till she was joined by the old woodman, to whom she simply &aid : " Here is your load." " Good, good,'- he said, taking it upon his shoulder ; 'in five minutes I shall be back, and by that time your glutton will be in the stomach of a shark.'' So Guido went off, and Belle Yvonne's cunning maid returned upstairs to her mistress, who waited in a corner of the room farthest from the fatal chest. " There's one got rid of." ' : Yes, but there is the other/ tremulously said her mistress. " Don't distress yourself as to that ; we'll "* get rid of it quite as easily " And drawing - the body from the chest, she descended with it to the. vestibule as before. The sea was only a short distance from the castle, and Marie- Jeanne soon, saw the woodman coming back for his reward. Then, with her two hands planted on her hips, and putting on an V* of indignation, she cried t; "TJjQpn my word !— you'vft a pretty way

of executing the -commissions intrusted to you ' " "What do you mean?" stammered the .wcodman. | " Why, -that five minutes ago our glutton returned here and fell dead at my feet ! " "Impossible! I saw him sink." " How could he be here at this minute, then?" demanded Marie- Jeanne, pointing to the second little musician. j 'If I did not see it ■with my own eyes I would not believe it, for I" swear to you I threw it into the sea from the top of the ' x'ock." " The proof ! " . | Greatly irritated at being taken for an incompetent, Guido threatened the lifeless body of the poor little musician : " Son of a sorcerer, this time I will weight your carcase with stones, and I promise you shall never come to the surface again ! " And shouldering his burden, he once more set oft" without having the least suspicion of the trick which had been played upon him. Marie-Jeanne, delighted by the success of her stratagem, went baok to her mistress, who could not help smiling at 'the relation of the old woodman's indignation on finding the second dwarf at the place whence he had taken the first. But time passed and Guido did not return At last, in her imeasiness concerning him, they were wondering whether he might have fallen into the sea with his load, when they saw him approaching, wiping- the perspiration from his forehead. Marie-Jeanne took from 'a casket the sum agieed on, and hastened to meet him. While she was filling for him a goblet of rosy wine, the old fellow, his eyes sparkling with joy, carefully examined, weighed, and sniffed at the three pieces of gold. Then, after having wrapped them in a water lily leai, emptied ihe goblet at a draught, and given vent to a deep sigh of satisfaction, he said : " Take my word for it, demoiselle, that cub gave me some ti'ouble ! " " Yes, obliged you to make two journeys." '• Three ! — for in spite of my having filled the sack he was in with, heavy stones, the little man escaped again ! " Marie-Jeanne's eyes oj>ened wider than ever they had opened before in her life. She was bewildered. " What do jou mean? " &he asked as sooi> as she regained the use of her tongue. " I was coming back here for the money you promised, fully convinced that I had finally got rid of your embarrassing visitor, when, close to the portcullis, what should [ see but my little man walking in front of me, quietly this time, with a small bos under his arm." Guessing the nature of the mistake, MarieJoannej,; a little pale, inquired : "What happened then? " ' Mvj^blood was up ! " exclaimed the old woodman!, "A mere nothing like him — a thing'not taller than a distaff — had no right to snap his fingers a.t an honest woodman like me. So, -snatching up a thick stick, and giving him no time % to make even so much as a" gesture, I brought him down with a single blow, saying, as I planted my cudgel on his head, 'To slip from the trap once might do, but to slip from it twice is once too raanjr ! ' " Without asking leave G-uiflo helped hims>elf to another goblet of wins, then concluded : " Now, if he comes back I hope this drink of wine may choke me ! To your good health, demoiselle ! "

Without saying a word Marie-Jeanne let him depart ; then, when the heavy ironbound door had closed behind him, she rushed lo her mistress, crying : " Lady, put on a black veil ; your lord is dead and buried ! " A low cry escaped from the lips of Belle Yvonne, and she fainted — without MarieJeanne knowing whether her swoon was owing to grief or joy The charming widow did not take long lo console herself. The windows of the ancient manor house, closed for so many years, were opened wide, allowing the pure breath of the breeze and the gay beams of the sun to enter in floods. The sombre ivy disappeared from the antique walls, giving place to clustering roses ; the superb halls, built for joy and mouldering in gloominess, were once more illuminated brightly, and Yvonne — omitting an invitation to her aunt — gave there sumptuous entertainments. At the end of a year of widowhood the beautiful chatelaine allowed herself to be loved by the King's son, who married her, and made her so happy — so happy that she never grew old.