THE AMERICAN.
THE WANDERING JEW.
! M
t II Al t I It l lit
Wl.fH Patt''hta hvl .jtuttrl t'"'t, I in
.nk lltf liUrf fio-,1 Al l l iH t '"n
l.aud, I Hit l. " 1 "ktrd to l-VuJ
for tjrilihi, In t in llt t. i let f ht jttri
n-at, Ihtn n Iht Vi t l hmd, tin u in llml f
Mi lr(iM; and f 'I lnm)l all orr with hlh
handt, with mi mi of ircrrl and iirMr". Hit
iltvrtu molctm'tit of On pantomime, rifittinfl
it tlt ittft tint it ml manner, rte itoanrd ly
Iht exclaiimii-on, "Oh l-ar tiir' how veititiou'"
"What i the mailer?" akfd Djalma, Matting
from thr gloomy mIchc in whtih he had hem
plunged f r aouie minute.
" Ala! my dear ptinoc!" replied Rodin, "the
most vulgar and puerile accident may aometitiira
CftUi-o the greatet inconvenience, I have forgot
ten or lout my spectacle. Now, in thia twilight,
with th very poor eyesight that years of lahor
have loll me, it will ho absolutely impossible for
mo to read this most important letter tin! an
immediate answer is expected most simple and
categorical a yes or a no. Time presses; it i
really most annoying. If," added Rodin, laying
great stress on his won!, without looking at
Djalma, hut so as the prince might remark it;
"if only some one wouhl render me the service
to read it for me; hut there is no one no one!"
11 Father," said Djalma, obligingly, "shall I
rend it for you? When I huve finished it, I
shall forget what 1 have read." ,
"You?" cried Hodin, as if the proposition of
the Indian had appeared to him extravagant and
dnngrn; " it is impossihlo, princo, for you to
read this letter.'' "then excuse nty having
olTercd," said Djalma, mildly.
" And yet," resumed Rodin, after a moment's
reflection, and as if speaking to himself, " why
not?"
And ho added, addressing Djalma: "Would you
really ho so obliging, my dear prince? I should
not have ventured to ask you this service."
So saying, Rodin deliverod tho letter to Djalma,
who read aloud ns follows: "'Your visit
this morning to Saint-Dicier House can only he
considered, from what I hear, as a new act of
aggression on your part.
Hero is tho last proposition I have to make.
It may ho as fruitless as the (.top I took yester
day, when I called upon you in the Hue Clovis.
After that long and painful explanation, I told
you that I would write to you. I keep my
promise, and here is my ultimatum.
First of all, a pioco of advice. Howard If you
aro determined to maintain so unequal a struggle,
you will he ex nosed even to the hatred of those
whom you so foolishly seek to protect. There
aro a thousand ways to ruin you with them, by
enlightening them as to your projects. It will
ho proved to them, that you have shared in the
plot, which you now protend to reveal, not from
generosity, but from cupidity."' Though Djalina
had tho delicacy to feel that the least question on
tho subject of this lotter would he a serious in
discretion, he could not forbear turning his
heard suddenly towards the Jesuit, as he read
the last passage.
... .1 i . i . . ,. ,
"un, yes! it relates to me. uch as you see
me, my dear princo," added he, glancing at his
lliabhy clothes, "I am accused uf cupidity."
"And who are these people that you protect? "
"Those I protect?" said Hodin, feiging some
hesitation, as if ho had been embarrassed to find
an answer; "who are those I protect? Hem
hem I will tell you. They are poor devils with
out resources; good people without a penny, hav
ing only a just cause on their side, in a law-suit
in which they are engaged. They are threatened
with destruction by powerful parties very pow
erful parlies; but, happily, these latter are known
to me. and I am able to unmask them. What
clfe could have been? Iieing myself poor and
weak, I range myself naturally on tho side of the
poor and weak. But continue, I beg of you."
Djalma resumed: " ' You have therefore every-
thing to fear if you persist in your hostility, anc
nothing to gain by taking the side of those w hom
you cull your friends. They might more justly
bo. termed your dupes, for your disinterestedness
would be inexplicable, were it sincere. It must
therefore conceal some after-thought of cupidity
Well! in that view of the case, we can offer you
ample compensation with this difference, that
your hopes aro now entirely founded on the prob
able gratitude of your friends, a very doubt fu
chance at the best, whereas our offers will be re
alized on the instant. To speak clearly, this is
what we ask, what we exact of you. This very
night, before twelve, you must have left Paris
and engage not to return for six niotnhs.'" Djal
i. n', I H t If) H I Hi rnxtit i.f .it j r. n I
! t It i I; I n
i J t flMtl . iVII )U I tht til r
l, J 1..'tiH l-r liio'.h' t ltt ll till Y'i
n t t.iy i't pnm
a, t fu' ! lily llm I'limr, i ir i
tttthl:ttrf Inltfc '! n ''Hut !tat i .iUtiii"
m,, niutf tut f. t hiii 4 itiirt i uj tc I ni
tli.ntji, indeed, mhIi i?- po tto, t tttU tut "
Dif.ii it l .o.tim . I " 'That r in If c 1 1 jm ll
,.f j,ui tftu nt ft tii 111 fr t tnontb. j on
ill t' till hHp tif fllrul III tftilll,
Y'ii will Ikete l i pml ith grnftou hpi
tnlilv, hut f'-riiblv detdinrd until lh ftj.irtiM
uf thf tr tti 'Ve, yit' a toluntaty ptimn,"
itid iJixliu,
"'On tln"e i i.u.hlionv juu itHeivi n
fiii of one thoUMiul ftnuc do n, mi l Iwenl)
thonnand at the end of the ix month the
whole to he completely secured to you. Finally,
t the end of the nix month, we will pine you
in a position both honorable and independent.'"
Djiilina having stopped horl with involuntary
indignation, Hodin enid to him: "Let me beg
you to continue, my dear prince. Head to the
end, and it w ill give you some idea of w hat passes
in the midst of our civilization."
Djalma resumed: "'You know well enough
the course of affairs, and what we are, to feel
that in providing for your absence, we only wish
to get rid of an enemy, not very dangerous, but
rather troublesome. Do not be blinded by your
first success. Tho result of your denunciation
will bo stilled, because they are calumnious. The
udge who received your evidence w ill soon re
cent his odious partiality. You may make what
use you please of this letter. We know what we
write, to whom wo write, and how wo write. You
will receive this letter at three o'clock; if by four
o'clock we have not your full and complete ac
ceptance, written with your own hand at the
ottoni of this letter, war must commence be
tween us and not from to-morrow, but on the
instant.' "
Having finished reading the letter, Djalma
ookod at Hodin, who said to him: " Permit me
to summon Faringhen." He rang the bell
and the half-caste appeared. Hodin took the
etter from the hands of Djalma, lore it into
talves, rubbed it between his palms, so as to
make a sort of a ball, and said to the half-caste
as he returned it to him: "(.Jive this paper to
the person who waits for it, and tell him that is
my answer to his shameless and insolent loiter;
you understand me this shameless and insolent
etter."
"I understand," said the half-caste; and he
went out.
"This will perhaps bo a dangerous war for
you, father," said the Indian, with interest.
" Yes, dear prince, it may be dangerous, but I
am not like you; I have no wish to kill my en
emies, because they are cowardly and wicked. I
fight them under the shield of the law. Imitate
me in this." Then, seeing that the countenance
of Djalma darkned, he added: " I am wrong. I
will advise you no more on this subject. Only,
et us defer the decision to the judgment of your
noble and motherly protectress. I shall see her
to-morrow; if she consents, I will tell you the
names of your enemies. If not not."
"And this wdinen, this second mother," eaid
Djalma, "is her character such, that I can rely
on her judgment? "
"She!" cried Rodin, clasping his hands, and
speaking with increased excitement. "Why, she
is the most noble, tho most generous, the most
exalted, the most valiant being upon earth!
why, if you were really her son, and she loved
you with all the strength of maternal affection,
and a case arose in which you had to choose be
tween au act of baseness and death, she would
say to you: "Die !" though she might die with
you."
"Oh, noble woman! so was my mother!" cried
Djalma.
"Yes," resumed Hodin, with growing energy,
as he approached the w indow concealed by the
shade, towards which he threw an oblique and
anxious glance, "if you would imagine you pro
trectrcss, think only of courage, uprightness and
loyalty personified. Oh! she has the chivalrous
frankness of the brave man, joined with the
high-souled dignity of a woman, who not only
never in her lifo told a falsehood, never con
cealed a single thought, but who would rather
die than to give away to the least of those senti
ments of craft ond dissimulation, which are al
most forced upon ordinary women by the situa
tion in which they are placed."
It is difficult to express the admiration which
shone upon the countenance of Djalina, as ho
listened to this description. His eyes sparkled,
his cheeks glowed, his heart palpitated with en
thusiasm.
"That is well, noble heart!" said Hodin to
him, drawing still nearer to the blind; "I love to
see your sparkle through, y-jur eyes, on hearing
. t A thw f i is in,kn. i it.ti(f !.',. i lisl tbtt t If i it I impcMrtiii tuluif l-
I .... t
tl hmh liH i put iim fi.i ni.tr
j jnfll tl!tlll llt f. t H'-llM. in
I . I tlrml !i( . i. t 'I'fty, H, Tk t
U, ptirnt ftptut t bun ini H f innt
ttfuaiti I n?t " H mi toe. A lutnnt lt '!, M
ivt l t Mth ff I tiff l l ! ftl l 1.tth
tJ.Ht iitiui!." mi 1 tit ll t . Ml tf sit .f ! ii 4 If tl t ! j, tttt ilitlnHH It tt! "
1 I-! Jon, itirl h. mill
).uiiin "in) t.t tt t I'lU f Imimti.m m l
s't k t .nt1iiuri.. f. r to to 'thtt It n tn. tt.
til ft tut h a isiifi tit'"
' f ht Hl'li I' t tbt I' lit 'Utl'MI i f tl.t
l.'ll of lift M !- flt,
Instli, li'l tbt 1iiit f f4irh"d, ht tlU N'.i
lit, ti. ditiit. Im tirr tmtittd htr yity,
bttiiiniit mid btii'M tit I. I f knight
i lilt 1 ft duv (i tlmt Ihl liohle wi'iunti
Jhtkt to Hit tbtft n Imimblt Hi'tdt, litli, in all
my life. I ha!l tit fi'tjj' I ' .ir,' l.itd he, if
fri I iU!pi ct anyotif tlmt I hue orelf in "'
Rodin did not tinUh. The lmde, o ioltntly
hakeu that the Fptiug broke, m draw up ab
ruptly, and, to the gieul Htuirhiupiit of Djalmi,
Mdlle. do Cnrdoville appeared hffote him. Adti-
eune'i cloak had fallen from her ht'uldet, and
in the violence of the movement with which the
had approached the blind, her bonnet, the string''
of which were untied, had also fallen. Having
left home suddenly, with only just time to throw
a mantle over the picturesque and charming
costume which she often chose to wear when
ulone, she appeared so radiant with beauty to
Djalma's daz.led eyes, in the centre of those
leaves and flowers, that the Indian believed him
self under the influence of a dream.
With clasped hands, eyes wide open, the body
slightly bent forward, as if in the act of prayer,
he stood petrified with admiration. Mdlle. de
Cardoville, much agitated, and her countenance
glowing with emotion, remained on the thres
hold of the greenhouse, without entering the
room. All this had passed in less time than it
takes to describe it. Hardly had the blind been
raised, than Hodin, feigning surprise, exclaimed:
"You here, madame?"
"Oh, sir!" said Adrienne, in an agitated voice,
"I come to terminate the phrase which you have
commenced. I told you, that when a suspicion
crossed my mind, I uttered it aloud to the person
by whom it was inspired. Well! I confess it: I
have failed in this honestly. I came here as a
spy upon you, when your answer to the Abbe
d'Aigrigny was giving mo a new pledge of your
devotion and sincerity. I doubted your upright
ness at tho moment when you were bearing testi
mony to my frankness. For the first time in my
life, I stooped to deceit; this weakness merits
punishment, and I submit to it demands repar
ation, and I make it calls for apologies, and I
tender them to you." Then, turning towards
Djalma, she added. " Now, prince, I ant no long
er mistress of my secret. I am your relation,
Mdllo. de Cardoville; and I hope you will accept
from a sister the hospitality that you did not re
fuse from a mother."
Djalma made no reply. Plunged in ecstatic
contemplation of this sudden apparition, which
surpassed his wildest and most dazzling visions,
he felt a sort of intoxication, which, paralyzing
the power of thought, concentered all his facul
ties in the one sense of sight; and just as we
sometimes seek in vain to satisfy unquenchable
thirst, the burning look of the Indian sought, as
it were, with devouring avidity, to take in all the
rare perfections of the young lady. Verily, never
had two more divine type of beauty met face to
face. Adrienne and Djalina were tho very ideal
of a handsome youth and maiden. There seemed
to be something providential in the meeting
of these two nature s, so young and so vivacious,
so gonerous and so full of passion, so heroic and
so proud, who, before coming into contact, had,
singularly enough, each learted the moral worth
of the other; for if, at tho words of Hodin, Djalina
had felt arise in his heart an admiration, as
lively as it was sudden, for the valiant and gen-
crous qualities of that unknown benefactress,
w hom lie now discovered in Mdllo. de Cardoville,
the latter had, in her turn, been moved, affected,
almost terrified, by the interview she had just
overheard, in which Djalma had displayed tho
nobleness of his soul, the delicate goodness of his
heart, and the terrible transports of his temper
Then she had not been able to repress a move
ment of astonishment, almost admiration, at
sight of the surprising beauty of the prince; aiu
soon after, a strange, painful sentiment, a sort of
electric shock, seemed to penetrate all her being,
as her eyes encountered Djalma's
Cruelly agitated, and suffering deeply from
this agitation, she tried to dissemble the impres
sion she had received, by addressing Hodin, to
aiioWi.e for havincr suspected him. Hut the
obstinate silence of the Indian redoubled the
lady's painful embarrassment. Again raising
her eyes towards tho prince, to invito him to re
spond to her fraternal offer, she met his ardent
gaze wildly fixed upon her, and she looked once
more with a mixture of fear, sadness, and wouud
ed pride; then she congratulated herself on hav
ing forseen the inexorable necessity of keeping
Djalma at a distance from her, such apprehen-
lf la t"tn I t!tMt Hut. at tbt titl ttp, Djalnm
!'!'!$ tnl hff itli tbt lutn I of a lij'fi
I ,m tb btM. i t ' ,, h'pul -f hi pttv, TenthM
by tht tptt itm f iS l euitonittil hkh in
tlatiifd tbt Indian count tUftiKf, tht Jimtij; lady
dtf bik with a lu l m tfan .
At Hit, Djalina t lurinli t d liiinilf. Biol all
that had .i-1. Pah- with tCjitfl and hatnt,
tmubling, di-nniyd, hit ryrtt ftdttiiug with
ttati.and hII hi fonfurt mailed with ait ex
pu iott of the noM tombing depair. he fill at
Adrienne' feet, and lifting hi thi-ped handi to.
waidi her, Mid in a soft, tupplicating, timid
voice: "Oh, lentain! remain! do not leave me.
I have waited for you so long!" To thii prayer,
uttered with the timid simplicity of a child, and
a resignation which contrasted strangely with
tho savage violence that had io frightened Adri
enne, she replied, as he made a sign to Florine
to prepare for their departure: "Prince.it is
impossible for inc to remain longer here."
" But you will return?" said Djalma, striving
to restrain his tears. " I shall see you again? "
Oh, no! never never!" said Mdlle. de Cardo
ville, in n failing voice. Then, profiting by tho
stupor into which her answer had thrown Djal
ma, Adrienne disappeared rapidly behind tho
plants iu the greenhouse.
Florine was hastening to rejoin her mistress,
when, just at tho moment she passed before Ro
din, ho said to her in a low, quick voice: "To
morrow we must finish with the hunchback."
Florine trembled in every limb, and, without an
swering Hodin, disappeared, like her mistress,
behind the plants. Broken, overpowered, Djalma
remained upon his knees, with his head resting
ou his breast. His countenance expressed nieth-
er rage nor excitement, but a painful 6tupor; he
wept sileutly. Seeing Hodin approach him, he
rose, but with so tremulous a step, that he could
hardly reach the divan, on which he sank dow n
hiding his face in his hands.
Then Rodin, advancing, said to him in a mild
and insinuating tone: "Alas! I feared what has
happened. I did not wish you to see your bene
tactress; and if I told you she was old, do you
know why, dear prince?"
Djalma, without answering, let his hands fall
Upon his kness, and turned towards Hodin a
countenance still bathed in tears.
"I knew that Mdlle. do Cardoville was charm
ing, and at your age it is so easy to fall in love,"
continued Hodin; " I wished to spare you that
misfortune, my dear prince, for your beautiful
protectress passionately loves a handsome young
man of this town."
Upon these words, Djalma suddenly pressed
both hands to his heart, us if he felt a piercing
stab, utiered a cry of savage grief, threw back his
head, and fell fainting upon the divan.
Hodin looked at him coldly for some seconds,
and then said as he went away, brushing his old
hat that his elbow: "Come! it works it
works ! "
1
i
i
CHAPTER XLV.
THE CO N S U LT AT 1 0 N.
It is night. It ha9 just struck nine. It is the
evenine of flint chiv on wbirli Mdllo 1r. C.urAe,.
ville first found herself in presence of Djalma. f ,
Florine, pale, agitated, trembling, with a candle f
in her hand, had just entered a bedroom, plainly
but comfortably furnished. This room was one
of the apartments occupied by Mother Bunch, in
Adrienne's house. Tliey were situated on tho
ground-floor, and had two entrances. One
opened on the garden, and the other on the
court-yard. From this side came the persons
who applied to the workgirl for succor; an ante
chamber in which they waited, a parlor.in which
they were received, constituted Mother Bunch's
apartments, along with the bedroom, which
Florine had just entered, looking about her with
an anxious and alarmed air, scarcely touching
ll.n ...111. ll..., , f 1 .. 1 .1 1 11
mo v.iwj'vv mm mc iijio Ul iiur SUUll SI10CH, I101U-
ing her breath, and listening at the least noise.
Placing the candle upon the chimney-piece,
she took a rapid survey of the chambor, and ap
proached the mahogany desk, surmounted by a
well-filled book-case. The key had been left in
the drawers of this niece of furniture nml tl.v
were all there examined by Florine. Thev con- t
tained different petitions from persons iu dis
tress, and various notes in the girl's handwriting.
That was not what Florine wanted. Three card
board boxes were placed in pigeon-holes beneath
the bookcase. These also were vainly explored,
and Florine, with a gesture of vexation, looked
and listed anxiously; then, seeing a chest of
drawers, she made therein a fresh and useless
search. Near the foot of the bed was a little
door, leading to a dressing-room. Florine en-