The Argosy — page 133: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

118 A Romance of the Cloister. She thrust into his reluctant palm something cold and smooth; then vanished as stealthily as she had come. It was the universal stir and bustle of the floral preparations that had rendered such an interview possible. In preparation for the festival the vast congeries of buildings would be invariably cleaned, repaired and redecorated throughout. ‘The iron screen shutting off the cloistered sisters from the body of the church was in its turn undergoing renovation, for the moment being unhinged and placed against the wall. Through this opening the frightened creature passed now. Lighting a match, the blue-bloused workman, so un- expectedly summoned to play the part of a Rinaldo, examined the pledge: a tiny crucifix of antique pattern, and, as far as he could judge, of solid gold. “What does it matter?” he said to himself as he carelessly pocketed the trinket. ‘‘ Gold or no gold, how can I refuse to help a woman in distress? And she has given me no choice, that is the simple truth. I would pay twenty francs to be well rid of the busi- ness.” He was quite a young man, and although wearing the blue blouse, without the rough exterior and unpolished manners usually associated with manual labour. His features were regular and beautiful, his form symmetrical and full of easy grace, his hands slender and well shaped. He wanted, too, the light-hearted gaiety characteristic of the French workman. He did not hum airs or whistle softly over his work, but rather seemed lost in reverie and pensive, questioning thought. ‘Tt may prove a very awkward piece of work for me,” he mused whilst hastily adjusting the last of the bouquets. ‘‘ Now, if she had asked the Pere Rouget, what would a squabble with the Superior be to him, a substantial man, independent of everybody? But the job must of course fall to a poor fellow without a sixpence, and alone in the world. Her parents will reward me well, she said. There is something in that. Who knows then ? out of the scrape may arise a turn of good fortune. Be that as it may, help the poor thing I must. ‘To draw back from a fellow creature in the hour of need? Never !” _His task done, he collected his tools, shouldered his ladder, and quitted the church. Just then the convent clock struck nine. “Three hours good in which to make up my mind,” he thought, having decided to undertake the championship, yet seeking a loop- hole for escape. ‘The moreand more he pondered, the more desperate _ seemed the enterprise. Nothing easier, certes, than for him to be at | the appointed spot with a ladder. But how would she contrive to ~ escape? A criminal condemned to the guillotine might as well try to elude his gaolers as a Carmelite sister to regain her freedom. So, at least, it seemed to him. | ———————— -— LE CORNIEL LOOKS 5(e0o)