received as a gift from her mother — those which the women of the family customarily handed down from generation to generation.

Not since the days of the Baron des Adrets had the château of Montségur seen a merrier feast than that one. Yet a small incident cast a shadow of gloom over the rejoicing: the bride broke her wedding ring while trying to crack an almond with her husband, and she cried out:

Ah!... This is an omen of ill fortune!

But the guests calmed her fears and said this was a foolish belief. Then everyone rose from the table and went out into the courtyard of the château to watch the peasant men and women dance, and the untoward incident was forgotten by all.

When the heat of the day had abated, one of the guests proposed that they all play a game of hide-and-seek, for the many halls, corridors, and underground passages of that château lent themselves to the perfection of that amusing game, making it easy for every player to find a hiding place the others could hardly discover.

Old and young set off to play, scattering through the château, plunging into its winding ways and its many corridors, their laughter ringing through the chambers and the vaults as they called and shouted to one another.

After an hour in which merriment reached its height, the end of the game was announced, and everyone was summoned to the great hall, where they gathered once more — but Lucie did not return!

Where was she? No doubt she had found some dis-tant hiding place and had not heard her companions' call. So they called again and again, urging her to come out of her hiding place, but to no avail.

Anxiety crept over them, and they set out to search for her, through the vaults, the underground passages, and the halls, led by her bridegroom, the Viscount de Quinsonnas, shouting as he called: "Lucie! Lucie!"

The château servants and the peasants joined in the search for the girl; they left no corner of the château unsearched, then moved outside, to the roofs and to the walls, anxiety mounting in their hearts.

When they did not find the girl, nor come upon any trace of her, they went down the mountainside and into the valley, fearing that Lucie might have gone out onto the château terrace, and that her foot had slipped and she had plunged below. They combed the wood and searched among rocks and grasses, to no avail.

Darkness fell, and the day ended in grief and gloom,

having begun in joy and smiles. The search was resumed on the morning of the following day, with no better result than before. The Marquise de Bracontal came to believe that her beloved daughter had plunged to the bottom of the valley and that some wild beast had devoured her.

Days and months passed, and there was no clue to cast a gleam of light on the poor girl's disappearance! The Marquise clung to her belief, and she placed on the château terrace that memorial plaque, engraving on it her daughter's name and the date of the day on which she disappeared; but she did not write the word "died," for she had not lost hope of finding the lost daughter.

After this tragedy the Bracontal family abandoned the ill-omened château and entrusted its keeping to that caretaker.

Thirty years went by without the Marquise ever returning to the château, preferring to live in Valence, in complete seclusion from the world, devoting herself to works of piety and charity.

Such was the tale the caretaker told the young sightseers. But youthful high spirits left emotion no way into their hearts over an event that had befallen, thirty years before, a girl they did not know. So they cast a glance at the plaque, and at the cross above it, drew near the edge of the terrace overlooking the valley, and then went back to thinking about the program of their day. The lunch hour was near, so they brought out their provisions and sat down to eat at the table the caretaker and his wife had laid for them, in the shade of the crumbling walls.

As for the Viscount de Rabastens, he was of all his

The first: I've decided to buy my New Year's gifts in October...

The second (astonished): Come now! How can you possibly know in October who your friends will be in January?...