The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-03-04 00:00:00

ALPHONSE and JULES SETTLING IT!

The ;Vat.' Special Cutrespen.leat 'lvo the foll,whig
lively. skesce from Yarla The scene Is 121 d fis the relate

-
It was near noon, at the left-baud corner of the
colonnade. There two Menses are looking ab rot very
icquisitively. I don't know why I ehotdd get on the
other side of the pillar, and lean there suaokine my
cigar and lookiog hard at that brat in tow of a bonne;
bat I do. The blou :es mutter, with mcaeional barsts
of gesticulation. I hear objergatioes of the szeris
Prveate, and a sputtering forious protest about tle
entry. There is a talk abeta death for to Pclrie, and
an ultimate suggestion of common hunger, which re-
! ults in the proposal of an c djournment to a neighb
big cafe Thither the p aij u n arm is arm.
Thither I full leisur. ly, hat iag time to notice that
one patriot teems to be come raiued in the melon of the
ho ots, the other very much "down by the stern," as
we should say of a chip, owing to the multiplicity of
weighty articles ia his c atetad peckets M, petriote,
when I entered, were already lorated at a aide table,
eating boiled be-..t. I took a place at the next table,
and proceeded in coy turn to attempt the masticetion
of b Sled be: f. But it was speedily obvious that my
patriots had thought. above b nird b of. They a ked
for ealad, but the saled was wordy a whet. They
began to talk of the German entrance ,• looking around
meanwldie come what distrustfully. I fell roeup, and
the other luncheon eaters one by one w:nt away. SO
the patriots tad freedom of speech.
The topic of discussion again woe the German
entrance. My patriota were conspirators:. Their con-
spiracy wan yet quead in manner of execu:ion in
nobibus. They seemed to be quite assured that the
rman troops were comin.; in and unable to do any.
thiug to stem the current. They were not b dlicose,
Alphonse and Jae' ; they setenel to have given up
buy idea of the success of a flee fight, even in the old
Parisian barrieade style, against these "cursed Prue-
sians .'" but they meant nevertheless to be dangerous
after their own faehien. Alphonse knew a tbl that
lived in the Rai Rivoli, at one or other of the corners
of a certain veers :street. lie dad cut care twopence
for his life, not he. Indeed he would rather
that he lost it; alwaya for to Paten., be it
uuderetood. Alphonies was prepared to assume
an elevated position OD the roof at the corner house
and drop the conteuta of a certain weapon, to which
he made enigmatical references of a character which
led me to infor that it would shoot round a corner, on
the devoted head of the "thrice accursed E noeror of
the beastly Germane," as he proceeded on hie way to
the Tuileries. But the question became cemplicated
after this Spartan resolution. We have all heard of
benignant philanthropists who eabscribe £lOO on con-
dition that 350 other philanthropist, are found ready
and willing to imbeciibe the same Olin, and who escape
their obligation if the 350th contributor is not forth-
coming. Alehonsa be longed to this order. There WAS that
"eon of ten thousand little doge," libmarck to easse
to exist; there was that epectacled progeny of an 11-1.,
Yin Moilko, also to be annihilated. Tne Crown Prince,
the perpetuator of the tiendieh Teutonic dynasty, wee
to require more cr less Christian burial; and 55 the
Beaune warmed the sanguinary lair, vague but blood-
thirety threats were vented ~t to thee agair.st the
second "Stadia" Subs' nu: nt to the projected exter-
mination of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Goths, the two
conapiratere arrived at the conclusion that their Own
' unaided prowess could not achieve all they desired ; atd
a renersous of desperadoes was a.raneed for eight
o'clock p.m., in a certain wine shop off the throat of
the Rue de Paris, the most dangerous spot ia all elan.
gerous Belleville. Anti so, with clouded brows and
pursed lips, Alphonse and Jules stalked out of 6100 E,
!wring me dill asleep.

I awoke, and the desire seized me to see how this 1
profound conspiracy would eventuate. The garcm of I
cry hotel was prolific in blonsts. lie had a cap with a
National Guard number on it. Likewise he had a pair
of wo -glen shies. All these he was willing Um.
pore' ily to cute for a considerAtion, and the bargain
was son struck. When the shades of night descencled
I sought the summit ef a diligence, and was tardily
conveyed into the vicinity of the Bus de Pan.. Some
difficulty I experienced in finding Le Lapin Blanc,
but at length I discovered that ticherchd establiAment.
As I had ihtended, my advent was earlier than that of
Ablionse and Jule?. I found a quiet corner, called
for a bock of beer, lighted my meerschartii, and bided
my time.

Presently the two entered. I was glad when I saw
them ttle-, a table some eistarcs off use. For a while
the room was comparatively empty. 1-tab tuas cause
dribbling in one by one. A youth in dentalo ins with
patent ventilation, oacasionel by holes, produced •
revolver, which he laid on the table hefore him, and
soh nobly aunounced that it neat tined six chambers,
earh of which contained a bullet ee:t, ned for the vier&
PrUdditlll,, if they ehoull dare to enter Perla
Aiphonme and Jules beckoned him ever to their
table, and fi :eternization of a demonstrative cha-
racter, n t unaccompanied with kisses, was the
result. Pierre—that was the Dams of the recruit—
was ao preui of his weapon that I trembled for the Ire
of Alphonse as he demonstrated its advantages. But
was Pierre the only brave man who was a v:sitor to
Le Lupin Blanc? By no means. A perfect desperado
of a chiffonier cam* to the front, breathing out
threaten'n; and slaughter. Recruite spring up from
the Lack benches—se to speak. We were all real
for anything—all we wanted was organization.
Alphonse was undouhteely in the possession of the
patent right of the idea; but a deal,r in raas
claimed Cr m-an experience, and presumed, in virtue
thereof, to impugn the whdem of Alphonse s sugges-
tions. Alphonse—that was seth'. el was prepared
to die for In Pat, le; by potting the C. ratan Emperor
from the corner ef the croon street, alwapi providing
that his female acquaintance there wi old enable Lim
to gain the vantage coign of the attic,- but, then, who
was there to do for Bismarck and the rock of the rest
of them Jules proposed a dash awl the bayonet.
The ragman opposed this with all his eloquence, which
s not incenaideraide. The latt-r had red stripes
on his trousers, and said Le h id killed a Prussian at
Le Bourget. Ibis task, supposiog be had accom-
plished it, seemed to have been e ariuous as to
traitress Lim with • strong conviction es to the
physical strength of the Teutons; he deprecated a
dash, and advocated • resort to air-guus. A black-
whiskered gentlemen, who hat been hitherto silent,
muttered a reference to the cost of these weapon., and
this practical observation resulted in a subscription
for their purchase, which amounted to 1 franc 2/ cen-
times. Nobody had priced air-guns, but it seemed a
general impreesion that this sum would not admit of a
large investment in this species of lethal weapon,
and a pallid collector of street trifles sardonically
soggested that peashooters would do instead. Alas,
for the conspiracy. Bismarck and the relit of the
bated races may bit en their stars that the spirit
moved the gentleman of peculiar avocation to interpo-
late this sarcastic remark, which was truly the apple of
discord. Alphonse struck at once. His patrotic feel.
lugs were wounded, he said. He wropp al his cravat
around his threat as if he were wrapping "Corner's
roantle" round him in the vicinity of Pompey's statue,
and stalked ell misantluopically. Jules, as it appeared,
had -ems difficulty in followneg ; it turning ont that
he was what the frequent:re of taverns call in quiet
drink.er," and had got silently drunk. Toe rernathiog
putrid., headed by the chiffonier, talked tremendously
large fer about twenty minutes, and when they had
exhausted their choppcs broke up with considerable
noise aid eze:terueut.