Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1859-03-29

x
people. This man the stranger summon
ed to his house. and told him ,ha, he de-
sired him to teach his nephew to dance.
There was nothing, the Frenchman
secretly declared, so wonderful in all the
world as these dancing lessons. The
nephew tall, slim, young man, with ra-
ther short legs, made his appearance, he
said, in a red frocll, his hair nicely curIed
wide trousers and white gloves He
spoke little, and with foreign accent,
and seemed, In the beginning, rather in
telligent and docile; but he frequently
broke out into the most ridculou. leaps,
dancing the widest tours, In which he
made entrechats which surpassed al. the
dancing masters he had ever seen or
heard of. When it was attempted to
check his extravagances, he would pull
Oft the delicate dancing shoes from his
1 feet, throw them a: the Frenchman's S head,
and run around the chamber on all fours
At the noise, the old gentleman would
rush out OF his room, in a large, red bed
gown, and cap of gold paper on his
| head, and lay his whip heavily over his
nephew's shoulders. The nephew would
at once begin to howl in the most fright
IL
book cases, and even on the upper sashes
of the windows, and talk all the time, a
strange, foreign language. The old gen
tleman would give him no respite, but,
seizing him by the leg, would pull him
down, beat him soundly, and draw his
neckclo,h tighter round his neck by the
buckle; after which the nephew would
| become mannerIy and sober again, and
the dancing lesson go on quietly TO It's
/ close.
These dancing lessons very nearly kill
ed the old Frenchman; bu, the dollar
which he regularly received and the good
wine which the old gentleman brought
out, always took him back to his pupil,
often as he resolved never TO set foot in
the hateful house again.
The people of Grunwiesel looked
on these things very differently from
the Frenchman. Tney settled in their
own minds that the young gentleman pos
sesSed great talents for society; and the
ladies IN the place all congratulated them
seives-suiferlng as they did from the
great lack of gentlenan-on the acquisi-
uon of so vigorous dancer for the COM
ing winter.
One mcrning, the maids, returning
from market, described to their masters
and mistresses singular incident. They
had seen an elegant carriage standing
before the strangers house, and SER
want in rich livery holding the step. Two
gentlemen had entered the carriage, the
servant sprang into the boot behind, and
the carriage = only imagine it - drove
straight off to the house of the burgomas-
ter.
Everywhere people we're in raptures
with the two strangers, and regretted on
ly that they had not made their acquain-
tance earlier. The old gentleman showed
himself 10 be a we'll bred, sensible man,
who laughed 2 li..la, 10 be sure, In every
thing he said, rendering 1t difficult 70 know
whether he was IN Jest or earnest; bat
who talked OF the weather, the scenery,
and the plcnics to the cave IN the noun
tain, so politely and shrewdly that every
one was delig hted. Bat the nephew
/ He bewitched everybody; he won all
hearts. As for his exterior, it was i'm
possible to call him exactly handsome
The lower part of his face, especially his
jaw, projected too far, and his complexion
was extremely dark; while occasionally
. AZ maui VIZ LiOoi iCitihi
( shutting his eyes and swapping his teeth
together queerly; but people found the
shape of his features exceedingly inter-
! esilng. He is an Englishman," they
said "they are all so, we must no; be
TOO particular with an Englishman."
/ Towards his uncle he was very SUBJ
missive; for whenever he began to jump
too vivaciously about the room, or as he
seemed particularly inclined to do, draw
his feet up under him on his chair, SIN
! gle stern glance from the old man served
TO bring hlm TO order at once. And how
could any one be angry with the young
man, when his uncle, IN every house,
SAID to the lady. My nephew is still
little raw and iil-bred, madam, but | an
ticipate much from the modifying effect
produced by your society, and | impore
your forgiveness for any gaucheries he
may happen to be guilty Of
Thus was the nephew at length intro
duced into the gay world, and all Grun-
wie.el spoke of nothing else for the two
following days but this great event. The
old gentleman renounced his habits of re-
tirement, and seemed to have wholly al
tered his modes of thought and life. In
. the afternoon he went, with his nephe W,
TO The cave IN the mountain, where the
more important citizens of GrunwieseI
drank beer and rolled ninepins Here
the nephew showed himself q skiIlful
master of the game; for he never threw
less than five or SIX balls. Occasionally
strange hunor seized him. 1t happen
ed, more than once, that he rushed like
an arrow down among the ninepins with
one of the balls, making a dreadful rack.
, ct, and when he made a spare or a ten.
strike, the fancy sometimes came over
him to s,ani erect on his nlcely-curled
head, and extend his legs high into III,
AIR; or, if carriage happened to pass
before one knew what he was about, h.
wo1ld be sitting on the top OF the vehicle
l. i,,5,