Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1860-11-08


Fontainebleau or Compiegne, except during
the Writer, which he passed sta county
house be possessed near Agen, for he loved
the Southern proyincsslof Frpnce. raI
The increased value Of his pictures :s
some;hing wonderful. L have mentioned
the Turkish Patrol;' his Battle Of the Cim-
bri' he sold to Eiienns Arsgo for $500.
when last sold at auction, It fetched SlO,-
200; bis Joseph sold by his Brethren he
parted with for S40o; when last sold at
auction, II fetched $7oOo;6 drawing of
Crossing the Ford which he sold for Si2O,
when last sold at auction, fetched $4,000
Deckmps was q man OF the simplest tastes;
he lived in retirement. working hard ana
flying the pleasures of society. lie spent
bis evenings among limited circle Of
friends whose tastes were as modest as his
own. and they used TO meet, whep. ie Yves
in Paris, at a petty cafe 10 the Faubourg
Saint Dennis. One was certain to find him
there every evening Decamps was, Of
course, an arute and a profound observer; |
say of course. for he could never hsve at.
tained his eminence, had he not possessed
this faculty, improved by exercise. Il have
heard q laughabla story told Of an exhibi.
ton he gave of his power, and which may
amuse you besides BY the light 1t throws on
the way marriages are made IN this coun-
try. a1 UT H3 sg-s
Among Decsmp's most intimate friends
was gentleman named Jacqus Lefort, who
was fond Of paintings, and tolerabls good
landsca Pc painter. Hea was soou, forty
wears old when this incident occurred, and
In the possession Of an estate which yield
ed him some three or four Thousand dollars
a year. He lived In the Rue de Provence,
where he had q suite Of rooms, on the third
Hoar, which. overlooked the large gardens
OF Ls6tte's aud the De Roihchild's man
sions. Decamps wss fond Of the rooms and
Of Lefort. and spent many IN evening there,
smoking and talking, the window opens
upon the admirable gardens in the heart Of
Paris, where flowers cost at leas; three
times their weight in gold, SO valuable is
the land on which they grow. One day Le-
fort came to the cafe with very long face
and evident ill-humor. "Whet is the mat
ter! exclaimed Decamps. "Why--wby-
the matter is, l an sorry to be obliged to
leave our rooms" care You going to leave
them," "Yes; my landlord has raised the
rent; refused to pay it; he would make no
reductions; got into bad humor, and |
gave him natice to quit am sorry for
It now; you like those rooms so much. y
"Why don't you withdraw your no,ice" 81
never thought of that should do so."--
The next evening Lefort came as usual to
the cafe with the same long face he wore
frhe preceding evening. He tried 70 with
draw his notice; it was too late; the suit of
rooms had been leased for nine Yeas. La-
fort was 10 move In October, but his land.
lord kindly informed him that as the new
tenant would not come up from the coun'
try before 'he month Of November, he
might stay in the rsoms until about that
period, pravided he would surrender one
room for the furniture of his successor. He
gladly conse nled, and the furniture Of the
new tenant was brought there. Neverthe-
less, Decamps, seeing how sad he was at
the thought of quitting his old rooms, said
to him one day: "Isn't there some way by
which you can enter into arrangements
with your successorl" II don't know him.
and don't wish to ask any favors from hi 4"
"Show me his furniture," said Decafhps,
"and let me guess what sort of a fellow he
is." Lefort carried Decamps into the room
where the furniture was housed. "Hum!
hunt" Grunted Decamps, running his eyes
over the furniture. Simple--comfortable
"a good iaste--he's worth at least four
thousand dollars a year--it is new, too--,he
furniture Of gentlemhn--a gentle!--am l
not spenking too fast!-isnt that work
table!-isn't that a rag-oasket" "But
what sort of man is the husbands" "Hus-
band! question whether there be hus-
band there's no masculine furn-
iure TO be seen there's but one
bed, and that's too narrow fortwo
there's the rubi" "Lat US find out"
Decamps opened drawer, 1t contained a
tortoise-shell comb. and he found in the
comb two magnificent hairs of a golden
color. "She's rot an old woman, that's
pos! 10. -. let's hunt on q -
He hunted on until he came to The portrait
turned sgainstthe wall, and which proved
to be The likeness Of a beautiful woman, 9
blonde, painted in 1895. "Thst is her por'
trait, shewss . married woman when the
portrait was painted, that is evident from
the costume .. :. she was about twen'
tv-f3ur when the portrait wns painted, and
ss we are now in the year of grace '35, she
must be a widow Of four ur,nnd-thirtyl . /.
i She must still bs handsome -.
She 10 an inle lligent woman .sf.ia
fond Of srt .a,s that's evident by
the books she has on these shelves
:. blythe music on this piano. t.g, ,.s.
She 10 woman of kind heart and good
temper ai.u.u. q that lis evident by her
portrait Ny good fellow you
J must ask this lady to sell ,ne her leaser'--
} mo d. d.a d. you must ssk her to share
1t With you you must marry
her my buyp' 1.-THE deuceis You are crazy
, You are making fun of mel" ~ pledge
, you my word | an speaking most seriously
Your furniture seems made on purpose TO
go with this lady's. The rooms are too
! numsrous for one of you alone, it 10 but
, fair you both should marry" "But don't
want to get imarrisdl" u" There you are
wrong Lsfort You are forty