, 1864-11-06

A." How much Is your pension ?'' inquired
Antoine without replying to them, ad-
dressed bis discourse TO me. '5hots," b.
ssia, a,,,, aTe curious t9insa Monsieur kno rs
Certainly. He has the Legion of Honor,
the Chin can medals and a hass-lip."
"Patdon, Monsieur; the lip wis cleft With
. shot, nd that is ali the harm he took In
the Russian campaign: Another officer
Of One OF my comrades had bullet run
round him, between his ribs sud skin, in
Btsnd of going through him, as it ougas to
have eoae. We mere talking Of luck." he
coItinued, ra'eiog his yotcr. "No3, Mon
Bieur, have alwa:s noticed that people who
After having been lucky In the service, I am
now lucky In the. lottery. Everybody WAnts
to flrd out who has won the great lot. l
happen to know at this moment who has tie
"a Hushl Hold your toneuel" WHISPERED.
next the carrlage window. The brutes, our
ne,ehbo1e, were knocking out the ashes OF
their pipes and waking up from their stolid
lttrNgy. The Fox'5 eyes twink1ed, and he
seemed to prick up his ears the F-1rat
smack ed bis lips, as II athlrst for blood
II dare Say most Of Jou bought plenty Of
tickets" Antoine went on, regardless Of my
fro~ns-"plenty Of tickets, and have got
| nothl1g, not 60 much asthat! had only
two tickets, look you; only two. And hare
they are, uncut, still Joined together. With
no more than two tickets hare won some
thirg. Iehal1 rake the liberty of keeping
them folded; but what do you call this, Ii
! can print II"
Everybody in the carriage was agh.st.
Many rose from THAR seats to behold t6a for
tnnate scrap Of paper: "Why, 3,3sl, ,4o6, the
next before it, wins the great LOT! Have you
that also ~ was the general cry.
s.Do you now believe me, when say thas
know where the great lot is:n
"But 8 1854 s384 .407 Is q hundred franc lot" one
OF the passer gers observed; "so that. with
only two tickets, he has won two lots!''
Didn't tell you was lucky fellow."
| Antoine boosted with sort Of swsgser.
"But keep back, you there III your onn com
pattment; You need not lean over quite so
| far. mean to keep my tickets, and what
| they bring to me, to myself. Ny knapsaek
ts big enough to hold 1t all, aud think I
stall be strong enough to carry it home"
Ttis last rtmaik was accompanied By q wink
imperceptible to all except myself.
1t vas c0rtous to observe the effect pro.
duced by AntotIe's unfCunded and boaskful
pretenslons. He had made the passengers.
bslieve that he was the poaseesor Of the NUM-
hel which preceded, instead of that which
followed 1884 ,4o7; aEd consequently, that
the hundred thousand franco were bis. He
evidently rose In their esteem, became a
great man in their eyea, and was regarded
with visible defererce. He was small in
carnation Of the golden cali It explained
TO them en- my presence n his company IN 4, =
! first freaks had been to engage 4 genteeI
| travelling servant, myself; Or more probably
to treat me to the trip and the frolic with the
ope1handed communism Of French milltaires
when In cash. We were the observed of all
~f - %Iu3 r. N1rxx f,-t-
shabby neighbors.
Antoine, having flown his high flying kite,
subsidized into TEN porary quiesude Amongst
tho unWashed crew there theo arose ad1sc1.-
sien or consultation which, although con
dncted IN low tones Of voice was sufficiently
audible for ne to hear that they we're speak,
ing, not French, but Flemish They crouch
ed Ion in their compartment, bringing their
ugly beads into close contigutty, and casting
sneptcious g1ances around, to ascertain Ii
they were overheard The Fo1 seemed to
take the lead, and to be acknowledged BY the
Others as the master spirit: -.
Listen to the Belgian beasts," mutte1ed
Antoine. with contemptaous toss Of the
head In their direction. sNinety-nine Flem-
ipgs and one hog {saving your respect, Mon
sier: make together round hundred. Hear
how they sweat mud grunt; they are after no
good They ore scentirg cut some filthy
meal to be stolen somewhere. Notice their
tools; they hayn't been used for a twelve
month. Observe their bundles mad baga;
| they are stuffed with shaYIngs aud hap. The
| set Of canaillsl I'll tell you what they are,
they are pretended workmeD, to cover their
hide their real trade Of thlevtng. They put
me IN mind ofcertain camp, folio 0wers, whom
I have seen Waiting for the end Of hard
| fought battle, when they are sure of plenty
of,woucaea to ktll, and dead to p1nnder. I
detest them. Shall We get into another car
| riage at the next station, Monsieur2"
"No, 10. It is not worth while. You
| are prejudiced; although l confess they are
| not propose ssipg. Besides, you are still
little excited Your mornings dose Isn't all
| worked off YETI
He gave me cullen sign Of obedience.
| proved useless; for two stations further on,
at 3 small village called Welssbecque, which
vas close upon The Belgian frontier, four of
the UNPLEASANT five got out-uamely, the
Fox, the Bull, the Jackass, aad the Pig
although they had taken their tickets to the
saIee destination as oureelves-lea7lng the
solitsry Ferret to bear Us company To our
| jour- ey's end.
The journey ont did shortly terminate.
We had then, nothing to do but transact cur
possible. Alter dne veIidcatiop, tie bank
! Paid onr respective clains in gold: Antoine
/ deposited his small prize at the bottom of
bis knapsack, beneath 3 yariety Of effects,
wpl'e I locked my heavy booty In my leather
We entered the bank, the Belgian Ferret was
Lettering at the door, and as We came ont
| again, be was lettering their still We had
Low only to. take some refreshment
I'D ~ re.1tn n;ah BY M, the , earliest evening
brought: US in the morning, WIS omnibus, or
tor all three clasees:: We betooz ourselves,
| therefore, to modest restaurant near the
railway station. Antoine strictly kept his
PROMISE Of drinking With hls meal nothing
stronger than eafs az lai. When our repast
Ferret; but he did not seem to recognize US,
He called for plate Of soup, which be has
tuy swallowed, paid for 1t, and then walked
eut again. On the railway platform, there
be Was agaiE-after his own affairs, We con.
clnded-With pencil and card in hand.
1foisieMes en uoiturs! Third.claas pas
Eengers, get up!" shouted the railway Oh
c1a1s. We obeJed. Before even the doo
Was closed upon US, the Ferret rushed for
ware, and instead OF getting up with Us, q
card the number Of. onr railway carriage
s91, ar d then darted with It into the ofics o
the electric telegraph. he still remained
there when the train moved on. Of course II
started without him. II he had any inten.
tion Of accompanying rs he was disappolpt-
! ed, and was lett behind.
! ". - ,y,
] E0ueHQAt LlleQ WIN LUe Gays eAe1CamenEs
and leaning back in my seat, with Antoine
| opposite, INDUCED In little inward mus-
irg.
"Who would guess," said to myself,
"that four thousand pounds in gold were.
! being conveyed in this th1rd class carriage
| It Is = humble style Of travelling; but: before
hoLor ls humility. -Four thousand pounds
in gold! Certainly nice little addition to
my property; but won't be 80 weak as to
give people chance Of a1luding to be2gars
set on horseb back. can roW, however,
marry the Widow Le Blanc without being
20 very mush obliged to her, pecuniarilS.
psrt there ehau be no affairs or adectauon.
won't look down on my former friends, nor
make any great change In my way Of living.
Eil put, perhaps, another gray to the Wid-
owls one horse carriage-n pair is 80 much
more respectable. Besidee, there will be
two Of Us to drag, and, it may be, three or
tour little ones by-ard-by. Who can tell ? |
And 1il have O thorough bred saddle horse !;
for my own proper use. I will take Antoine
Tor my groom and factotum. He has worn |!
uniform: doubtless, he won't mind Wear I
iIg a livery: Yes, he must have livery. |
Louise c4n 60 on as usual, especially II !
build them pretty lotga~ to ornament tne +
entrance to. our grounds. And will make
fn-law. will continue to write for London
Seeitfy; they shall etilI have IN occasional
article. Nor will alter my style Of dress;
an oyerdresaed man who Is turned Of thirty
ls simply Ridiculous. Only, instead Of u
provincial tailor, may fairly GET
Barg! Bumpl Crs5h! Crash 4 sue
cest3on OF utantic blows seemed to be given
along the Whole length Of the train, begin
ming with the engine, until they reached ths
1kar on+ II |