The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1866-05-12

il was the present of some successful
decent people would thereafter keep
aloof from Marietta. Therefore Herr
Ilautmartin resolved, in order to pre-
vent any evil reports, to profess himself
the givcr. Moreover, he loved Marietta,
and would gladly have seen her observe
more strictly toward himself the say
ing of the gray-headed priest jerome,
" Little children, love one another" In
truth, Herr llautmartin was little
child fifty years old, and Marietta did
not think the saying applied particularly
to him. Mother Mauon, on the contrary
thought that the Justice was clover
little child; he had gold and high rep.
utation, from one end of NapouIe to the
: other. And when the Justice spoke oi
marriage, and Marietta ran away in
} alright mother Manon remained sitting
and had no fear for the tall, staid gen.
tlcman. 1t must also be confessed that
there We're no faults in his person. And
although Colin was the handsOmcst man
| in the village, yet the Justice far surpas
sed him in two things, namcly in the
number of years, and in n very, very
} big nose. Yes, this nose, which Away,
: went before the Justice, like a herald, tc
proclaim his approach, was Il rcal
elephant among human noses.
With this proboscis, his good purpose
and the cup the Justice went the fol-
lowing morning to the house between
the olive trees and the African acCacies
"For the beautiful Marietta" said he
81 hold nothing too costly. Yesterday
you admired the cup at Nencc; to-day
allow me, lovely Marietta, to lay it ant
my devoted heart at your feet"
Manon and Marietta were transported
beyond measure when they bcheld the
cup. Manon's eyes glistcned with de
light; but Marietta turned and said
i can neither take your heart nor YOU
cup"
Then mother Manon was angry, and
cried out: " But accept both heart ant
cup. O, thou little fool, how long will
thou despise thy good fortune? Fol
whom dost thou tarry? Will Il Count
of Provence make thee his bride, thai
; thou scornst the Justice of Napoulc
| know better how to look after thy in
tcreSts. Herr Hautmartin, deem it III
honor to call you my son-in-law."
Then Marietta went out and wept
bitterly, and hated the beautiful cul
with all her heart.
But the Justice, drawing the palm o
his ilabby hand across his nose, spok,
thus iudiciously:
"Mothcr Munon, hurry nothing. The
dove will at length, when it learns tc
know me better, give way. l am moi
impetuous. l have some skill among
women, and before Il quarter of YCal
passes by | will insinuatc myself into
Marictta's good graccs."
"Thy nose is too large for that
Whispered Marietta, who listened out.
side the door, and laughed to herself. In
fact, the quarter of Il year passed by,
and Herr llautmartin had not yet picrc-
ed her heart even with the tip of his
nose.
TIIE FLOWERS.
DURING this quarter of n year Mari
ctta had other affairs to attend to. The
cup gave her much VcXatiOn and trouble,
and something else besides.
For fortnight nothing else was talk
ed of in NapOule, and every one said, ii
is present from the Justice, and the
marriage is already agreed upon. Mari
eta solcmnly declared to all her COM
panions that she would rather plunge
to the bottom of the sea than marry the
Justice but the maidcnS continued to
banter her all the more, saying, ooh,
| how blisSful it must be to repOSe in the
shadow Of his nose!" This was her
first vcXatiOn.
Then mother Manon had the cruelty
to force Marietta to rinse out the cup
every morning at the spring under the
rock, and to fill it with fresh flowers
She hoped by this to accustom Marietta
to the cup and heart of the giver. But
Marietta continued to hate both the Gift
and giver, and her work mt the spring
became I'M actual punishment. Second
VcNation.
| Then, when in the morning she came
TO the spring, twice every week she
| found on the rock, Immediately over ii,
some most beautiful flowers, handsome
ly arranged already for the decoration
Of the cup. And ON the flower stalks
strip paper was always tied, on which
was written, DEAR MARIETTA. Now
no one need expect to impose upon lit
tie Marietta, as if magicians and fairies
were still in the world. Consequently
she knew that both the flowers and pa-
pCrS must have come from Herr llaut-
martin. Marietta, indeed, would not
smell them because the living breath
from out the JUSTICES nose had pur-
fumed them. Nevertheless she took
the flowers, because they were finer
than wild flowers, and tore the slip of
paper into II thousand pieces, which she
strcWcd upon the spot where the flowers
usually lay. But this did not veX JUS
tice llautmartin, whose love was unpar-
allelcd in its kind, as his nose was in its
kind. Third veXation.
At length it came out, in conversation
with Herr Ilautmartin, that he was not
the givcr Of the beautiful flowers. Then,
who could it be? Marietta was utterly
0Stoundcd at the unexpected discovery.
HhcncciOrth she took the flowers from