St. Mary's gazette., 1866-05-03

seemed to guarantee the place against fall
ingIto pieces Immediately. There was no
sigaiof furniture Two or three spailasscs
wcrs IN the corner. theirticking torn in parts,
andshowing more dust than straw within.
Heh apd there were waterproof and an
eara,ern pipkin. A close, dissgrecable
odorhaun,ed the rooms.
TIE windows looked ou. upon the square
yar.st The scene was like the interior of
! .S.ye,,,Fk yee,,Fk Of Tie t. The thises, MOTTO
Speak Of tho hdnian beings, which lay rds
ting, mouldcring, and putrefying there,
were indescribable The fragments SEEM
ed to fratcrniza together. Some fell from
the walls, others from the living tenants
of the place. The debris was sown with
their tattcrs
Besides the floating population which
birouacked nightly in the square yard, the
Jacressade had three permanent dodgers
a charcoal-mau, a ag-picker, and gold
maker The chareoal-man and the rag
picker occupied two of>the pailasses of the
first story; the gold ldmaker," chemis',
lodged in the l.ft, which was called, no
one knew why, the garret. Nobody knew
where the wom,n slept. The ''gold-ma-
kcr" was pod in small way. lie m
habited a room in the roof, under the tiles
a chamber with narrow window, and a
large stone fireplace forming gulf, in
which the wind howled at will. The gar
ret window having no frame, he had nailed
across it piece of iron shcathlng, part Of
the wreck of ship.
This. sheathing left little room for the
entrance of light, and much for the en-
trance of cold. The charcoal man paid
rent from time to time in tie shape OF a
sack of charcoal; the rag picker paid with
a bowl Of grain for the fowls every week;
the "goll-lnaker' did not pay at all
Meanwhile, the latter consumed the very
house itself for fuel. He had pulled down
the little woodwork which remained; and
every now and then he took from the wall
or the roof lath or some scantling, to
heat his crucible Upon the partition,
above the rag picker's mattrass, might
have been seen two columns of figures,
marked in chalk by the rag picker himself
from week to wcck-a column of threes
and a column of fyes-according as the
bowl Of grain had cost him three lizards or
five ccntimes.. The gold pot of the chemist
was an old fragment Of a bomb-shell, pro-
NOTED BY him to the dignity Of a cruclblc,
in which he mixed his ingredients. The
transmutation of metals absorbed all his
thoughts. lie was determined not to
die until he had rcvengcd himself by
/. a. e
with the real philosophers stone His fur
mace consumed a good deal of wood. The
hand rails of the stairs had disappeared -
The house was slowly burning away. The
land!aly said to him, "You will leave us
nothing but the she'll" He Modified her
BY addressing her in verses
Such was the Jacrcssade. -
4 boy of twelve, or, perhaps. sixteen
for he was like dwarf, with large wen
upon his neck, and slways carrying Il
broom III his hand was the domestic of
tie place
The habitucs entered by the gateway Of the
the court yard; the public entered by shop.
What was this shop?
In the high wall, facing the street, and
70 The right ot the entrance 10 'he coulI-
rard, was square opening, serving at once
as door aud window 1t had shut cr
and a frame--the ouiy shutter IN all
the house which had hinges and bolts
Behind this square aperture, which
was open to the street, was little room,
compartment obtained by curtaillng the
sleeping she'd in the courtyard. Over
the door, passers-by read the incripton IN
charcoal, "Curiositics sold here"
On three boards, forming the shop front
were several pots without ears, Chinese
D arasol made of gold-beater skin, and
ornamentcd with figures. torn here there,
and impossible to open or shut; fragments
of iron. and shapeless pieces Of old pottery,
and dilapidatel hats and bonnets: three or
four shells, some packets Of old bone and
metal buttons, tohacco-box with portrait
Of Marie -Antoinette, a dog cared volume
of Boisbcrtrands Algebra. Such was the
stock of the shop; this assortment compile
ted the curiositics The shop commu-
nicated by back door with the yard in
which vas the we'll 1t was furnished
with table and stool The woman with
a wooden leg presided at the counter.