Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-07-26
Paulette.

TransIated for the Gazette from the
French Of Emile souvestre.
Paulette.
A knock at my door a poor girl
| enters and salutes me by name. I do
not recognize her at first but she looks
at me. smiles - 81 All it is
Paulette. But for a year I have not
seen her ; Paulettei is no longer a child (;
but the other day an infant this morn
ing she appears young maiden.
Paulette is thin, pale Wretchsdly
clothed but she has always the same
eye, 1icL, open, frank, looking straight
! into your face the same mouth, smil-
/ ing at every word as if to forestall fa-
VOr /; the same voice, tdmid, yet tender,
as if caressing. Paulette is not pretty,
she passes for a homely creature /
find her charming 81
It was the evening of a public fete.
/ The ilIuminatiOns were drawn like rib
/ bOns of fire the length of our streets (;
/ a myriad of bHnderOles huttered in the
! winds of the night. The fireworks on
/ the Champ-de-Mars were about send
! ing up their sheaves of flame. Sudden
! ly arose one of those inexplicable pam
] les common only to immense crowds.
Z The mass rocked and swayed to and
! fro like a forest in a tempest. They
shout, they precipitate themselves one
upon another some of the fallen
sWoOn, and by the frantic mass, are
] trampled under foot. Myself escaped
by miracle, I am fleeing from the
scene of danger when the cry of a child
arrests me. plunge into the human
chaos, and with almost superhuman eff
fort drag Paulette from the crowd.
That was two years ago. Since then,
have seen her only at long intervals
Every year she brings me pot Of vio-
| let's. Paulette makes pastebOard boxes.
This time she has enclosed her flower
3 n Sc
vanished and embellished with ara bes-
que. These ornaments are in indiffer-
ent taste, but they are the fruit of a
good will worth more than rubies. This
present so unexpected, offered with
modest blushes and stammering COM
pliment has done this much; that ray
Of brilliant light has pierced the fogs Of
despair my soul passes out Of the re-
giOns of night into an atmosphere the
color of rose. / insist that Paulette
shall be seated and I question her gai-
ly.
At first she speaks in monosylIables
but presently the rules are reversed,
and it is who interrupt with short in
teriectlOns, her long condolences. The
poor child has hard lie. Long since
orphaned, she lives with a brother and
sister in charge of an old grandmother
Paulette assists her in the making car
tonnages. her little sister Perrine is be-
ginning t. sew and HeRrl is sapprenticed /
to printer. All would go well if there
were no losses and no respites, if clothes
would not wear out, nor appetites grow
aud if there were no winter, when one
must buy his SUM eat. Paulette COM
plains that the candle burns down too
fast and wood costs so much. The
chimney of the attic where they live is
so large that great bundle of fagots |
u1alzes only the heat of "a match. Ii is |
so near the root that the wind blows /
the rain down, and it freezes on the |
hearth in winter. In fact they have /
given it up. They must warm them I
selves by the chafindish where they
cook the repasts. Grandma knows of 4
a good cheap stove at the retailers on |
the ground floor, but they cannot afford /
seven francs for it, and have resigned /
themselves therefore to cold, and to /
economy.
As Paulette talks on, my mental /
gloom recedes farther and farther A I
desire within me has grown to a project /
L interrogate her upon her Occu pations /
for the day she informs me that upon |
leaving she is to visit with her brother |
and sister, the different persons to whom /
they owe theil work. / in my turn an |
nounce to her that shall visit her in |
the evening, and I bow her out with /
renewed Acknowledgements
The violet stands upon the window /
still where q ray Of light hastens to |
greet it the birds warble around jt, |
day which announced itself so sOmbre- !
hued has become radiant.
walk to and fro in my chamber
singing, 1 hastily throw on my wrap |
pings, I 60 out.
Three O'Clock. All is arranged with my
neighbor the ''smoke doctor" he re-
pairs the old stove which / have secur-
ed, and promises to make it as good as 4
new. At SO clock we go to set it up in 4
the garret Of Paulette's grandmother. |
Midnight.
All is over. At the hour appointed I /
was in the room of the old cartOnniere /
sill absent. MY PremOntais set up the 4
stove after I had arranged in the great H
chimney corner dozen billets of wood 4
borrowed FROM my own winter provls-
sion.
echoes on the stairs, have beating Of
the heart. / tremble lest they shall in
terrupt my preparations and shall not
enjoy the surprise. But no, every thing 1
is now in its place the lighted stove
crackles joyOusly, the little lamp burns
on the table, and the can of oil has tax
en- its place upon the shelf. The work
man has gone away.
Now my fear lest they shOnld come, |
is changed into impatieuce for their ar /
LLH ~ Na A
children. Behold them push open the |
door and rush in ! They stop stock /
still.Ou the threshold with cries of as
tOnisbment at the sight of the lamp /
of the stove and of the visitor who ap- |
pears like a magician in the midst Of /
his entertainments. They start back al 4
most affrighted. Paulette first compre- /
hends adae arrival of the old lady who /
has m ed more slowly bastens the |
expIanh .-Tears-transpor of joy
thanks ?!
But the surprises are not over. The /
chiId-sister opens the oven and finds
chestnuts nearly roasted ; the grand
mother has accidentally put her hand
upon the bottles of cider onthe bufnet,
and I draw forth from the basket hith-
to concealed, a beefs tongue, a piece of
butter and some fresh lOaves- This
time astonishment has become admira-
tiOn the little family has never partic-
ipated in such a feast They lay the
cloth, they are seated about it, they par
take. There is enough for all, and /
am not the only contributor, 1 have
bought but the supper the old carton
Mere and her children furnish the JOY.
What bursts ofuncaiied for laughter
what a babel of questions " htch await
not an answer of answers which re
ply to no question The old grandame
herself partakes of the foolish gsiety Of
the little ones. L have always been
struck by the readiness with which the
poor forget THEN misery. Accustomed
to live in the present., they profit by the
pleasure " hitch the present bestows.
Tho rich man ennuied with safety gets
amused less easily. Time and aids
are necessary to persuade him TO be
happy.
The evening has passed in a moment
of time The old dame has recOunted
to me the history of her life, singing
and weeping by turns. Perrine has
sung a rOundelay of old times with her
sweet and infantinc voice Henri, who
carries the prooisheets of the most cele-
brated writers of the day has told us
what he knows of them
Finally, it is time to separate, not
without renewed thanks on the part of
the family. I return home at slow
pace recalling with full heart the pure
pleasures of the evening. A great con-
ISOLATION and lesson it has been for me.
The years roll backward from the past
upon me, / see that never is a human
u.