New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-09-28
MILE. OLYMPIC LABEISKI,
BY 7. BAILEY ALDRICH.
From the Atlantic for October.I

From the Atlantic for OctoberI
We are accustomed to speak with Ger
tam light irony of the tendency which wo
men have to gossip, as if the sin itself i
1t Is sin, were of the genter sex, anc
could by no chance become a masculine
peccadillo. So far as my observation goes
men are as much given TO small talk as
women, and 1t is undeniable that we have
produced the highest type of gossiper ex.
tant. Where will you find. in or out of lit
erature, another such droll. delightful,
cbatty busy body as Samuel Pepvs, ESD
Secretary to the Admiralty in the reign of
those fortunate gentlemen, Charles IL. and
James III. OF England He is the king of
tattlers, as Shakespeare is the king of
poets.
If it came to matter of pure gossip. !
would back Our Club against the Sorosis or
any women's club in existence. Whenever
You see IN our drawing Dom four or i've
young fellows lOungng in easy chairs
cigar in hand, and now and then bringing
their heads together over the small round
japanese table which is always the pivot of
these social circles, you may be sure they
are discussing Toms engagement, or Dicks
extravaganza, or Harry's hopeless passion
for the younger Miss Fleurdevs Ii is here
mat cd llppleton gets eXeCrated for that
everlasting bon mot of his which was quite
success at Gunner parties forty years ago:
II IS here the belle of the season passes IN.
der the scalpels of merciless Young sur.
geons. it is here BIS financial condition -
handled IN way that would make BIS hair
stand on end; 1t is here. in short, that
everything is Misunderstanding that
happens in our set, ] mean. much that
never happens. and great deal that could
not possibly happen. 1t was at Our Club
that learned the particulars o! the Van
Twiller affair.
If was great epfartaipmaps .n n,r fu.,1
the Van Twillar affair. though ii was rather
a JOyless thing. / fancy. for Van Twiller !
10 understand the case fully. it should be |
understood that Ralph Van Twiller is one !
OF the proudest and most sensitive men !
living He is a lineal descendant of Wouter |
Van Twiller the famous old Dutch Cover. |
nor Of New lolk-Nieuw Amsterdam as il !
was then; his ancestors have always been |
burgomasters or Admirals or Generals. and /,
his mother s the Mrs. Nanrensselaer Van.
zandt Van Twlller whose magnificent place
Will be pointed out to'you on the right bank
OF the Hudson. as yOu pass up the historic
river toward Idlewild. Ralph is about
twenty-five years old. Birth made him a
gentleman. and the rise OF real estate.
some OF IT IN the family since the old Gov.
ernors tme-made him a millionaire. Ii
was kindly fairy that stepped in and
made MIN ii good fellow also. Fortune.
take IL, was III her mos. jocund mood when
she heaped her gifts in this fashion on Van
Iwiller, who was. and will be al gain, when |
this cloud blows over. the flower OF Our
Club.
About a year ago there came whisper-
if the word ''wh eper' is not too harsh q
term to apply TO what seemed mere breath
boating gently through the atmosphere q;
he billiard rOom-impartiDg the int.iE- .
yence that Van Iwiller was in some kind :
If trouble. just as everybody suddenly
axes to wearing square tUed boots: or 10 ! q
lrawiDg his neckscarf through a ring, so it /
ecame all at once the fashion, without any ! t
agreement, for everybody to
peak of Van Twiller as man in some Il
7ay under a cloud. But what the cloud t
,as, and how he got under it, and why I've a
id not get away from it, were points that h
fled themselves into the realm of pure h
uDjecture. There was no man in the club
nth strong enough wing 10 his Imagination N
D soar to the superstition that'Nan Twiller b
7as embarrassed in money matters Was II
g in lovei That appeared nearly as impos- +
ible, for if he had been in love all the II
vorld--that perhaps hundred first fam pl
have known all about it in til
;antly. vi
He has the symptoms" said Delaney, til
ughing. Il remember once when Jack no
ba
.'Ned y cried Fleming, II protest against Ty
~ allusiOn to that business" tai