The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-10-09


hair anil the laughing face, was only to b,
guessed at Ii was popularity conceded
however. that Van Twiller was on thu
point of forming dreadful mesaUtance
Up to this period he had visited the clul
regularly suddenly he ceased to appear
He was not to be seen on Broadway, or il
the Central Park, or at the house he gen
orally trequented His chambers-anG
mighty comfortable ones they were-or
'Thirty-fourth street were deserted lie
had dropped out of the world shot like a
bright particular star from his orbit in the
heaven of the best society
'Where's Van Twiller ?"
"Who's seen Van Twiller? >"
What has become of Van Twiller2 2n
Delaney picked up the Evening Post,
and read, with a soemnity that betrayed
Young firkins into, by .jove now ="
Married, on the 10th instant by the
Rev Eriar laurence at the residence of
The brides uncle, Montague Capulet, Esq,
Miss Adrieune lie Couyreur to Mr. Ralph
Van Twilcr both of this city. No cards >
II strikes me. said Frank Livingstone,
who had been rntfiing the leaves of a
magazine ut the end of the table. that
You fellows are in a great fever about Van
Twiller.
so we are
We'll, he has simply gone out Of town"
"Whereo' -
Up 10 the old homestead on the lIud-
SON.
Its nm odd time OF the year for Il lel-
low to 90 into the country
''IIe has gone to visit his mother" said
Livingstone.
In February -
Il didn't know, Delaney. there was any
statute in force prohibiting a man from
visiting his mother in February if he wants
Delaney made some light remark about
the pleasure of communing with nature
with a cold in her head, and the topic was
dropped.
Livingstone was hand in glove with Van
Twilcr, and if amy man shared his conf
dence it was Livingstone. He was aware
of the gossip and specializing that had
been rife in the club, but he either was
not at liberty, or did not think ii worth
while to relieve our curiositv In the
course of Il week or two it was reported
that Van Twiller was going to Europe:
and so he did A dozen of us went down
to the Scotia to see him off, 1t was re-
frcshino to have something as positive as
the fact that Van Twillcr had sailed
Shortly after Van I'wiler's departure
the whole thing came out Whether LiN-
nGstone found the secret too heavy a bur
den, on whether it tranSpircu through
some mdisrretion on the part of Mrs. Van
rensselaer, Nanzandt Van Twiler, can
not say but one evening the entire story
was in the possession of the club
Van Twillcr had actually been very
deeply Interested moi in an actress, for
the legitimate drama was not her walk in
life, but--in Mademoiselle Olvmpc Ia
briski, whose really perilous leats on the
trapezc had astonished New York the
year before though they had failed to at
tract Delaney and me the night we wan
dered into the uptown theatre on the trail
OF Van TWlller'> mystery.
That a man like Van Twilcr should be
fascinated for an instant by u common
seems incredible: but il is al
ways the Incredible thing that happens
Besides, Mademoisellc Olvmpe was not a
common cireus-@irl; She was Il most dar-
ing and startling @ymnaste. with 4 beauty
and grace OF movement that gave To her
audaclolis performance almost an ;lir Of
pruderN. Watching her wondrous dcN-
terity and plant strength, both exercised
without apparent effort, it seemed the
most natural proceeding in the world that
She should do those unpardonablc things.
She had a way OF melting from one grace
tul posture into another, like the dissolv-
ing figure thrown from Il StereopticOn
She was like Il 1.-the, radiant shape out of
the Grecian mythology, now poised up
there above the gas lights, and now @lcam-
ING through the air like a slender Gilt az
row.
| am describing Mademoiselle Olympic
as She appeared to Van Twiller on the
first occasion when he Strolled into the
theatre where she was performing To
me She was Il Girl Of eighteen or twenty
Years of age maybe She was much older,
for pearl-powdcT and distance keep these
people perpetually young) slightly but
eXquiSiteIy built with snews OF silver
wire; rather pretty, perhaps, after man
ner, but showing plainly the effects of the
exhaustive drafts She was making on her
physical vitality Now, Van Twiller was
an enthusiast on the subject of calisthenics
.'It had daughter" Van Twiller used
To say, 81 wouldn't send her to boarding
school. or Il numnery; I'd send her TO u
gymnasium for the first five Years. Our
American women have no physique. They
are lilies pretty,-and perishable. You
marry an American woman, and what do
You marry A headache. Look at the Eng
lish girls. They are at least roses. and
last the season through
Walking home from the theatre that
first night, il lifted through Van Twiller's
mind that if he could give this girls set of
nerves and muscles to any one of the two
hundred high-bred women he knew, he
would marry her on the spot and worship
her forever.
The following evening he went to see
Mademoisclle Olympic again. ''Olympe
Zabrisk,H he thought, as he sauntcred
through the lobby, "what aqueer name
Olympic is French, and Zabrski is Polish
1t is her non lie gHcrre, of course; erreal
name is probably Sarah Jones. What
kind of Il creature can She be in private
life wondrr2 | wonder if she wears that
costume ali the time, and if she springs tc
her meals from a horizontal bar. OF course
she rocks the baby to sleep on the trapeze
And Van TWiller went on making comica
domestic tablcauX of Mademoisele Ia
briski, like the clever, satirlcal dog he
was, until the curtain rose.
This was on q Friday There was 4
mnttnce the next day, and he attende,
that, though he had secured seat for til,
usual evening entertainment. Then it be
came a habit Of Van Twiller's to drop into
the theatre for half an hour or so every
night to assist AT the interlude, in whicl
she appeared. He cared only for her par
of the programme, and timed his visits &c
cordingly. II was u surprise to himsel
when he reflected, one morning, that he
had not missed 4 single performance o
Mademoiselle Olympic for two weeks.
"'This will never do" said Van Twillel
"OlympeF--he called her Olympic, as i
she were an old acquaintance, and 50 she
might have been considered bv that tim,
-''is u wonderful creature; but this vii
never do. Van, my boy, You must re
form this altogether.'
But half past nine that night saw him il
his accustomed orchestra chair, and so ol
for another week A habit leads MAJ
so gently in the beginning that he doe
| not Oerceiye he is led with what elk 81