Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-10-02
THE TELEGRAPHISTs' REVENGE.

tie before rnidnsght w arr se /, with our two
wagons, II PRETTY Lite tOEB near lie Mans.
a. We reached the outskirts o. the place fhe
courier We had sent sbesf net with the bill
iets ior or quarters A lac handed the N 70 u
hts face assumed an expression that kBe y
only tOo well how To Interpret.
rOar quarters are none of the best, eh?''
'sThere fave been same Bavar,Rns here for q
whole week" was his laconic reply, which said
quite enough. It was only when they found
very gTes abundance and their stay wa very
short that our blue-coated allies left any thing
behind them.
Wei, our biIIets, in our respective judgments,
promised very little. l, for example, was sent
to the house OF q lincn-weaver. Now, at the
mere mention of the word linen weaver a feel
ing OF hunger and misery comes over me, prob
ably on account Of Ny having, IN my boyhoOd
80 often sung the song Of "The Weaver Of ST.
The others, being no better pleased with their
bullets han was with mine. readily scceded
70 nv proposition 10 go to an hotel aud pass tn ,
Iightat our own expense.
The mail had arrived only q day or two pr
yiously, and consequently we all had money;
not much, tbs true, but enough to pay Our reck-
oniDg or night at least
The house 10 which were directed
called "The Shark" II the name was some
what omlUous, We consOled ourselves with the
thought, or rather the recollection, that, in the
olden time, on = certain occasion, very dis
unguished person found himself very comtorts-
bic in a fsh's belly.
house, made an awtully WV face; when. no
ever, he learned that " e had not been uaI tered
upon nm. but came AZ paying guests, his ply
slognOEy assumed entirely different ex-
preston We Germans, despite the hatred Of
the French for Us, had good reputation among
the landlords, and | am convinced that, NJ
cOuntrymen OF the proprietor OF The shark had
presented themselves, be wOuld not havs been
so well pleased as be was with u.
But lis suave manner did not please US. There
was something too fON-like IN his physiOgnOmy.
While The tongue OF the little man WAS giving
utterance 70 polite phrases, his little, sharp.
dark eyes seemed 10 say. elf only had the gold
III my rocket, YOU might all OF YOU 20 to the
devil. for all CaTel'
Such-l'ke landlords were not new to us and
consequently the eOutr sdictUry expression OF
his words and his mlcn gave rs no uueasiness.
lie could indulge IN any srimaces he pleased,
provided his lsIder was vel! filled and his wine
The man knew his business, that DO one could
deny. lie ran over the u.s. OF his culinary de-
hcacieS With wonderful vOlubiiity, and praised
his wines with sn eiOquence that even a Ge-
neva Calvinist would have found 10 difficult TO
resist. As for the former, they tasted very like
the remnants of dinner warmed over; ard, as
for the latter, IL had certainly been literally
watered. But our stOmaChs had not been
cloyed with Injuries of late, and, especially
for the last three or four days our fare had been
so very plain that we found the supper Tns
Shark landlord set before rs very paltable. Al
though We had had = hard day, we were, never
theless in q eOnyiVial mood, and after our no
had peIsu AIDED Us to take one bottle of cham
payne, he did not find it diff cult 10 persuade us
TO take second, a third, and a fourth. So wo
sat drinking and merry making until three
O'Clock in the morning, when we suddenly broke
mp and FASTENED 10 our beds.
AT Elk O'Clock we were all assembled again
around the table busy with our coffee, when
the Shark appeared, and, with one Of his friend
hest grim handed me our reckoning.
Great Heavens, I thought I should sink to
the earth when / glanced at the paperi Such
imposition had never before witnessed.
1.-TWO hundred and thirty-three francsi" /
cried; ''-hat Il impossible! IL cannot be!'
"Si, ii. monsieur, II Is quite correct" an
swered the Shark, blsndIy. ''Mon Dieu! Mes
sieuTs les Prussiens have made every thing so
France-WhRT WI
"Ihe rascal" thought, and told my COM
rades what the fellow demanded OF US. They,
very naturally, were not less incenssd than 1
was; but what could We do? There was no time
10 enter into discussion, for our wagons were
already waiting at the door; so emptied our
purses, and, with ''-HHh and Moth" made up the
sum the villain demanded, which he pOcketed
with a nOGChaianCe that clearly show ed il was
not the first time he had Preyed upon the un-
We went our way, all feeling very savage, I
particu lrly, for II was my fault, il anybOdy's,
that We Iad fallen into the Avs OF the monster.
4 had 10 expectation OF ev II seeing the little
town or the The Shark landlord again; but
Providence willed that 1t should be Otherwise,
and kline y gave me an Opportunity to be fully
avenged.
Nine days later we were ordered to repair a
short COrneCting-iine near lie Mans. Again we
took the r ad to he little 10 wn OF dear rememb-
rance, which we reached about nightfaIl aud
where We were TO spend the night. We re-
ported ourselves at the cOmmlssary bureau,
where had the good fortune 10 lind a gOOd-na-
tured acquaintance in the officer in charge. In
tie cOur.e ofcOnversation tod h m how and
ny comrades had been robbed By The Shark
proprietor a few days previously.
II know the fellow said he. There have
already been good many complaints about
HIN, bur / have determined to send him a.
any Of my bIllets as / can with any show Of
jnsiice; 10 that way o ne can, perhaps, get even
with tie rascal"
ssAh, an excellent fdea!r cried. "Send me
ara my comrades to him-that Is, if you can"
"Why uOts Light men-yes, certainly can
send YOU 10 him. The fellow Is rich: the other
no has " rlr2n
RsyaIla1s- Yes, III send you TO him for to-
night"
Flfteen minutes later our wagon drew up be-
fore the door Of The shark on the way had
unfOlded little plan 10 my companions, with
which they we're delighted.
When our worthy host saw US he WAS radiant
with delight, and his salts faction was apparently
Increased when We excused ourselves for trOub-
hing him again - soon, and begged that he
would have our tired horses well attended TO.
"Oh, You are very welcome, gentlemen he
replied, Iubbing his hands with a sort OF satanic
gee y on 90 my niue mouse great nOnOF.
i''HeTe I have the eight ounces again" he
thought TO hlmself,)
we made ourselves a. comfortable as possible,
and, in our endeavOrs in this direction, we ere
ably seconded by our host. When he asked Us
how many rooms we wished, we mOdes-ly re-
pied that we were by no means particular how
many we had, wheTeupOn he fastened 70 allOt
20 our occupancy eight rooms in a row, up two
flights OF stairs, which, he assured Us. were as
comfoTta5ie As any rooms IN his house, and
have 10 doubt that, in making the statement,
he was not very wide OF the truth. OF ordering
our supper, We male equally light work, Ieay-
ing the selection Of the bHl-Of-taTe entirely %
HIM. "a, We even went so TAR in eVincing our
confidence II his Judgment and discretion as 20
allow HIM 10 select our wine Tor Us.
perhaps J shall put a bottle or Champagne
on ice:'' he suggested. al hope MeSsieurs ie>
PrussieIs found NY wine - their taste the
other evening"
"If you choose, yOu mag put two on ice,''
replied.
"Perhsps three, messieurs:"
f'FCUr II you ike
f'BeU, let u say six
''NOu are very kind, monsieur"
"My duty, my duty. think know what il
due TO such guests Is you are, gentlemen"
AnC 20 We continued 70 Compliment each
other until our jaws were busy with supper,
which, thanks to the generosity OF our host, was
truly Lucuilian inIts character.
Our host watched our glasses with Argus-eyes,
and hardly were they empty, when the walters,
il obedience TO his wink, nlled them again: this
We gave hum an opportunity 10 do very fire.
quent'y, especially when he brought on the
Champagne, which. 70 do the Shark Justice.
confess y A. very good. am, unlike his cl aret,
had not been Watere,i. We swallowed with he