Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1874-08-01
A Romance in ID Nut Shell.

Surely / ought to remember her, since
she seems to recollect me so well for
it is an awkward thing, this, to get
letter from q lady, written in familiar
sort of way, talking of old times
and years ago. asking my advice,
and wanting NE to so and see her,
and | unable to remember.
By-the-by, | suppose it is a lady.
Let me look again at the letter; yes,
it must be. The handwriting is GER
tainly not a mans, neither is the CON-
position. Listen to this for instance /:
Il am emboldened to write to you on
the strength of old times, and because,
if you are as kind-hearted, generous
and indulgent as you used to be, you
will readily forgive an old friend,
whose recollections Of you are so
happy and pleasant. Do you remem-
ber the time we spent at the most
primitive of all villages? how you
taught me German when we rambled
on the sea-shore? l often think how
kind you were to me.
That sounds very nice, but | don't
recollect anything about it. When
did | ever ramble on the sea-shore on
a summers evening, teaching young
lady German? Young lady, did you
saw? Well, of course, it must have
been youl. lady. l wonder what
she was like-tall or short, dark or
fair? What was her name, too? She
signs herself, "A. Berton' Let me
see, " hat name begins with Am
ME, Arabella, Alice, Avice, Adele
ah, wait-I have some faint notion Of
some one, very long ago-twenty
years and perhaps more, and l think
be was called Adele--Adele Berton;
yes, that sounds like q name | have
Leard before. Blu. nMe did / see
her? Primitive 'llage, sea-shore,
and young fe' - of one or two
and twenty? Yes-I have it; surely
l went to Vignelles once. ~h'H IL was
nothing but a collection Of fishing
huts, long before it became fash
ionable watering place? Of course l
did, and it was there l saw Adele
Berton. How could / % so stupid
as to forget it? How could I forget
Adele? Who was she? Why, SIM
ply the loveliest girl l ever saw. l
wonder what she is like now! De-
scribe her to you? Tell you all about
it? With pleasure, as far as ! can,
only let me collect my thoughts a lit
tie, and think how il all came about
it was so long ago. Yes, l begin to
recollect now l dare say it will come
back to me as l tell you. Shall / be-
gin at the beginning?
1t must have been at least twenty
years ago that l received letter from
friend, asking me to join him in
Algiers, where he had gone for his
health, and giving me such descrip-
tion of the place as he thought would
tickle my artistic fancy. / did not
care much about going, but l wanted
a change, so l wrote and told him
that perhaps l would come; and l
did actually set out, and got as far as
Calais. There ran against an old
acquaintance, who persuaded me to
remain day or two, and there, as
Calais and Algiers were equally diff
ferent to me, came to halt at the
commencement of my journey.
Eventually 1 might perhaps have
gone on, if 1 had not taken a long
walk to a charming unsophisticated
village, called Vignelles, buried in
valley close to the sea-shore. Every.
thing was so picturesque tha. l i'm
mediately said to myself, This is a
thousand times better than Algiers OF
Calais, and here III stay
had been walking nearly all day,
and was hot, tired, and dusty, and
the place seemed intensely inviting
As it was nothing but cluster o
fishing cottages, it seemed to offer hut
small chance of accommodation; but
luckily / did succeed in making ar
rangements FOR bed and board in ont
of them, ali lie week found me quite
settled dow s an amateur fisherman
in the most rustic and patriarchal littl'
spot you ever saw.
l have seldom seen handsome
women than :he girls of Vignelles
with their broad, full chests an,
muscular limbs, bright black eyes ant
thick wayward hair, to say nothing
of their rich brown complexion AM
glowing cheeks, thet would hav
,hamed many a young lady who's
lands have never .ch.d anythin