The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-09-25
SELECT STORY.
THE TELEGRAPHlsTs' REVENGE.

udu allOtiCA AOh6 gin JONN
ney. At little before midnight we ar
rived, with our two wagons, at pretty
little town near lie Mans.
As we reached the outskirts of the
place, the courier we had sent ahead
met us with the billets for our quarters.
AS he handed them TO US his face as
sumed an expression that / knew only
too well how to interpret.
"Our quarters are none of the best,
eh?" asked.
"There have been some Bavarians
here for whole week." was his lacoinc
reply, which said quite enough 1t was
only when they found very great
abundance and their stay was very
short that our blue-coated allies left any
thing behind them.
Well, our billets, in our respective
judgments, promised very little. l, for
example, was sent to the house of lin
en-weaver. Now, at the mere mention
of the word linen-weaver, feeling of
hunger and misery comes over me,
probably on account of my having, in
my boyhood, 50 often sung the song of
"The Weaver of Silesia."
The others, being no better pleased
with their billets than l was with mine,
readily, acceded to my proposition to
go to a hotel and pass the night at our
own expense.
The mail had arrived only day or
two previously, and consequently we all
had money; not much, tits true, but
enough to pay our reckoning for night
at least.
The house to which we were directed
was called "The Shark" If the name
was somewhat ominous, we consoled
ourselves with the thought, or rather
the recollection, that, in the olden time,
on a certain OCCASION "a very distinguish
ed person found himself very comforta
BILE in fsh's belly.
The landlord, when our troop enter
ed his house, made an awfully wry face;
when, however, he learned that We had
not been quartered upon him, but came
as paying guests, his physiognomy as
sumed an entirely different expression.
We Germans, despite the hatred of the
French for US, had a good reputation
among the landlords; and I am convinc-
ed that, if countrymen of the proprie-
tor of The Shark had presented them
selves, he would not have been so well
pleased with them as he was with US.
But his suave manner did not please
us. There was something too fox-like
in his physiognomy. While the tongue
of the little man was giving utterance
to polite phrases, his little, sharp, dark
eyes seemed to say, aft I only had the
gold in my pocket, you might all of you
go to the devil, for all I care!"
Such-like landlords were not new to
us, and consequently the contradictory
expression of his words and his mien
gave us no uneasiness. He could in
dulge in any grimaces he pleased, pro-
vided his larder was well filled and his
wine was good.
The man knew his business, that no
one could deny. He ran over the list of
his culinary delicacies with wonderful
volubility, md praised his wines with
an eloquence that even Geneva Cal
whist would have found it difficult to
resist. As for the former, they tasted
very like the remnants of dinner
warmed over; and, as for the latter, it
had certainly been literally watered.
But our stomachs had not been cloyed
with luxuries of late, and, especially
for the last three or four days, our fare
had been so very plain that we found
the supper The Shark landlord set be-
fore us very palatable. Although we
had had hard day, we were, neverthe-
less, in a convivial mood, and, after our
host had persuaded us to take one bot
tie of champagne, he did not find it
difficult to persuade US to take second,
third, and fourth. So we sat drink
ing and merry y-making until three
o'clock in the morning, when we sud
denly broke up and hastened to our beds.
At six o'clock we were all assembled
again around the table, busy with our
coffee, when the Shark appeared, and,
with one of his friendliest grimaces,
handed me our reckoning.
Great Heavensl thought should
sink to the earth when glanced at the
paperl Such imposition had never be-
fore witnessed.
1.-TWO hundred and thirty-three francsp'
cried; "that is impossiblel it cannot
bel"
"Si, 81, monsieur, it is quite correct"
answered the Shark, blandly. "Mon
Dieul Messieurs les Prussiens have
made every thing so dear with us in
France-what can we do?"
"The rascalp' thought, and told my
comrades what the fellow demanded of
us. They, very naturally, were not less
incensed than 1 was; but what could we
do? There was no time to enter into
discussion, for our wagons were already
waiting at the door; so we emptied our
purses, and, with "Muh and Noth,"
made up the sum the villain demanded,
which he pocketed with nonchalance
that clearly showed it was not the first
time he had preyed upon the unwary.
We went our way, all feeling very
savage, particularly, for it was my
fault, if anybody's, that we had fallen
into the jaws of the monster.
had no expectation of ever seeing
the little town or The Shark landlord
again; but Providence willed that it
should be otherwise, and kindly gave
me an opportunity to be fully avenged.
Nine days later we were ordered to re-
nair n short connectin1-I;na 0aar To