The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-12-25
and one of those wonderful latter-dayHnven-
tons, yclept sewing machine, in the fore

| uOOI, u0 WOulu, III I'LL ploDoOhisy A"'S ooNAA
more and that more would have been fig
ure clad in a dress of black with face OF
classic feature steadfastly gazing down Into |
that of sickly little girl whose countenance,
with Rembranatish effect, stood out IN rellef
against the dark background. The candle |
sputtering on the mantelpiece. threw these
features so boldly into view that 1t was nextto
impossible to fail remarking the sad picture
| at once.
Nine Lamont, the proud possessor of the
little swinging sign, and, besides the poor
reputation of having once been the best cut |
ter and filter of ladies' dresses en- NOuUele |
Orleans looked down upon the pinched nose
the tremulous lips. the two hectic rosebuds
born of the tomb, on the cheeks OF the little
one and her first motion was toward drawer
in an old armoir This Nine. Lamont might
have meant mischief just then, judging from
her determined air; and an ordinary detective
would at once have said that that glitter OF
the eve and compressed lips meant business,
but then, the detective would have been mis-
taken, for, much less than any intention OF
harm to any living being, the Madame only
opened the drawer and took from 1t little
gold cross of the Legion OF Honor, once
proudly decorating the breast OF a Lamont
who was not far behind the Little Corporal at
the battle of Lodi.
The yearly statistics show that very large
amount of comes,ibes enter this good city OF
New Orleans, and further that this amount is
ample to fill many more mouths than open
and close at meal times within our corpora
limits: but then statistics show only cold
facts, and owing to some peculiar Ill wind,
these vast amounts of edibles don't happen
to be distributed just as many would have
them. The Lamont case, for instance. The
old lady, "madame, 81 uous plaa," as she
would say, had not dined or supped very
luxuriously the day before Christmas and
now as the winkng of the dawn itself began
to attract her attention, she suddenly rea1zed
the tact that, outside few cold scraps sent
over from the grocer's wife across the way,
neither herself, nor the little painting form
, half stepping over the banks OF that lotus
lined river, across whose waves no echoes
come to us, and half dreaming Of the earthly
Christmas time with expectant stockings on
the mantelpiece and rogulsh face with
FROSTY beard and rubicund cheeks, whose
\ name the little ones called Papa Noel, or
Saint Nicholas, peerng down the chimney,
they had had nothing to eat.
The daylight seemed to interfere with that
of the sickly candle, and 40 either from econ
omy or choice the old lady blew it out The
little thread, the faintest whisper like unto
some dimly remembered fragrance OF some OF
youth's violets, there drifted from the bed the
low sweet murmur of little girls voice. 1t
smoke of bread. Bread when the ware
houses were piled up with the products
OF thousand Western fields Bread when
\ already in this early morn, swarthy cooks In
the grand houses across the street were laugh
ing at the daintiness of the lazy house dog,
who had refused a morning roll, craving meat.
Bread when ten thousand hresides were
silently awaiting bright eyes to open to fairly
- blink in the sight of we'll filled stockings, and
, vet. down on r )yal street, in the little room
over whose portal hangs the modest sgr
y "Madame Lamont, modiste," in this good
# CITY of ours, foated up that plaintive cry fol
> food.
: l. matters little here what the poor dress
o makes said Words to not assuage hunger, bu
e all that we should know is no bread, crisp
q warm and fragrant, entered that door In re
r, Spouse to the nalf feverish cry.
- People began to stir on the streets, People
70 early about, on the lookout for the fattes
u turkeys in the French Market and the whites
Gallery. They passed this little door In scores
n but the whisper, BREAD p did not reacl
them. The church bells sounded out riRan
a for the day, the very rose leaves IN jackson
= Square fairly trembled in the joyous sound
- burst of thanksgiving, but they stlt1ed the
= pale chld's voice, restlessly turning in its lit
- tie cot. and how could you expect people t.
= think of " Mamma, some bread, when tn
>, deep toning of the big bell and the rolllck
,e ing tintin abuation Of the little ones, spoke
"A only of festlvlty.
~ As Edgar Poe has put it in his prose poem
20 "Enreka," worlds might be so nicely bal
~ anced that a breath of air from one OF tn
y earth inhabitants might throw planet out
~ its orbit So this little voice had drifted acros
~ the foam-tipped waves of the broad Atlantic
io Neither the delicate mechanism of the tele
9 graphic instrument nor the sensitive eye 0
- the operator could detect such gossamer Q
a. ~ vibration, but at Bordeaux, coolly smoking
40 cigar in the telegraph station, stood a mai
or with rather shaggy beard. and behind bin
sd a dog even more shaggy than the beard.
in "H4ve you chance to telegraph New o.
es leans ?" he inquired Of the dapper Httl
Mt operator, who was busy clicking away, talk
he far. off station. Certainly, sir, Was the re
q. sponse paper was handed over the coun
o. ter. the instruments set up lively chlrrup
to ing, and the operator said it was all rlgh
Mt and the bearded man went out to grope hl
way through the solid French morning mls'
he On Royal street, at o'clock Christina
sst morning, there was sound of many trumpet
he There was no besieging force near the GU.
At nor was there any military display at tn:
". hour announced, and yet from back yard
nd from front galleries and around the cornel
ter there came such footing as even Wateric
VS. never heard.
" Presently little curly heads began to al
Ter pear on the sidewalk, and rows OF distende
ok cheeks, blowing for dear life into wondrot
IN. noisy horns, were seen, and then hr
ost cracker went off, and to the boys and girls
le- the Crescent City Christmas Was here. :,
w. Through all this early din small DO
III hearing a very yellow envelope made his wa
lodging torpedoes here and fire-crackers Their
ant He at last seemed to settle down into seye
en- fit of rumination over the surging sign OF u
EN- dressmaker of Royal street, and after comm
ne. down to sublunary things, he concluded
m knock. c,
nd MADAME Lamont did live there. She d
A not expect any message. No. she dldi
nto know anything about It, 1t could not De
"a her."
Sc Trembling fingers broke the envelope, al
ere eager eyes read the telegram that had stemm
lse- the waters of the cold ocean that mornl1
led It said ":
,fnl BORDEAUX, Dec. %, 1873.