The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-09-05

uns and the piano delivered a roll of muske
Shots firing Nv file. and this Jules ran behiut
quaintance stepped out. There was not a
| frenchman in the house who did not regret
when Jules had closed and finally left for Syria
His notes were fall OF pathos, and perhaps that
| her Syria he was bound for when the curtain
fell, ad led something to his expression.
| "Come," said he, 6" Pm going"
Joining him, we left the saloon, and "a we
turned the corner OF Toul )use, beer stage lights
| md wild carOuse vanished We passed Bour-
| bon, Dauphine, Burgundy, and still on Where
could he live? At last he turned into a dark,
damp alleyway, and called on US to follow. Il
was an old Creole house, one story and attic,
| sith tile roof.
Reaching the door of the rear room, he un-
| locked it from the outside and walked in. TIE
| light was almost binding. A chandelier of four
Jets was burning brightly, and they dazzled one.
| 1t was 1880 o'clock, and there was q peculiar
| qniet 10 the air. "Why so many lights ?" thought
e. eff he can afford this extravaganza in gas
| he's pretty well to do
He returned to the doo-, and made a motion
| for US to come in. We entered. Two large
| rooms with the folding doors between thrown
open, two cots and q charcoal furnace, that was
all. No, not al for almost before we had fin
! ished taking a mental inventory of this sc int
stock, figure moved from behind the mosquito
bar. female figure, and ono we trust we may
not look upon its like again. A dress of blue
satin, stained and greasy, with long court train
made from pieces of red tape, were all the adorn-
ments Ct this figure. Her face-such tace-was
covered with Deep red scars and white splotches
asa leper's, and looking cut of it shone one eye,
and only cne. The hideousness of the picture
startled ua and we involuntsrily drew back A
corpse in a ball costume cou d not look worse.
IayiDg not the l5ast attention to anything
around her, she advanced a few steps, made a
low and very graceful bow. ''She thinks she's On
the stage" whispered the baritone There was
q in
voice, she co nmenced in French:
cob, what do care for the world,
And what the world for me-"
There were several stanzas, but each ended
with the abe We refrain. 1t a voice from
behind the door Of vault. Unearthly, without
rhadow of melody, but yet seemed in keeping
with the singers appearance.
Wildly gesticula lug with her arms, she kept up
her song, when the baritone asked me to step
into the back yard. "Now, Monsieur, do you
think she wants m, dcine? Three years ago at
the Vaudeville, in Paris, she was the star. Every
body was at her feet, carriages waited for her
after the psrformance-now you see what she is
The great, and he shrugged his shoulders. and
his noustache went up IN a sort OF scornful way,
''the great Mile. =, the queen of song" another
shrug, "would fall 80 what she do. 1he vitriol,
the damnatlon vitriol, she throw on poor Helene
The man stood silent for a while, as if counting
the drops falling from the leaky cistern faucet,
and then went on: "Poor Helene's face gone, her
his inger-"you see the rest" She thinks with
the bright light she's on the boards. LIE Docteur
say che must have medicine; where will l get it ?
"Who was the singer, did you say, that threw
the vitriol 2" we asked.
He placed his mouth to our ear and whispere d
q name. Impossible! - ''Vraimen ;" said he.
"What, that wolld-known cantatrice?" Eyes,
yes; she she!"
1t is difficult to say just what were our
thoughts. The great -, whom we had rat
before and followed through Ill the passionate
warnings in 'Lucie, 'LeoDora.' Marguerite,
aud others-it seemed mpossible-throwing
F!triol." And then we have to detbrone this
song princess from her seat in our memory. Sad
ndeedl
The baritone said he would get the medicine
md we left Tbs cool wind from the river made |
he street lamps flicker and the sky overhead |
'poke Of approaching rain. Figures could be
'een crossing the street, come distance of, and
now and then the raps Of the night Waterman
heard. We started for Royal street and there |
ollowed us the husky notes:
''Oh, what do care for the word,
And what the world for me?"