The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-03-08
THE MAN FROM SOLANO.


markable as any thing in the perform
ance. His clothes, no two articles of
which were of the same color, had the
appearance of having been purchased
and put on only an hour or two before
a fact more directly established by the
clothes-dealer's ticket, which still adj
hered to his coat collar, giving the
number, size and general dimensions Of
that garment somewhat. obtrusively to
an .uninterested public. His trousers
had q straight line down each leg, as if
he had been born flat, but had since de-
veloped, and there was another crease
down his back like those figures chill
dren cut out of folded paper. may
add that there was no consciousness of
this in his face, which was good ma
tured, and, but for certain squareness
in the angle of his lower jaw, utterly
uninteresting and commonplace.
You disremember me,'' he said,
briefly, as he extended his hand, "but
I'm from Solano, in Californy. met
you there in the spring of '57. was
tendin' sheep, and you was burnin'
charcoal"
| There was not the slightest trace of
any Intentional rudeness in the remind
er. 1t was simply statement of fact,
and as such to be accepted. y
What hailed ye for was only this,'
he said, after | had shaken hands with
him, 2" saw you a minnit ago standin'
over in yon box-chirpin with lady.
young lady. peart and pretty. Might
you be telling me her namep':
| T ha 80
noted belle of a neighboring !, ity, who
had lately stirred the hearts of the
metropolis, and who was especially ad-
mired by the brilliant and Fascinating
young Dashboard who stood beside me.
| The Man from Solano unused for
moment and then said, "Thet's so!
thet's the name! It's the same gall"
You have met her, then?'' asked,
in surprise.
"Ye-es," he responded, slowly; 81
met her about tower months ago.
She'd bin maxim tour of Ca1iforny
with some friends, and first saw her
aboard the cars this side of Reno. She
lost her baggage checks, and found
them on the floor, gave 'em back to
her, and she thanked me. I reckon
now it would be about the square thing
to 60 in over thar and sorter. recog-
nize herr He stopped moment and
looked at us inquiringly.
"My dear sir, ~ struck in the brilliant
and fascinating Dashboard, eff your
hesitation proceeds from any doubt of
the propriety of your attire, 1 beg you
to dismiss it from your mind at once.
The tyranny OF custom,it is true, COM
pels your friend and myself to dress
peculiarly, but | assure you nothing
could be finer than the way that the
olive green of your coat melts in the
delicate yellow of your cravat, or the
pearl gray of your trousers blends with
the bright blue of your waistcoat, and
lends additional brilliancyto that mas
sive oroide watch chain which you
wear"
To nay surprise, the Man from Soda
no did not strike him. He looked at
the ironical Dashboard with grave earn
estness, and then said quietly:
"Then reckon you wouldn't mind
shown me IN tharp'i
Dashboard was, I admit, little stag
gered at this. But he recovered him.
SELF, and, bowling ironically, led the
way to the box. followed him and
the Man from Solano.
Now, the belle IN question happened
to be a Observation-Disclosures
from gentlewomen-atd after Dash
boards ironical introduction, in which
the Man from Solano was not spared,
she comprehended the situation instant
ly. To Dashboard's surprise she drew
a chair to her side, made the Man from
Solano sit down, quietly turned her
back on Dashboard, and in full view of
the brilliant audience and the focus of
a hundred lorgnettes, entered into con-
versation with him. 1850 =
Here, for the sake of Romance. I
should like to say he became animated,
and exhibited some trait of excellence
some rare wit or solid sense. But the
fact is, he was dull and stupid to the
last degree. He insisted upon keeping
the conversation upon the subject Of the
lost baggage checks, and every bright
attempt of the lady to divert him failed
signally. At last, to every body's re-
lief, he rose, and, leaning over her
chair, said: M
II calklate to stop over here some
time, Miss, and you and me bein' sorter
strangers here, maybe when there's
any show like this goin' on you'll let
me- Ids -
Miss X. said somewhat hastily that
the multiplicity of her engagements and
the brief limit of her stay in New York
she feared would, etc., etc. The two
other ladies had their handkerchiefs
over their mouths, and were staring
intently on the stage, when the Man
from Solano continued: ggs a8asss