Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-11-03
THE FLOWER GIRL.

ussfuI resource OF Thought. I sat simply
conscious OF the cool air, the oiue sky, the
white houses, the lights aud the lions, .nI ,h
combine TO render that universally pleasant
period known as after dinner 80 peculiarly
agreeable In Paris.
In this mood my eyes fell upon pair of
orbs fixed intently upon me Whether the
process was effected by the eyes or Jy some
pretty little fingers j cannot say, DuL at the
same moment rose was in-iuGated in o
my buttOn-EOle, gentle voice "a idr s,eI me,
and beheld, In connection Ti-d the eyes,
the fingers aud the voice OF a gIrl She ear
ried OIL ner arm "A ba> ket Of flowers, and was,
literally. rojning more nor less IA an one Of
The bOuquetleTCS who rs along the DJu e.
wards like butterflies, out with the differ
ence that they turn tneir favOrste howers TO
q more practical account.
Following the example OF some other dis
tracted decOres. VINO / found were sharing
my hOuOT>, placei piece 81 Tno Iey-I be
leVe IN my case 20 was SiiVer-lu me girls
hand, and receiving abJaJ dive hundred
times H. value IN the shape of a smile tLd a
"MeTci, hieI monsieur was again left
alone ''de>uiatr.' FTeuclm.l would
have Ssidl-iH TIE CIOTdyd and caTOu-iug
boulevard.
To meet a PeranbUia,ing and persuasive
bOUqueiIeTe. VINO places a flower Ia your
coat and waits Tor n IrcInIary acKnOwle ig-
mn L. scarcely q rare adventure Ia Paris.
bat ! was InieTt-f -uHaccDuntaDiy sD-In
this OUUg giTi, ner whole InI amer and bear
ing wa - different aui di>tIucs from all
Others o. her calling. Without any Of tIa5
appearance which Ia En- -laut We are 50 dc-
being as we can scarcely believe in out o.
ballet.
Not. however. taat her attire departed
excslt. perhaps, ia a certain cO4uettI>n SIM
plic.ty-lrBin the CONVENTIONAL M pie: ITS
OILY decorations seemed 10 o. a profUsioa of
rioB OnS. Living = .,.5 thai SeJlIa one I0lg
summers day-One iOrti feJe-vItiI - means
OF existence mat seemed SO frtIl aud Imna-
teTial. sne conveyed Al impression of uure-
Atty. she might be liEenei 10 lymph a
mad, bat for the certain something that
hrsu IN ron Ia
ting the senses a. once with toe strange. IN
dSScrthahie destinations of not chandeliers.
close and perfumed ali, foOtlis gifts ami music
Evening after evening 1 saw tue same
Subsequently, at the same plsce-aui il
may be readily Imagined bee tme one of the
most Constant of her clientele. 1 learned,
too, as many facts relating To her a. cJad
De learned where most was my steTy. Her
peculiar and persuasive mole Oi Il -pos ny
OF her nOwers-a III Jte whlc1 has >iuce ne
come more than vulgariZed by bai imlrt-
tOrs-was originally her own graceful in
stinct-Or whlm. II You Will. Il was some
thing new aud natural, and amused many
while IL displeased none.
The sternest OF stockholders, even. cDulI
not choose but be dec grated. Accordingly.
This new Nydia OF Tuesday went out with
her basket one day, awOks the next morning
aud found herself famous.
Meantime, there was much Il ,ScuSSiO1 and
more mystlficatiOn as I'D vino this QIeel OF
Flowers could be, where she Iiveu aud Sd
1orth- Notning vas known of her except n n
name-Hermance. More than one aIyen-
furious student--yOu may guess an stating
HE number within bOTnis-tracet her steps
Tor hour after hour, I'LL night set IN. In vtia.
Her nOwers ClspO~ei of, she was generally
joined by an Old man, respectfully cIai
whose arm she took with u certain cOIfiience
That sufficiently markell HIM i a parent Of
protector, anu The Two al ways contri we'd =,
sooDer or later, in some mysterious manner
u disappear. After ali strI;4sesns nave
failed, Y generally occurs 10 people 90 a. < a
direct question. But this, in the present
case, was impossible. HeTmance Wa never
seen except 10 very public places-eft-n ii
crowds-aud to exchange twenty cbI-er4-
tive words with her was considered "a ~ y.
fortunate feat. Notwithstanding. t00. her
strange, Wild way of gaining her livelIno nj !.
tEere was n certain dignity in her IN Amer
which sufficei to cool The too curious
As for the directors Of the The aires, they
exhibited a most appropriate amod At Of
madness on her account, aud / believe tnat
n several of the theatres Hermanca might
have commanded her own terms. Bat only
one of these miserable men succee-i.,i in
making a tangible prop Jsal, aud he was
treated with most glorious contempt. There
was, indeed, something doubly dramatic in
the oouquetiere disdain OF the drama. She
VINO lived a romance could never descend 10
act one. : q W nd rather be RosalInd than
Rachel .e refused the part of Cerito and
Close 10 o- al Alma on her own account.
IL NAY H. supposed that where there was
so mucb mystery imagination would not be
idle t. nave believed all the conflicting
stories ab Ut Hermance would be to come to
the Conclusion that she was the stolen child
OF noble parents, brought up by an ouyrier-
but that somehow her father was a tailor of
dissolute habits, who lived a contentei life
OF continual drunkenness on the prOdts OF
his daughters Industry; that her mother was
. deceased duchess-but on the other b Ani
was alive and carried Oh the nourishing
business OF a bianchlSseuse. As for the pri-
yate life of the Young lady herself, IL was re-
nected IN s1ch magic mirror of such con
tracictory lmpossibilities, in the delicate
discussions held upon the subject, that one
had no Choice bat 10 disbelieve everything
One day new impulse was given To TINS
gossip oy The appearance OF The bouqdetiere
IN a artling hat of some expensive straw,
anu OF a make bordering oa tie este ltatiops
II could not Be doubted that the profits OF
her il@ ut labOrs were sufficient To enable her
10 multiply such fnery 20 almost any extent
had she chosen; bat In Paris the al option of
bonnet or hat In contradistiac.iol To the
ntt.e cap Of the grisette is considered an as
sumption OF a superior grade, and. unless
warranted by the position OF the wearsr, is
resen.td a. an imper inence.
In Paris. Indeed, there arsonly two classes
OF women-those with bonDets and those
without, ard these stand in The same rela-
lion 10 one a-o:her a. the 30 great classes
Into which the world may b divided-the
powers mat Dc and the powers that want to
be- Under tEese circumstances IL may be
supposed that the euTmises were many and
marveious- Toe lille bOuquetiere was be-
coming pToud-becOmiDg a lady; but no "?
Why" aid above ail-where? Curiosity was
never more rampant and scandal never more
inventive.
For my part saw nothing In any of these
appearances worthy In the mselyes of a SIC
0nd thought; nothing could have destroy ed
me suong and strange interest which had
taken In The girl, and IL would have required
sometblng more potent than q straw hat
however Cpaettish in crown aud audsciOas
In bTim-io have shaken my belief in her
Guth and goodness. Her presence for the
aceus' orned few minutes in the afternoon or
evennS became 10 me, L will not say a
Iecesslty, but certainly habit; and a habit
Is Sufficiently despOtic when "a fair face
and "a tender voice have made"-I will not
say mad and blind" as the remainder of
me line would fnsinuate, but most delicious
awake. ~
zone morn he missed her In the accus-
toned spot'-not only, indeed. from accns-
toned ard probabl. spots, but from mae
custorued, improbable and even Impossible
fpOts-all of which were duly searchai-she
was missed. In short she was not to b.
found at all. All was amaz sment on the
bCuievards- Hardened old haneurs turned
pale under their rouge aud some of the
younger ones went about with dropping
mousIaches, which for want OF cire La
fallen into the yellow leaf"
A few days s0ffice1, however, for the cur
OF these senti nentalities A clever it'll
monkey ~ the hippOdrOrae and a gentleman
who stood on his head while he ate his din
ner became the immediate obj Of inter
md .asg h<s for Ton