The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1877-02-08

on which the family meals were
spread and often spread in an unsatis-
factory manner. The children were all
named IN accordance with ancient
Huguenet custom-either after old
leaders of the cause, or after the Bible.
The boys were Rupert, Gaspari,
Noise, Ellie, and so on; the girls were
.Antoinette, Charlotte, Rebekah, and
Marie. They were carefully instruct
ed in the religion and language of
their ancestors, so that they We're BIZ
lingual, and talked French as well as
English. They We're also trained to
consider that the queen and empress
of all arts was the art of dancing that
to dance well was a gift given TO few,
but to be aimed at by all; and that
their father was the greatest living
master of the mystery. The eldest Of
them, Rupert, promised to surpass his
sire. Before he could walk he could
dance. Before he could talk he
showed capabilities with his legs
which brought tears of JOY to his
fathers eyes. Long before he knew
that speech may be represented, for
purposes of persuasion, history, deceit,
or love-making, by certain symbols
called the alphabet, Rupert Lemire
could reach a foot and half above his
own height with either toe, right or
left; could lift either leg-not one leg
only, mind you--oyer the head of
every boy his own height and could
treat every limb in his body as if it
were an independent organ, free to act
exactly as it pleased, and unfettered
by any of the ordinary laws of anato-
my. He was taller by four or five
inches than the father. He was
eighteen years of age. There was
nothing in the whole mystery of dane
ing which his father had to teach him:
there was no harlequin at Christmas
pantomines at whom he he did not
secretly scoff in considering his own
| powers. He regarded dancing as the
| highest OF all the arts, as has been
wanting. Much as he loved the art,
he loved the ocean more, that is, he
! burned TO love it more. because he had
never seen it. and it went to his pa
rents hearts TO see the boy of so much
promise rejoice in putting off the tight
professional pants, and rush to the
docks among the ships and sailors,
clad in a suit of blue flannels, trying
to look like the Oldest of salts.
The second in order to Rupert was
Antoinette. If it may be spoken of
Mademoiselle Lemire with all respect,
she was for elasticity and mastery over
| her joints almost the equal of Rupert.
She was seventeen, and her function
was TO go TO the ladies' school with
her father, and help in teaching the
girls. She was great favorite, be-
cause, when she could get clear stage,
and no eyes but the girls to watch
her, she would execute all sorts Of i'm
possible things in dancing by herself.
A clever girl, she had received from
nature mobile and sympathetic face
Ia iace which exactly reproduced
that Of the first Lemire, hanging on
the wall, the banished Huguenot this
old fellow, with the face which tried
to be grim and was brimming over
with fun. In fact, Antoinette, who
was, like Rupert, a dancer born, re-
l.l Al 7
merchant of Saintes, as much as
daughter can resemble her father. As
for the other children, they were like
each other, in being one and all pas
sionately fond of dancing. When or
dinary children would have played
games, the little Iemires played ut
dancing. When there was no school,
the professor taught his children. All
day long the sound of the kit was
heard from the classroom, and the |
beating of the childish feet upon the |
floor, as one after the other practiccd |
and was instructed.
There was one other inhabitant OF
the house, young lady, girl of Ru-
pert's age, that is one year older than
Nettie Lemire, and three years older
than poor little Charlotte-the cripple |
Of the family-a bright-faced, brown
eyed, brown-haired maiden, of tall
and lissom figure, bright of eye, ready |
with speech and smile, happy in little |
things, the real sister Of the children,
the real daughter of the professor, the
right hand of madame. Her name |
was Ruth Warneford. Eight years
before this date, when she was child |
of ten years old, she was brought to
the house by servant, who said that |
he came from the house of Batterick |
& Baldwin, that this was the child |
about whom the correspondence had
taken place. and that the box con-
tanned all her things. So she was left |
AT that time dreadful thing had hap
pcned to the child, but she was too
young yet quite to realize how dread |
ful IA thing ii was. She had lost her
only brother. When she grew elder
anu began 10 ulluefStailu tlliDpS, she |
comprehended that he had disgraced |
himself and was sent to prison but |
no one told her the story. 1t was Mr..
Baldwin, the man whose name George |
Warneford had forged, who took her,
friendless and deserted, from the ledg-
ings in Remington, and sent her to
Professor Lcmire TO be brought up
with his children. He left her there
because he found she was well treated
and happy; and when she grew older
he gave her Il caution-which APP
peared to the little girl harsh and
stern-never to breathe word of her
brother, never to think of him, and
never to hope to see him again. The
child obeyed, and among the other
children only spoke of her brother, if
she spoke of him at all, as one who
had gone away She was grown up
now, and she knew, alas. whittier he
had gone. He had not passed away
from her heart, but he was become
name, the mention of which touched