The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1878-04-30

very true, ClLlZen. buC 1 maze q
l said a man grows lean
Tho has a love affair. He must grow
vice as lean with two. I was a stout
nan three months since; you see what a
keleton 1 am now. Said I to myself,
ince two love ,afiaifs are safe to wear
nan in three months down to skin sand
zone, ten love- affairs in that time will
,ring me- to the last stages Of consump-l
ion. I%have been trying it for three
months, and now l think l have hardly
. week to live. You may spare me the
,uillotine."
The eyes of Brutus gave sudden
yleam. "Do you know you are an I'M
commonly clever fellow"
"Ah, citizen, I knew I could not es-
cape death under your administration,
and must own. that the idea of dying,
young as I am, in public to the strains of
Ca ira, made mevery melancholy. lam
naturally merry man, but / grew as
dismal as funeral. I started at the
smallest sound. I was always fancying
that the moment had come for my ar
rest, and that somebody was waiting at
the foot of the stairs to drag me to the
scanold. have lost all the fortune I
had accumulated. Nothing remains of
the property l once possessed but one
thousand francs in dssignats, so that l
had a choiceof evils before my eyes-the
guillotine or restitution. Then struck
out an entirely new idea. | said to my
self, I'll die of love! In three months
time, at all events, my turn will come to
perish on the scaffold. Let me see
whether before that time comes to pass /
can not shuttle off this mortal COLI as a
despairing lover. was quite pleased
with my own plan, and have put it into
execution. As ] said, lovers are scarce
nowadays, and l have no rivals. Ten
windows open daily at my signal, for I
am punctual to moment; and then I
see, one after another, ten exquisite
female heads on exhibition. But it is
terribly fatjguing. 1t takes me seven
hoursand half day. No man could
stand that at picture gallery. The five
prettiest cost me an hour apiece, the five
others two and half hours. The
strongest man could not stand such a
strain Of admiration. What is more, l
must confess, l am desperately in love
with five of them. The five others ]
only admire: still their charms and
claims do trouble me. Notwithstanding
my appearance, citizen, I am wildly,
fondly, fatally beloved! As soon as 1
whistle hear the creaking of the blinds,
and sweet head looks down upon the
deserted street-you know the streets are
empty! But it is time for my first ap-
pointment. I must leave you. l have
yet yet eight days of alteration before
me. Do not, beseech you, snatch them
away"
"Well, I will grant them you. But,
remember, at the end of eight days, if
you are still living, you 20 to the guillo-
tine. Will that satisfy your"
eyes, citizen"
Cali right. Now 60 and make the
round Of your ten bellies"
Paul Vanguard, leaning on his cane,
walked toward the Rue de la Fare. And
during the short passage between his own
house and that Of his first sweetheart he
threw off the sickening feeling inspired
by his interview with the master of the
human slaughter house at Marseilles, and
gave himself up to the full tide Of that
wild, tenfold passion that overfowed his
soul. There passed through his mind
(now weakened by feeble health and a
prey to monomania) all sorts of pleasant
fancies. His ten fair women seemed
more fair than ever. His heart beat
quick as he recalled each face, brunette
or blonde, with curls, or lace, or floating
ribbons. He reached the Rue de la
Fare. He whistled, nobody came; he
whistled again, all was quiet. He blew
into his doorkey. All the little breath
ne had left he blew away. The lovely,
loving face, which hitherto had appear
ed at his first sound, did not come to the
window. Paul at last went on to the
Rue Lafont, greatly disappointed.
There, too, his whistling ana his waiting
met with no success. He stood alone in
the long, vacant street and nobody
looked forth at him.
He began to perceive that something
had gone wrong. He went round to the
other eight houses in their turns and
nobody answered him. At the last house,
however, he saw an old servant crying.
He went up to her and inquired, with
an air of profound sympathy, the reason
of her tears,
"Ah, Monsieur" said the old woman,
=" they killedher poor dear husband, and
now they are going to kill her. They
carried her Oft to prison this morning,
my pretty-,nistress, Madame Arnaud."
"What! cried Paul, Madame
who lives on the second s,ory~
dyes; my good sir. But bless us,
how pale you are! Sit down on this
STEP" :
A mist foated. before the eyes of Paul.
He laid one hand on the old woman's
arm to steady himself, and then dropped
on the seat she pointed out to him.
When Paul Vanguard had taken up
the absurd notion Of dying of love, and
on as many love affairs as
would Kill him, he had foreseen his way
would be made easy by the absence of
people in the streets, and thought him
self lucky that his proceedings were like
ly to escape those uncharitable remarks
which are sure to be made in ordinary
times on persons who take the public to
their confidence, and make love in the
open air. -.
But, though the arena had no rivals,
though Paul had his mania for love
making all to himself $50 absorbing were
the other interests of those times) it be-
came extremely difficult to discover ten
women who were ready to respond to his
mania.
For several days he had been much
afraid he would have to give it up for
this reason. He did not yet know how
strong-strong as DEATHS the love Of
admiration in pretty women.
Paul, having picked out the best and
L l.