The Portland daily press., 1879-04-21
Gar and Skeptic.
dublin University Magazine

hands,
But official news is not always implicitly
believed when and where unofficial news
mongers aye gagged.
"Holy Russia forever! The troops are in
Silistria." [F
'Before it. Batushka, you mean 10 say"
Before 1t inside it say what l mean"
"Inside it'll outside it; under correction
STILL"
Correction you may well say; repeat it,
inside.'
Sand repeat 1t, out"
81 have seen the dispatch"
"What, the government version"
"The government to be sure"
Nothing less sure, I assure you."
what! Less sure than the government
story?"
''All stories may be told two ways"
but one way is true, the other false"
Precisely; and I mistrust the latter.''
but the real truth is, the troops are in."
"The real truth is, the troops are out"
SIN, say"
"Out, say"
And so on, ad in6nitum.
In private saloons, in clubs, in cafes, at
table d'hotes, on change, aud on the Per-
spective Nevskoi might such wranglings have
been heard. In the Gastinnoi Dyor and in
the vodki shops there was more unanimity !;
the ''black people's' wish was less doubtfully
father to their thought; with their unques-
tioning as well as unquestionable patriotic
prejudice, Holy Russia must have won, and
Diebitsch must, for certain, be holding Silis-
tria for the Gossudar, for our lord Gar.
There was French gentleman, Monsieur
De la Jobardiere, shall call him? whose
mistrust of official bulletins had perhaps not
unreasonably, grown with his growth. Rus
sian Invalids, Northern Bees, or whatever
may have been in 1929, the accredited organs
of the imperial government were to MS mind
80 many miserable limitations of his native
Moniteur, the feebleness OF whose Inventions
however, as compared with those of that
great Gallo organ of mendacity, consisted
not in the absence of mendaciousness. Mon
sieur de la Jobardiere was, himself very
much split, "tres repGndu" in certain social
circles OF st. Petersburg, to borrow an image
from his own vernacular, and thus it came
to pass, that being gifted, as IS not unusual
amongst his fellow couHtrymen, with con-
siderable flow of words, be was enabled to
spill the ink of denegation far and wide upon
the spotless page of these same disputed
government dispatches.
"Hold it to yourself, TOR, said my good
friends" he would insist, your government
wishes to tho you the powder In the eyes.
1t is one 'canard', one duck; how you say
this great news of Silisira. That poor sir OF
Diebtscb, be kick his heel, what? outside
still: and the Turk, he safe and snug inside
as one rat In a cheese, eh ?"
Now, De la Jobardiere had his entrees in
ssa ons diplomatique," as he himself would
have said aud was altogether man who,
chatterbox as he wass might yet be supposed
to have access to certain channels of anthem
tic information, at which the vulgarlof St..
Petersburg might not easily slake their thirst
for Information. His constant and confident
afirmations of the falsehood of the victorious
intelligence were not without certain effect
within the radius of his own social "effu-
sion," ard perhaps beyond IT..
Monsieur De la Jobdiare was precise and
somewhat ornate dresser; he was a Chilly
parsonage, In spite or because of his longish
residence in the northern capital; he was
also somewhat OF gastronome, particular as
to the quality and regularity of his meals; he
was, moreover, sound sleeper.
So sound, indeed, that the heavy boot
tread of field jaeger, that hybrid between a
police officer and governm ent courier,
failed to break his slumbers ON certain
night; nor was he reused from them until
that functionary's hand had shaken his
shoulder for third time. Thereupon he
started up to sitting posture and Enclosed
his eyes, which closed again with a sudden
blink at the glare of the lantern which the
feldjager's other hand almost thrust into his
face.
sLook sharp, STRIP said the official, sand
come along"
swell, then, if you won't" added the
ruthless invader of his slumbers, "my orders
are positive" and he transferred his paw
from the shoulder to the throat-band of
Monsieur De la Jobardiere's night dress.
"Ldissez done, grand brutal" exclaimed
that worthy; ''let me at least, get on my
pantaloons," and he inserted his feet into
the slippers by the bedside
But, by ''fatality," as he always said, "my
Cossack of a domestic, Ivan Petrovitch, bad
assisted at my dishd billie, and had taken my
clothes ont with him to brush before should
rise of great morning. the next day."
"Let me ring my domestic, at least" he
inquired of the stolid feldjager.
Ring bells and resist authoritiesp' he
growled; "come, come, sir, none of that"
And again his rough, red, hairy paw was
busy in proximity with the white throat of
the fnicking Frenchman.
"Quick march, and not word, Or"
"But it is unheard Of; it is an infamy, a
barbarism, an indecency."
The scowl darkened upon the feldjager's
unprepossess!ng countenance; it was more
than evident that expostulation and entreaty
were alike in vain.
"Happiy that lose not my presence of
mind in this crisis, and draping myself hasti-
ly in sheets and blanket, and eider-down
quilt, yield to destiny and follow that CO.
Quin of eldjager down stairs, gentlemen
my faith yes, down stairs to the portec0chere.
There what find we? A telega, kibitka,
tarantress, what do know? Some carriage
OF misfortune at the door, with its own door
open, eh?"
1t was even so. The night was very dark
and foggy; the rays from the carriage lamps
added to the CLEAN of the feldjager's lantern
gave but dim light after all but such as it
was, its sclntillations were reflected from the
steel scabbards, spurs and horsebts of a
mounted Cossack on either side; and dark
amid darkness, the open carriage door
yawned after the fashion of tomb.
sob! by example," once more did De la
Jobardiere attempt to demonstrate, turning
round "here is what is a little strong. Do
figure yourself that +"
He had one foot upon the carriage step al
ready, and one hand on the handle By the
doorway; muscular grip seized his other
elbow. Ia an instant he was hoisted and
pushed forward in, and the tail of the quilt
was bundled in after him, and he felt that
some one had vaulted on the front seat out
side.
"Houpp lap cried hoarse voice; and the
cracks of whips like pistol shots made answer !;
and with plunge AMI bound the carriage
darted EDWARDS. He could hear the splash
ing gallop, through the slush and mud, of
the mounted trooper on the right and the
left.
81 try the windows, on this side, on that,
in front, and am quits of it for my pain.
No means scream, howl, cry, l threaten
that pig Of iedjager that must hear in front.
The embassy French shall have reason Of
this outraged When l tell you there that I
am not one Of your nationals, but a Frrrench
Hear you? A Frrrench! Animal that you
are! Imbecile of a Cossack, go! A Frrrench
then, tell you, Ell? Useless IL pass to en-
treaty. Hear then, Ivan, Stephen, Nicholas,
Serguis! My corporal, my sergeant, my
lieutenant of police! Here is one billet o.
bank, that is to say, not here, but there, in
the pocket OF that pantaloons, at home on
the Morskaia, you comprehend. A billet OF
twenty-five rubles; of fifty; of hundred, say,
how?'
"Again useless. Not word; not sign /;
he makes, the deaf ear, that 'polison de la
police outside.
SIT is stronger than me. I am transported
again OF rage, of despair. strike of the fist,
Of the foot, of the head at last against the
panels of that carriage atrocious. Derision
Ny efforts disappearing abut to nothing.