Louisiana capitolian., 1879-08-09
THE WRONG CARD

"What will you have, sir"
"Give me flet Of beef, will
mushrooms, Lyonnaise potatoes, an,
green peas"
eyes, Sir"
Away went the waiter, but returned
in three minutes.
"There are no mushrooms, sir-onl.
one plate.'
"Well, bring me one plate-hov
many do you suppose want' 7"
'But, sir, Monsieur Delavigncs-'
very old custOmer--0rdered me t.
save him some mushrooms every day
and he has not yet dined."
"Never mind Monsieur Delavignes
must have the mushrooms cam
dine without them"
at is impossible, sir"
every well, give me tho potatoes
and peas to-day, and lay in a larger
supply of mushrooms Tomorrow"
eyes, sir"
The order, minus the fungie, being
executed, Monsieur Rendeau Hillairt
proceeded to demolish his meal, in.
wardly wishing that Delavignes-
whoever he might be--was II }itt},
less partial to mushrooms.
"Waiterw
"Sir."
"Bring me q bottle Of Haut Sau
tcrnc."
The waiter made GESTURE Of comic
anger.
"Sacro blcu! how unfortunate
Monsieur Delavignes used the last
we had in the house yesterday. We
had but half a Dozen"
Does this mysterious Delavignet
drink six bottles of wine at dinner ~
"No, sir; he had three friends will
him. Is there any other wine you
would like?'
"Medoc will do"
The wine was brought, and the
waiter began searching about the
table among the dishes.
"What do you wants" demanded
Rendeau Hillaire.
"Pardon, sir, there is fork missing
private fork, belonging to a gentle,
man who dimes here. 1t has been
given some, one by mistake, to-day
and l must find it before Monsieur
Delayignes-"
''Confound him! Does he own the
whole restaurant? What sort o.
man is he, that he reserves the last
dish of mushrooms, drinks up all the
IIaut Sauterno, and keeps private
fork ?"
ale is rich, sir, and very eccentric.
81 should say so. Is that the fork 2
And the young man showed the
one he was eating with--a heavy forl
of solid silver, richly chased with ;
coat of arms and tho letter 3D."
"That is it, sir; pardon me, vii
give you another
Much vexcd ut this last unconscious
piece of rivalry between himself ant
Delavignes, Rendeau Hillairo com
pleted his dinner in silence, paid fol
it, and left the restaurant, merely
saying as he went out:
"Waiter, has Monsieur Delavigm
used up all the toothpicks? If not,
will take 0no.' "a
Sauntering out from the place, th'
young man perceived an elegant car
riagc drive up, and on glancing at it
he discovered the same coat of arm
on its panels as that engraved on th'
fork. Having by this time conceive,
almost dislike for Monsieur Della
vigncs, he fastened away, withou
looking at the occupant Of the vehicle
and bent his steps toward the hote
where Madame Fleurdoree, the reign
ing beauty oDho day, resided.
Rendeau Hillaire had for som
months cherished secret passion fo
this fair lady, and9ad, with muc
difficulty, succeeded in procuring q
introduction to he9sinco which tim
his attention to her had been mos
undivided.
But she seemed to regard lii
coldly, and rumor whispered that sh
had friend who possessed her entil
affections. Who that friend was, III
NOR did not SEQ fit to say.
Madame FleurdOree was at HON,
and was happy to see Monsieur Rer
deau Hillaire. She chatted pleas
antly with him about the opera, tn
gay season, and similar topics, bu
carefully avoided anything whic
could lead tho conversation into
more serious or tender oath.