Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1880-08-05
DRUNK IN THE STREETS.
Translated from the French.
BY MRS. E. W. LATIMER,

| commissioner.
! monsieur de commissaire," replied the
! policeman, pushing an old man up to the
dirty bar that separated the magistrate from
offenders 'last night on our rounds we fell in
! with this man lying on bench on the Boule-
ward. He was fast asleep-dead drunk. He
! said he had nowhere to 90"
whats your name?" said the magistrate
| 10 the old i.Iaii.
''Dumont, monsieur lie commissaire,
Joseph Bernard Dumont."
| The magistrates secretary, parsonage as
dirty as the Office, wearing a goatee and
moustache cut like brush, wrote down this
| information on sheet of office paper, ruled
with various lines.
Your age 2"
Il was born on the 14th of June, 1900,
the day of the great battle of Marengo,
monsieur lc coGmissaire, so that | am just
| little Younger than Size vas. She would have
| been seventy-tive next December. Well i,
| Pm glad she is not here. She died day
before yesterday, monsieur lie commssaire."
| ''Where were you born ?"
1--WE were both born in the same place,
monsieur lie commissaire, both born at MORAN,
a little village in the department of the Jura.
We left there soon after our marriage. 1t was
Il fine spring morning when we left fer Paris.
We hadn't much money, but we had each
other, and we saw the world through coiored
spectacles. We saw things as they were too.
We were right. For by hard work, and saw
ing, and enterprise, and helping each other,
monsieur lie commissaire, for | was everything
to her and she was just the same to me, we
managed to get nearly a million of francs to-
gether
"What do you do for a livelihood ?"
''We got nearly million of francs together,
monsieur lie commissaire. / am Joseph Bar
| 49, -, II ~f
| Dumont g. Co., patronized by his Imperial
Majesty Napoleon III, by his Majesty Alex
ander VI, emperor of all the Russians, by her
Must Gracious Majesty queen victoria, by
their Majesties Leopold Oscar, Isabella, ect.,
etc Carpets, hangings, art furniture.
stuffed and fitted up with my own hands,
every royal and imperial railway carriage in
all Europe, Africa, and America Ay the
good Lord is not to be blamed for what has
happened to US. We were not half grateful
| enough for all his mercies. You see we never
thought about him as we ought; and after he
had given US prosperity he sent us son to the
end that we should recollect that after
| Pharaohs fat COWS came the lean kline. All,
| monsieur lie commissaire, if you had only
known my boy you must have admired him
He is as kind-hearted as he is handsome.
When he was bahy--"
"The man is not yet SOBER"
''Thats so, monsieur lie commits ,aire," re-
| piled the policeman, drawing his chiefs at
tenti0n by grotesque grimace to the fact
that tears were rolling down the cheeks of the
| prisoner.
| make him sis down. We will question
| him after WHILE" said the functienary.
The policeman took the old man by the
| arm, and made him sit down beside him ON
the yellow. dirty, painted bench which ran
round the room.
| The old man did not seem to notice that no
| one was listening to him. With his back
against the wall, shaking his head, and
| stretching out his legs before him, he went on
to himself, looking at some point on the floor,
to which he addressed his speech in the most
piteous and earnest tones
"When he was baby, as l was saying,
there never was such a pretty child. He
was fair, with little curly head, and great
blue eyes sparkling with intelligence and
roguery, complexion like a young lady's-
nobody could see him without admiring him.
Everybody loved him. he was such a cunning
little monkey. Two brothers noticed him in
the Place Royale, where his mother-my poer
old woman-used to take him to play. and
where they (you know them ?-the brothers
in the Rue DIES Francs Bourgeois) used to
come every day themselves to walk with their
scholars. Well, they saw him, and they
on then, it was before we got rich, and we &C
cepted their kind offer. They didn't charge
us anything for his education; indeed; they
furnished him with. everything gratis, pens
paper, books, ETC., and they sent us custom.
At that time we confined ourselves to seats
chairs armchairs, sofas, and so on-and, one
must never forget kindness, the brothers
helped us on. But at the same time Henry
was great gain to them. He took all their
prizes he took everything! Was there an
examination, one was sure to find Henry Dn-
mont, son Of Joseph Bernard Dumont, COM
peting successfully. All, monsieur, how proud
we were OF him when we got another crown
How happy we were when we thought about
him. We could hardly read and write well
enough to make out our own bills but we had
4 son who when he was only twelve, knew ten
times more than we did. There was not a
day passed that he did not make us feel that
in history or geography, or arithmetic, arith-
metic especially, we were fools to him. Ali
it is splendid thing to have an education.
"When | said he made us feel we were but
fools to him, that is only my way of putting
it, for the dear fellow never wanted to make
us feel ashamed beside him. But we Just
knew we were not his equal. He never told
us so. He was so kind, so conslderate, so
considerable, so thoughtful! All! monsieur
lie commissaire, all went on right until he mar
ried
Wehad given up chair making, or rather
we had added to it Ill kinds of superior furn-
iture. We never worked in anything of an
inferior kind We always dealt in the dear
est and the very best. Nobody bought of us
but very rich, great people. We were all the
fashion for those who could afford to pay. 1t
was chic to have piece Of furniture from Du-
mohts. All, me! how we made money in
thncn dax, 90
monsieur lie commissaire, under which you
| make five hundred per cent. on everything.
| All kinds of good things happened to me then.
got put upon jury L became member of
| the Society of st. Vincent de Paul If had
| had time to attend to anything out of my
| own business, or may be could have read
little better than did, might have been put
upon the list of arbitrators- in the Tribunal de
Commerce. Everything you see, came to us
through our son, for the good brothers gave us
our first start, and our son Henry brought us
under their notice So could we, when he
wanted to be married, refuses to let him have
| the wife he set his heart upon?
"We should have been better pleased had
he made his choice among people like our
| selves-had he married some working mans
daughter, whose father had grown rich, of
course, but who had still something about him
to remind one that he had prospered by the
work of his own hands. But we always had
let him do just what he pleased, because we
were SO proud of him, and with his education
it could not be expected he should think as
we did. He married amusical lady, monsieur,
what they call a pianiste and never could
make out what attracted him. She wasn't
very pretty, though she was rather good-loek-
ing They said she had great talent for
music; may be that took with him. We of
course knew nothing about music, and later
on, after their marriage, when she thumped
upon her piano in her drawing-room and
everybody cried 'Bravop and when into
ecstasies, as we sat in corner listening with
all our ears, we could not make head or tail of
it. But we were pleased, all the same, be-
cause he seemed SO happy and SO proud of
her.
''Ah, yes! she is the cause of all our troub-
| LEG 10