The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-07-27
The Frenchman's Adventures

nEING destined for mercantile
ID profession, I was sent, when youth
of fifteen or sixteen, to Bordeaux, in
order to acquire the knowledge for my
proposed pursuits, in the counting-house
of one of the first establishments in that
ancient city. The head of this firm,
which was an extremely wealthy one,
was M. Durance, gentleman who,
from an old friendship for my father,
took me into his own house, and was
most parentally kind to me. M. Dur
ance was well up in years, round and
ruddy in aspect, social in his habits,
and possessed of one of the very best of
hearts. He had one foible, however,
which made the good soul almost intol-
cradle to all mankind. Notwithstanding
the great extent of the business he had
conducted, he had seldom been out Of
Bordeaux. He had only once been at
Paris; but that once was enough. On
that occasion he had met with two
adventures. Oh, those two adventures
Tongue cannot tell, nor brain conceive,
the delight which the worthy man took
in narratiug these incidents. His
friends were kept thereby in state of
perpetual alarm. They never heard the
words, Did you ever hear me tell, p
or even, " Did you ever, ,"-come from
M. Durance's lips, without an internal
shudder, and an instant retreat, if posi-
ble. (" Did you," was enough to bring
out cool perspiration. For if the good
old merchant once began, pause or rest
was out of the question for the succeed
ing couple of hours. How often have
been compelled, after dinner, to listen to
these two eternal adventures! 1t was not
that they were uninteresting in them
selves. On the contrary, they were of a
remarkable rand still more remark
able as having occurred at one and the
same time. But who can listen even to
good thing for ever Nevertheless, as
it is not likely the reader can ever have
suffered from M. Durance's perpetuities,
we shall repeat them once more, with a
little more brevity than it was the hon.
est mans practice to employ.
M. Durance had occasion to go to Paris
upon business. He had carriage or
chariot in which he proposed to travel,
but at the time when he found it con-
venient to set out, this vehicle required
a slight repair, and the merchant, then
comparatively young and active, thought
it best to ride slowly forward on horse
back for couple of stages, leaving his
servant TO bring the carriage after him.
M. Durance thus hoped to enjoy, for
some part of the way, a more leisurely
view of the country, which he had
scarcely ever seen beyond few miles
distance from his own house. Accord
ingly, after giving full instructions to
the servant, M. Durance set out respec-
tably mounted, and well armed, for he
carried large sum in bills and money.
To do him justice, he had stout spirit
and fair share of courage; yet not
much of either was required to travel
alone at that period, owing to the ad-
mirable degree Of efficiency into which
the famous Foucbe had brought the
police of the country.
M. Durance's first days travel was
unproductive of any wonderful event.
He stopped before nightfall at a village
inn, rested comfortably, and next morn
ing pursued his route. While riding
slowly along the border of a large wood,
in the forenoon of the second day, he
observed a party OF men, also on horse
back, a short way before him. He con-
tinued his course, and they did the
same; but the merchant was uncom-
fortably surprised in the end to observe
them frequently turning round, one
after another, apparently to look at