Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1881-01-01
XII.

~
'sAfter all, Dame Hovius, you must
explain to me that means Of which you
spoke
.You insist upon its' said the old
lady. "Well, that means is to marry
lnep
Marry you /! you"
"Me!I have sworn that that book
should never belong to any but my
husband. Now, you become my hus-
BAND" H1f
MARRY you ?"
"Once more, yes. You refase9'
~ Ohm cried Macrin, ri accept, |
shall be delighted &. Is that all /, All.
why did you not say SO soonerY Mar
~ you -. Let lis get married at once,
Mother Hovius, let us get married at
once, Mother Hovius; let us get married
at oncew Et5
And with these words he began to
dance and smother widow Hovius with
his kisses, until the good lady's face be-
came the color of wine-lees. Y
XII.
On the 18th of June of the year 49,,
Mr.. Jean Macrin married, in the pres
ence of the mayor and the cure, the
widow Marguerite Hoyius. All day long
he was pale, agitated. restless and impa-
tent, for he was anxiously waiting for
the hour of midnight. 1t was at that
hour, in default of other things, that his
wife was at last to grant him possession
of the editio princeps, the sole ambition
of this strange husband.
Macrin kept looking at the clock,
which advanced too slowly for his
wishes. At last midnight struck. Ma
erin gave a joyous shout Of victory, and
Selling the arm of his bride, he dragged
her to the nuptial chamber in mad
haste.
'Well,' said the bibliomaniac, the
book. where is it,
wait, my friend, waltz said the ex-
widow Hovins.
Then taking out of a drawer a little
key that shone in Macrin's eyes mo-
ment, like star, she opened casket
and carefully produced from it an old
book bound in red.
Macrin bounded forward and snatched
the book from the hands of his wife !:
then looking at it with his eyes lit up
with Il strange fire:
There it is! There it is" he said,
turning over the pages greedily. Yes
this is it. E.irbre des Bdtaillcs! and it
is mine, the beautiful, the unique vol
ume. Bound in calf, unique, uncut,
and there, there, the date l39s.-..
All! Madame Hovius, Madame Hovius,
embrace me, l am happy.
"Dear angel" said the old woman,
rushing into the arms of the young
maniac.
They remained for moment locked
in their embraces, alas, and then Mac
rim drily pushed his wife away, and
proceeded to turn over the leaves of
the Arbre des Bata;lles.
He could not believe his eyes. He de-
voured the book, he breathed it, he
kissed it. He laughed like child. He
sang, he recited verses he spoke of
love to those printed pages! Never for
years, never. had he felt such joy. 1t
was the apogec of felicity, the summit
of happiness, the peak of joy. There
was nothing left now but to come down
from his mountain top. He came down.
Suddenly, in the midst Of his laugh
ter, of his bursts of gaiety, he uttered a
cry, became terribly pale, and rose brus-
quely. His eyes were starting from his
head. He approached close to the lamp
aud looked attentively at the title of
the book.
His hand trcmbled; he was in fever.
He gave loud cry, cry of anger and
of grief. and fell heavily on the oak
floor. The old woman sprang to his
side, took him in her arms, and weep
ing all the while, tried to restore him to
animation by her sexagenarian caresses.
When he came to himself again he
stammered with stupid air:
Fac-Simile edition of the editio prin-
ceps of 1893, published by J. P. biblio-
phi|e All! ah! ali! The type was i'm
perceptible. This is not the first edi-
ton. 1t is forgery. Hovius has rob-
bed me- Hovius has robbed me! Rob-
bed! Robbed! Robbedw
eyes," deas said the old woman with
honeyed voice, "but remain to you."