Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1882-07-13
AU GEL.

Our party consisted OF my Gather and
mother and myself, u boy of little
over sixteen, just recovered from an at
tack of measles, which had. pulled me
down considerably, and rendered some
change on my account desirable. After
a brief council held it was decided to go
to Colmar. forget the name of the
hotel where we putup but we did not
like it do rec0llect, however, that
pestilential od0rs, especially at night,
led US, after three days endurance, to
conclude we must try and secure other
quarters.
My mother had an aversion to hotels
and hotel life; and, thinking there
must be such things as lodgings to be
had, she took me out with her in quest
of one.
Madam Bertrand, very pleasant
woman, and quite lady in manner re-
ceived us; and on heal ing our erraad,
and being told how many we were in
family, said she thought she could take
us in, and though not i'm the habit of
letting lodging, and so forth, she would
do her best to make us very comforta-
BILE.
Though we were quite unexpected,
the house was in order, ami in point of
cleanliness presenting marked con-
trast with the quarters we were leaving.
The rooms were we'll furnished, and the
lookout upon the promenade or boule-
ward delightful. The rent asked for the
accommodation we wanted was ridicu-
lousy low 50 my mother at once con-
cluded the transaction, and il was ar
ranged that we should bring our things
and take up our abode there the next
morning.
We did not see Monsieur Bertrand:
but in one of the rooms shown us we
found young lady playing the piano,
who, on our entering, rose to greet us
with that easy grace which character
ICES, certainly, the better classes OF the
French. She appeared to be about my
own age, perhaps a trife older, very
nice-looking, and reminded my mother
and myself of a sister of mine we had
lost some two years previously.
The Bertrands were superior sort
of people. They would, / suppose,
have ranked among an upper middle
class, though in point of manner and
nice feeling they were gentlefolk all
over. Theophile was an only daughter.
and as such was, naturally, thought an
immense deal of by both father and
mother; while her having no brothers
or sisters, and consequently so much
the companion of her parents, rendered
hnV IF
girls of her age. My mother took a
great fancy to her, circumstance
which seemed by no means disagreeable
to the father and mother. My parents
were in the habit of taking country
walk daily, in which 1 used to accom-
pany them. Theophile was asked to
Join us, which she generally did; and 1
remember. when anything CHANGED to
prevent her coming with us, the after
noon walk or the evening stroll was
not, to me, somehow, at all the same
thing. Theophile was musical, and
played the piano with some execution.
1 had learned the piano also; and al
though she was far the better perform
er of the two, l was quite up to the
mark of taking the bass part of duet;
and many pleasant hour was Hhiled
away over some of Schulhoff's or Thai
berg's compositions. Being so frequent
ly thrown together, it would be no
matter of surprise that an intimacy,
and rather close one, should spring
up between US; among all my fair
young acquaintance, there was no one
like Theophile. She liked me too,
persuaded myself: her expressive eyes
said as much, though she did not
actually tell me so in words. There
were those, too, beside myself, young
French fellows, some older than l, who
found Theophile an attractive girl. They
used to call, and she seemed to be on
very friendly terms with some of them,
which / did not like at all; and l re-
member feeling by no means happy one
afternoon when saw Theophile and
one of those young visitors walk out
together; how l took note of the time
they were gone, and speculated, though
had too much pride to ask her the
question, where or how the three hour:
could have passed that they were alb
sent. So annoyed was | indeed, alb
surd youth that Twas, that kept Out
of the way and would not see hel
when in the course of the evening SHE
came into our sitting room. / had
however, recovered myself in the
course of the next day, and wewere a:
amicable as ever.
Among the visitors to the house wa
one whom | very soon perceived to b.
no friend of mine. This was priest
one Pere Jacques. He would come in
to the room where | was and preten'
not to see me. He would ridicule Eng
land and English ways in my presence
If met him in the street. which occa
sionally did, he would pass me with
out the slightest recognition. This wa
shown almost from the first, and yet
had given him no offence whatever
and for some time was unable to az
count for his animosity. He was fire
quently at the house, and was contiI
ually coming across him; and it has al
noyed me greatly to see the influence b
appeared to have over the Bertrand
- O.. O.