The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-09-15
HOW PERE PERRAULT SPENT HIS
LEGACY.

HOW PERE PERRAULT SPENT HIS
LEGACY.
At flag end of tho city. on the southcrF
side, where the gay heart of Paris subside:
into sch larry and medltatve quarters
stresehesa Hrcetto videh certain details give
a-grotesque md vid 'iaiits ie'ved al MD day
undar tIe most fayornbfe aspect of sunlight,
IL cannot be said TO be a cheerful street. Ii
is preternatually still; a number OF shabby
dogs dozc under IT'S doorways; glimpses i'm Q
back yards reveal piled up fragments of bones,
Accommodations OF rags aud paper, and the gen
eraI a nospifere is perrneafed with the smell
of decayit1g Vegetables. should the visitor
come upon some OF thcs Inhabitants loiter ng
in the sunlight, men and women would appear
10 belong TO race bowed Of back. clad in
garments OF ragged and patehed antiquity, 20
assign probable riginal date TO which would
puzzle the ingenious inquirer He would dis
cover, also, certain attributes common TO the
phvsiognomy OF both sexes; thus when the
ewes usually fixed on the ground sire raised,
they reveal the same expression OF balanced
scrutiny an expression that may be also de
tecfed in those OF lie dogs. and would seem 20
indicate in all alikea'a miHsi open to the
chances of life, but not expecting much from
these chances. This spiritless, yet inquiring,
attitude is doubtless result of the oecupa-
ton of the tribe. The aspect of the com
munity, canine and human, shows that we
haveireaached that last ruug OF the big 9cia
ladder where stand those who minister in the
zation makes upon human nature
IL is the chitfoniers' quarter, and this long
street is the Rue Mouifetard.
The toll OF the Mouffetardians is during
the nigh. Their sleep is during the day. 1t
is by no means always the sleep of the just !;
oftenor the slumbers proceed from the brandy
bottle.
One forenoon a commotion arose IN the
Rue Northumberland by the unprecedented
tidings that the postman Gathering up the
street was inquirmgfor one of its inhabitants,
D. a..lN a. r
Pere Perraultl' A host OF ragged children
ran oVf'of the cutters proffering guidance to
the official They trotted by his side, poiuting
with extended forehnger, while another de-
tachment set oil at a run TO wake up Pere
Perrault.
AS the postman was turning into a grubby
yard, there came out OF l. toward him bent
figure. led by clamorous urchins. 1t was
large-boued man clad in a gray blouse; his
neither garments, mosaic of stained patches
showed that damp bagginess at he knees
which Is the lov-spirited protest of old gar
ments against rough usage lie stood in
mouldy old Shoes The gaunt face, surround
ed by hanks of gray hair, was blank I'm the be-
wilderment OF an unprecedented experience.
Behind this central group hustled up little
woman, vi h broad brown ewes, shrewd anu
bright, her tanned features softened with a
network OF wrinkles. - Is your name Per
raultl inquired the postman, cycling the man
with business like dis rust
" But-yes-it is Pere Perrault--and lam
his wife, ~ exclaimed-the woman with great
volubility aud gesture, her hands going up at
every assertion. The postman fumbled in the
black box suspended across his chest by a
strap. Registered letter Can you write ~
he asked
"a letter for me ~ muttered the chiffonier.
He can't cried Mere Perrault, with vivac-
ity; the excitement thst cast her husbands
wi adrift sharpening hers He can't, y
echoed all around the yard, filing with spec
tators.
1t is to be doubted II any member of the
W. .<x.-X
the signs the learned Of their species had de-
cided upon as a vehicle of tcommunieaffon for
thought This isnorance added toSthe sense
OF something extraordinary having Happened
IN the arrival of a letter among thcm-a letter
that was not to be delivered in an rresponsi-
bic fashion, but required, before being given
up, the attes' alton OF the recipient
1hefostman opened book. :" Put sign
"a cross-here,n he said with the laconic
brevity becoming the man in office.
iere Perrault lsboriously affixed cross
where the postman's finger kept pointing, and
srem mfi issss s BIos e s s e.. hand
lIvs5s,l over g him, Z letter for ne;;v b
round, and his face wore a dazed expression
as II he were looking at ghost.
For forty years the world outside the Rue
Mouffetard had Resolved itself to him into a
eunaer Of rciqse heaps placed before ms doors
Out OF which hesand his wife, baskets on back,
lantern and hook in hand, and dog at their
heels had nightly 4dekcd odds and ends, the
safeof which formed their means of livelihood
No INK eoppecte't.him With the outside world,
but the rubbish II fiunginto its streets. Paris
had gone through its agonies of revolution,
tiovcrnrpents game and svept, The reign oil
frtvolfty and fashion eddied in the streets
where blood had lately flowed, and in all these
transformations Pere Perrauit had strudged
through the darkness, bending over the refuse
nsnPs,s unaffected ~ the life gbyond.E Vow
frppfhs oqtsiderver message came 10 him,
aud heteuibledbefo the mysterious tisitant.
~L'Ecfivan pib1ic,'' exclaimed Mere Per-
rault, giving an animated tug to the handker-
chief wound turban-like around her head
"L'Ecrivain public" echoed children and
chifoniers as Pere Perrault stood turning the
letter. bis mind not hay wing yetformulized the
necessity OF taking aistep'tOward the uurayel-
Ing OF the secret It held. His wife seized him
by the sleeve, and as she dragged him along
he iustinctively clutched the missive aud held
rapidly, followed by procession of small
open-mouthed ragamuffins, and those of the
chiifoniers who had sufficiently reused them
selyesfrom their sluu1bers-
They made their way to wooden shed
placed m against a wall !. over the door of
which an Inscription announced that the Ecri-
vais put,fic dwelt within. His charge for
reading letters was from ten to twenty CEN
times; and for writing, fifty centimrs, seventy
five confines and one franc All the neigh
borho knew the tariff by heart, and under
stood that the scale of prices varied, according
to the length, character, and amount of
passion Infused Into the competitions. The
role played by the Ecriyain public may be de-
scribed as cut between that of the barber OF
til Middle Ages and of the confessor- He
knew the affairs OF The QUARTER, and was ac-
quainted with its most intimate secrets. For
over quarter of century he had made out
fits bills, he had written its letters OF love, Of
sorrow, aud of appeal. Pere and Mere Per-
rault knew the important man By sight, but IL
wasthe first time they had crossed the thres-
hold OF his sanctum. The procession that had
followed at their heels waited outside as they
r,xxsQtf within