Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-03-07
81 4. ~.
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that The department Of fine arts sent
me to Persia two years ago. I was te
write up the province Of Irak-Adj elni,
began By taking up my quarters in Is,
8spahan. At the end of three months ]
had finished my task, but if { had re.
turned home at once, the department
would never have believed that I was
man Of any depth! I was just about
bored to death, when luckily there was
change Of governors. The Shah sent
in place Of the former governor, his
cousin, Malccm- Khan"
1.-THE one who travelled in France =
s'Yes. And no doubt you remember
meeting one Of the heroes of my story,
Mehmed- Aga; he was the princes Of
icer Of ordnance. He has the rank OF
general, or rather, that Of sertip, to use
the Persian term"
q II remember him--a young man OF
about thirty, gentlemanly fellow,
tsonetaing Of a swell, who dined with
us several times" 49,: ~
You can appreciate my JOY in meet
I ing him again away off there. Besides,
there is peculiar charm ABOUT these
half Parisianized Drientals. Their na-
tive wildness is, to speak, refined and
softened by contact with our Ways OF
life. In a week the sertip and Iwere
inseparable."
And the story" -..a'@. h..
You are in too much Of hurry, ]
have not finished the introduction. One
morning / was dreamily riding through
the city, giving myself up for the hun
dreth time to the feeling that I was in
fairyland. Imagine immense avenues,
bofdered on the right and on the left
with arcades, and shaded by. gigantic
plane trees at whose feet are streams OF
running water. Farther on"
"a description! You are not working
for the department, old fellow. You
promised me tragedy. Go on with
the story, and, as you love me, no de-
scriptions!"'
CASTOR gave sigh of resignation and
said:
II was nearing the Kiosk Of Ichechel-
a woman in litter. As general thing
Persian women on the street are like
nothing so much as bundles. They are
yelled, Of course, or rather, they. wear
upon their heads kind Of striped curtain
which covers the face. Oddly enough
the woman whom I met did not en-
tirly conceal her figure, which was slen-
der and graceful and [ could see her
large eyes cleaning like Goals of fire.
MY horse was walking, and l made hin,
follow very slowly the bearers Of the
litter. 1t seems to me that the unknown
looked back once or twice; but after all
as adventures of this kind in the East
are somewhat unsatisfactory, I paid
only slight attention to the matter. ]
had almost forgotten the occurrence
when, two days after, I again met the
litter. This time I was not alone
Mehmed- Aga was walking with me,
At the first glance I recognized
the yelled lady, and especially remem-
bered those extraordinary eyes which
were still flashing fire. AS before, she
looked back, but this time the action
was more pronounced. I glanced at
the sertip, but he pretended to have no.
ticed nothing. We walked along in
this way for about 10 minutes, when
the litter suddenly turned towards the
Djoulffa Bridge. The bridge is one Of
the most beautiful sights in the world.
It has SO enormous arches, and spans
that capracious stream, the Zend- Deh-
roud. I'm summer the river-bed is dry,
but IN November, which was the time
of my story, the waters are as swift and
turbulent as an Alpine torrent. The
Djoulffa Bridge is somewhat of popu-
lar resort for evening promenades, and
50 Il hesitated about following my un-
known openly for fear of compromising
her. But there was no hesitation on
her part. Suddenly she leaned half
way out Of the litter and dropped her
handkerchief upon the pavement"
We'll! Well those Persian women
arc not slow! And the sertip said
nothing 2" 4 's ,. {.
For the moment, no. During the
rest of the walk he was silent, biting
his moustache with preoccupied air.
When we reached the palace, he said
Come in And when we were alone in
his study, lie began u s G...:s.<s@ H.
S5." Ny dear friend. made no com
ments a little while ago But instead
Of keeping that handkerchief pressed
tenderly against your heart, you must
throw it into the fire. Vi Is
: h y sss You wish me to doso?' IA. e.
.tts'I do not wish that you should have
! your throat cut, and be thrown into the
zend- Dheroud. / am in charge Of the
police Of the city, and lam responsible
for You to the French legation.
But 4.
Not s word You are astonishing
/ people you Par1siansl You think your
selves always on the Boulevard dies
Gapncines! We are in the Orient, my
faiend; and in the Orient husbands are
i not to be triaed with. At Paris it may
he different. 7 our unknown is not I'm.
known to ME. Her name is Nissa. q #
S.. sNissa 81 q.
' 81 IF the. name is charming, the hus:
band is not at all so. He is a wealthy
merchant in the suburbs, famous for his
violence and his jealousy His mother
\ was Of English descent, but his own
manllers are wholly oriental. He would
Il kill You like q dog.
sss 6 And what is thh name Of this Blue
B Beard Of Ispahan % sT4
SIS Astoulla. I do not wish you t
make his ntance. But you know
where he lives. 1t is he who
occupies that house on the river
bank Just at the end OF the bridge.
And Nissa, what is said Of her?'
70. my Frenchman! We do moi
} talk about women here, or, rather, those
whom ver ln talk ahnnt.--.. All we'll :