Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1885-12-27


sith his knife after signing the .instrus
nent. The great men vs5 rather IN
| bad temper on this occasion,
,ut fortunately he could do no more than
xreak his spite on the table. think I ses
aim now, looking very mech ike pouter
pigeon, his ehcst iistended with breath OF
sa DcteEfrege, his short figure drawn to its
Iullest height, the whole surmounted by
grand head and knitted brows. put my
hand upon the table aud looked 1T the
guide; he shook bis head from side to
for hero-worship in the hearts of the poor.
The next and last of the suite is the bed
room containing
NAPoLKoN's BED,
a chimney piece of tho time of Louis XVI
and clock Set with antique canoes. This
was given to him by Pope Plus VII, and
in the room, but of less note-furniture,
etc. jocosely called the attention of the
guide to my hight and the extreme short
ness of the bed, upon which he laughed |
heartily, saying we were not ell born Ma
poleons. But enough of the little corporal, |
for there are pleasanter subj scts to come. |
Frort. this room we were onducted through |
the Sale du CoDssil. full of fine old furni- |
ture, upholstered in modern style, into |
the Sale de Trone, where we
each felt sore temptation to go up and |
ses. ourselves in the chair, but the guides
lynx eyes were too vigilant. From here
we entered the boudoir of the beautiful but
unfortunate Queen Marie Antcinette. Her
bedroom is probably the most regal and
charming Of all the private apartments in
the chateau. Every nook and corner, the
rich warm hangiDgs on the walls, the
royal gold and satin canopy and curtains
TO the bed, the delicate tracery on the
doors in gold, the graceful effect of color in
the frescoes of the ceiling, were all per
vaded by an atmosphere most refined. Thu
room is unique. The essence of gentle
ness and refinement. / felt like gieat
boor fresh from the fields as we stood and
admired, and, in leaving, l strove to let
not disturb the sweet and quiet peace that
dwelt within the room. There are tive
other rooms adjoining this one, making
up the suite, and containing beautiful
vases from Sevres. After these fol
low in order immense galleries and
rooms containing articles more or less of
interest to the sight-seer, who is more than
likely half worn out by this time. One il
shown the apartments once occupied by
CATHERiHE DE MKDIcis,
later by Anne of Austria, the mother of
Louis XIV, and afterwards by Pope Plus
VII, whom Napoleon virtually kept q
prisoner here for nearly two years, in fact
until decree of divorce was granted
against Josephine. After "doing" the pal
ace, and think the palace did US as well,
it being too wet to stroll in the gardens,
which we. had caught charming glimses
of now aud then through the windows as
we roamed over the building, we con-
oludad of,or aor,aa III ianr1cSio,, Of Ia
ter upon the street, that it would be to our
resounding discredit to return TO the city
without driving through part at least Of
the famous Forest of Fontainblean, SO,
assuming that l knew more about cabs
and cabmsn, for what reason / don't
know, they selected me "a committee
of one to do the negotiating. / de-
| INJURED, but to no purpose, 80 boz
rowing a wooden toothpick and tipping
my hat little forward, to give the regu
lation cut, in other respects being quite
\ the figure, l ssuntered down upon the
| line of vehicles with an air of deep and
certain knowledge OF man and beast OF
| the species jehu, but something must have
been wrong with my disguise, for was
| nearly run down and tram iled under foot
| by fifteen or twenty of them q mean, of
course, the man and not the besst), each
| eager to close q bargain, in which l could
catch now and then an English word or
/ two, 80 l selected one of the many and
bade him lead me swiftly to his coach. l
| beckoned the remainder Of my party, in a
careless, methodicsl sort of way, to follow,
| hoping by this to gain little time in
| which to properly construct sentence or
| go in French, to aid me in settling terms
with lcocher. Right here 1 desire to tell
| you, that there is nothing that so thor
| oughly throws a man off his equilibrium,
aft } he has struggled manfully with
u limited vocabulary out of which
to rig up a sentence in a TO eign
tongue, to express inteliigently his wants,
aa an answer in good honest English from
what he had thought all along foreign
mouth. Well, threw my French at him
recklessly, pretty much with the same
feeling that physician has when he tries
new concoction upon dog. He WINGED
for an instant and then politely limited, by
merely answering in Euglish, that l had
better
"wREsTLE WITH THE vERNACULAR,"
to quote the Hon. Bariwell Slote, and SO !
did, with entire success. After actually
piling ourselves into his cerTyell we
sped p away toward the edge of the
forest with much good humor and antici.
patton. The vehicle, nondescript look
ing thing on four wheels, was, it seemed
to me, cross between cab and basket
phaeton. The top and curt lins were oi
red awning stripe, very dingy and much
despatched with mud. The horse became
our pride at once. His coat was MOI
smooth; on the contrary, his poorly
thatched hide was very bare wherever the
harness rubbed, and as Orpheus c. Kerr
one OF our many .humorists, said il
describing his particular animal, che haG
fiuted sides and hand rail down the
back, nevertheless our hearts were taken
and, perforce, our bodies followed where
they led. After getting into the wood W,
discovered that there was just lime enough
10 ride through to the Fort l'Empereur
which crowns a very high hill, tSke peeI
at nature through the rain, and then on t.
| the railway station. The f0rest was no
prepossessiDg under lowering skies, but al
far as l was able to judge from my
cramped position in the cab, il lookeC
| very much like one of our woods in il
second growth. The trees, as q rule, ar,
not tall, nor have they large trunks, bu
they are so cut and trimmed that the top
most branches interDiDgle, and in sum
mer, when in leaf, almost totally shut ou
: the sunlight. The drives. bride paths
lanes, trees and shrubbery have thl
French studied negligeelook about them
As we began the ascent OF the Fort II'Em
peIeur our gentle beast would stop a
intervals to catch his breath, whicl
! sounded asthmatic, and during thes
spells we would disentangle ourselves an,
get ont, and 90 up to his head and fee
!, him on sugar that had been snaked fron
the restaurant table. He was
KNOWING HORSE
, and liked it, for gradually the intervals q
} work grew shorter and shorter, unit
7 finally l thought we would come to
( standstill ON the road for the night if tn
, sugar held out, 50 in the next interval c
, rest we let his head severely alone. Afte
( a few moments Illuminating, in ell probs
| bility, on our tsrdiness, he realized full
( | the horrible truth, and, looking around q
c us with sadness in his deep brown eyes
3 he heaved a sigh, drew a long wheez
. breath and toilsd on up the incline, ev
IDENTITY determined to finish the rest {
I the way without stopping. He did, an
! we were much relieved. From the roof {
3 the little granite tower that is perche
J, upon the pinnacle of the eminenc,
1 one time called Fort L'Empereul
: now something else quite republ
/. can, a country of hills and dale
J reaches away for miles in all dire-tiou
5 On sunny days and clear, Paris, nearl
: forty miles distant, can be seen, and ittl
towns and hsmlets nesting among gra
!. hills along ones line of vision. On thi
: particular day only an impenitrsble We
OF drizzle could be seen on every hand,
beautiful thing in itself, but rather di
> coursging to the lover of country view
I After standing around for several minute
!. in little pools of water collected in hollow
I. where the stones we're worn away, "
|. agreed finally that there wasl't enous
:. sentiment in our number to enjoy th
= scene around without dry clothes, DIR