, 1885-06-09
aYES.S IRr

Il0s Rl1te
New ORLEANS r'uez-pemocr.s rranslauoul Nj
Among my mothers lady friends
there was one beside whom / particu-
larly loved TO tc. with whom / parfien-
larly loved to talk. ..
She was the widow of a pianist who
died very young, but very celebrated
Adolphe Canoe. Her name was Alice
! assure you that Madame Canoe was
beautiful Madame Canoe attracted me,
for beauty IS q sweet thing; Madame
Canoe made me afraid of her; for
beauty is also a terrible thing. a
I must tell you that when she came
into tlie drawing-room that evening she
threw to every one, even to thelmost
humble person-myself- a crumb of her
smile. could not keep my gaze away
from her. and l fancied that Tdetected
an express on Of sadness in her lovely
eyes; the idea of her being unhappy
absolutely upset me. You see | was an
innocent TOOL. She was asked to play
something She played one of Chopin's
nocturne>; l have never heard any
thing so fine. I thought | could feel
tho fingers of Alice-those long white.
fingers from which she had removed the
rings touch my ears with q celestial
caress.
When she had finished, | went as if
BY instinct and without being aware Of
What was doing, to conduct her back
to her seat, and TO take my place be
side her. Inhaling the perfume of her
robes, ] closed my eyes. She asked me
it ! was fond of music. her voice made
me tremble from head to foot. I
opened my eyes and saw that she was
looking at me; hat look made ms lose
whatever brains ! had.
Yes, sir" / replied in my confusion.
If the ground did not instantly open
and swallow me up, it was only because
nature always remain deaf to the most
ardent prayers of men.
| passed all that night in my room
alone, calling myself al idiot and a
brute, and humping my face with my
lists. In the morning, after long reilec-
ton, | still refused to be reconciled to
myself. I thought: 'To wish to tell a
woman That she is beautiful, that she Is
more than beautiful, that she knows
how TO draw signs and sobs and VERT
able tears from a piano, and yet after
all be unable to say more than yes, SIR
to her--this is a crime that ought by
right to deprive one forever from the
EAAfAtEt vi tANACcolnk nio lQtho III
words. Pierre Noziere, you are a weak
minded IDIOT. Go hide yourself"
Alas, | could not even hide myself
altogether. 1 had to appear at table.
at school, in public
Those two words-Yes, sir-forever
rang in my ears. Their souvenir was
yer wildly presenter, rather, by "a
horrible phenomenon of conscience; il
seemed 10 nc that time had suddenly
paused, and that remained living in
definitely at the precise instant when 1
had articulated the irreparable phrase,
y es, sir. 1t was no remorse that tor
tured me,-remorse is nothing at all
compared with what / felt. / remained
in n black melancholy for six whole
weeks. m .ir -
Only this summer ] again met
Madame Canoe at a water place. Half
a century now weighs upon the beauty
which caused me my first bushes and
the most delicious embarrassments Of
my life. But that ruin beauty has
grace still. And /, myself gray-haired,
had long annnlled the vows of my
youth.
"Good-day, madame | said to
Madame Canoe. f..rr
And this time, alasl the emotion OF
other years troubled not my gaze nor
my voice in the least. ll '
She recognized me without much diff
hculty. Cur memories united us; and
we aided each other to while away the
commonplace hours of hotel life in ia
miliar chat. New ties soon formed of
their own accord between us-ties only
too strong-the fellow feelings of IA
tigues and the pains of age. Every
morning we would talk, as we sat on
some green bench in the sun, about our
rheumatisms and our MORNINGS for the
dead. II was an an inexhaustible topic.
In order TO divert ourselves a little We
began to mix up the past with the pres
ent.
How beautiful you used to be, ma
DAME" I said to her one day, 'and how
greatly admired" 4l
1T is true, . she replied with a smile.
: can dare to say it now that ] am an
old woman; ] used to please, This
memory consoles me a little for growing
old. | was the object of such fattering
homage once, But you would be aston
ished to know what mark of alteration
touched me most Of all / received dur
ing my life.} l.
II am very curious to know
We'll, l will tell you. One evening
OH it was ever so long ago-a little col
lcge-boy felt so bewildered by looking
at me, that he answered, ies, sir, to
I'M question / asked him. No mark
of admiration / ever received so fiat
tered and delighted me as that Yes, sir,
and the way it was said. / can't i'm
agine what kept me from kissing the
little rascal on both cheeks. 7
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