The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-09-19

L
| There was great deal more laughing and a
| great deal more wine and then we went to q
| ball | think it was the Butler. and think was
rather confused; vet l know Manuel glowered
when | waltzed with Louise. and | know Bib
| did some strange and beautiful tripping and
posturng that brought rounds of applause.
recoiect, too, that at the end of the dance Bib
| picked up her brown cloak and hat and walking
straight to Arthur. said. in English:
You must 60 home"
| With wild whoop, he sprang upon her like q
demon, and whirled her into mad waltz. But
| the girl gripped his arm with her strong little
hand. and insisted: You shall go home"
| Somehow, through all the tobacco smoke and
confusion, / saw Arthur, and can never forget
| how he looked. His fair hair was damp, and
| lying over his forehead in tipsy disorder; his
| cravat was united, his eyes expressionless and
bloodshot. Laughing and shaking a handker-
chief high over his head, he sang in chorus with
| a crowd of girls:
Nous etons trois 'meiselles de magasin
Bonn's fills almant a rire,
Nous avions chacune petit cousin,
Car lorsqu on est demoiseEe Il faut bien
I'm cavalier"
Arthur had disappeared. had sunk down in the
surging crowd and Bib appealed to me:
'For PHYS sake be sober enough to help me
take him home. He's in delrium."
managed. with two or three others, to drag
| him to the door. Bib called a coupe. and we
took him home to his room. when he fell into a
nervous condition that was shocking to see.
What shame!" cried Bib as she admins
tered a sedative, Ito see man throw himself
| away like this.n
! Mon Dieu!" croaked our landlady-Madame
| Ahne-'hes little tipsy. What's that? Moth
| ing"
Madame Aline, otherwise 1.-THE Siren" had lost
front tooth and the hole it left exercised sort
of spell upon the attention and kept one staring
| into it, La Srene was deep and coarse to
| voice and tremendous as to figure. She had a
| dark fringe upon the upper lip and her hands
were fat and grimy; yet tradition said she was
once plump little beauty from Aries La ST
| rene's views moral questions most broad
| ~ catholic, and she declared cheerfully:
why. in my day. the student who went to
bed sober while there were four sous in his peck
ct for glass of cognac was a fellow no girl of
spirit would speak to-"
"Oh." said Bib, impatiently, '.you know moth
ing about Arthur's case. He's bundle of
nerves, and cursed with taste that is destroy
ing him. Hush'
Hush will not" returned Madame, with
proper spirit, land the medicine for him is ten
sous of brandy"
''Yes brandy; give me brandy" echoed Arthur,
stupidly. as he caught the word.
mot drop. Lie down." commanded Bbi
Come Mam'sel sBibi, said Madame. angrily;
you think you're quite a somebody in the
Quarter Latin. Bah! in my day was twice as
pretty as you. had duel fought about me,
too-that was before 81, when they made the
stupid new laws. 1t happened in this very
house-in this very room. All! they were lovely
young men-One English, one Partisan. Mon
Dieu! chuckled the old creature, 'but it does
me good to think Of it. Here, as it might be,
was Adolphe, pretty fellow with black curly
| hair. This was his room, and, what more
natural, he was giving me nice supper. Some
other friends were present, too, and who comes
stalking in but Theodore, little drunk and
very jealous. You see, Adolphes arm was
around my waist, and my waist belts measured
| hardly fifty centmeters them" she cackled put
ting her two fat hands on the rotundity which so
dainty girdle had once hardly fifty
centimeters. and
''Ohr cried Arthur, in lucid moment "stop
the tongue Of La Srene. She'll drive me mad
about that duel. I've heard the story a thousand
times. Out of the way Bib. I'm going back to
the ball. And he struggled up only to fall back
| shiverng again.
Il wish" said Bib, in English. 'sthat 1 were
the sort of woman to straighten out this poor
| fellows life"
| '.And why not, Bibiq" asked
| Nonsense" she answered, ''he needs some
| good influence mothers wifes."
He has no mother" said l. ''he has told me
| that"
YES" added Bib, ''and his father treats him
| ike criminal"
ut must be owned he's not very satisfactory
/ son" l ventured to remark looking at Arthur's
limp. recumbent figure.
''BahF' replied Bib, ''you judge him with no
/
| up not like the rest of He doesn't run into
the excuses from malice aforethought There's
an instinct that drives him--a feeling that over
bears his will; and the way to his is to give
him some stronger feeling before which that
| shall give place."
Yes" began La Sirene, impatient of SO much
| English, 'as l was saying. fifty centimetres
spannei my waist and said Theodore: My dear,
l forbid you to remain in this ROOM
! . Forbid, Monsieur cried I, though I was
| al IN eli
| Good, said Adolph; and if La Sirene gives
| me her pretty cheek to kiss who dares interfere
| with usp With that he saluted me in very
| gentlemanly way; but Theodore caught me by
the wrist and said fiercely: You've deceived me,
little fend' With that Adolphe struck him
| right across the face. Then wasn't there an
uproar and / the cause of it all standing there
looking like picture, "croaked La Sirene. Yes,
| like picture. with my little blue dress and my
| tiny waist fifty centimeters in measurement
and my brown curly hair. Then somebody
| called out: Settle it like gentlemen Adophe
answered. He shall meet ne tomorrow in the
bois.' But Theodore drawer still, and
shouted: No. by heaven! not tomorrow. Now,
and hereP With that he whipped out a pistol
and Adolphe whipped out a pistol Well, it
was beautiful" sighed madame in pleasant.
dreamy retrospect. '"They put in a
! chair where I might have good view.
| clustered around-many girl was jealous of me
| in that moment-then the room was cleared, the
distances paced, bang went the pistols and very
| properly fell over into the arms of young Ger
man-such dainty armful as I was, mon Dieu
| Well the smoke cleared away and we found poor
| Adolphe shot dead. OF course it couldn't be
helped. and, as l told Theodore. to grieve over
| what can't be helped is very silly. But you'd
never believe what fool. that Theodore was.
| and she fell to laughing at the recollection, she
| just stood staring at Adolphes body as it lay be
| tween the windows there. and very ugly il looked
| with the lampght showing wound in the tenn
| pie. he just stood staring and muttering I've
murdered him My Godl I've murdered him.
'Of course the gentlemen, bons enfants every
| one, assured him that everything was as honor
demanded. and they shook hands with him anc
put my head on his shoulder very prettily, ane
somebody ordered wine; but with his hands be
fore his eyes, he rushed away and we never saw
| Theodore again. And it was all about me and
| was as pretty as picture. mon Dien2 And
But by that time had politely backed mad
anne toward the door, and, openingit, managed