, 1885-01-18
1.-THE N~E6ReHeGFSFF.n


rsadsr some Idea OF his humorous style.1
The other day 1 had the good luck to find
myself In a railway carriage opposite a
charming young women with a weIl-bred.
vivacious manner, who for a short time was
a complete enigma to me.
Who could she bel
Not one OF the upper 10,000-her gloves
were too fresh.
Women Of that class do not wait until
on. They finish their toilet before leaving
home. so that, spotless as the gloves are, they
have already creased themselves into out
lines Of their well-shaped hands.
Not a woman Of the middle class-the
gloves were also too fresh for that Middle
class women invariably SGT aside gloves in
which to travel, gloves neither very old, nor
very new-glovesw which nave been once to
church, and once to pay visits In
Could she be-but most certainly, no.
There was not a trace Of anything equiv
ocai about her; those gloves had never taken
n promenade In the Bots, nor a tour round
the Lac; besides. she did not insist on your
taking notice hat she chose the carriage set
aside for danes seules."
/ went on puzzling my poor brains, try
ing to guess, and 1 could not guess
For a moment there came to my mind
that singular aphorism of Balzao, LA femme
dun artistic est t~oujours n femme hon
nete."
My fellow traveller. perhaps, might be the
wife of an artist; only 30 many things are
changed since Balzac wrote.
Might she not be m artist herself.
I abandoned the idea as soon as formed
No, she had none Of those mannish airs af-
fected by women who paint, neither did she
assume the sentimental pose of those who
write.
Weary Of seeking, vexed by my want of
perpicuity, l had TO trust to chance to en-
Tighten me.
no EXCUSE for saying as much as @for the
tips II year It Is unusually warm"
Ae<A6Rth the porter called out "~Serquinyl
Ten minutes wait; passengers for Havre and
Rou>n change here"
The lady seemed to become anxious.
@Monsieur, +" she said suddenly, addressing
me, "are we far from Lisieuxp
"About ten leagues l think, madame"
I answered her with my most agreeable
smile.
aDo you know. monsieur, whether Ie Val
Richer can be seen from the tramp
Monsieur Guizot's~ propertyF
Eyes, monsieur"
II don't think SO, madame
"Nol oh, ] am SO sorryi7
aYou would have liked 10 see the house Of
that illustrious manf'
~ would give anything In the world to
have a look at itn
"But that is saying a great deal"
at is; but it would have given me such
pleasure
"You knew him, perhapsP
SNo; / never saw him In my life"
"You must allow me to express some sur
prise, then, at an admiration more nat
ural IN a historian or politician than in a
lady"
"But l don't admire him at an."
AOhip
Hon the contrary, it is my opinion that
Monsieur Guizot did a great deal of harm"
Indeed, madamei"
"Wsll, yes; but for him the revolution Of
1s4S weuld never have taken place, and
Louis Philippe, or his grandson at least.
would still be on the throne, and we should
all be quiet"
MAY l venture to remark that your view
of politics reminds me Of hat good Joseph
Prudhomme, who, you know, asserted that
II Bonaparte had been less ambitious and had
been satisfied with remaining an artillery
lieutenant, he YOU still DO sitting on the
greatest throne In the worldf"
well, 1 don't go quite so far as that"
aBut very nearlyi"
HAnd then / don't like Monsieur Guizot as
a man. I AVE been told that he was so
very austere."
Yes, madamef"
aApd that Is by no means attractive, Is til
And then his bookshelf, you must confess
that they are decidedly heavy reading for a
woman
MAY I be indiscreet enough in such a case
to ask why, having no sympathy with tho
nlustrious deceased, you should feed such
regret at not being able to see his housel7
Most certainly l will tell you why and
she added with an air OF bewitching frank
nsss-"it is because Monsieur Guizots was
such an excellent DEATH
From simple surprise 1 became mystified.
My companion noted this, and smiling, she
went on:
Eyes, monsieur, a very excellent death; it
brought US 1000 francs"
"Oh, but that was very kind of him. / re-
piled.
/ felt / was getting idiotic.
"a thousand francs, and perhaps more yet
Ny husband was 50 pleased"
'Oh, your husband was"
Delighted"
sand very naturally"
II should think SO; for a very long time
we had not had such a good DEATH
aOhp'
@Yes-for some deaths that promise very,
al.s
~Really, really
~ assure you It happens just as l tell you;
either they die suddenly. and then there is
no time to prepare them; or they are six
months about it, and then they are 80 very
much prepared that there is no longer any
interest In them-n
Hooked at my fellow-traveler; her face
was calm, her eyes limpid, her golden hair
shining In the sun's rays. She was charming.
Nothing in her betrayed madness; l drew
back Mortified, asking myself what could DO
the CHASTITY business of this household which
earned 1000 francs by preparing the selected
dead. A sudden inspiration flashed through
my brain
@Your husband must be an embalmer," 1
exclaimed.
grAssa Of my pretty companion, 1 added, not
without pride, Al once had the honor OF be-
ing presented to DR.. Gannal, a charming
mani
III lady was in fits of laughter. 1 felt
much embarrassed.
II I'm laughing at your mistake" she said
as soon as she was able to speak. IL shall
often laugh at it."
ooh, / beg you not to refrain on my 40
count" l answered. wishing the earth would
swallow me.
my husband, 1 assure you, is not at all
what you think, monsieur
"Oh, but there is nothing Questionable in
the business.n
Certainly not, and to tell the truth, my
husbands business, In another way, is not 80
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