Wichita eagle., 1886-11-13

Cecp IL inc STUDY OF ulSSoculnS TOOliS. II
sickers me; it disgusts me; but l have three
children and [ am only a clerk at 5000 francs
& year. With view to showing myself or
in the eyes Of my superiors as clever special
ist and a nan well up in his subject, l have
published several pamphlets whose titles alone
mako me shudder.
"Morgres, rs They Have Been, as They
Are, ind as They Ought to BE" III one
volume oct: or "On the Danger or Hasty
Burials," pamph. III S; and at this very mo
mcnt / an preparing volumnous report
OIL Suburban Cemeteries, and the Carriage
of Deceased Persons by Rail- as Much from
the Point of View of DecencY as OF Public
Hygiene" I, a flute player! 1, who used to
write sOnnetSl
That reminds me Of my poor flute my
beautiful flute, It has not been out Of its
case this many Z long day, normy good nicer
schaum either Music and rcvcrie, they are
all very well for poets ard bachelors!
They are far enough away, too, those
pleasant saunterings after Office hours. Now
have 20 hurry off by the tramway to the
hoirid quarters where my wife chooses to
live, to be near her parents. There I've in
a dreary entresot, with low ceiling, and
when | shave in the morning before the win
dow / look out on the houses that are being
pulled down, ard further OF il the distance
get a side view Of q six-storied house with a
great green devil painted on it, shaking out
Of e cornucop:a the waistcoat, coat ard
trousers of q g suit.
1t is not that l have any complaint to make
of my wife; she is good, worthy creature,
except that she loves her children, not like {.
mother, but like q hen, and sDoils them hOT-
ribly. Only I shall never get used to her bad
management q ask you, is it bearable for
nervous man 10 be continually finding, as !
do every day, childrcn's damp shoes hanging
on the firc-irons and pinaforcs drying on the
guard, and L shall never be able to IN
dcrstand either why she will persist IN keep
ing that servant with the port vine mari; on
her face, who taxes away my appetite every
time | look at her.
| could cyca bear with my !aotbci-i2-law, q
poor little slave, terrified to death by the
broad. biacl; eyebrows and white beard OF her
old Neptune of a husband, whom she never
addressed but in manner calculated TO COLI
binc respect with tenderness, as:
"Monsiour Dubu, viii you pass me the mus
tard.7 Monster Dubu, viii you have q little
more SOUP
AZ is he, Dubu, he, my fathcT-in law, who
has poisoned my existence He is a domestic
tyrant, an odioIs bourgeoisie. Commonplace
and preten:ious he takes advantage of his
austere and venerable appearance to give the
weight of a sermon to his slightest words, and
to inflict all his idiotic theories, that he gets
second hand out Of tho papers, On ne. That
patriarchal head Of his, which looks more
like bust cut out of soap, irritates ne to
,r
able stupidity that when he talks of the en-
croachments of the clergy I long to enroll
myself among the pilgrims to Lourdes, and
when he boasts Of the honorable conquests
gained by the bourgooislc, whom he always
calls the aristocracy Of labor, feel inclined
to array myself in a red sash ana pat myself
at the head of q band OF coalmunards. Hard
and close il all matters of business, he con
sideIs charity degrading to the POOR, and
would not give q penny to a beggar on
tho excuse that mcndicants make them
selves up with artificial infirlnites, and
that he himself was accosted one evening by
q ragged wretch who WAS carrying a sham
baby she had made out OF bundle Of rags
When I began housekeeping l was impru-
dent enough to trust my furnishing to this
terrible man, who declared he could get
everything much cheaper and better than l
could DO, and now live III all the abomna-
ton OF red velvet and mahogany, end my
drawing room c!och-O, Ely pretty cuckoo
from the Black Forest, how gayly you used
to chime out the hours Of my liberty in my
room in the Rue d'Assas. Ny drawing room
clock IS Il hileou5 block of marble Of the color
of an Italian cheese. Ny beautiful prints
from Baudouin and Fragonard have long
since been eXiletl, rs indecent, into the OBJ
security Of dark passage, ard funcrcGl pic
lures, after Delaroche, gifts Of my f2thcy-in-
law-Janc Grey before the block, with
weeping cxecitioncr, and Lord Stanford put |
ting his hand through the bars OF his prison
in caudy frames. sadden the walls Of my
apartment.
Last year, Oh my wife's birthday, l was
driven to break out into open revolt against
NJ. Dubu, who threatened to adora my dwell /
ing with most terrific scene from the In
question: with tribunal of monks, exesution-
ers in cowls, and naked victim wrthing on .
burning Goals. Ny nights are not very good, +
as it is; if | have eaten anything a little un-
at dinner Jano Grey and Lord |
STAFFORD pursue me in nightmare, and |
[ dream that l am obliged to cut of my |
wifc's head, or that l am kneeling before a
grating to kiss the hand my father-in-law |
holds out to me between the bars.
He took a cruel revenge, though, for my |
refusal He has hung up in his daughters /
orr nuptial chamberlain enlarged |
copy of his own photograph of himself, /
Dubu invested with his Freemason's insig-
MIA.
=
Such is my life. And all because lost my
head for q moment when Adelaidc-my wIfe's /
name is Adelaidc-swept off the crumbs of /
bread from the tablecloth; and, as if to
awaken anew my ceaseiess regret, evory Sun
day evening, when We have dined with my
when the dessert is put on the
table, and when | am dreaming, vaguely
fascinated by my father-in-law's long white
beard. of all the disagreeables of our journey
home through the rainy night, of the heavy
children l shall have to carry, of the in
terminable waiting in the omnibus stations,
my wife gets up to sweep away the crumbs
rs she did formerly, and, thinking to awaken
A tender remembrance, shows me the brush,
with smile, but that curved instrument
only sets me sadly thinking of the last cres-
cent of our honeymoon that set SO long ago.
Francois Coppee.
Look After Your Scalp.
Many think that by cutting the hair short