St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-05-10
A FAMILY BOMBsHELL.
BY vIcToRIEN sARDoU.

HdVe Uecu recently rem lnUeu OIL al epl
sode at the seige of Paris. which, 1 tiatter
myself, reflects no small credit on me. But
be not alarmed. shall not lead you among
the shot and shell of the ramparts. nor the
dangers of the outpostS. The incident |
speak of took place in quiet street, in the
house of my old friend Durand. a wealthy
manufacturer of chemicals, the husband of
an estimable lady, the father of charm
ing girl, good patriot. and, though per-
hapS a little hot headed in his politics. on
the whole one of the best men in the world.
Although surprised by the investment of
Paris, Nine. Durand, always a provident
woman, had looked to the condition of her
larder, and she had laid in such stock of
provisions that, had the siege lasted three
months longer than it did, the Durands
would never have known hunger. Along
in October her wisdom became apparent,
and l added my blessings on her fore
thought to those of the family, for cover
was always laid for me at her table; and
who, during those times of privatiOn,
would not be enraptured at sight of
golden omelet or some genuine gruyere?
was not the only guest at this hoSpit-
able table, for my next neighbOr at table
was Victor Lamont, the head clerk at the
chemical works. He was an excellent young
fellow, dark and slender, somewhat retiring,
and apparently very much in love with his
employers daughter, Gertrude, who seemed
not insensible to his attentions Though
not word had been spoken OH the subject.
the union of the young couple was tacitiy
accepted by all.
Unfortunately, the war prevented its &C
complishment. Victor was corporal in the
Paris militia, and performed his duties with
the same conscientious care he exercised in
all things: but he was not enthusiastic in
anything except in consigning to the devil
this eternal siege which had come between
| him and his happiness. And his criticisms
on the conductor of the operations were =
perhaps excusably-somewhat bitter.
| These criticisms never failed to excite
Durand, who was a devoted admirer of
Gen. Trochu. And still another thing served
to estrange them. LIE Temps was then
publishing series of articles in which the
author remodeled the military operations
which had taken place in the provinces. He
INDUCED in wild flights of imagination. but
Durand took them seriously, and predicted
brilliant victories in the near future The
doubling Victor would venture timid OBJ
lection. Then Durand would become ex-
cited and angry, and would not be appeased
until the clerk granted that each separate
battle was victory.
| The presence OF new guest tended to
complcate matters still more. | was sur
prised one evening to find my place at
Nine. Durand's right hand occupied by a
stranger, a swashbuckling Individual with
a bull neck and very red face. He wore
captains epaulets, his uniform looked as if
he might have found it in the property
room of some theater, his enormous boots
were mid:leg high, and altogether it was
easy to see fhat he posed as hero.
m. Mofin, u Said Durand, in Introducing
US, ''captaih M the Montmartre Zouayes of
| Death. Hi-i6a y
The captain curled his mustaches and
scowled salute.
Before the soup was over l recollected
who this NORM was. His exploits con-
sisted i'll removing from the deserted houses
of the suburbs such furniture as would be
likely to arouse the cupidity of the enemy,
and putting it in place of safety until its
owners should take it away. l was Won
dering how this iron-jawed braggart came
/ to share our meal, when Nine. Durand eX-
planned the matter to me, with considerable
/ show of emotion. While out walking, late
in the afternoon, she had slipped on the
sidewalk and fallen, and NORM, who hap
| pened to be passing at the time assisted
her to rise, and, as she was, somewhat faint
and nervous, had accompanied her home
She could do no less than ask him in to
dinner. This explanation treasured me:
| hoped we should see no more of him.
1.-THE war;" he said, had led him to
Paris. whose safety required his presence. -
AS to his exploits in the suburbs at the head
of his ''Zouaves of Death" they passed all
belief. 1.-The enemy could do nothing!
| With my 1000 wolves at my back made a
breach, etc., etc.
! Nine. .Durand listened to this rhodomon-
tade with complaisance, Durand with un-
disguised admiration. AS to the Door
miltiaman. Victor, his existence seemed
totally erased in the presence of this great
| bluSterer.
invented pretext to leave Immediately
after the coffee, for was oppressed by the
Dragging of the leather-lunged Gascon,
whom l hoped never to see again. But in
vain, for on the following Sunday found
him in the same place, again Oh Friday,
and finally a cover was placed for him
every evening. The entire Durand family
seemed fascinated by him. NORM had
captured Nine. Durand by his joviality. and
papa Durand by the interest he seemed to
take in the military operations conducted
in LIE Temps. Victor lost more ground at
every dinner.
The discredit into which he had fallen be-
came plainly apparent after the bloody fight
at LIE BOurget, where the poor lad had done
| his duty nobly, and received a painful
wound in the forearm. He narrated the
whole affair to us. the retreat and the sad
ending of that heroic combat. with so la
mentable an air of Encouragement that the
captain began to treat him as if he were a
deserter and coward. With what noble
indignation he demonstrated that If the
''Zouaves of DEATH had been there things
| would have been very different. There
upon, warming TO the subject he sketched
out for us plan for sOrtie by the pas
sage of the Disc, march to Rouen, and a
final triumphant arrival at Havre, so clearly
and wildly that he aroused Durand to great
! enthusiasm. And ali this time poor humil-
lated Victor was suffering from his still
bleeding wound.
The next day Victor had fever and kept
his bed, and for some weeks he did not an
pear at the table. The captain, meanwhile
theoretically established his pretensons to
the hand of Gertrude. The evening that
| Victor reappeared among us, weak and
paler than ever, it seemed to me that Ger
| trude'S eyes were very red and that some
| Sklrmish had taken place between her and
her mother, who seemed to be more taken
up with NORM than ever. l saw that it
was time to interfere in the interest of these
poor children. 1t was the last day of the
year, and as we were talking of the new
year we decided to celebrate the anniversary
| together.
''Egad, Nine. Durand," said the captain.
Il have surprise for your New Years
present"
This put an idea in my head.
On New Years day Durand received us.
radiant and with open arms. The strate-
| gical editor of LIE Temps had just struck a
terrible blow at Prince Charles in the neigh
borhood OF Evreux. Durand offered us this
good news for our New Years present.
! Victor brought hare which he had trapped
beyond the Notifications AS to the can
tain he presented Nine. Durand with bag
of marrons glsces in Uhlan's helmet.
Madame" said he, magnifcentIy, ST