The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1886-01-24

Ezra, the original tsstator and his niece, Iris A.
bo cone, MY manner man i changed r a. once
aay tear sare, am delight We viii be friends,
lot eGar lof e lofeiy IRIS. av nefaIr sin her,
''Do you, indeed3" said I, dry.
"My tear sare,I conflde in you, have hin in
Beaumanoir: respect him. I Vii frInk % Zig
memory. He vas vair richie. All, meelons Of
oars And he nnv Ter al 70 hs tear niece Mees
hay, not SIN her. But lofc her all re same"
That was rather tnundcrbot for NJ. Le Marquis,
who, am inclined to believe, began to regret his
precpitate confidence Luckily, at that moment the
omtlets put In an appearance, and we fell to in
Suddenly my friend lifted his glass OF excellent
Assmaushauser with "Your 'et, N. Beaumanoir. It
yond be peety for friends to quarrel, sooppose
We VAR 10 draw re lot for re young lady?n
"Not quite good enough. Monsieur" was my
candid y,eioinder mo- no. Let the sestman win"
"well,nf protested, "youvc rot the pull, haven't
you? I'm not Marquis, and my manners cannot be
called nd,s,mgue and whats more IN as poor as
you are, don't You know, and"-
"Bud you are Englees.n
"And Miss Iris Is American. pony, my friend,
on your chance"
ii took fIve minutes to explain what pony is, hut
when once that mystery was cleared up Monsieur
evnced the liveest satisfaction. That should bet
on him slgnHed to his intelligence my good opinion
OF his superior appearance and address. could see
NJ n glance tnnt the mans cStiInhtc OF nmHelf
enormous; possibly. too, he may have rated me a
little below my humble deserts. That. however, IL
| trine Not being Uriah Hep, do not exactly like
to be despised, neither do covet admiration; in
deed my sole pride Is in possessing the bearing Of
"You vii call feersg ~ syly inquired the MARQUIS,
when the repast was concluded, and he had broken
out upon the inevitable cigarette.
''Msrct, non. III leave that to you, Monsieur"
"But you, sare, are ge reatif.n
"And you, Monsieur, have had the melancholy
qualification OF knowing the departed Ezra"
"zat mattares not. But to put re comrct,on, on
| 90 to the opera?"
"HIein! ware goot. Yace. &c.,
To be frank, was nervous about this preliminary
caner. 1t came within the purview of the position
that Miss Iris A. Boone might decline TO zee me.
| Beaumanoir Of Beaumanoir, and did she not boast
our family ichor on her mothers side? SIN I
ssr much indeS
| episte-of the sort had been wont 10 address to
| the vice president OF my college when craved the
| ments, and requesting the honor Of an interview at
| any hour she might name. This despatched to the
moie de ESnrops by special Just before
They were playing "Lehengrin,n to my intense de-
light, and to the utter chagrin OF NJ. lie Marquis De
| Bonbol, who hated Wagner's music, logically, be-
cause the composer happened to be a German.
Monsieur In consequence OF his nationality, waxed,
in fact, exceedingly !iresome, Interfering, "Zat not
melodie," and "Pful yot Won horrible bruit," to my
utter disgust At last, to distract his attention,
lent him an opera-gass.
That manGuvre succeeded. Monsieur glutted
himself with staring was saved the annoyance of
his nane Calculations, and could forget all except
| Wagner. In truth, had become obvi0us to the
tutaxp0stion OF my companion, until, when the cur
tain fell, he solioquized audbly. "Cie she angelic
Involuntarily looked up to the box on which the
was even So I see the profile Of that girl now, and
can testify that 1t was indeed superb.
| "Cel! 1t eesmore than angelic. II ees Madonna y
Here again was inclined to agree, but before
could utter he had bowled out, as imagined, to re-
cuperate with Eau Sucree, and did not return till
e saS he an
zee my Madonna, my beaute, my vaynoose? Helm,
Zee nSx yos take by .Mses Iris Boone; Sop
~ have bride re boxkeepair. He is my esclave
my instrument. It ees qui raight. Oh. yace. So.'
Could that be Iris7 Could that lovely being, SO
statuesque so unconscious apparently OF the homage
she was exacting from all corners Of the house, be
my future 'wife7 Clearly, old Ezra had jumped 81
the rational conclusion that should not, could not
must not refuse such gift. and had he realized one
1.-THE OF my wild alteration ofthe beautiful promised
myself that he would have been tenfold more certain
No longer did the notion OF being rejected haunt
with pleasure. knew intuitlvely that to lose such
prize wond involve the acutest pain, and resolved
to win. Only for All instant did cast glance upon
her companion, girl rather negresque in complex
Ion. but with many good points, such as brilliant
teeth, pleasant smile, and luscious figure. All
realized about the other was that, being an animal
she served as an excellent foil for my angel.
We stood close by them in the lobby after the
strongly emphasized As for De Bonbol. had hare
| work TO hold him in. He wanted to introduce him
self, to he obtrusive and offensive, but took the
two was physically, II not morally, the more poten
tla , SO ned MN as IN vice tn their carriage
| very excellent friends indeed
| AT the hotel found this mssive:
"DEAR COUSIN: Charmed to see you tomorrow al
| Twelve A. M.-Toute vous, IRIS.
| "Hotel de FEurope, Brussels, July s, 49,"
| did not parade this to De Bonbol, though sus
pect my visage may have been expressive OF a kind
oftru,mphan anti, peasureabeness did however take
paper en- route surfelt OF kisses.
| EPISODE II.
cup OF tea. bath, stroll, and returned tc
breakfast at Sinkins Hotellike giant In remarkably
| good fettle NJ. De Bonbol showed at the same
moment, and commenced extensive deglutitiou, his
| chief provender being, apparently, cockscombs
When he had devoured enough to last an ordinary
hereuntO an entire bottle of Rudesheimer, thought
| II incumbent on me as man of honor to return his
Assmanshauser OF the preylons evening by alargesse
In the form OF champagne-cup. This, being a
beverage unknown to the worthy Gaul, peronsly
fascinated his paate-in fact, he ioored two.thrds
| to my one, and then began to laugh.
Laugh, perhaps is hardly the word unless you in.
terpret 1t in hy9nesque sense. Monsieur's
laughter consisted less in fun than in noise, and the
more eXhilarated he became the louder he talked
Thus 1t happened that when we arrived at the Hotel
| de Europe, the sun shining high in the heaven
We followed our cards up stairs. leading the
| way, and were ushered Into room where sat alone
not the Iris of my dream, but the ncgrcsque young
Ibowed, SO did NJ. De Bonbol. was about ia
utter, but my ylvacions companion anticipated me-
''to see re lofeiy Mees Iris Boone"
1henegresque younglady rose, executed curtsey,
| and remarked, soto voce:
"Guess Pm rather nattered.n
f'Av' re peasair, then, address Noes Boone ~
The young lady smiled and bowed.
simultaneously we both looked In each others
face. The expression of disappointment must have
been ludcrous in mine, 1t at all resembled that
my gay Marquis, who really might have been quaff-
ing senna-tea instead Of the vintage of hypothetical
champagne. II was you must admit, for each OF US
rather q disbursement; Our dream had been a
fusion Of bank notes win beauty The reality In.
the desideraed feminine amalgam.
Apollo. however, saved MS from this supreme
awkwardness. In a trice the door at the further
end of the apartment opened, and Beauty entered
with most winning smile, and the perfect repose-
fulness Of a woman of the world.
"Mr. Beaumanoir- to make you &C.
quantance. NJ. De Bonbol, think we must have
seen you at the opera last night?"
hand for each. the right one for me, remarked.
"And now," she continued, still beaming most
gracously, "suppose we introduce ourselves. This,
pointing to her friend. us one iris. am another
our having the same nomenclature, 80 we have
agreed to this simple compromise keep my own
My friend permits me the familiarity OF an old school
nickname In addressing her. and you also may know
her as Miss TOpsey Boone"
Topsey! shivered at the thought of tho lady OF
Beaumanoir being plastered with designation 80
very much In keeping with thicklsh lips and rlzzy
black hair but thinkI am not quite certain, but
thnk-that my face did not betray me.
"Guess that's queer will OF old Ezra Beau
| MANOR" snapped 1psey, smiling from ear to ear.
"A veel; vot veel:" interposed Monsieur Dc Bon
bol.
"Do tell, Iris" laughed Topsey, careessly.
Iris looked for a second inexplicable. Then she
turned to me with "You know all about II, sir, or
you would not be here!n
| sab but not understand" gasped Monsieur.
"rhe will 10 simple enough" remarked Iris, Ian
guidly. "lf Mr. Gyles BeaumanOir and Miss Iris A.
Boone can agree to marry they take for their mutual
d0wry million dollars; II not, the one who Is anX.
ous 10 marry the other becomes the herr
"That Is the problem" said ], sand am here In
| the hope OF solving 1t one way or the other"
suppose spoke earnestly. Anyhow, must have
amused both girls, for they collapsed In Mt OF
laughter. In which the Frenchman Joined.
"Ha ha my gentleman's good fellow he cried
| "You veel marry 20 old mans vee? An, SO.
| know vot know; yace, yace"
There was a tone about Monsieur's utterance thai
might have suggested mental nettle-rash, but pale
| tory talk about Brussels, limited that they contem
| plated STROLL offered our escort.
Up to this point feel confident that the courteous
reader regards me In the light OF frivolous fool
| so, he or she misjudges me cruelty. Plucked
ploughed, disgraced as was accidentally, i still
| had brains-nay, more. they were rather brimminl
over. You will not believe me, however, when adj
that there was tinge OF serious purpose about my
/ dreamy, ind0lent self. Perhaps You may give m,
credit for something better later on; anyhow th
| point must ask You to take me on trust.
The girls slipped on some sort OF walking attire II
no time, and then we paired, Iris took possession o