Wichita eagle., 1886-11-13
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Da11M ,slole
THE CRUMB BRUSH,

ing hook or q Turkish saber. they use in mid
ule-claSS houses when the servant, or some
times the lady Of the house or her daughter,
goes roInd the table brushing the crumbs OF
the cloth after dinner before the dessert is set
On the table
We'll, the brush was my ruin.
had not the slightest intention of marry
ing. At % you understand? l had plenty
of time to think about that. The head clerk
in the office-a real good fellow, who used to
forge my name on the presence sheet when
ever was latc-had often told me so.
"If I were you 1 should not marry at all.
do not say that because l have been sep
arated from my wife these last ten years, or
because l have had three lawsuits > disowT
her three last children. But, if l were you, L
should not marry"
And had already found in La Rochcfou-
cauld q thought, which even in those days l
instinctively admired, bat of which | under
stood the full depth now: There are good
marriages: but there are none that are en-
tirely delightful"
Besides was perfectly happy, and [ had
ARRANGED my bachelor existence to my entire
satisfaction.
was then-;s am nova clerk in one of
the pu3!ic Offices. Five hundred and fortv
dollars Il year and Christmas box is not 50
cad when one j. IS. The office | belonged TO
the Office of the mOrGues and di5secting rooms
and the branch [ had charge of chat of dis
tgibutirS the bodies among the different dis
secting rooms were not very cnlivcninc,
l grant You, and / sat all day liz front of
six green cardboard boxes bearing this in
scription: distribution of cOrpscs, which I
had written on them in large, round hand
with n reed. But then | knew my particular
department thoroughly. I dispatched my
business in q couple OF hours and killed the
rest Cf the time with the charades and riddles
in The Nondre Illustre had got to be very
clever with them; used 10 send my answer
and then have the glory Of reading my naGlc
in the paper, between The Military Club Of
Tcrreguemimes" and The Habitues Of the
Cafe de rEurope al Pithivicrs."
Then the time spent at the Office was sac
lifce made for my daily bread. by real life
began at o'clock, when, after washing my
hands and hanging up my old alpaca Office
coat, sailed forth and walked away with
an even measured tread toward the distant
quarter where / lived, down the Boulevard
dies InvalideS and the Boulevard Nontpar-
nasse.
On summer evenings especially it was de-
lightful The sianting sun rays, at the "most
effective hour as the painters say, gildcd the
old trees, those that were cut down in that
horrible siege and replaced by stupid NAPLES
with an iron grating round their roots, like a
door scraper. The trees we had then were
good old elms, good Old lime trees good old
chestnuts that had been slowly growing up
there since the time of Louis XIV-dating
back to the France Of former days, when men
were patient, when they liked things TO be
solid and lasting, when they took their time
about planting tree or founding IN inStitu-
ton. How good it was to walk under their
stout branches, under their thicl; foliage, that
the sinking sun riddied through and through
with warm sparks!
Before the railway station De rOuest there
was n halt. Tho waiter used to keep a table
for Ile next 20 the window on the first floor
OF the little restaurant, and there l ate my
dinner slowly, watching the crowds pouring
out from the trains FROM Versailles the two
artillerymca exactly alike with the red
plumcs in their shakes, weighed down by
their heavy trousers and holding up their /.
sword sCabbard5 in their hands; the pairs of /.
lovers, very tired with their days holiday, I.
carving great sheavcs of wild flowers, and !
the old botanist, with his gray beard, in dusty /
CATERS and straw hat, with his tin box
swinging at his back. When the evening
drew III [ went and tool, my cup of coffee in
the open air outside a cafe, and then, most
nights, / went home.
Who lives in il row, wonder my sky par
lor in the Ruo dAssas2 Some Philistine,
perhaps, who viii have dishonored its walls
by hanging them with chrome portraits of
political men. In my time it was only a poor
mans room, but it was furnished 10 my taste; !
il Was the room of n dreamer, of n home bird, !
and every flower of the papef On its wall held |
the memory OF reyerie | had my flute /
there, my pipe, q thick carpet, n great arm
chair with n sloping back, very comfortable !
to sit in before the fire reading and dreaming; /
on shelf | had the books | know by heart,
kindly skepticS, Montaigne and La Fontaine,
and, for gentlcr moments, Dickens; and on
each side Of tho looking glass my beautiful
prints of the "Coucher de Ia Marie and the /
"Hasard hcurcux de rEscarpoiette.'
1t was delicious 10 wake up there in the
summer | idled about the room in my shirt
sleeves, smoking my first pipe, and watching
The smoke fly off III u golden sun ray through |
my window, thrown wide open. | could sc
the green masses of the foliage III the LuxcIl-
bourg, the domeS of the Pantheon, and the /
Nal-de-Grace, and the sky-a great deal of |
sky; the supple swallows passed backward and |
forward continually, quite close TO me, with /
the little CRY, "euill," as if they were wishing /
me good morning But the evenings were
still more exquisite-the starry evenings, |
when, after had read few pages and played !
q little Mozart on my flute, leaned out of I
nv window before all the splendors OF the .
zodiac, listening to such scraps of waltzes as /
the night wind bore me from Butler.
Yes, | grant you, there WIS lack of wo-
men in my life. And that was just what !
was imprudent enough TO confess to one of ,
my companions at the Office. Il ought to
have mistrusted that fellow, 4 practical man |
who had learned shoemaking as an aInuSe-
ment for economy's sake, and who made his
own shoes in the Office in his leisure moments.i |
He said at once:
Il have just got what You want. Thirty I
thousand francs and expectations Her ,
mother always has her lips blue; she will die |
of heart disease.
Twas not at oil decided made objections. /
Bah. ii fortnight's time | was already /
compromised; had accepted an invitation to /
dinner from the young lady's family.
The crunb brush did The rrss.
II WAS ut dessert The dinner had been +.
very pleasant. very cordial. The mamma /
seemed q very nice woman, although she did .
wear her husbands photograph set rs a /
brooch: and though he was rather solemn,
and had began with the soup to talk CT the
conduct Franco should hold toward Russia,
still the father did net diSpleaSe me, With hiS .
Greek skull cap and his head like 4 white
bearded model, who sits for ''MoSe> and Tod .
the Father" l had dined well, too wei
The meat had evidently been roasted before Il (
wood fire. and there was some very nice bur .