The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-02-24
THE CANDELABRA.
a birthday Story.


rhat Csiniou. | would give yon his en-
:tiro n;une and the namv If his friond,
tthc Eunerii, but you wilyg9dlY enc why
had better omit thcm. Arthur IS hrh-
w d;Scontcn. -. Poor hrihur, The o n
eral and the generals wife and Arthur
ore rs much onr rs the ingrrs Of The
hand. Whoever ScCE one invariably
secs ono oi the other two almost inlm,-
datcly 1.ttyr. Bat. by Il singular ckanaa.
one scos Arthur and the generals wife
togcihe. more frequently than Arthur
and the general. 1t is evident that one
must hcip fortune Il little, and then she
will smiie upon one.
The xuncral's wife is 2S ssuch q beau
tfln ago! With her intimate ncuuan-
tanccs she answers to The charming
name of Gcncvcvc She had served siyc
years in the great army of married pco-
pie before she knew Arthur. She was
married at 20. Five and three are eight.
Tho last three years may be counted as
spent III the reserve corps. As her birth
day was near at hand the general took
his friend Arthur aside and said TO him:
"My young friend, if do not prevent it
you may pcrpctratn tho same folly this
year that you did las; year, by rrmcm-
bcrng my wife in II sGnsccss cNtravn-
CANT manner. That would be highly
ulSaGIccaDiC 10 mo VIC are on too
friendly terms for ne To hesitate TO speak
my mind plainly 10 You, are we not?
Last year you gave my wife Il magnii-
cent vase, set with rubics. valued by
connoisscurs at $500 francs,at the least.
That is too much.
''But my means WARRANTY
Something handsome, but not cx-
travagancc.
II assure you---'
".Aa IN intimate friend of the house
you ih;ra II right to remember IL birth
Ssay with thc usual conventional polite
'ess by somG substantial gift. consent
70 hat Willingly. But do not under
stand how it,comcs that you should re-
pny ten, ,ld the gj,,tie dinners and sup
peys Won H. We received at our house"
And the h-iDdrass aud aIlcctionatc
consideration th ut s'.rfound one IN Your
home! Do they COZ, ut To- ho,hN%'
"My dear boy, thHt 70 ser lrS'ly;
You would not wish to pay IT, "l Vli"''
But, in word, do not wish 20" 10
spend more than 800 francs for my
wife. That is II responsible arnoGnt.
position. Nothing respectable can be
had for that amount. 1t is ID bcSG"iiy
sum-"
bah! never spcnd more fc my SIS
ter. and what is good enough for her
will do for my wife.
"Lct mo go rs high as 600 fra ucs at
least"
"Nopn
olive hundred thcn?"
"No! mol"
"Four hundred and lifty?"
"Four hundred; that is the utmost; II !
your present costs 900 fancs | viii re-
ihirn it. Ifit costs 5CO francs, | shall DO
angry. Ii it costs morcthan that, it Will |
bc the last OF our friendship"
Gcncyiayo continually discovered new
: fallings in her hls band. She had long
had r. consuming desire to possess II
beautiful little brouze candcabra that
cost 300 francs. Indeed, her huSbrnd
carried his authority a litlc too lar.
What right had he to m1dd!c with her
private matteiB? Did she trouble her
self about tho paymCnt Of the soldiers
In the brigade? No! Then why did he
not observe similar discretion IN re,
gard to her afluirsp Was she not old
enough to decide what she should re-
ccivo and what rofisco On this ground
she paid no attention, but dealt with her
{, friend as IL her husband had treated her
wishes In the most conCcnlal spirit.
'.Do you rcmcinber what | said to you
Mast wear when you gave me that OK
,ouisIts little present. Dear Arthur, you
go beyond all reason Those were my
Very words, were they not? | have been
afraid YOU would repeat that folly, and
80 have In view something more mod
est, that you might present TO me II you
are bent upon doing something
81 his thoughtfulncss was entirely un-
necessary. Ny Affection"
"Your affection needs no proof OF that
kind"
"Gcnoviovc, o Genoviovc"
"Arthur."
"TcIl me what you have in wow"
"Wcll, my friend. after long search,
found at last q littlo candelabrum at
Barbizon's: n candelabrunI, mind. and
It is n superb piece. Louis XIV. style.
And, lust think. il costs only 1900
francs. You see my husbands inter
seronce was unnecessary. lam reason-
able myself; but, If do not mistake, the
general went still further He fixed the
limit for you, did he not?'
''Yos, 400 francs,
eThat is certainly modest, but t.-more
than enough"
Arthur declared he would revolt
against tho generals order, but she
would not hear to It. However, he held
to his resolution In spite OF her oppo-
sitlon. Finally they came TO an agree,
srs.nt II was settled that he should send
the candolabrnm 10 his deer Geneyicyc,
bttt should assert and maintain to the
general that it did not cost over 400
AkaHea
When AfEinr made his call OF con-
trratulatlon Oh the Birthday OF the gelie,r-
ais wife he wss angrily received by the
general