The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-10-09
THE JUDGES WOOING.

grand council OF Lucerne, after having slept
for twenty-five or thirty years through the
clamors of the advocates on his circuit, had
obtained the favor of Withdrawing to his
snug villa, situated on the Kusnacht street,
near the German gate. There he was enjoy
ing himself under the supervision of his old
housekeeper, ThereSe, a devoted person
with a crooked nose and chin garnished with
a thin, gray beard.
These two, full of indulgence for one
another, respected their reciprocal manias
Therese looked after the household admirably,
ironed the linen, and took care to renew mon
sieur's stock of tobacco, shut up in a large
stone jar, after which she was at liberty to
attend to her birds, read her prayer book and
go to mass.
Monsieur Zacharias was approaching his
Goth year, wore a wig, and had no other dis
traction than to cultivate few flowers and
read the morning paper. This was well
enough for a time, but there came a morning
when the world seemed n blank. He said to
himself that he needed something more excit-
ing than to watch flower pots in window
and befog himself i'll the mazes of stupid poll
tics He very thoughtful for some days,
but one evening, after supper, a bright idea
came into his head. Il have it; / Will go
fishing" he cried, clapping his hands so loud
that ThereSe called out from the next room:
"What is the matter, monsieur. One might
think you had a fit"
The idea thus suddenly born proved TO be
stubborn one, and the morning on which
Monsieur Seller first set out, provided with
pole, a big straw hat, a fishing bag, and other
accessories, was veritable affair of state.
Therese was greatly displeaSed at this new
turn in affairs. She muttered to herself and
had moments of Impotence, and was obliged
to go to confession twice oftener during
month than had been her custom. But, for
all that, she was forced to conform to the
new order of things
For example, whenever monsieur was
seized with a desire to go fishing, the excel
lent man, who deplored to himself his feeble
ness, would look up at the sky, and say with
a melancholy shake of the head: 1T is very
fine this morning, Therese. What weather!
Not drop of rain for three weeks"
Therese would allow him to languish for
few moments, then, laying aside her knitting
and her prayer book, she would go to find the
fishing bag, the waistcoat, and the big hat of
her master. Then the old judge would be-
come animated; he would rise up briskly and
say:
This is an excellent idea of yours, The
resc Yes, l will go fishing"
"Very well, monsieur, but be sure to return
at o'clock. The evenings are cool now"
One day in the month of July, 1915, toward
o'clock in the afternoon, Zacharias found
his fishing bag so full of salmon trout that he
did not wish to take any more, because, as he
said to himself, it necessary to leave some
for the next day. After having washed his
fish in a neiShboring spring, and wrapped
them carefully in sorrel to keep them fresh,
he felt so sleepy that he thought he would
take n nap III the heather, and wait until the
shadows were longer to mount the side of
Bigelberg.
Then having broken his crust of bread and
moistened his lips from his little bottle, he
clambered fifteen or twenty steps below the
footpath, and lay down in the shade of the fir
trees upon the moss, his eyelids growing
heavy.
Never had the old judge been so sleepy.
The oppressive heat of the sun, darting his
long arrows of gold into the shadow of the
wood, the murmur of insects upon the side
of the hill. in the meadows and on the water,
the distant cooling of ring doves squatted I'M
der the somber shade of the beech trees,
formed such a grand harmony that the soul
of Zacharias melted away in the universal
concert. He yawned, opened his eyes, and
saw a troop of aybirds traversing the foliage;
then turning he thought he saw the cork on
his line whirl and descend; salmon was
caught; he was pulling it out; the pole bent
in n seni-circle. The good man was sleeping
profoundly. He dreamed, and the vast or
chestra pursued about him its eternal music
as the time passed OH.
A thousand animated beings had lived
their life of an hour when monsieur, the
Judge, awole at the whistle of some bird he
was not acquainted with. He sat up to see,
and conceive his surprise. The strange bird
was young girl of Il or IS years old, with
rosy cheeks and red lips, her brown hair float
ing in long tresses, a little turned up nose, a
short petticoat of the color of corn poppies-
young peasant girl who was descending
from above by the sandy footpath of Bigel-
berg, u basket poised on her head and her
arms, sunburned, but round and plump, rest
ing on her hips. At sight of her Zacharias
was deeply moved, He blushed, and rising
said: Good day, my beautiful child"
The young girl stopped, opened her eyes
wide and recognized him, for who in all the
country did not know the worthy judge,
"Hi" said she, with smile; 'this is Mon
sieur Zacharias Seller"
The old man assembled into the path. He
wanted TO speak, but he only stammered some
unintellgible words, like a very young man,
so that the young girl appeared much en-
barrassed. Finally he made out to say:
Where you going through the wood at
this hour. my child.n
She pointed out to him, in the distance, at
the bottom of the valley, the house of a for
ester.
Il am returning to my father, Yeri Foers-
ter, whom YOU know without doubt, Monsieur
Judge"
$50 you are the daughter of the worthy |
Verb You are the little Charlotte of whom
he often speaks when he brings me his re-
ports!'
"YeS, Monsieur Judge"
"Nery well. viii accompany you home. l |
should like 10 the worthy Forester again. |
He must be getting little old:"
He is about your age, Monsieur judge |
said Charlotte, simply; "about 60 years old |
This artleSs response brought the good man |
to his senses, and as he went along he be-
came very pensive. What We're his thoughts. |
No one knows but how many times it has 4
that a good and worthy man, who |
imagineS himself to have discharged all his |
duties. has finished by discovering that he 1
had neglected the greatest, the hottest, the |
most beautiful of all. that of marrying in