The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1886-03-19

holes for the eyes OF the lndlScreet to
look through that they must have seri-
ously diminished the receipts. In front
of one of the poles was II dilapidated
piece Of plank MS au apology for a sign
board On it these five words were
roughly written in charcoal:
PESCADE & MATIFOU,
FRENCH GYMNAsTs.
From n physical pom t of vicw-and
probably from - mora one also these
two men were az djfit.,r,l. one from the
other aS two hum..a beings could be.
They were both natives of Provence,
and it was that fact alone that had
brought them together to ii :, lit the battle
OF life in common.
Whence came their queer names
II re they the geographical points
between which curves the Buy OF Agicrs?
Yes. And the ran", fitted them per-
iectly, as that OF Atlas does some giant
wrestler.
Cape Matifou isan enormous mamelon,
strong and unshakable, which rises ut
the northeast end of the vast ron Istead
OF Algjcrs rs if to defy the unclaimed
elements and illustrate the celebrated
line
Its mass indrstructable wearied our time.
And such was the athlete Matifou, an
Alcitles, q Portho~, 81 fortunate rival of
the Omplraillea, of Nicholas Creste,
and other famous wrestlers who lave
shone i'll the arenas i'll the South.
This giant was more than six feet in
eight with II voluminous head. ShoUl-
ders Ill propa4tiol, cnesJ /. A., s4l.. -
bellows, n;.,i limbs like Tree III -
with the strength of steel. He WAS
manly strength III all its ma9niticence,
and had he known his age, we should
ha e found, not without surprise. thai
he had only just entered his twenty.
second year. Although this giant was
not gifted with striking Intelligence, vet
his heart was good and his character
was simple and gentle. He knew not
hate Or anger. He would do no one an
injury. Seldom, indeed, would lie shake
the hand that WAS offered him, for fear
he should crush it in his own. In his
powerful nature there was nothing Of
the tiger. although he had the strength
And besides, q n word, at n sign even
from his companion. he would obey. IS
if he had been the gigantic son of that
little slip of man.
As contrast, 1T the western extremity
of the Bay of Algiers, Point Pescade,
opposite Cape Matifou. is thin, spare
narrow, rocky tongue running out into
tine sea. From it the name of Pescade
was given to this fellow of twenty, who
was small, slender, skinny, and OF not
half the weight of his friend, but supple,
active, qaick-witted, of inexbaustihle
good humor through good and evil for
tune q philosopher i'll his way, inventive
and practical regular monkey with
out his mischief and indissolubly linked
by fate to the enormous pachyderln
whom he led through all the phases of q
mountebank's life.
Both were acrobats by profession and
travelled from fair to fair. Ma ifou-or
Cape Ma ifou as he was also called
wrestled in the ring, giving oil sorts Of
displays of strength, bending iron bars
on his biceps, lifting the heaviest of his
audience at arm length, and Juggling
with his young companion as if he We're
tennis ball. Pescade or Point Pes
css,le, as lie WAS commonly called-gestic-
ulated, sang, played the fool, amused
the public by his clownish wit, aston
ished them by his feais us an equilibristt,
ut which he WAS very clever, and mysi-
fed them with his c>niuring tricks.
But why on this occasion on the quay
Mt Grayosa are these two poor fellows
left out in the cold, while the people
crowd to the oshcr booths Why have
they taken so little when they want it SO
much 1t Is difficult to say
Their language aQ agreeable miytuca
OF Provencal and Italian, was more than
enough for them to make themselves
understood. Since their departure from
p ovence, where they had known no
relatives and seemed to have been pro-
ducel by spontaneous generation, they
had wandered about from markets to
fairs, living i'll rather than WELL but still
living ana if not dining every day Mt
least having something toy supper every
night; and that was good enough for
them. for, rs Point Pescade remarked,
I'VE need mt ask for the imposs bic"