Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-02-12
MY FRIEND MEURTRIER.

my FRIEND MEURTRIER.
FROM THE FRENCH or FRANCOIS cor
Twas Of one time employed in . Gov
ernment office, Every day from 10
until o'clock / became a voluntary
prisoner III a depressing Office, adorned
with yellow pasteboard boxes. and filed
with the musty odor Of old papers.
! There I breakfasted on Italian cheese
and apples, which Iroasted at the CRATE;
I read the morning papers, even to the
advertisements; l rhymed verses, and I
attended to the affairs Of state to the ex-
tent of drawing, at the end OF each
month, a salary which barely kept me
from starving. ~ -.
! recall to-day one of my companions
in captivity at that epoch. He was
called Archille Meurtrier, and certainly
| his fierce look and his tall form seemed
to warrant that name. He was a great
big fellow, about forty years old, with
out too much chest or shoulders, but
| who wore felt hats with wide brims,
short, but ample coats, large plaid
! trousers, and red neckties under rolling
collars. He wore a full beard, long
hair, and was very proud of his hairy
hands. The chief boast of Meurtrier,
otherwise the best and most amiable of
companions, was to trifie with an ath-
letic constitution, to possess the biccps
of a prize fighter, and, as he said him
self, not to know his own strength.
He never made a gesture even in the ex-
ercise of his peaceable profession that
did not have for its object to convince
the spectators of his prodigious vigor.
Did he have to take from it's case an
empty pasteboard box, he advanced
toward the shelf with the heavy step OF
n street porter, grasped the box solidly
with tight hand, and carried it with a
stiff arm US far as the next table with a
Struggling of shoulders and frowning of
brow worthy of Milo Of Crotona. He
carried this manner so far that he never
used less apparent effort even to lift the
llghtest objects, and one day when he
held in his right hano basket of old
papers, saw him extend his left arm
horizontally as if to make counter
poise to the tremendous wei ght.
| ought to say that this robust crea-
ture inspired me with profound re-
spect, for was then, even more than
to-day, physically weak and delicate,
and in consequence filled with admi-
ration for that energetic physique
which lacked.
The conversations of Meurtrier
were not of nature to diminish the
admiration with. which he inspired
me. Above all, in the summer, on
Monday mornings, when he had re-
turned to the office after our Sunday
holiday, he had an inexhaustible fund
of stories concerning his adventures
and feats of strength. After having
taken off his felt hat, his coat and his
vest, and having wiped the perspira-
ton from his forehead with the sleeve
of his shirt to indicate his sanguine
and ardent temperament, he would
thrust his hands deep in the pockets
: Of his trousers, and, standing near me
in an attitude of perpendicular solid
ity. begin a monologue something as
follows:
What Sunday, my boy! Pos
lively no fatigue can lay me up.
Think of it-yesterday was the regat-
Ia at Joinville-le-Pont s o'clock in
the morning the rendezvous at Bercy
for the crew of the Marsouin-the sun
is up-we jump into our rowing suits
and seize the oar and give way-one-
two, one-two--as far as Joinville:
then overheard for a swim before
breakfast; strip to swimming draw
ers, a. jump overheard, and look out
for squalls. After my bath 1 have the
appetite of a tiger. Good; I seized the
boat by one hand and I call out. Char
pentier, pass ME small ham. Three
motions in one time and I have fin
ishcd it to the bone. Charpentier, pass
me the brandy flask. Three swallows
and it is empty :
So the description would continue
dazzling, Homeric. i
'The hour for the regatta-noon,
the sun just overhead. The boats
| draw up in line on the river, before a
tent gaudy with streamers. On the
bank the Mayor, with his scarf of Of
fee, gendarmes in yellow shoulder
belts, and a swarm of summer dresses,
open parasols, and straw hats. Bang!
The signal gun is fred, the Marsouin
shoots forward of her competitors
and gains the first prize, and no
fatigue. We dine at Creteil. How
cool the evening in the drsky arbor;
pipes glow in the darkness, and
moths SINCE their wings in the flame
Of the emelette an kirsch. At the end
Of . dessert served on decorated
plates, we hear from the ball room
the call OF the cornet. Take places
for the quadrille! But already .. rival
crew beaten that same morning, has
monopolized the prettiest girls. A
fight! teeth broken, eyes blackened,
ugly falls, and whacks below the belt;
"A 9 word, . poem Of physical enthu-
siasm, Of noisy hilarity, Of animal
spirits; without speaking Of the re-
turn at midnight on crowded plat
forms, with girls whom we lift into