Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1888-08-02
0MPHALE.

Ny uncle, the Chevalier do Rioux, resided
IA small mansion which looked out upon
the dismal Rue de Tournelles on one side and
the equally dismal Boulevard St. Antoin,
upon the other. Between the boulevard and
the house itself a few ancient elm trees, eaten
alive by moses and insects, piteously ex
tended their skeleton arms from tho depth Of
a species of sink, surrounded by high black
walls. Some emacated flowers hung their
heads languidly, like young girls in consump.
tion, waiting for q ray Of sunshine 10 dry
their half rotten leaves Weeds had invaded
the walks, which were almost indistinguisha
bic, owing to the length Of time that had
elapsed since they We're last rakcd One or
two gold fish foated, rather than swan, in a
basin covered with duekweed and hall
cbolsed by water plants
My uncle called that his garden
Beside all the fine things above described
in my unele's garden there was also rather
unpleasant pavilion, which no had entitled
the "Delicos,n doubtless by antiphrasis. 1t
was ia a state Of extreme dilapidation. The
walls ware bulging outwardly; great masses
of detached plaster still lay among tho net
ties and wild oats where they had fallen; the
lower portions OF the wall surfaces were
green with putrid mold; the wood work OF
the window shutters and doors had been
badly sprung, and'thoy closed only partially,
or not at all species OF decoration,
strongly suggestive Of an immense kitchen
pot with various effluvia radiating from it,
ornamented the main entrance, for, in the
time Of Louis XIV, when it was tho custom
to build "Delices,n there were always two
entrances 70 such pleasure houses for pre-
cautions sake. The cornice, overburdened
with ovules, foliated arnbesques and volutes
had been badly 'lismantled by the inhltration
of rain water In short, the "Delicesn Of my
uncle, the Chevalier de Rioux, presented a
rather lamentable aspect.
1t was in this pavilion that my uncle had
lodged me-
The interior was less rocco than the ex-
terror, although remaining in a somewhat
better state OF preservation The bed was
hung with yellow lampas, spotted over with
large white flowers. An ornamental shell
work clock licked away upon a pedestal, in
laid with ivory and mother Of pearl. A
wreath of ornamental roses coquettishly
twined around a Venetian glass; above the
door, the four seasons were painted in cameo.
a fair lady, with thickly powdered hair, a
sky blue corset, and an array Of ribbons o.
the same hue, who had a bow in her right
hand, partridge in her loft, a crescent upon
her forehead, and a levcret at her feet. strut
ted and smiled with ineffable graciousnesi
from within large oval frame. This was
one Of my uncle's loves Of old, whom he
had painted MS Diana. It win scarcely ha
necessary to observe that the furniture itself
was not of the most modern style; there was.
in fact nothing to prevent ono from fancying
himself living al tho time of the Regency.
the walls were hung rendered the illusion
complete.
The tapestry represented Hercules spinning
at the feet Of Omphale. The design was tor.
mented after the fashion of Vanloo, and in
the most Pompadour style possible TO inn
agine Hercules had a spindle, decorated
with rose colored favors; he elevated his
little finger with a peculiar and special grace,
like a marquis in the act Of taking pinch OF
snuff, while turning a white flake Of fax be-
tween his thumb and index finger; his mus.
cular neck was burdened with bows Of rib
bons, rosettes, strings Of pearls and a thou
sand other feminine gewgaws; and large
gorge de pigeon coiored petticoat with two
very large panniers, lent quite a gallant air
to tho monster conquering hero.
Omphale's white shoulders were half COW
cred by the skin Of the Nemean lion; her
slender hand leaned upon her lovers knotty
club, her lovely blonde hair, powdered 70 ash
color, fell loosely over her necll-a necl, as
supple and undulating in its outlines as the
neck Of a dove; her little feet-true reali-
cation Of the typical Andalusian or Chinese
foot, and which would have been lost in Gin
derella's glass slippers-were shod with half
antique buskins Of a tender lilac color,
sprinkled with pearls In truth, she was a
charming creature Her head was thrown
back with an adorable little mock swagger;
her dimpled mouth wore delicious little
,pout; her nostrils were slightly expanded;
her cheeks had delicate glow--a patch cum
ningly placed there relieved their beauty in q
wonderful way-she only needed a little
mustache to make her first class mousque-
taire
There were many other personages also
represented in the tapestry-the kindly fe-
male attendant, the indispensable little
Cupid-but they did not leave a sufficiently
distinct outline in my memory to enable me
to describe them.
In those days l was quite young-not that
l wish to be understood as saying that l am
now very old; but was fresh from college,
and was to remain in my uncles care until
l could choose a profession. If the good
embrace that Of fantastic story writer, he
would certainly have turned me out Of doors
forthwith and irrevocably disinherited me;
for he always entertained the most aristo.
cratic contempt for literature in general and
authors in particular. Like the fine gentle
man that he was, it would have pleased him
to have had all those petty scribblers who
busy themselves in dishguring paper, and
! speaking irreverently about people Of quail.
/ ity, hung or beaten to death by his attend
ants.
| Wen, then, had only Just left college. !
] was fun Of dreams and illusions; / was as
nSive SIS rosiere OF Salency-perhaps more
so. Delighted at having no more pensuns "a
make, everything seemed to me for the best
in the best OF all possible worlds l believed
in an infnity Of things; believed in N. ds
/ Florian's Shepherdess, with her cOmbed and
powdered sheep; l never for moment
doubted the reality OF Mime. Deshoulieres
flock. l believed that there were actually
I nine muses., as stated in Father Jouvency'.
"Appendix de Dis ct Heroibusn Ny recol
lections OF Berquin and of Gessmer had ere
ated n little world for me, in which every.
thing was rose colored, sky blue, and apple
green. o holy innocencei sancta simplici
tasl as Mephistopheles says
| | When l found myself alone in this fine
room-my own room, all to myself felt
superlatively overioyed l made careful
inventory Of everything, even the smallest
article Of furniture; rummaged every cor
ncr, c.sc o-r,orca the CHAMBER Il The f1iesl