Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-30
can t be very good language that re-
quires SO many.


1t Is true; the language is not rich, and
where we employ a different word the
I Frenchman uses a gesture. / am tired
OF saying "ennuiex for everything
that is tiresome, annoying, vexing, I'M
interesting, aggravating or boreing; of
| saying 'tdure'' for harsh, hard, tough,
stern, stoney: and many other words
which have to stand equally hard service
One has to be continually going
around corner to say what one means,
| and though this makes a graceful and
elegant language, it is symbolic of the
fact that the French had rather not
say what they mean. The point
blank manner in which l use
the French verbs really give Nine.
Melodie a small shock, and she has to be
continually tucking in some soft little
| phrases around the square corners OF my
sentences. This strikes me as the pecu-
liarity and the fascination, too, of the
French literature, that the writer does
not say what he means-everyt thing is
suggested. It is all q delicate game of
touch and go, of hide and seek, that the
writer plays with the reader. 1t is
amazing how adr oitlv such writer as
Dandet oontrives not to hit the nail
on the head, but leaves you to
do it; and you do hit the nail every
time, and are immensely pleased with
your own powers of perception. They
are very subtle f1atterers, these clever
French writer's The Partisan demands
a great deal of an author. He would not
read the long, involved sentences of
English literature. Every sentence must
be cleverly and harmoniously turned; it
must have
SNAP AT THE END OF IT.
It must go off like a musical ire-crack-
er, or he will cry ''bete!"
But have not told you yet of what
might be considered the most salient
feature of convent lite at present, and
that is small American, fifteen years
old, the granddaughter of one of our
treble millionaires, who goes under the
name of LIE Demi-diable, - or ''L En-
FAINT GATH (the spoiled child. To be
sure, she can neither read nor write Eng
lish, but now, after two years, she can
read and write French almost as badly,
and soon she will begin to commit
atrocities upon the German tongue.
Oh, Deutschland, you know not what
is in store for you, or you would
from l'enfant 3 knowledge! 1t is not,
however, the language solely that she
tortures, but the musical instruments;
she even sings, though she freely con-
fesses that she cannot carry tune.
What is it that carries the tune when
l'enfant does not? There Is a general
impression that tunes are not
able to support themselves, but
do not know; perhaps in
this case the tune carries l'enfaut. Her
voice being weak it does not affect US
much what becomes of thu tune, shut the
violin! Even the cat fees from it! And
lately l'enfant has become possessed of
the idea of rising at CLOCK in the
morning in order to wrench new fortunes
from the
BOWELS OF THAT UNLUCKY FIDDLE.
She breaks her bow every few days; L
do not wonder. The only mystery to me
is that the sounding board holds out so
well. Some day that fiddle will revolt; I
know it, because it is French one, and
the bowling discords which it is forced to
echo are enough to make quaker fiddle,
a resist not-e evil fiddle, Tolstoi fiddle fly
into thousand million pieces. AS for
this French violin a know by the sound
that its temper Is wearing thin, and that
any day we may expect to hear q grand
oombustion-and to, rush up stairs and
find l'enfant lying on the floor stuck full
of revengeful splinters. 1t is no more
than one might expect who dares to
NEEDLE with a Gallo fiddle when one can
not tell from g.
L'enfant has the true spirit of Ameri-
can liberty; she goes to chapel in un-
combed locks in robe de chambre, and
PUSHES wildly through the front corridor,
full Of waiting papas and mammas,
with the little short skirts of her peign-
DIRE flying out behind. She never hesi-
tates to demand emphatically anything
she wants, and if it is not Forthcoming
she-she-well, perhaps the word bellows
expresses what 'enfant does under these
circumstances; if you will imagine
ROAR AND SHREK,
added to the below, it will give you the
idea exactly. 1 am on the floor below
her, and entirely at the other side of this
big, rambling old. house, but always
know when l'enfant does not get what
she wants, and so do the sisters, espe-
cially when l'enfant has her feelings
wounded at night, and keeps the whole
house awake till 10 or IL o'clock-the
poor sisters, who retire at 8 80 and have
to be up at 8 o 'olock
There are times, rare and radiant
intervals, when l'enfant is content.
Then her pretty face is bright and
charming, and she spreads bon bons and
favors in every direction. If anyone is
sick. behold ''Le Demi-diable, - trans
mitted into an angel of mercy. No one
is more thoughtful, more interchangeable
in doing good. All, that such halcyon
days might Iast But we cannot ex-
pect heaven on this earth! TribuIa-
tons will comet Sometimes there will
be mutton chop for dinner when our
heart is set upon beefsteak. There is
sure to be fascinating monkey offered
for sale when we go in the city with
madame, and though our desire and our
pocketbook yearn toward that monkey,
hard fate in the person OF black-ve1led
madame seizes US by the hand
and drags us away from our
hearts desire. Then is it strange we
should call that fate. You old black
thing!" that we should retire into our