St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-14
The COLONEL'S KISS
The Was Young as He Was
Old, Pretty as He Was
Ugly,
Possessing With This the
Chic of a True Paris
ienne.
n Love With a Corporal
With Bright Blue
Eyes.
low a Soldier Won a Kiss
at the Cost Of a
Scar.
Translated From the French.


singular resemblance to the marks of
;eeth. "all the same, it's what tell
rou, the colonel's kiss. Devil take the
colonel and his kiss, too, say j, but
i'Aubignac will tell you the story"
"l?'' said dAubignae; "well, if
must l must, so here goes! l was at
Montastruc, and With the One Hundred
md Fifty-fourth OF the line. to which |
belonged. ALontastruc! the dullest sea-
port that the Lord ever created, and the
most tormenting and tiresome garrison
hat a wrathy MINISTRY was able to in
ilct upon a chef de corps suspected
If 'BoulangeriSm' Vainly had We re-
1ived-and discussed all the gossip of
he city and the neighborhood; all the
ouns. good and bad. of the prefet and
his myrmidonS, and all the scandal and
little tattle of the MARIE and his, with
out disSipating our spleen, when Ger
tain piece OF intelligence came to put
The mess of sOuS-ot1icierS into fever OF
excitement.
That morning at roll call the chef
de battalion for the week had read an
order to the division by virtue of which,
in the interest of the SERVICE the
Sergt. Mai. HOupillart would pass from
the One Hundred and Fifty-third of the
line to the One Hundred and Fifty
fourth. and the evening of that very day
the Sergt. Maj. Houpillart arrived at
MOntastruc, AS you see,' said d'Aubig-
nae, smiling QuiZzically at his tall COM
made, handsome fellow, with the
breadth of shoulder of a carblneer I'M
der their two golden stripes.
ITO see him with his hand on the hit
Of his sabre d'ordonnance, twirling with
the other his red mustache, his eyes
atlame and proudly expanding his Wig
Orous chest under his fanclful unique,
one could not help SuSpecting that pet
ticoats were, perhaps, at the bottom of
The mandate of the general of division.
Briefly, another variation in the eternal
theme OF NJ, Mars and Nine. Venus.
I'VE questioned tie echoes of the One
remained mute. We t1ocked in troops
to rout out and eagerly scan the black
list OF the One Hundred and Fifty
third during the Houpillart reign.
Never had a similar document present
I'd similar testimony: Sixty days of
:onsigne in four years. fifteen days of
sale de police. no prison, no CELL
DECIDEDLY the gigantic major was
Ieraph in madden breecbes, and the
irum-nIajor himself even was eclipsed
BY this martial figure where one was
lble to find, despite all researches, only
he clay feet-of modern Colossus"
Feet of Colossus! See here, d'Au-
>ignac," and Houpillart Indignantly
iprung to his feet and himself assumed
,he pose of racOnteur. with back 10 the
James; you've too many fancy touches
nd Tor ft.nA n AL
self, and I'll stick to facts. The story.
however. as d'Aubignac failed to ex-
plain to you. ended at Montastruc, but
did not there begin. received my kiss
ln the One Hundred and Fifty-third.
Nor do need to tell any one here"
continued HOupillart. settling himself
with the air of a man who retrospect
lively tastes the SAVIOR of a pfSi and
pleasant dish, that military, or rather
garrison life, leaves to the sous-officier
considerably more leisure than he re-
luires for the study of the fifteen the
OrleS that compose the instruction of
troopers, foot or horse, and to read the
Taily circulars and monthly notes of
the ministry of war. Therefore, to
freely quote La Fontaine: While the
hare mapped on his seat in idle dream
ing l devoted these hours of leisure,
chamber, to thinking of and studying
The feminine element of the regiment.
Already / had commenced all inquiry
iull of charm upon these official ladies.
Nothing is more attractive than such
Investigations: one finds in them the
pest school of war and the truest study
d strategy. A woman that loves is
;edskin for strategy. And the women
hat loved in the One Hundred and
Fifty-third regiment of the line Ah-h
[ had never even had time to count
Them! l Jumped them, then and now,
without distinction of grade OF stripes,
and affirm, without SANDER OF fear of
contradiction, that the rule of conduct
Of each and all of them differed as little,
the one from the other, as the table fur
niture of the various regiments.
THE men? The officers themselves?
What would you? Love can only flour
ish well between the opposing sexes.
The officers, then, were as deep III the
mud as the danes in the mire. The
colonel alone respected by fortune, al
ways Mars, but never Act9on, the col
oGel drew up his tall figure, topped by
KEPT where glittered the five golden
bars. in the dignity and peace f mind
At ""s": in the midst of thIs-Well.
poaching crowd.
"This exceptional favor of fortune
that so amazed the chef de corps no less
amazed me. The colonelle was as young
as the colonel was old, as pretty as he
was ugly, as amiable as he was rough,
possessing with all this the chic of a
true ParlSienne. and the frOu-frOu of
whose skirts along the pavement of the
RabaStenS made even the canicheS erect
heir noses.
''By force of seeing her constantly at
The hours of band play enthr0ned
among the rest of the official ladies'. |
began to feel under my unique little
bud of sentiment that only demanded
20 be cultivated to blossom radiantly.
lone thing still restrained mere
spect for the regiment; the prestige OF
Ehe pompon. Certainly had Nine
Baisembois been the wife of a simple
colonel of artillery it would have been
otherwise; but to NEEDLE here, it was
the same as meddling with my CHIEF
himself.
"All the same. something told me
that OtherS-Or one other, more likely
was not so scrupulous. Forbidden
fruit'-you know the rest-well, failing
that, L took to following at the heels Of
the colonelle; the wicket of the post
office was her regular destination.
september had arrived, and my sin
quiry' had produced no new results
had really come to doubt my own sus
picions. Everybody went to the post
office; everybody received from tht
postoffice. The lily had regained it,
Whiteness.
''With September, TOO, arrived thu
'reseryiStes.' was notabsolutely veXet
at this event: the arrival produced fol
the quartermaster an increase of work
but then the quartermaster allowed tt
the sergeant-major some 'rabiot'-ir
the argot OF the troop-from the regular
rationS of tobacco and coffee.
Il was rejecting one morning in tn,
court of the quarters on these diver
chances of lucre when suddenly tn,
colonel called tom me from above:
"'Eh. below there, Chei!'
Eyes, my colonel
"'sdave you not i'll your cnm~N,,-' on