San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-06-26

as to cause some naughty establishment in
the mind of the Duke di Marina, who
eyed him from time to time with ill-dis-
guised Impotence that bordered on con-
tempt l, on the contrary, listened to
everything he said with urbane courtesy
I humored him and drew him out as
much as poSsible-I smiled complacently
at his poor jokes and vulgar witticisms,
and when he said something that was
more than usually outrageous, content
ed myself with benevolent shake of my
head, and the mild remark
"Ahl young blood! Young bloodr' ut
tered in bland sotto-voce.
The desert was now served and with
it came the costly wines which l had Or
dered to be kept back till then. Priceless
Chateau dYquem," 'CloS Vougeot," of
the rarest vintages, choice "Valpul-
CELLO" and an exceedingly superb La
crima Cristi" ons after the other, these
were tasted, criticised and heartily appre-
ciated. There was also very unique
brand of champagne costing nearly forty
francs a bottle, which was sparkling and
mellow to the palate, but firery in quail
ty. Teis particular beverage was so
seductive in favour that every one par
took of it freely, with the result that the
most discreet among the party now be-
came the most uproarious. Antonio
Biscardi, the quiet, unobtrusive painter,
together win his fellow student, Crispi-
ony Dulci, usually the shyest of young
men, suddenly grew excited, and uttered
blatant nOthings concerning their art.
Captain Freccia argued the niceties of
sword play with the Marquis D'Aven-
court, both speakers illustrating their
various points by thrusting their dessert
knives skillfully into the pulpy bodies of
the peaches they had on their plates.
Luciano Salustri lay back at ease in his
chair. his classic head reclining on the
velvet cushions, and recited in low and
measured tones one of his own poems,
caringi little, or nothing whether his
neighbOrs attended to him or not. The
The GLIDE tongue of the Marchese Quail
dro ran on smoothly and sincessantly,
though he frequently lost the thread Of
his anecdotes and became involved in
maze of contradictory assertions. The
rather large nose of the Chevalier Man
cini Redeemed visibly as he laughed joy
ously to himself at nothing in particular,
i'm short, the table had become a gilt
tering whirlpool of excitement and fever
ont of season, might rise to raging
storm of frothy dissension. The Duke
di Marina and myself alone of all the
company were composed as usual-he
had resisted the champagne. and as for
me had let all the splendid wines go
past me, and had not taken more than
two glasses of mild Chianti.
/ glanced keenly around the riotouS
board, noted the flushed faces and rapsl
! rapid gesticulatiOns of my guests, and
listed to the Babel of conflicting tongues,
| drew long breath as | looked cal
| culated that in two or three minutes at
the very least l might throw down the
trump card l held so patiently in my
| hand all the evening.
l OK u close observation of Ferrari
| He hal edged his chair a little away
| from mine, and was talking confidential
! ly to his neighbour, Captain de Hamal,-
his utterance was low and thick, but vet
| / distinctly heard him enumerating in
1 somewhat coarse language the exterior
| charms of q wOman-what woman did
| not stop to considerable burning idea
struck me that he was describing the
I physical projections of my wife to this
| de Hamal, a mere spadaccino, for whom
| there was nothing sacred in heaven or
earth. My blood rapidly heated itself to
| boiling point-to this day / remember
| how it throbbed in my temples-leaving
my hands and feet icy cold, rose in
my seat and tapped on the table to call
| for silence and attentiOn-but for some
time the noise of argument and the clat-
ter of tongues were so great that
| l could not make myself heard. The
| Duke endeayOured to second nv
efforts, but in vain. At last .Ferrari's