The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1891-02-19

Il was q strange, courteous question %
break In on the vernAl quiet Of . spring
night. turned, then stopped
The man who knew McGl0ry laughed
bitterly, twice, "Hai HAF'
] said my GOdi yes" I had learned
some French In bOyhood Then I had
bought drinks for . Paris boulevardier,
and had-WelL never mind about that 10
Il too much like the story Of George LIN
Eendorf
But there In that quiet night, when all
the air was soft with calm. hearing that
question | saw the honest peasants-sim-
pie, sturdy folk-tOiling aheld In far
Provence saw the Breton fisher, ding.
ing as he patched his nets on the shore Of
the dear old sea I saw gay Paris and the
sweet valley Of the Loire. Il was strange
how the memories crowded on my mind
] looked at the WRnderer-a man Of 20,
maybe. Old TO begin life anew. He was
above medium height, q little stopped Nm
the shoulders He carried Q small parcel
under his arm It was q woful story
be told, with the spring moonlight all
about Us
He had come that day on the Bretagne-
confOund the man and his two children In
Picardy! This paresis was an awful thing.
But what IL It were all . breath from old
Egypt, and my greAtgra >afather had heard
. story about q fellow Picard and roll Of
money stolen In . steerage and-then I
swore. As ] said, I had learned some
French in boyhood Then I had bought
drinks for Paris boulevariier, and-welI,
never mind The Paris boulevsrdier had
taught me 70 swear In such fashion a.
would have made me hail fellow in Mont
martre
And damned the beggar, and called
him the worst things that his native tongue
permitted.
The man who knew McGlory blushed
and looked back and forth from the beg
gar 20 me.
And the man with the bundle shrunk
and shrunk, and made no reply. He crept,
always facing Us, backward, further from
The light and disappeared into the deep
shadows under the trees. His form was
lost. His pale face was the last thing
which I, still swearing. saw.
Aud we went away.
Summer makes Gramercy park pretty,
and the lights Of the Players club shine
out. and men drink there and say cynical
things in the small hours.
An August night was passing through
Gramerry square homeward. There was
just the distant murmur of Fourth av.
enue. with the occasional football Of a late
fellow walking along Irving place. ]
could hear the fountains drippings fall |
into it, still basin. The air was sweet with
the fragrance Of blossoms, waited out |
through the tall iron palings
Out Of the shadows Of the park came a
man. In voice. which In that soft night /
was the most utterly piisous sound ever
heard, he cried, stretching out one hand in /
q suppliant way:
"Parlrz vous Francois, monsieur"
II was n strange, courteous question 10 i
arrest hIrneguing chap At such an hour.
! turned. then stopped Then closed my /
right very tightly, a. Bob Turnbull had Il
showed me how long ago Then ] an
swerr,l My God, yes!'
hAd learned some French in boyhood,
then had bought drinks for Paris boule-
Warbler. aud fulfilled the dubious linguistic
nf New Jersey college.
had a deep scaled love for the French peo-
pie Hnd deal of fondness for the French
tongue
There In that sultry night, hearing that
question. I saw the honest peasants-sim-
pie, sturdy fOlk-toiling afield In far Pro
renee ] saw the Breton fisher, singing "a
who and what was this genirs
n Gall, who with his pale, beggar face al.
1ismAl, beggar voice kept stalking out
lpon me from dark placesl
Was he going 10 be like Mr. Dicks be .
u ChArles ~ Could know no refuge fro A |
his garlic breAthed Picard and his two
children and bis roll Of money lost In the
Iteerage % la Bretagnei
Proi; crted L thing Of eVfi
PrOft ahl bird o. devil
] hit him very hard. Assuming that bis |
nee was France in profile, my Est landed
n the Norman territory.
He moaned and muttered something in |
French paused while he lay and waited
or me to go away.
Il was enough. There was no hRht In |
lin. In m scstaey Of meauness walked
"a whistlinR loudly the 'Marseillaiss,"
'AilOns, AiIoo, mes braves"
The air was filled again With December
nows. Gray looked the tall buildings
through that sitting cloud Of white. The
treet LAMPS were dim and dull, like the
yes Of poppy eaten.
Far down . shabby, narrow west side Z
treet, In the purlieus Of old Greenwich
illage. the shop windows cleaned nav. .
nth the frost upon them.
Men and women and children with I
right fsces leaned against the storms | =
reat harsh breast and laughed. Street Z
ara, with their merry bells, bundled along
A white door, with the snow heaped | 4
bout Il. some tracks up the steps, and q
be Already nearly obllterated evidences | :
hat . wagon had been at the eurhston.. | \
bid that the undertaken and the coroner :
nd been there Il was . coroner's case
nicide from dependency, they said.
There WIS no carpet In the gusty hall.
blOwsy landlsdy showed NE 70 the SC
nd hoOr. In . rear room q Ere, not .
luch Of a one. burned In . tired stove
he roSm was chill An oil lamp shed
ght OVER = form upon the low bed In the '
'rner, covered, face and all. with Q sheet. 4
At = table sat child. girl Of not more
ian . dozen yearA She was reading
hen entered She laid the book down
-avely. ! noticed that 10 was French
-Hyer book.
Her EYES were big and very dark, and
ERE were tears In them. She simply | n,
"a, and her calm voice there In that san | 4,
ON beside the dad Wa the most utterly | =
teous sound ever heard: h
'Parle1 vosls Francois, monsieuFF'-Ne1 =,
crk World
Gsntls Blsu. d,