Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-12-05
MY FRIEND SLAUGHTER.

| tary prisoner IN weary bureau hung with
| yellow portfolios and reeking with the
sickening odors of old papers. There |
| lunchsd on Italian cheese and potatoes
that cooked in the open mouthed stove
there read the newspapers, even the ad-
vertiscments; rhymed sorry verses, and
there I even transacted affairs of state, in
order, at the end of the month, to get hold
| of sum of money which just kept me
! from dying of hunger.
One of my companions in captivity | re-
! member we'll
His name was Achilles Slaughter and
| certainly from his ferocious aspect and MS
| great height he was worthy of the name
| Slaughter was a devil of fellow about
forty years old. He had neither great
breadth of chest or shoulders, but he
! dressed himself as if he had He wore
| wide brimmed felt hat, jackets ample and
short; capacious, checked trousers and red
crayatS under a turn down collar He had
full beard, bushy hair-then a little gray
and he was very proud of his hairy
| hands.
The only Alteration of Slaughter-for
he was the sweetest and best of companions
! was his pretension to an athletic consti-
! tuition of possessing the bceps of Disco
bolus, and, rs he himself phrased it, of pot
! really knowing his own strength lie
| never made the slightest gesture, even in
| the exercise of his peaceful profession,
| which was not intended to convince who
ever was standing by of his prodigious
| vigor When he had to take down n port
| folio, even if it was almost empty. he
| walked toward the shelf with the ponder
| Gus step Of Il porter, seized the portfolio
! with tight grip, arm extended, and car
| ried 1t TO the nearest table, with raised
shoulders and a frowning brow worthy Of
| the Crotouian Milo He carried this so
| far that he never raised the lightest object
| except IN the same manner. Once, when
he was carrying out a basket of old papers,
saw linn extend his left arm horizontally.
rs if to balance the mighty burden
| must say that his strength inspired me
| with great respect; nor was the CONVERSE
| ton of Slaughter of nature to lessen the
| admir-; ton felt for him
Above all. Monday morning. he could
| scarcely wait to tell me of his deeds of valor,
his feats of strength. After having hung
| up his hat, his coat and his waistcoat. and
having unbuttOned his shirt collar and
cuffs in order to hint ut his fiery, inflarl-
mable temperament, he would plunge his
| hands his pockets and, seated near me in
an attitude superb in its cool assurance,
| would begin recital in this style:
MY dear fellow! Such Sunday! Yer
| lily there was no sort of fatigue that did
not encounter. Fancy this. Yesterday was
| the regatta at Joinville-le-Pont. At 6
| O'Clock in the morning rendezvous at
Bercy, Sign of the Ship for the crew Of
| the Narsoun.' Already such a sun!
| glass o white wine; jump into our suits of
| tllcot, cotton trousers; seize an oar. Lay
hold now! One-two-three We are at
| yoinville There-a bath before breakfast.
| Helm! Quick, some trunks, leap over
| board, now the shell. When had taken
| my turn had the appetite of a demon.
| Good. l laid hold of the boat with one
| hand, and said to the coxswain 'Charpen-
| tier, hand me n little ham, One two, three
| mouthiuls; | had nearly devoured it.
| 'Charpentier, pass me flask of brandy
| Two swallows and it was drained Now
some n ore measures for digestion"
Thus the description continued, daz-
| zling, IIomeric.
1t was the hour for the regatta. 1t was
| noon; the sun streamed down. The canoes
! placed themselves in line in the river
| sparkling with sunbeams and in front of a
tent gIy with fluttering pennons One
! saw on the bank the mayor in his scarf,
! the police in their yellow shoulder belts,
| swarm of Summer toilets, of open UNI
brellas and straw hats. Pouml OF goes
| the roc let; IL is the signal The Marsouin
| shoots by like an arrow, wins offhand
and carries away the prize.
Fatigued? not bit. Round the tower
at Marne and return to dinner at Creteil
! The night comes on cool In the shadowy
arbor the lighted pipes show like constel-
lations At the end of dessert, served
here, there, where you will, the sound of
| the cornet at the ball at Willis's. In place
for the quadrillel But hold rival crew,
| vanquiShed that very morning, had Sc
| cured all the pretty laundresses. To the
| rescue! Now for broken teeth, black eyes,
broken bones, blows on head, below the
belt-in a word, a whole poem of bodily
enthus asm, of brawling joy, of overflow
| ing health, not to speak of the return at
midnight, of crowded stations, of women
| hoisted into the cars, of friends separated
and calling to one another from one end of
the ira to the other, and the horns of the
guard on the top.
Painful as it il to avow it, | must confess
that nv admiration of Slaughter was tenn
pered with regret and bitterness. Perhaps
there was it it even something of envy.
But ne 5er did the recital of his most mar
velous exploit awaken in me the least
suspicion of incredulity, and Achilles
Slaughter early found place in my mind
between heroes and demigods, between Ro-
land ard Pirithous.
At this same time | wandered much
about he suburbs, spending my idle sum
mer evenings in solitary walks in these far
off reg ons, as unknown to tae Partisan of
the boulevard as the country of the Carl
bees, and of which ] hope later to celebrate
in verse its melancholy charm.
One not and dusty evening in July, just
as the gas Jets were beginning to shine
through the twilight mists, | returned,
walking slowly from the outskirts of Vau-
grard. i chose one of the long and weary
streets of the Faubourg, framed in by
houses Of unequal height, where the con-
cierges sit ii, the doorway in shirt sleeves
and short gowns, fancying they are taking
the air At long distances a mason, white
with plaster, passes by; policeman or a
child with 3 loaf of bread longer than it
self, OF, perhaps, a young girl hurrying
| ainp,, ., bonnat anl Sxafarpr00f with 4,