The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-02-05
THE ROBBER.

! 1.-THE author OF this story, Guy de Maupas-
SAINT has recently become insane.l
when | tell you, you Will not be-
iieve me-"
"Never mind; tell z.s, all the same"
"Willingly, but feel the necessity OF
first declaring that my story is true In
every particular, improbable as it seems.
4 Artists alone will not be surprised, par
ticularly those who lived in that period
when the spirit of fun and frolic per-
vaded artist life, even in the most seri-
GUS circumstances.
This conversation took place in the
salle-a-manger of the Hotel de Barbison
among lot of students.
! The old artist who had just spoken
placed himself astride his chair and con-
tinued:
Well, we had dined that evening with
/ Sorieul. Poor fellow, he is now dead!
/ There were only three of us-Sorieul,
LIE Poittevin and myself. Sorieul was
the widest of us all, and to say we had
dined at mis- house signifes-we were all
drunk lie Poittevin alone retained his
senses-a little cloudy, it istrue-still he
knew what he was doing. All! we were
young in those days.
Lying on the carpetin little room adj
joining the atelier, we discussed in the
most extravagant manner all kinds Of
4 improbable things.
Sorieul, fiat ON his back his feet
perched on the back of chair, talked
about battles and the uniforms worn dur
ing the empire Suddenly getting up,
he went to a large wardrobe and took
down complete suit of hussar uniform,
dressed himself in it, then tried to per-
suade LIE Poittevin to costume himself
as grenadier. When he resisted we
seized him, undressed him, and forced
him into an immense uniform which
completely swallowed him up.
l disguised myself as a cuirassier, and
Sorieul made us execute some very com
plicated meneuvers.
Then he exclaimed, Gas we are now
soldiers, we must drink like soldiersl'
A punch was lighted, swallowed;
again and again the flames rose up from
the bowl of rum We sang the old songs
which the troopers of the Grand Army
sang in ancient times.
Suddenly LIE Poittevin, who in spite
of all this was still master of himself,
made us a sign to be silent; after listen
ing moment, he said, in low voice,
81 am sure | hear some one walking in
the atelierw
Sorieul got up as well as he could, and
cried out, "a robert what luck!' and
began to troll the "Marseillaise," ITO
armsl To arms, ye braver'
We dashed to panoply of arms and
equipped ourselves according to our uni
saber; LIE Poittevin gigantic gun with
a bayonet Sorieul, not finding what he
wanted, seized horse pistol, which he
stuck in his belt, and a boarding ak,
which he wildly brandished. Then
cautiously opening the door of the ate
lier, the army entered the suspected ter
ritory.
When we were in the midst of this
| vast room. encountered with easels, pic
lures and strange, unexpected objects
of furniture, Sorieul called halt and
said: Il constitute myself general. Let
us hold council of war. You cuiras-
siers, go and cut off the retreat of the
enemy, that is, Lock the door, You
grenadiers will be my escort"
executed the commanded movement
then joined the troop that formed the
accommodating party.
l was searching behind great screen
a lighted candle in my hand, when 8
furious noise burst forth. | darted out
to find LIE Poittevin had stuck his bayo
net into the breast of lay figure, ani
Sorieul was trying to cut off the head
with his AK
The mistake being recognized the gen
eral commanded, BE more prudent!'
and again we commenced operations.
For twenty minutes at least we ran
sacked every corner and crevice of thu
atelier without success. At last LIE Poit
tevin thought of opening large closet
1t was dark and deep. thrust in my
arm, holding the light, but quickly re
coiled; mana living, breathing MAJ
was there looking at me!
| l Immediately shut the door and Sc
cured it by two turns of the key; thel
we held new council of war.
Opinions were very much divided. So
rieul wanted to smoke out the robber, l.,
Poittevin to take him by famine; l pro
posed to blow him up with powder.
The advice of LIE Poittevin prevailed
J While he mounted guard with hi
, gigantic gun we ran off for the remain
der of the punch and our pipes; whel
we installed ourselves before the locked
door and drank to the health of the pris
oner.
AT the end of half an hour Sorieul said
"All the same, would like to see hin
nearerl Suppose we take him by force.
cried Bravo" Each one dashed t,
his arms, the closet door was opened
Sorieul cooking his pistol-which wa
not loaded-was the first to rush in, W,
followed, bowling and yelling. It wa
an awful scrimmage in the dark, ant
after five minutes of frightful struggling
we brought out an old, dirty, ragged
looking beggar with long white hair.
We bound him hand and foo+ ,,1 x,~c.