St. Landry democrat., 1892-11-12
A COSTLY EARTHQUAKE

the season; the low tide signal was flying
and the usual crowd of men that one al
ways sees there at the bathing hour had
ranged themselves along the edge of the
little wooden walk from the cluster OF
bath houses to the waters edge to see the
fair bathers trip in.
| had seen it all hundred times at
least and knew the scene by heart. The
fat woman satilted me, the thin ones re-
PEELED me, the sands Of this pebbly beach
were never intended TO be sat on COM
fortably, and | was about to retreat to
the shaded corridors of Frascati's we'll
known hosiery, when NJ. lie DUAL, a tall,
robust, well-prescrved compatriot, whom
| had first met at the table d'hote week
ago, approached and took seat beside
me- He was alone and naturally | re-
marked, scanning the crowd of heads
bobbing about on the waves before us:
MADAME, Ipresume, is in the bath,
monsieur2"
Eyes" replied he, pointing her out to
me; "behold her."
She was standing erect now; the waves
leaving to view charming head. A
beautiful head, | should have said-rich
black hair, soft dark eyes, red lips and
trans parent skin--in short, an ideal and
piq1 ant brunette, so pretty that | could
not hell telling the husband of my adj
III ration.
"But," said I, "she surely cannot be
French, monsieur; she looks too much
like Spanish woman"
"No," he answered, ''she is neither
the one nor the other" and then,
without further preamble or hesitation
he began, and told me the following
story:
''It was Summer evening in the year
1877" said he, "and | was sitting on
the veranda of a charming dwelling in
the outskirts of the city of Caracas. Be
fore me stretched perspective of beau
tifully kept lawn and shaded walks,
while farther along, among the shady
trees, shone the silvery CLEAN of tiny
lake, and far off in the distance the daz-
zling white of the Caracas houses against
background of sun and sombre noun
tains.
But it was not at Natures painting
that was gazing at that moment. | did
not need to search the landscape for
beauties to charm the eye when at my
side was seated what seemed to me then
and still-for she is now nv wife, sir
the loveliest woman that | had ever set
eyes on.
"To describe to you the ardor with
which | regarded the lustre of the dark
hair, the gentle depths Of the black eyes,
the scarlet curves of the smiling lips and
sylph-like figure is simply impossible.
Suffice it that | appreciated them SO thor
oughly that I had just proposed to her.
though it took the courage of Napoleon
to do it-and was waiting breathlessly
to receive my answer.
'She liked me, | knew, her father also,
and had been great deal at their house;
but liking is not love, and whether Nina
de Latore loved me or not, the cool
friendliness of her manner, SO tantalizing
to a lover who fears his doom ahead, had
hitherto prevented my finding out.
'tYou know of course, sir" pursued NJ.
le DUAL, diverging moment from the
line Of his story, chow frequent earth
quakes are in that part of South Africa,
especially in summer, when they occur
almost daily. At the day I speak of,
every since early morning, the ground
had been shivering inwardly, while from
time to time low, deep rumble could be
heard like the mutter of distant thunder.
Like every one else, however, who
lived in Caracas, | had grown accustomed
to and in measure Indifferent to these
constant seismic disturbances, but now,
even in the absorbing interest of the sub
ject that filled my thoughts, | could not
help noticing how greatly of late these
quaking tremors had increased.
''In fact, | had hardlyfinished my low
cr's plea, when huge porcelain vase at
the foot of the steps was jostled from its
pedestal and shivered to atoms and at the
same instant I was thrown violentlysto
the floor of the balcony With a haste
that great peril only inspires, was on
my feet again and turning to seek Nina to
seize her in my arms and if possible to
bear her to place of safety. She was
no longer beside me, and looking about
me, dazed though was, could no
longer see her.
sit was useless as we'll as madness to /
wait longer, and with difficulty keeping
my footing on the rocking floor l fed |
down the staggering steps and from the
dangerous neighborhood of the grooming
house. To go far, however, on the toss
ing ground was impossible; sick and
dizzy, was forced to my knees. The
house behind me sWayed and swung from
side to side; the chimneys cracked and
topplsd down on the roof; whole planks,