Los Angeles herald., 1892-10-02
In THE GARDENS.

you. IL ID rs Vlvlu TO me as though 1t
had occurred yesterday.
81 am now fifty years old. I was
young then and l was studying law,
prone to sadness, little of dreamer,
impregnated with a melancholy philos-
ophy. did not care for the noisy cafes,
the roistering students or the grisettes
Of the QUARTER. always rose early,
and one of my favorite pastimes was to
wander alone, about o'clock in the
morning, in tho nursery gardens of the
Luxembourg.
"You others did not know these gar
dens. They were like an enchanted
garden of past century, garden as
pretty as the sweet smile of an old lady.
Boxwood hedges separated the straight
and narrow alleys, silent and deserted
alleys, between two walls of method
ically, clipped foliage. The gardeners
scissors relentlessly clipped these divid-
ing bushes, and here and there you came
upon parterre Of flowers and planta.
tions OF young trees, set out like col
legians on parade, magnificent groups
of rose bushes and whole regiment of
fruit trees
Zone corner of this enchanted garden
was given over to the bees. Their straw
houses set at certain spaces apart, on
benches, admitted the sunlight by doors
about as large as a thimble, and all
along the path the gilded and buzzing
bees, true denizens of these silent alleys
and corridors, real mistresses Of this
peaceful spot, flew in every direction.
II used to go there nearly every
morning, and seating myself on a bench
would read; sometimes I let my book
fall on my knees dreamily, family hear
ing the sounds of living Paris all around
me, and enjoyed to its utmost the in
finite repose Of this remnant Of ancient
regime.
''But found that was not the only
frequenter of this spot after the open
ing of the barrieres; I sometimes en-
countered, face to face, in the corner of
q grove strange little old man.
y HE wore shoes with silver buckles.
knee breeches, a snuff colored redingote,
fall of lace instead of cravat and an
indescribable gray hat, with immense
brim and long hairs, which looked as if
It might have been the fashion before
the deluge.
"He was thin almost to attenuation,
angular, puckered and smiling. His
quick glancing eyes were never still,
and his lids were contracted by nerv-
ous twitching. He always carried q
superb gold headed cane, which must
have been from the careful way in which
he handled 1t souvenir of priceless
value.
"This good man astonished me at
first, and then he interested me beyond
measure. watched him across the
leafy wall; ! followed him from afar,
stopping near the fowerbeds SO as not
to be seen.
"And now strange thing happened.
One morning, thinking himself unseen,
he commenced to make the most singu-
lar movements; first few little bounds;
then bow; then he threw out his slen-
der leg and cut a light caper; then he
commenced to pivot gracefully, jump
ing, futtering in queer fashion, smil-
ing as though to an audience, bowling,
throwing out his arms, twisting his poor
puppet of body, throwing to empty
space tendsr and ridiculous kisses. He
was dancing.
II remained petrifed with astonish-
pent, asking myself which was crazy,
he or /?
"He stepped suddenly, as though to
the footlights, then bowed, backing
away with gracious smiles and airy
kisses, which he threw to the two rows
Of clipped trees.
"Then he gravely continued his prom
enade.
"From that day I watched him each
morning go through with his indescrib-
able gymnastics.
"a foolish desire came over me to
speak to him. Irisked it, and one morn
ing, meeting him face to face, bowed
to him, saying:
1T is beautiful day, SIR
ssHe bowed.
"sYes, monsieur, it is verify day Of
the olden times
"Eight days later we were fast friends
and I knew his story. He had been bal
let master at the opera during the reign
Of Louis XIV. His beautiful cane was
present from Clermont. When once
started on the subject of dancing there
was no stopping him.
zone day he told me the following.
"sI married La Castris, monsieur. I
will present my wife to you if you wish,
but she does not come out until later in
the day. This garden is our joy and
our life. It is all that remains to us Of
our past. It seems to us as though we
could not live without it. It is old and
distinguished, is it not? Here I seem to
breathe an atmosphere which has not
changed since the days Of my youth.
Ny wife and ] pass all our afternoons
here. But come alone in the morn
ings, rise SO early
las soon as had finished my break
fast returned to the Luxembourg
gardens. Presently perceived my old
friend, who ceremoniously rendered his
arm 70 very small old lady dressed in
black. This was La Castris. the great
dancer. beloved of the king, the favorite
81 princes, the adored Of that gallant
reign which seems to have left to the
world an odor of love.
1--WE seated ourselves on one OF the
stone benches. It was in the month Of
May. The perfume Of flowers permeated
the air around US. A glorious sunlight
9linted through the leaves and cast rays
Of, light around us La Castris' black
Sroea ooovnad hathed in sunshine