The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-02
MADAME.

She came to buy French and Italian
books for her pupils. for she still
taught these languages, and music be-
sides. though she must have been 20
at the very least
Picture little being with very
wide-5rimmed straw hat, tightly held
upon her head by stout blue ribbon,
the ends of which were tied in an elab-
crate bowl1not beneath her chin. An
old valise or lady's leather bag of the
kind that can be seen in ante-bellum
fashion plates, dangled from her shriv-
0ied yellow hand. Her dress was a
very old fashioned garment. its main
characteristic being an overdress re-
sembling the once popular poionaise.
This was edged with black lace which
bore so many rents that the pattern
had totally disappeared. Her manners
were piquante and interesting withal,
for one could not help rejecting that
they were the recognized proprieties of
a nearly departed generation.
What am I to pay for this little
volume of readings for beginners? q
asked madame one day, as she hob
bled inside the store with a book that
she had picked up from the stand out
side
She did not get an immediate reply
A terrific rain had suddenly set in and
the entire force of the establishment
was required to hustle the stock from
the display stand in front of the show
window to safe place inside the store.
When the books were all under shelter
we stood and watched the driving rain
that was coming down in torrents and
which blew over the granite pavement
in great clouds of streamy white, look
ing for all the world like spray from
a sea of angry breakers.
Suddenly we heard a furious voice
behind US
you are not very courteous in
rainy weather, it seems"
Turning. we discovered madame eye
ing my partner and myself with indie
terminate wrath, as if she could
decide which 10 scold first for having
ignored her.
1--WE will make you a present Of the
book, madame, if you will tell us
true story about yourself" he said
affably. NOW, come. you see how it
is raining and you VIII have plenty of
tinae.'
"a true story about myselfr' max
ing a grotesGue gesture with her UNI
brella- ssWho ever tells true stories
about themselves
1T need not be particularly true"
returned he, lighting his pipe at gas
Jet near by, for Duck. as 1 called him
in short for Duckington, was an in
Veterate smoker.
while he was sti,l leaning over the
Jet madame without warning. struck
him a sudden blow on the shoulder
with her umbrella We had become
quite used to these demonstrations, for
whenever she was displeased madame's
favorite means of showing IL was ny
an assault upon the offender with this
aged implement, though the attack was
invariably a merely perfunctory and
Tnake-believe affair. On this occasion,
however. she seemed to impart a some
what vicious force to the blow.
stop that. you heather" she cried
in genuine. anger. If you dare TO
smoke that pipe before me I will
but no." she added. calming down, q
VIII not snatch it from your lips. I
did that on one occasion and I shall
never cease to regret it, for it saddled
upon me a worthless husband-whom
I am at last happily rid of, however"
Long as we had known madame 81 Z
was still mystery to us, so that we
priclSed up our ears with interest at
this mention of husband.
IF you will tell us the circum-
stances I viii not only present you
with the book but 1 will lay down my
pipe as well,' remarked Duck, banter
ingly.
Done replied madame. with a nod
of her head, munching her toothless
gums after the fashion of very old peo-
pie when they are pleased. But 1
warn you that it is ancient history; it
goes back thirty, forty, fifty years,
perhaps more. In fact, it goes back
to that remote period when I was 20
years of age and as pretty as an ar
lists dream. Can you imagine that2
There really was such time, l assure
nj LAUGHED Wv
as a schoolgirl.
They used to ride in stage coaches
in those days. she resumed, and
grand journeys they were. Most Of
the young ladies of my time raised
their little white hands in horror at
the thought of an overland journey,
but IT never had any terrOrs for me l
would rather ride to New York by that
means today than to travel in the
finest vestibuied palace car on the
rails" And madame looked at us
defiantly as if to challange contradic-
ton.
''Ah, yes" she went on, with a re-
Prospective sigh. ut was glorious
travelling, In spite of the fatigue, the
dust, the highwaymen and numerous
breakdoOns on the road. 1t was in a
stage coach that / first met this hus-
band of mine l was coming from
New York to teach school in Cincin-
natl a city that was at that time in
the far. far west. you know, and he was
on his Wy TO Harvard. Quite a. diff
ferent-looking being he was in those
times from what he is now. He was
tall and handsome then-oh. SO hand
some: His features bore the stamp Of
birth and affiuence. The peculiar cast
of aristocracy hauteur that is becom-
ing TO brawny young men was present
in mis- countenance. All, me! How he
changed
Dnck and I silently wondered what
sort Of citizen madame's husband
eoald be that he brought look of such
regret into her sharp hazel eyes.
Well" she said, rousing herself
from a reverie. ''as fate would have it
we were in this stage coach that left
New York All the male passengers
has climbed out on top to smoke-all
with the exception of Chauncey. as /
afterwards learned his name to be. He
would have gone, too but for the fact
that when he was ready there was no
room It was a characteristic of his
never TO feel an impulse until the OPP
portunity was gone. A long and bitter
experience has illustrated that sorrow
1ul truth to me.
However, when he found that there
was no longer any room for him on
top Of the vehicle he did what he con-
sidered was the next best thing. He
placidiy fishe6 a small meerschaum
from his pocket, filed It with tobacco
and coolly began TO smoke. What do
you think OF chat for inpudence2 From
childhood L have despised tobacco, par
ticularly in a pipe, but l stood Chaun-
ceys Just as long as l could. And
when I could stand it no longer rose
M and. without a warning. snatched
that pipe from his lips like a tigress
and hurled It from the window"