The Bessemer indicator., 1894-01-13


possessed of burning desire to relate
his adventures to somebody. had
been looking nt him with one eye; the
other, nearest him, kept tight shut.
and did not move, for had no desire
to enter into conversation with him.
But my friend was not SO easily shaken
in his purpose; he came close to my
bedside stepping on my bootjack. SO
that 1t fell over with terrible noise,
and held the lighted candle within q
few inches of my nose. 1t was i'm
possible for even the most shameless
shammer of sleep to hold out any
longer. Iopened my eyes and said IN
the sleepiest tone could assume.
Enjoyed ycurself?"
"Fnmously, my dear fellow" an
swered Balder, seating himself on the
side Of my bed, although / forestalled
his intention and left hardly an inch
for him to sit on. Then he entered
into long and not very lucid rigma-
role on souls which are destined to
come together. The story was rem.
dered all the more difficult rs Under
stand from the fact that kept falling
asleep and dreaming between his
rhapsodies. bnt gathered that Balder
had met with young Spanish lady at
the mask ball, who apparently
possessed the soul which he Vas fated
to meet, and that shr was the only
person on earth who could make him
happy. lie had spent the whole
evening with her, and she had prom
tsed to meet him at the next ball At
his request she had lifted her veil for
one instant, revealing face of Ma
donna like beauty. 1t was simple
ltnrv I1tNf rvl n - Hro ~, L., a.o.t
with love he fingers over it. The
words grace, southern coloring, eyes
like gazel'e, etc, must have been
repeated very often, for dreamed
latcr on that was repeating them to
myself
bore 1t NIL patiently, for hospitality
is q sacred duty, and, besides. the
state which Balder's mind wns in
demanded and deserved consideration.
AS he went on with his story he
raised his voice, perhaps to rouse my
tagging attention. Suddenly some
body coughed in the next room. 1t
was not natural cough, but an
artificial one, evidently intended by
my lady to serve Us a gentle reminder
that at o'clock in the morning all
respectable people should be In bed
and quiet My room was only
separated from the apartments in
which my landlady and her daughter
slept by door, which was hidden on
either side by high wardrobe
through which, in spite of this pre-
caution, voices could be heard very
distinctly. informed Balder of this
fact, but unfortunately, he utterly
refused to take my advice and go
quietly to bed. He said he could not
sleep. and, unhappily, catching sight
of my coffee machine, he added that
ho would like some coffee.
''Sleep If you cam" he said; 81 can
manage it all for myself" He then
removed his coat, dressed himself In
the dressing gown which acted as his
mattress, and started to get some
water from the kitchen. knocking
things down on the way, and opening
and shutting the wrong doors. l be-
came resigned and made up my mind
ings. Somebody else coughed. 1t was
the Fraulein Lieschen this time, my
landludy's daughter. At any other
time, Balder himself would have
shown more consideration.
Most extraordinary noises proceeded
from the water tap in the kitchen At
last the kitchen door banged. and
Balder reappeared again. Iexpressed
my regret that had no methylutcd
spirit, but he said 1t did not matter,
and catching hold of bottle OF my
expensive brandy, poured lot into
the lamp. Then he sat gazing into
the blue flame without blinking.
Crashi went the glass of the globe,
and the boiling water poured all over
the table and put out the fro sprang
out of my bed. "Good gracious!' I
exclaimed, 1.-THE whole thing will ex-
plode." He said nothing, but began
to pick up the hot pieces of glass pa
ticntly. The coughing in the next
room became louder than ever.
For heavens sake" l went on,
TRY to be quiet if you can. The peo-
pie in the next room want to go to
sleep Don't you hear them cough
ing?"
"Wcli! never heard of such impu-
dencc! That coughing has dis
turbed me for some time Anybody
would think you'd got into an aims
house for old women. Where is the
sugar."
Up there in the cigar box. But
don't knock that rapier down"
Bulder climbed up on q cane chair.
1t gave way. Klirrl The rapier fell
on the floor, and Balder with it.
'Confound you, do take care.
Didn't 1 warn you?" An energetic
knocking at the door Of communica-
tion interrupted me-
Herr Reif, l must really beg you
to be quiet" called my landlady's
daughter, not by any means in her
sweetest tones "We've been kept
awake for tho last hour"
"That's nothing to u.s." said Balder
from the floor, where he was grouping
for the rnpier thnt had rolled under
the wardrobe.
DO be quiet! That is my land
lady's daughter, q very respccta BILE
girl"
"Well. is nobody respectable but
her? What did you pay rent for2"
His face grew red with rage, and,
placing his mouth close to the door,
he called out, "What do you want
with Rcif? He's In bed. only
wanted to reach down the sugar, and
the old rapicr fell on my hcad-a
thing that might happen to anybody
Just lie down quietly and go to sleep.
ho pital?"
DO be quiet, Balder!' begged and
my pleading at least had the effect OF
silancing whatever else WAS on his
.cngue. He Thought no more of The
sugar, but sat Mt the table and drank
his self-brewed coffee without It
When he had finished il he lighted a
cigarette, at which he puffed away
Til the room was full Of smoke. As
lay and looked Mt hin, fell into that
rcnref,,l statss in which dreaming and
reality are 40 much mixed that II Is
hard to distinguish lctwecn the n.
Aud then Baller di appeared 10 clouds
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