Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-06-26
WELL HELMETED.

With what impatience 0cryasic
awaited the coming Saturday. For on
Saturday there was to be hall ut the
Alhambra under the auspices Of the 30
ciety II Mochuelo II was 20 IN mas
querade. and 10 would bo his flrt time
20 APPEAR In disguise He had made the
engagement with several friends, and
besides intended to make q formal slccla'
ration Of his love. long and silently cher
ishcd. 10 PcpitA q very clever girl, the
daughter of q prominent merchant who
lived In the Gale del Ave Maria The
occasion would be propitious bccauss
Rpiia would attend the ball masked.
and Gor,asio knew exactly what hcI
costume was going TO bc He hal al
really bargain"d with n friend to intro
due. him 90 hor father In order that he
might obtain permission to dance with
tho young girl. for whom he had al
ready destined . fine box of sweets,
bought for this express purposo at th,
shop Of La Pajarita In tho Pucrta del
Sol
Gervasio was q good fellow. lie had
obtained a government position, q mod
ost one. to d. surc. but his income suf'
ficcd to cover All his EXPENSES. and n
he hal no family and lived alone In q
small apartment and had good relation,
ho could call himself u happy man
That hall aggravated him. Hc lived
upon his illusion of appearing In the
Costume Of troubadour. which he had
adjusted 90 his form. and ~ climax
10 his guci fortune Baron do las Rosas,
who had many fine armors At his hou-s.
had prumi-.d him . helmet an ancient
brcastplatc and q sword
How many nights the god Gcryasio
dreamed atOut that BEAUTIFUL costume,
the compliment. frum his friends and
the coyctous glanccs IL some pretty girls
surely Pepita would not b. able O.
rsi-, him and would at least on that
night write u chapter on hope In thu
history of her love affairs
AZ last came the nights - long looked
forward To Gcryasio arrived at the
house u the baron when the latter To
turned frum the theatcr at about 1880
O'Clock. lie was alr,aiy drcsscd for the
ball and lacked nothing except the he'll
met and hrcastplato of oour.e he did
not wear inask-
"who would think u q max. " said
h., when one can pull down the visor
One can -se and tcaiho much l.'ttcr.
and. ahov. all. the lizard and neck will
not show.
"BuL my friend" said the baron
while his valet was putting the helmet
on G,ryasio ''you arr going 10 bc very
tirvd indeed This weighs to much u
10 worn all night long"
"No. sir. IL l. all right
Every well. do as you wish"
And Gcryasio was an armed knight
He returned To his cab and drove to the
AlhAnbra
Gcryasio enier,d the ballroom. carry.
ing himself like veritabie troubadour.
What u martial and elegant asp-ct
he imaginc,i himself pr,ventinal In his
Imagination be- saw himself. ~ In q
mirror. walking about among similar
costumes. and r~i. blue and yellow
domino- - pcrcaline He eltpwcd his
WAY among the testers who gracefully
donncd IN. embroidered MANILA man.
ties. and passed haughtily by the girl.
disguised ~ babies or virgins wboSo co..
tune Looked u. IL they w,r home
made" IL thought himself the object
Of ths admiration II all and was him.
self darzied by the reflection of helmet
and brastplaie In the rays u electric
light He sought pcpita and finally.
after great i.uublc. succ.cdcd In meeting
her The friend who was to Introduce
him to the girls father kept his wor'l
They began waltz. and the troubadour,
Offering his arm to Pcpita. promenade,l
In the salon.
But there he soon found out that the
baron hal spoken ~ by the mouth Of a
prophet Iio could scarcely hear what
he was saying under his helmet His
yoice sounded like . hollow ccho The
heat was something unendurablo Shut
In, ~ he was. with the visor tightly
fastened. In an atmosphere impoyer'
ished BY the heat and the presence Of ~
many pcople. he could scarcely catch
his breath
pcpita did not hear . word he said
lie wanted 90 make q final effort and
began 10 waltz. but that, too. became
lie saw nothing. The he'll
met jogging about ON all sides bump,al
his cranium Mt every turn. and he mar
rowly escaped falling down In tho mid
die of the room
Finally be- was forced to abandon Pep
ita and 10 discard his inoognito IL
was necessary for him TO yet some air.
TO wipe of the perpiration which bath
ed his oountonance and 10 see where hc
was going But he found no relief In
spite Of his lifting tho visor. for h,
rould neither put In the handkerchief
with his hand. nor did the weight hc
carried ON his head cease psining him
Then raging and desperate. having lost
his fond illusions. without being able
to propose TO PepitA and what was
worse without any one having taken mo-
tice Of him. he determined to return
home, and like one contemplating sui
eide he left the theater, after having
spent one hour there. exhausted In body
as we'll as in spirit Neither mind nor
matter had bscn able To support hell
met of the tournament on the night Of
the ball.
He arrived at his home. but speaking.
- II were. into large earthen dish and
being unable to uncover his head. the
watchmcn refused TO let him In. and
entrpaties. arguments and signs were
necessary TO convince the dubious man
that 10 was the real Mr.. Gervasio
When this first difficulty had been
overcome. he went stumbling mp the 70
steps which separated him from his
room. He opened the door with great
difficulty. and with yet more he sue
oeedcd In lighting candle
Then tho struggle began. He had
never worn q helmet before. and In his
haste to w 10 the ball had not been
careful to fnd out how II should b
taken on.
lie walked TO and fro inciosed thus
tried everything that looked like . but
ton. buckle or spring. but TO no avail
The helmet seemed to cleavc 10 him