The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-12-01
i. japanese vase

leaves over utr netiu W FL -,
| tht sum- and amid this cohlueion' "ton
her calm face, she looked Inv 81 p---'oe'S
IN a Chinese palace ,o5; w.
A maE In blouse WAS e.to
horses By tbs bride. He was coSenee ~tOh
dirt from the shells, ana MS PAM WI
trasted with the placidlty Oh 'h0 "oiian
| he was escorting
When she reached us, she gave the order
In stop and tban bowed very prettily to the
| captain.
GOOD morning, captain. l IN very giao
to be among Christians al iasg, IL iihe
the snail, you see. 1 travel WIN NY Aiouse
on my back-through the pomps'
| And she burst out Laughing.
| She was really charming anu snouia
never have guessed that SO mucn Pluck
could be hidden under such delicate ex'
terror.
The captain instinctively drew together
the divorced portions OF his trousers and
forced them to live together 1or the Time
being; then, treasured as to MS prestlge,
he put ON his most formidable voice ana
with the pose of gendarme examining
legal document asked: "Where 40 you
come from? Where are you golng!
"Why, come from Paris 1t IS no run
there any more. If you could see tne
boulevards! It's really sad! ALI my Irlenos
are gone, and the theaters are all CLOSED.
The communist staff officers are the swelis
lust now. and thew are SO dirty! Such
caps, such boards, such faces-1t's rldlcu-
lous! If had had to stay among that lot,
should have died have little box OF
| a house at Longiumeau, regular little
nest, not very big, you know, but very
hrott md r
better days"
'sThere is only one obstacle to this plan,
| madame which is that / shall not allow
you to pass"
She looked at the captain in astonish-
ment Probably no man had ever dared
to speak to her in such tone before, and,
not understanding such rough lnJunc-
ton, she looked about to see whether, help
pas possibly to be found among the rest
Of us.
The lieutenant looked rather indiffer-
! emily, enthusiastically, as one whose
mind and thoughts were elsewhere. He
was no ally.
Behind him was the second lieutenant.
He was smoking with his usual impas-
siveness. Neither did his large, round
syes give promise of help.
/ was in the background, and l admit
that was looking at her with all my
eyes. don't know whether she noticed
this, but she raised her voice.
i'What, you won't let me pass? Do you
know that you are extremely impertinent,
sir? Are you going to be as rude as the
4 communist commanding La Porte d Italle
"a person whom would not let into my
stable for fear Of selling it, and who forced
me to parley with him for half an hour? l
was obliged to- be- polite and make the
gentleman's conquest, and finally tanned
him SO thoroughly that he insisted on
treating me to a glass of horrible ourrant
brandy 9Re gu
GLOW disgustingP'i
"Come am sure you are going to let
me off cheaper!3
And she gave him glance which would
have softened tiger.
The captain never flinched, but replied:
MADAME, when orders are that no one IS
to pass, no one passes. If Mime. Theirs
herself was to appear, should turn her
back. "
am convinced that he was thinking OF
the advertising woodcut in the shops OF La
Redingote Grise, which represents con-
script stopping Napoleon and telling him
he couldn't pass if he were the little cor
poral himself.
She looked at me again. This time l
made heroic resolve and burned my
bridges behind me, Time was precious,
and had to force the situation. l came
forward and pretended to suddenly recog-
| nize her.
ssWhat, is that you? You here?" And
climbing into the truck fell into her arms
and kissed her vigorously. How Willingly
I acted my comedy, and how natural L
must have been in the part! She scream
ed, but 1 whispered, ''Silence, and you'll
get through"
You may imagine THAI brave little
woman who was not afraid of bursting
shells was not going to faint because an
officer of dragons, whom she had never
laid eyes on before, kissed her without
warning. So she threw herself bravely
into the part, and I felt two soft arms
about my neck, while her lips touched my
forehead. Il
I turned to the captain, slightly upset.
II have known this lady for years, and
can answer for cher as for myself. l
trust, captain, that you will now allow
her to pass and will even give her an es-
cort of ten dragons. This will allow her
to reach Longjumeau without further
-
means of verifying her identity OBJ
!, The captain, after much persuasion,
agreed, and 1 feared for moment that
for greater security he intended to accom-
pany the ten dragons himself Luckily
I reminded him in time that his trousers
had been with the army of the Loire. The
lieutenant would have been unwilling to
compromise himself by appearing in COM
pany with such a good looking person, the
second lieutenant would have been obliged
to stop smoking, which would have vexea
him greatly-in short, the command OF
the escort was left to me.
placed five dragons in front OF she
truck and five behind, and set forth IN
triumph with my prisoner.
| She is snatching away my pen and de-
claring that the rest of the story does not
concern the public. And, after all, she IS
perhaps right, for it is already ancient his
tory. Translated From the French For
Short Stories.
Improved Potato Culture.