The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-12-21

yourselves Of the truth of my state
ment tomorrow at the ball, if you will
ask Kahlbaum to dance with you in
the cotillon. AS he guides his partner,
the support can easily be felt" /
The ladies protested Indignantly, |
but each to herself resolved to under |
take journey of discovery upon the
back Of the poor man at the very first
opportunity.
The next evening found representa-
tlves from every house in town wend-
ing their way toward the Casino.
Even Kahlbaum, yielding to his de-
sire to see Maud once more, Joined
the merry throng. The meeting be-
tween the two was somewhat COLI
strained. However, Kahlbaum thought
Maud in ball-dress and pink roses,
with her perfect shoulders and soft
eyes, a thousand times prettier than
before; and he devoted himself with
such success to her entertainment
that she soon forgot the iron spiint
and even the dance which she dearly
loved. A brilliant polka brought the
thoughts Of both back to the ballroom,
and Offering his hand without word,
he plunged with her boldly, yes, even
with inspiration, into the whirling
maze.
All! there it was again, the fatal
iron!
Maud grew slightly pale, but con-
trolled herself by a violent effort.
After the dance, Kahlbaum left the
ballroom, but in the pause before the
cOtillion, he returned to seat himself
in the circle beside Maud. He had
determined to try his fate during this
very dance; but, In so determining,
he had reckoned without the coffee
party of Frau Won KeSselschmidt
1t was during the very first figure
that the generals wife, a thin, faded
lady of uncertain age, decided to
make upon the assessor the expert
ment suggested by the clever little
Englishwoman. Scarcely had they
taken the first steps when Kahlbaum
became suddenly aware of a nervous
band scrabbling up and down his
back, and beating a regular tattoo on
his spinal column. At first, he paid
little attention to it, thinking that the
good lady must be excessively nerv-
Gus. But the investigating tattoo be-
came more and more intense. Now
Kahlbaum had the misfortune to be
SO ticklish that the outstretched finger
of signboard nearly threw him into
commissions. For some time he con-
trolled himself. but finally he began
to wriggle and twist under the merci-
less hand of his partner. His face
began to twitch convulsively.
Frau Won Kesselschmidt had
watched the first experiment with
ever-increasfng interest and alarm,
and as she realized the outcome, even
without the speaking look of the gen.
erals wife, she murmured aloud,
"Poor Maudie!'
Meantime the assessor, wiping the
drops of moisture from his brow, had
led his partner to her chair and was
turning toward his own place in the
circle; but alas! between him and
Maud stood the mayors wife, who,
with gracious smile, bade him re-
turn to the dance. Only a few turns,
and again commenced the same tor
turing cropping. By the most incredi-
BILE turnings and twistings the poor
man tried to escape; but the more he
twisted, the more determined grew
the search of his partner. The may
or's wife, absorbed in her conscien-
tious examination, paid no attention
to the peculiar movements of her
partner; the whole company, on the
extraordinary behavior of the new
assessor. They whispered that he had
taken too mucn wine. Maud was in
despair, and her sister regretted the
coffee party from the bottom OF her
heart.
No sooner had this city mother,
overwhelmed with grief at her dis
covery, let the poor victim slip from
hn thnp, 1,o 1o.y h.
pOstmaster's wife, who, undaunted
by the general indignation at his be-
havior, offered her hand to put him
again to the test.
1t was a trying position for the un-
fortunate man. He felt that he was
the object of universal attention, that
a catastrophe awaited him. Still, he
would not be rude on the very first
evening of his entrance into the best
society of Lr1ebben; so he took with a
shiver the proffered hand. The Or
chestra struck up a noisy galop.
Kahlbaum had but one desire,-to get
this frightful dance into the past and
return to Maud. He whirled madly
into the crowd. Away went the fin
gers at the same moment, up and
down, up and down. Beside himself,
the poor fellow exclaimed, ''Please,
please stop tickling mev' At that
very instant the noisy music, which
had been merely the prelude to the
dance, was hushed, and the winged
words echoed through the hall.
A moment of ominous silence, a
burst of laughter. The postmaster's
wife thought best to faint. Hopeless
confusion arose, in which Maud took
refuge with her sister, who wrung her
hands In despair. The innocent vic
tim, as white as a sheet, staggered
into a side-room, where he was about
to sink exhausted on a sofa, when
he heard the voice of the mayor:
''Sir, your behavior of this evening
gives you no right to linger in these
rooms. 1 must earnestly beg"
Kahlbaum turned: "What impu-
dence! Who gave you a right to crit
icize my behavior without knowing
my motives?'
"For the personal insult, you will
give me satisfaction later. Now 1
command you to leave the house i'm
mediately," answered the mayor in
excited tones.
The assessor became still paler, and
who knows what might have hap
pened, if Colonel Won Kesselschmidt
had not rushed into the room.
'Hold!' he cried to the two angry
men. "The assessor is innocent. A
misunderstanding. A wager