The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-01-19
A MALE GODIVA.
How a Captain of Hussars and q
Horse-FlY Startled a French City.

How a Captain Of Hussars and q
Horse-FIy Startled a French City.
The inhabitants Of Ia Roche, n con-
siderable city on the eastern frontier
Of France, read, not without interest,
toward the end Of last winter, the fol
lowing item in the Union:
by a ministerial decree, dated
March LIST, the Seventh Regiment Of
Engineers, at present garrisoned in our
city, is ordered to Quimper. 1t will
be replaced by the Fourteenth Hus-
sars, lately stationed at Bayonne. 1t
is not without deep regret" etc.
AS a matter Of fact the regrets ex-
pressed by the La Roche journal were
pure courtesy. Everybody knows that
the entire corps of engineers does not
bring to town the animation that q
half-dozen light-cavalry officers impart.
The first are quiet bodies, almost oil
married men. who shave themselves,
eat plain dinners every night, drink
beer. and content themselves with the
joys Of domesticity, which pleases nei-
Their barber, inn-keepcrs, nor the honest
burgher who tire Of the monotony of
their homes. The engineers uniform
shines by its simplicity, their music
by its absence, and the good drivers Of
the chariots Of Mars are too busy
with their mules to risk a glance to-
ward the rosy car where the beloved
Of their gods drives her doves. But
when the Hussars come! Then there
Is something else to while away the
long afternoons, under the poisoning
che%stnut-trees, than the gentle splash
Of the fountain. Then fair shoulders
are exposed to new admirers at the
judges wife's balls or the receptions
Of Nine. Ia P~residente.
On the fifteen Of April, the Hussars,
tired, dusty, but fascinating, made
their trium phal entry into La Roche.
Poor Engineers! They had not gone a
dozen miles yet, and they We're al
ready forgotten.
In the afternoon of that very day,
a young and handsome captain. blonde
r ly-haired, and as neat as a pin, not
den fifty miles on horseback. rang the
the Rue de Ia Cathedrale.
WI yOu Dc SOOu cuCuSu " LulOTLU
NJ. de Saupiquet that ] wish to lease
bis summer-house?" said he, handing
the servant his card. On the card was
inscribed:
THE Vicomte de Prebois, Captain in
the Fourteenth Hussars."
NJ. de Saupiquet had been careful
not to go out that morning, for he
knew well that some one would "come
for the summer-horse." 1t was an es.
tablished custom. For thirty years, the
little house at the end Of the garden,
comprising a sleeping apartment, sta.
ble-room for three horses, and a coach
house, had invariably been hired by an
officer from the garrison. When there
was a change Of regiments the first
question asked in the drawingrooms
OF The Grande Rue, the Rue de Chapitre
and the hue de Cathedrale was:
Whom are the Saupiquet's going to
let their summer-house tor
For a M after Of much nicely. The
tenant must be a man who was at
once wealthy and amarried man;
wealthy for a rental of twelve hundred
francs-a figure beyond the purse Of
the ordinary oficer-should not fright.
en- him Off; married, because Of certain
reasons which a single word will make
clear: NJ. de Saupiquet was married
himself, and had a daughter who was
on the second tack Of her nineteenth
year.
So Captain de Prebois having de-
clared, with a satisfaction tempered
with the modesty good taste dictates,
that he enjoyed the precious privilege
Of being a bachelor, he was not even
invited to sit down.
At the gate, whittier the prudent
proprietor politely escorted him, ex-
planning on the way the causes of his
refusal, but without delaying him on
the way, Castor met Mime. de Saupi.
quet and her daughter returning home.
This gentleman has come about
the summer-house, I suppose?' said the
mother, a substantial matron, whose
mere aspect sufficiently indicated her
preponderance in the family.
l had come to lease the summer
house" replied the officer, with a smile
which elevated the points of his mus
tache; "but we have not been able to
arrange matters satisfactorily"
1t is a little expensive for a simple
captain" said the lady. She had
learned to recognize an officers ran
by his shoulder straps though having
had so many army tenants.
Oh, If 1t were only the rrice-Iwould
consider no price too high to secure
proper quarters for my horses. And
they would have been so well placed
here"
"Ah, then I see what it is; you are
not married"
1T is not my fault. madame. We have
just come from Bayonne, where all
the women are dark. I have a hor-
ror of brunettes."
Mile. Hortense, a pretty blonde. al
though remarkably well brought up.
could not avoid blushing almost i'm
~perceptibly at this opportune decIara-
ton Of principles.
Well" resumed Nine. de Saupiouet.
perhaps we can find q way ont of
the difficulty. You may take the pa
vlllon-put up your two horses"
Il nave three, madame, and two car
riages."
The face Of Hortense's mother lit up
p~erceptibly. 1T will hold them ali.
AS to yourself, an apartment in town
Will be more convenient for you to
receive your friends in. But first YOU
must take a look at the place. win
you not come in now?''
The next day all the town knew of
the arrangement, and knew not which
to admire more-the deXterlty of NJ
de Saupiquet. who was getting his
rent without the inconvenient presence
OF his tenant, or the prodigality of the
~vlScount, who was paying two rents