Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-08-15

excited by the ~lateness Of my arrival
as by the disorder of my dress
"Ah- heaven he cried; that Mon
sieur the distinguished should have
been in such a storm all unprotected!
Why did not monsieur send for his
carriageT' / cut short his exclama-
tions by dropping five francs into his
eyer-ready hand, assuring him that I
had thoroughly enjoyed the novelty
Of a walk In bad weather, whereat he
smiled and congratulated me as much
as he had commiserated me. On
reaching my own rooms my valet, Vim
cenzo, stared at my dripping and
~disheveled condition. but was discreet
ly mute. He quickly assisted me to
change my wet clothes for a warm
dressing gown, and then brought a
glass OF mulled port wine, but per-
formed these duties with such an air
Of unbroken gravity that / was In
wardly amused while I admired the
fellows reticence. When / was about
70 retire for the night I tossed him q
Napoleon. He eyed it musingly and
i~nquiringly; then he asked:
Your excellency desires to purchase
something's"
'Your silence, my friend, that is
all" / replied with a laugh. Under
stand me, Vincenzo, you will serve
yourself and me best by obeying i'm
plicitly, and asking no questions. For
tunate is the servant who, accustomed
to see his master drunk every night,
e to all outsiders that he has
never served so sober and discreet a
gentleman! That Is your character,
Vincenzo; keep to 1t and we shall not
quarrel" He smiled gravely, and
pocketed my piece of gold without q
word-like a r Tuscan as he was.
The sentimental servant, whose fine
feelings will not allow him to accept
an extra tip" is, you may be sure,
q humbug. l never believed In such
an IN Labor can always command
Its price, and what so laborious In this
age as to be honest? What so difficult
as TO keep silence on other peoples
affairs? Such herculean tasks deserve
payment! A valet who is generously
bribed, in addition to his wages, can
be relied on; IL under paid, all heaven
and earth will not persuade him to
hold his tongue. Left alone, at last,
in my sleeping chamber. l remained
for some time before actually going to
bed. l took off the black spectacles
which had served me so well, and
looked at myself in the mirror with
some curiosity. l never permitted Vim
cenzo TO enter my bedroom at night,
or before / was dressed in the morn
ing, lest he should surprise me with
out these appendages, which were my
chief disguise; for, in such a case, l
fancy even his studied composure
would have given away. For, disbur-
dened OF my smoke-colOred glasses, |
appeared what l was, young and Wig
orous in spite of my white beard and
hair. My face, which had been worn
and haggard at first, had filed up and
was healthy cOlored; while my eyes,
the spokesman Of my thoughts, were
bright with the clearness and fire of
constitutional strength and physical
well being. / wondered, a. l stared
moodily at my own reflection. how it
was that l did not hook i'll. The men
tal suffering l continually underwent,
mingled though it was with a certain
gloomy satisfaction, should surely
have left more indelible traces on my
~countenance. Yet it has been proved
III ~ 10 hpA olNHNo NhC lFOAAO '" ~ IA
sallow and despairing looking persons
who are really in sharp trouble; these
are more often bilious or dyspeptic,
and know no more serious grief than
the incapacity TO crafty their appe-
tites for the high favored delicacies
of the table. A man may be endowed
with superb physique and a constitu-
ton that is In perfect working order;
his face and outward appearance may
denote the most harmonious action Of
the life principle within him; and yet
his nerves may be so finely strung
that he may be capable OF suffering
more acute agony in his mind than il
his body were hacked slowly to pieces
by Jagged knives and it will leave no
mark on the features while youth still
has hold on his flesh and blood.
So il was with me: and l wondered
whQs she-Nina-would say, could she
behold me, unmasked as it were. in
the solitude of my own room This
thought aroused another In my mind
another at which / smiled grimly.
I was an engaged man. Engaged TO
marry my own wife; betrothed for the
second time to the anne womani
What a difference between this and
my first courtship OF her! Then, who
so great a fool as /; who SO adoring,
pa ssionate and devoted Now, who so
darkly instructed, who SO cold, so abb
soluteiy pitiless! The climax to my
revenge is nearly reached, 1 looked
through the coming days as one looks
thrtngh a telescope out to sea, and l
could watch the end approaching like
a phantom ship-neither slow mol fast,
bat steadily and silently. / was able
to calculate each event In its due or
der, and I knew there vas no fear of
failure in the final result. Nature it
self-the sun, moor and stars, the
sweeping circle of the seasons-al
seem to aid in the cause of rightful
justice. Mans duplicity may succeed
In withholding a truth for a time, but
in the end IL must win its way. Once
resolve, and then determine to carry
out that resolve, and il is astonishing
to note with what marvellous ease
everything makes way for you, pro-
yided there be no innate weakness in
yourself which causes you to hesitate.
I had formerly been weak. l knew,
very weak, else 1 had never been fool
ed by wife and friend: but now, now
my strength was as the strength OF a