Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-08-29
ROUTED BY GIRLS.

The Maruuise Therese de Ldonne, the
most adorable old lady in the world a
grandmother, with fiuttering bttle curis
and the laughing eyes Of child, has
INIT one fault. and that so grave one
that You would hardly believe IT.
Dainty and pretty as she is, and grande
dame TO the tips of her taper fingers,
she punctuates her most ordinary con
yersation with the strangest OF oaths-
At the slightest proyocation. or ON no
proyocation at all. she will come out
with 1.-THE deucer' or 1.-THE devilH or
even ssDannl' that shocks every one
rtao hears her. Its an old habit OF
mine, . she explains. "and l cling to IL
bee tuse it is an old one. And then, she
adds, with gay smile, lit saved me
once from the greatest peril woman
can run.
And here is the story as the marqnise
tells it:
ssOld though / am, am not a very
serious person; but, as a little girl-ah,
how long ago that was how long agol
II was the greatest madcap that ever
got out of breath chasing butterflies. CT
tore her gown and left her hair ribbons
on the hawthorn trees, though that did
not prevent me-egadl would You be-
lieve it. at I4!-from being very much
interested even then i'll the handsome
hussar. gold laced, embroidered and be-
dizened, who adorned the front pages Of
the ronances Of that day.
NATURALLY my friends We're hardly
less feather Drained than l. You would
have to search long TO find dovecot
more full of turbulent chatter and
laughter and flights of song than the
Convent of the Sacred Heart, where I
took my vows--neyer to be nun.
1T was in the evening that we used
to play our greatest pranks. We had
discovered a way to slip out of the DOR
mitdSy without waking up the sister
who was supposed TO guard over us. As
soon as she was asleep, we would creep
down stairs into the great dark garden,
carrying 18th us tablets of chocolate, a
coffee potp4hnd an alcohol lamp. and,
climbing up to a favorite perch high in
an old oak tree, we would make choco-
late and drink it triumphantly in the
darkness.
In the town where this convent was,
there wal also garrison. The walls of
our garden We're very high. and we never
SO much Us set eyes on uniform; but
walls THAI prevent seeing. do not pre-
vent hearing The officers and common
soldiers-naturally attracted by the
presence of SO many girls, l suppose
used to stroll along on the other side of
our wall in the evenings. chattering to-
gether. and we girls used TO listen. We
could hear them so we'll! They would
describe what they had done in battle,
or what they would do in case there
should be war, and when they got ex-
cited, they used to talk in the most blood
thirsty way. 1t was terrifying to hear
them, but so fascinatingl And what
oaths they usedl We could
a few of them.
lone day, as we were walking to-
gether in one of the paths, Eveline de
5aurar., - -isale7, BY thunder. girls,
this is devilish line eSsuingi'
st was revelation From that time
forth, the entire convent, inspired by
her example. began to pepper their con-
with oaths that would have
done credit to Napoleonic veterans. And
we did not content ourselves with the
garrison explosives overheard across the
wall. We recalled peasant profanity we
had heard years before, and hunted
through romances to find the oaths of
fine gentlemen. roisterers, and serving
maids. 1t was not long before we had
acquired special and remarkable erudi-
lion in that line.
AS you may imagine, it was not in
the classes, before the pious ears of
the sisters, that we aired our new ac-
In the daytime we
swore only before the abbess, who was
deaf as a post. But as soon as night
we did not think of chocolate
any more, you may be sure-we met ON
the lawn under the big oak and had
grand time. Deuce take itl' Jane do
5eaux would begin. / would follow
with BY thunder, blast your eyesl' and
the others would chorus Devil fly way
with met 'Damme, sirl' BY r ladyl'
Ten hundred Thousand devilsl' Grape
and canisterp Thunder and hghtningt'
Confound itH Tosee us strutting about
with our hands ON our hips or twirling
mustaches, with our little
voices coming from the bottoms of our
boots, you would think we were more
terrible than regiment of dragons. y
As she said this, the marquise burst
into peal of merry laughter, and ipli-
tating the childish uproar of the pre-.
cocious blasphemers. the gentle old lady
swore delightedly.
1T must have been an amusing
scene, F" we said laughing, "but we
don't see the danger it saved you from. IS
Devil take you, my dears, she re-
piled, how impatient you aref' and
checking her laughter, she continued
her story:
After the convent comes marriage,
after the mother superior, superior of
another kind, NJ de Lionne was pre-
ented to me--a fine looking army man.
thought immediately of tho hrosa,. If