, 1896-07-28
ROUTED BY GIRLS.

RranulnOther, With nutterlng little curls
and the laughing eyes of a child, has
but one fault. and that so grave a 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-
versation with the strangest Of oaths.
AT the slightest provocation, or on no
p%rovocation at all, she will come out
with 1.-THE deuce!" or 1.-The devil!" OF
even a ''Damn!' that shocks every one
who hears her. ITS an old habit OF
mine, she explains. land l cling to it
because it is an old one. And then, - she
adds, with n gay smile, lit saved me
once from the greatest peril a woman
can run"
And here is the story as the marquise
tells it:
'Old though l am, l am not a very
serious person; but, as a little eirl-ab,
how long ago that was, how long ago!
i was the greatest madcap that eve1
got out of breath chasing butterflies. OF
tore her gown and left her hair ribbons
on the hawthorn trees, though that did
not prevent me-egad! would you be-
lieve it, at l4!-from being very much
interested even then in the handsome
hussar, gold laced, embroidered and be-
dizcued, who adorned the front pages OF
tne roInancgs of that day.
Naturally my friends were hardly
less feather Drained than l. You would
have to search long to find n dovecot
n,,r., full nf t,,i,r1n,t ,l,,t.,,- n,l
laughter and flights of song than the
Convent of the Sacred Heart, where ]
took my vows-nevcr to be a nun.
1T was in the evening that we used
to play our greatest pranks. We had
discovered Il way to slip out Of the dor
mitory without waking up the sister
who was supposed to guard over US. AS
soon rs she was asleep, we would creep
down stairs into the great dark garden,
carrying with us tablets of chocolate. a
coffee pot, and an alcohol lamp, and,
climbing up to n ~favorite perch high in
III old oak tree, we would make choco-
late and drink it triumphantly in the
darkness.
"1n the town where this convent was
there was also a garrison. The walls of
our garden were very high, and we never
so much as set eyes on a uniform; but
walls that prevent seeing, do not pre-
vent hcnring. The officers and common
soldiers attracted by the
presence Of 50 many girls. l suppose
used to stroll along on the other side OF
our wall in the evenings, chattering to.
gcther, and we girls used to listen. We
could hear them so well! They would
describe what they had done in battle,
or what they would do in case there
should be a war. and when they got ex-
cited, they used to talk i'll the most blood
thirsty way. Ii was terrifying to hear
them, but SO fascinating! And what
formidable oaths they used! We could
remember Il few of them.
zone day, as we Were walking to-
gcther i'll one of the paths, Eveline de
Sabran exclaimed, by thunder. girls,
this is n devilish fine cvCning!'
sit was q revelation! From that time
forth, the entire convent. inspired by
her example, began to pepper their con-
versation with oaths that would have
done credit to Napoleonic veterans. And
we did not content ourselves with the
garrison cxpletives overheard across the
wall. We recalled peasant profanity we
had heard years before. and hunted
through ro,nanccs to find the oaths of
fine gentlemen. rOistcrors, and serving
maids. 1t was net long before we had
acquired 4 special and remarkable erudi-
ton III that lire.
''As you may imagine, it Was not i'll
the classes, before the pious cars of
the sisters, that We air cur new ac-
complislnnert. In the daytime we
sworc only lCfCrc the abbcss, who was
deaf as u pest. But rs sCon us night
c.me-oh, we did rot Think Of chocolate
aay more, you may be - met On
the lawn undc the big oak and had n
grand time, Deuce take i'll Jane de
Scaux wGuld begin. | would follow
with by thunder, bias. your cyes!' and
the others would chorus 'Dovil fly way
with me- .Dammc, sirr BY r LADY,
Ten hundred thousand devils!' Grape
and canister!' 'Thc..lcr and lightning!'
'Confound it, To see us strutting about
with our hands on our hips or twirling
imaginary ~mustachos, with our little
voices coming from the bottoms Of our
boots, you would think we were more
terrible than a regiment Of dragons"
As she said this, the marquise burst
into Il peal of merry laughter, and imi-
tating the childish uprour of the pre-
cocious blasplemers, the gentle old lady
swore delightodly.
at must have been an amusing
scene" we said laughing, but we
don't see the danger it saved You from"
Devil take you, my ec:rs," she re-
piled, chow impatient you are!' and
checking her laughter, she continued
her story:
.'After the convent comes marriage
after the mother superior, a superior of
another kind. M. de Lionne was pre-
sented to me-a fine looking army man.
I thought immediately Of the hussar Of
romance. He could talk the part well
too. And, POUNDS. why shouldn't i
marry him? Tliir:y-five years of age,
but much younger in spirit. Of proved
courage and urquestioncd honor-in
fact, how shall l say it-he pleased me
very much. Only one thing kept me
from saying Yes at once. Novels were
already being written at that time. i
had read some-far too many-and they
had put "a lot Of absurd ideas into my
head. If l were to give myself to a man
forever, l must know his intimate
thoughts, his past, above all.
.'Oue fine evening, then, between two
cups of tea, l said bravely to N. dc
Lionne:
".well. ycs, l love you. But come,