The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1899-11-16

sands of tree-tops and innumerablem mill
lions ON millions of green leaves was
abroad in the air. and filled the ear with
something between whispered speech
and singing. 1t seemed as if every blade
of grass must hide a cigale; and the
fields rang merrily with their music,
jingling far and near Is with the
s~leigh-bells of the fairy queen. From
their station on the slope the eye en-
braced a large space of poplared plain
upon the n hand, the waving hilltops
of the forest on the other, and GretZ
itself in the middle, a handful of roofs.
Under the ,bestriding arch of the blue
heavens, the place seemed dwindled to
a toy. It seemed incredible that people
dwelt, and could find room to turn or
air to breathe, in such a corner of the
world. The thought came. home to the
boy, perhaps for the first time, and he
gave it words.
How small it looks!" he sighed.
cay" replied the Doctor, Small
enough now. Yet it was once a walled
city; thriving, full of furred burgesses
and men in armor, humming with af-
fairs-with tall spires, for aught that
I know, and portly towers along the
battlements. A thousand chimneys
ceased smoking at the curfew-bell.
There were gibbets at the gate as
thick as scarecrows. In time of war,
the assault swarmed against it with
ladders, the arrows fell like leaves, the
defenders sailed hotly over the draw
bridge, each side uttered it's cry as they
piled their weapons. Do you know that
the walls extended as far as the Com
manderie? Tradition SO reports. Alas,
what a long way off is all this confu-
sion-nothing left of it but my quiet
words spoken in your ear-and the
town itself shrunk to the hamlet
derneath us? By-and-by came the
English wars-you shall hear more of
the English, a stupid people, who ONE
times ~blundered into good-and Gretz
was taken, sacked, and burned. 1t is
the history of many towns; but Gretz
never rose again; it was never rebuilt;
it's ruins were a quarry to serve the
growth of rivals; and the stones Of
Gretz are now erect along the streets
Of Nemours. It gratifes me that our
old house was the first to rise after
the calamity; when the town had come
to an end, it inaugurated the hamlet"
81, too, am glad of that" said jean
Marie.
"It should be the temple of humber
virtues" responded the Doctor with a
savory gusto. perhaps one of the rea-
sons why I love my little hamlet as
I do, is that we have a similar history,
she and I. Have I told you that I was
once rich?"
II do not think So" answered jean
Marie. 81 do not think l should have
forgotten. I am sorry you should have
lost your fortune"
"Sorry?" cried the Doctor. why, I
find I have scarce begun our educa-
tion after all. Listen to ne! Would
you rather live in the old Gretz or in
the new, free from the alarms of war,
with the green country ut the door,
without noise, passports, the exactions
of the soldiery, or the jangle of the
curfew-bell to send us off to bed by
sundown?"
81 suppose I should prefer the new"
replied the boy.
"Precisely," returned the Doctor; 80
do I. And, in the same way, I prefer
my present moderate fortune to my
former wealth. Golden mediocrity!
cried the adorable ancients; and I sub
scribe to their enthusiasm. Have I not
good wine, good food, good air, the
fields and the forest for my walk, a
house, an admirable wife, a boy whom
I protest I cherish like a son? Now,
if I were still rich, / should indubi
tably make my residence in Paris-yOu
know Paris-Paris and Paradi3e are
not convertible terms. This pleasant
noise of the wind streaming among
leaves changed into the grinding Babel
of the street, the stupid glare Of plaster
substituted for this quiet pattern OF
greens and grays, the nerves shattered,
the digestion falsi6ed-picture the fall!
Already you perceive the consequences;
the mind is stimulated, the heart steps
to a different measure, and the man
is himself no longer. I have passion
ately studied myself-the true business
of philosophy. / know my character
as the musician knows the ventages of
his flute. Should I return to Paris, ]
should ruin myself gambling; nay, ]
go further-I should break the heart OF
my Anastasie with infidelities."
This was too much for Jean-Marie.
That a place should so transform the
most excellent of men transcribed his