The Portland daily press., 1899-07-15


Gerard Girard is regarded by people
who don't know him as a freak and by
those who do know him as a person to be
avoided after dark. Girard is not his
name, but it is so much like his name
that those who care to do so may identify
the gentleman and establish TO their own
satisfaction whether or not he is justified
in his extraordinary beliefs. One man in
this town, bon vivant of the clubland
cult, felt himself attracted TO Girard be-
cause he found out that Girard believed
things no man dared credit il he valued
his own peace of mind and, moreover,
that he was ready to demonstrate the
correctness Of his theories to any one
sufficiently interested. The man about
town interested himself in Girard be-
cause the talky fellows of his own set
told Queer street stories that savored OF
Boccaccio, but lacked in that raconteur's s
artistic merits.
wsirard, on the other hand, seldom talk
ed at all unless directly addressed, but
when he did tell a story one evening it
made everybody creepy and uncomforta-
bic because Girard's mode of expression
Is horribly convincing. His diction is de-
liberate-almost ponderous, In fact. He
makes no effort whatever to convert 9TH
ers to his convictions. Indeed, he ap-
pears utterly Indifferent to skepticism.
Open scoffing is impossible where Girard
rs concerned, because he never permits
himself to be engaged in conversation un-
Tess by those with whose characteristics
he is somewhat familiar. There are va
rious ways of avoiding persons who wear
diamond studs and frock coats at 10
O'clock in the morning. and Girard man
ages his social affiliations with infinite
skill.
The story Girard told at the club was
about his wife, who died four years ago,
but who still lives with Girard in the big
house he built when he came here from
Chicago. Girard and his wife were COM
panions in the sense that few married
people are. She was frail and he was
strong, yet until the very day of her
death he had not contemplated the horror
of q separation. He failed of a proper
regard for the carefully worded prepara-
tory phrases of his medical adviser and
understood only when conventional eu-
phemism was abandoned and the plain
truth stared him in the face that the
woman whose future he had built and
planned in common with his own would
be dead in an hour. Then he went and
sat beside the bed and stared at the little
white face. at the darkly circled eyes
closed in ftful sleep. He realized then
that the deep lines between the brows
were fearfully deep; that the gasping,
shortened breathing might cease at any
instant; that nothing on earth could stay
the inevitable loss of her, his idol.
He stroked her hair. and the tired eyes
opened. She smiled and family Whisper
ed his NOT n 10 hat ho,,
wept--such great heaving sobs as come
from the breast of strong man in NOR
tai trouble, but the dying woman smiled
through her tears and bade him grieve no
more.
Il shall be with you always" she said.
always in the evenings we win sit to-
gether, you and /. We shall be comrades
ever"
When Girard raised his head from the
pillow, he realized with a calmness that
surprised him that his wife was dead.
He closed the weary eyes, crossed the
thin hands, kissed the bloodless forehead
and went out. Three days later they
buried her, and people remarked that Gi-
rard didn't seem much affected. He even
INDUCED in one or two sedate jokes on
the very day Of the funeral. That even
ing also Girard dined as usual at the lit
tie table whereat he and his wife had
dined tete-a-tete every evening during
their two years of married life
You will understand" he said to the
servants, that Mrs. Girard is still here
that dinner will be served every evening
for both of us as usual; also that Mrs.
Girard's apartments will be maintained
in their usual order" From that time to
this Girard has referred to his wife not
as one dead, but as the constant compan-
ion of his daily life. For those who
doubt his assertions he has merely a
shrug of his big shoulders. One or two
men have dined with Girard since his be-
reayement, however, and these gentle
men do not care to talk about their expe-
Fences Only one man has had the cour-
age to go twice and thrice to the Girard
table. That man is the bon yiyant. He
has found something that interests him,
and men with whom he was formerly
hail fellow well met, for want of better
diversion, say he isn't half the decent
sort he used to be. Last night / asked
the bon vivant to tell me the story he had
told to one of his friends about having
spent the evening with Mrs. Girard. The
friend repeated the story, and those to
whom he told it said that the bon yivant
had wheels
LOOK mere, ne sald, what do you
want with this story? II You propose to
make one of your feeble jokelets out of it,
you will merely write yourself down an
ass. II you will print the bare truth as
tell 1t, both you and may be accused of
lunacy by a eoterie of lunatics. But what
does that matter? As for Girard, he is
totally Indifferent to public opinion con
corning either himself or his beliefs. Now
here are the facts:
Il am 81 years old, In sound health
physically and mentally. My father and
mother both died when l was a child |
had no brothers or sisters. have never
experienced anything which could posi-
bly, be characterized as great grief. l
have been known from my boyhood IS m
individual of imperturbable temperament.
j haze never lnrAi q rrnrnnn n,.nll nroi,e,h