The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-01

ana FAR apart, his arms high lifted like
outspread wings, he welded the comb
after the manner of man raking hay
For one moment all my sympathy was
for the suffering woman, then, when
suddenly, in spite of the de-
licious morning GOODNESS, a great drop
of perspiration splashed from the
Colonefs corrugated brow, down into
the >obstreperous curly mass he
wrestled With pitied him. too, and
cried; "Oh, I'll do that; take care,
you'll swallow pin or two, if you con-
tradict me. Your spirit is willing, Col
onel, but your flesh. for all you have
such lot of it's weak, when you
come to hair dressing!"
And regardless of his very earnest
protest, l took the tangled, tormented
mass in hand, and soon had it waving
back into fluffy knot, and just as
was drawing forth some short locks
for the forehead, there came a knock
and in bounded the mistress of the
house, our landlady, Madame F., who,
missing our arrival the night before,
came now to bid us welcome and in
quire as to our satisfaction with ar
rangements, etc. She was short wo-
man of surprising breadth and more
surprising velocity of speech.
She could pronounce more words
any other person l have ever
met. She was German by birth and
spoke French with a strong German
accent, while her English was thing
to wiring the soul, sprinkled as 1t was
with German "unds,' 'ufs" and
''yousts.' and French ices" and
'zats.'' Our French being of the slow
and precise kind and her English of
the rafting and at first Incompetent
ton
what confused. But even so, my friends
noticed with surprise that Madame did
not address one word of welcome to
me-. They fastened to introduce me,
using my married name. momen-
tary annoyance came into her face,
then she dropped her lids haughtily,
swept me from head to foot with one
contemptuous glance, and without even
the faintest nod in return to my Bon
jour, Madame!" she turned to Mrs. p,
who, red with indignation, was trying
to sputter out a demand for an expla-
nation and asked swiftly: "Und, Eat
ozzer lady? you vas to be tree-n' estce
pas? She hav' not come yed. Tomor-
row, perhaps-und-und. q saw what
was coming. but my companions sus-
pected nothing.) "Und," she dropped
her lips again and indicated me with
a contemptuous movement of the head
-"she-zat maid den, you want to
make arrange, for her? You hav' not
write for room of Eat maid?" l leaned
from the window to hide my laughter
for it seemed to me that Col. P. jumped
a foot, while the cry of his wife drown
ed the sound of a short, warm word
that is of great comfort to angry men.
Before they could advance one word
of explanation, an aproned waiter fair
ly burst into the room, crying for
"Madame Madame! in come quick
for that Jules was at livery bad
again" And she wildly rushed out,
saying over her shoulder, by und by
we zee for dat maid, und about Eat
ozzer lady-by und by!" and so de-
parted at run with a great rafting
of starch and fiuttering, of cap ribbons,
for Jules, the head cook, already in
the first stages of delirium tremens,
was making himself interesting to
the guests by trying to jump into the
fountain basin to save the lives OF the
tiny duckings, who were happily swim
ming there, and Madame F. was sorely
needed. Yes, / aughed-laughed hon
estly at the helpless wrath OF my
friends, and pretended to laugh at the
mistake, but all the time 1 was saying
to myself: Had really been acting as
maid, how cruelty 1 should have suf-
fered under that contemptuous glance
and from that withheld bow of recog-
nition' She had found me well dress
ed, intelligent and well mannered-yet
she had insulted me, because she be
lieved me to be a ladys maid. No
wonder women find service bitter
We had retired from the breakfast
room and were arranging our plans for
the day when a sort of whirlwind
came rushing through the hall-the
door sprang open, almost without
pronounced permission, and Madame
F. flung herself into the room-caught
my hands in hers-pressed them to her
heart-to her lips-to her brow. Wept
in German-in French-in English, and
called distractedly, upon "Himmei!
"Ciel!" und "Heaven!" But she found
her apologies so coldly received by my
friends that she was glad to turn the
flood of her remorse in my direction,
and for very shame of the scene she
was making, / assured her. the mis-
take was quite pardonable (as II was,
it was her manner that was almost I'M
pardonable), then she added to my dis
comfort by bursting out with the full
some praise of me as In actress-how
she had once seen me and had wept,
and-so on and on-she being only at
last walked and talked gently out OF
the room. But that was not the emo
of her remorse. A truly French bou-
quet with it's big white paper pettlcoat,
arrived dDOut AiOui
SO madly mistooken Madame F., the
card read, and that act of pennance was
performed every morning as long as l
remained in Paris. But one day she
appealed to the Colonel, for pity and
sympathy: "Ah," said she, Il have zee
two tr'ubIes-zee two sorrow. have
zee grief to wound re fellins of Eat so
fine actrice. Americaine-zat ees one
tr'ubles, und den l have zee shame TO
make Eat grande fool meestake-oh,
mon Dieu! l take her for zee maid
und zare my most great tr'uble come
I'M I have no one with zee right to
keek me-to keek me hard from re
back, for being such fool say init
nv husband Eat night, will you keek me
hard, if you please? But he can't
he have zee govt in re grande toe una
he can't keek worth one sou! una zat
is my second tr'uble"
Behind her broad back the Colonel
confessed that had she expressed such
a wish on the occasion of the mistake,
he would willingly have obliged her
as he was quite free from govt!
So any woman who goes north to win
her living as an actress, will at least
be spared the contemptuous treatment
bestowed on me, in my short service
as amateur lady's maid.
$50 Clara Morris.
DON'T GET MALARIA