The San Francisco call., 1903-09-06

YACHT required q Thorough ',house clean
il,Rs' Brewster transferred his guests 70 the
hotel Of a fascinating village which was
near the sea and yet quite out Of the
world. The place was nearly empty at
the time and the proprietor wept tears OF
1oy when Monty engaged for bis party
the entire nrst floor OF the house with
balconies overlooking the blue Mediterran.
can and a separate dining-room and salon.
Extra servants were summoned. and the
Brewster livery was soon familiar sight
about the village The protests OF Peggy
and tho others were only eilenced when
Monty threatened 70 rent villa and 80
to housekeeping.
The town quickly took on he appear
ance OF entertaining a royal visitor and o
number OF shops were kept open longer
than usual In the hope that their owners
might catch some Of the Americans q
money. One morning Philippe, the hotel
proprietor, was trying to Impress BrewB-
ter with a gesticulatory description Of
the glories OF the Bataille do Fleura- It
seemed quite impossible to express the
extent of his regret that the party had
not arrived in time TO see II.
This is quite another place at that
time" he said ecstatically. "C'est mag
nifique! c'est superbei II monsieur had
only seen It'll"
why not have another all to our
selves7" asked Monty. But the sugges-
ton was not taken seriously.
Nevertheless the young American and
his host were In secret session for the
rest of the morning, and when the result
was announced at luncheon there was
general CONSERVATION. It appeared that
ten days later occurred the fete day OF
some minor saint who had not for years
been accorded the honor Of q celebration
Monty proposed to revive the custom by
arranging a second carnival.
You might just as well not come to the
Riviera at ALL" he explained, IF you
can't see q carnival. It's a simple mat
ter, really. offer one prize for the best
decorated carriage and another 20 the
handsomest lady. Then every enc puts
on a domino and mask, throws confetti
at every one else, and there you are.
'T suppose you will have the confetti
made of thoussnd-franc notes. and o1er
a house and lot as a prize" And Brag-
don feared that his sarcasm was almost
insulting.
Really. Monte. the scheme is ridicu-
lous,' said DeMille, "the police won't al
low IT."
Wont they, thought" said Monty. ex-
ultantly. 1.-The chief happens to be Phil
ippe's brother-in-law, and we had him on
the telephone. He wouldn't listen to the
scheme until we agreed to make him
grand marshal of the parade. Then he
promised the cooperation OF the entire
force and hoped to interest his colleague,
the chief OF the fire department"
1.-The parade will consist OF two gen.
darmes and the Brewster party in car
riages." laughed Mrs. Dan. .'Do you ex-
pect US to go before or after the bakery
carts?"
1--WE review the procession from the
hotel" said Monty. You needn't worry
about the fete. It's going to be great
WHY Trfehnan isn't f0nHer ~ march,
ing than these people are Of having a
carnival"
The men in the party went into execu-
tive session as soon as Monty had gone
TO interview the local authorities, and
seriously considered taking measures to
subdue their hosts eccentricities. But
the humor Of the scheme appealed to them
too forcibly, and almost before they
knew 1t they were making plans for the
carnival.
"Of course we can't let him DO It, but
II would be sport" said Subway" Smith.
Think of a cake-walk between gen.
darmes and blanchiseuses."
81 always feel devilish the moment I
get a mask on" said Vanderoool, land
you know. by Jove, I haven't felt that
way for years"
That settles II, then said DeMille.
Monty would call II off himself II he
knew how it would affect Reggie"
Monty returned with the announcement
that the Mayor Of the town would declare
a holiday II the American gould see his
way to pay for the repairs on the marie
roof. A circus. which was travelling In
the neighborhood, was guaranteed ex-
penses If it would stop over and occupy
the square in front of the Hotel de Vile.
Brewster's enthusiasm was such that no
one could resist helping him, and for
nearly a week his friends were occupied
in superintending the erection of tri-
umphal arches and encouraging the shop
keepers to do their best. Although
the scheme had been conceived in
the spirit Of lark 1t was not so received
by the townspeople. They were quite Sc
rious in the matter. The railroad officials
sent advertisements broadcast and the
local cure called to thank Brewster for
resurrecting, as it were, the obscure
saint The expression Of his gratitude
was so mingled with fiattery and appeal
that Monty could not overlook the hint
that new altar piece had long been
needed.
The great day finally arrived and no
carnival could have been more bizarre or
more successful. The morning was de-
voted TO athletics and the side shows. The
pompiers won the tug of war, and the
people marveled when Monty duplicated
the feats of the strong man in the circus.
DeMille was called upon for a speech,
but knowing only ten words of French,
he graciously retired in favor of the
Mayor. and that pompous little man made
the most Of a rare opportunity. Refer
ences to Franklin and Lafayette were so
frequent that Subway Smith intimated
that rubber stamp must have been used
in writing the address.
The parade took place in the afternoon
and proved quite the feature OF the day.
The question Of precedence nearly over
turned Monty's plans, but the Chief Of
Police was finally made to see that II he
were to be chief marshal IT was only fair
that the pompiers should march ahead of
the gendarmes. The crew Of the Filter
made a wonderful showing. 1t was led
by the yachts band, which fairly o1tdid
Sousa in noise, though 1t was less unani-
nous in the matter of time. All the fla
cres came at the end, but there were so
many of them that at times they were
really leading the procession despite the
gallant efforts of the grand marshal.
From the balcony of the hotel Monty
and his party pelted those below with
flowers and confetti. More illusions to
Franklin and Lafayette were made when