Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1903-11-20
WANTED: A ROMEO.
A Parental Failure to Promote Matrl
p1nnN


mony.
/ translation for the New York Evening
Post from the French of Henri Renou.1
Cesar! Cesarl' exclaimed little Nine.
Chantepoulet, bursting into the room in
which her husband was taking his usual
afternoon nap and banging the door be-
hind her.
What is It? Fire?" her husband cried
sitting up suddenly and staring at her.
What Is it? Success! Victory, at last
I've got him But why do you stare at me
in that bewildered fashion? One would
imagine that you did not understand"
mo more. | do" rejoined Cesar, with
some heat, you have a delightful way
of waking a man up and firing conun-
drums at him"
II woke you up to ] really beg Mon
sieurs pardon but was in haste to tell
him the great news"
And what is the g-r-reat news?"
The little woman stood stiffly erect and
said with great dignity: II have the honor
to announce the marriage of Mile. Juliette,
your daughter. to NJ. Albert Liredoux, of
the Department Of Public Works"
An! So you have rented the room"
said Juliette's father, with a grin of
amusement.
This may seem incoherent and brief
explanation is in order. Cesar Chante-
poulet was a retired optican of modest
him. and even by his concierge, which is
"A much rarer thing He was devoted to
his good wife, Hortense, as was she to
| him, and they both were to their only
child, Julette, n pretty and otherwise
attractive girl of nineteen. Nine. Hor-
tense was a good woman of good sense
and good heart. She had materially aided
her husband in his business and was
now the joy of her small family-and even
of her one servant. At fiftytwo she was
still good to look upon, and in her youth
she must have been remarkably pretty.
Now this excellent woman, II might be
supposed, would have been perfectly hap
by in the companionship of her beloved
husband and daughter. But she was not.
| She was tormented by one great never
ceasing anxiety to marry off her daughter.
advantageously of course, but above all
eXpeditiously
1t would seem also that there ought to
have been little trouble in disposng OF
a girl who was pretty. intelligent and we'll
! bred. and who would have a dowry OF
twenty-five thousand francs. Yet, though
her mother had been working hard for
! the past three years, she had not unearth
| ed possible husband. and was now re-
duced almost to despair. But. 1t may be
objected. the girl was only nineteen, why
] this frantic haste to get rid of her?
This is why: Her mother, Hortense
Mignoles, had possessed similar personal
/ and financial attractions. still she had
/ remained unwedded until the more than
ripe age OF thirtN-two. The daughter OF
a retired veterinary surgeon in easy cir
| cumstanccs. She had, nevertheless. lived
"A dismal youth with an invalid. and i'll
! humored father, and a spiritless mother
| absolutely submissive to her husband 3
will
When Hortense was twenty her mother
/ had timidly suggested that IT was time
| to enlarge their circle of acquaintance
and to go into society a bit If Hortense
was ever going to marry, but her father
! teplied that he had no intention of chang
ing his habits. and that closed the dis
| cussion.
Ten years passed and Hortense was
| still unmarried
Il shall live and die an old maid" she
| said to her mother
But she was mistaken for old Mignolles
! had one delicate attention in reserve for
| his womanknd. lie died. Within a year
Hortense. accompanied by her mother,
was announcing her approaching mar
riage to NJ Chantepoulet. The first per-
| son on whom they called was an acidulous
old aunt who exclaimed: Il am glad to
hear il. 1t is high time
| This cruel remark fell the poor
brides heart like a cold douche She
never forgot it. 1T became a nightmare to
! her. and when Juliette was born she
vowed that at her wedding it should not
be said: AT last, 1t is high time but
| rather: What So SOON" So when JUL
! cite was sixteen her mother began her
campaign. She cultivated new acquafn
! tances. had her days" and even gave
little dinners. But by a mockery of fate
| none OF her new aCquaintances had mar
rageable sons.
Isn't it just my luck?" moaned the
| unhappy woman. My poor Juliette will
be an old maid like her mother"
This dreadful thought so excited the
poor lady that she plunged headlong into
the most fantastic schemes.
one day she had a brilliant idea.
1t is very simple" she said to her hus-
young. good looking and prosperous bach
eior. No others need apply"
| "A good idea" Cesar admitted Il have
no other kind" Madame proudly respond
ed.
She did not advertise in papers but
told some solid business men, and thereby
| secured several Ineligible applicants ,
| whom she cleverly and politely eliminated.
At last appeared NJ. LiredouX, a hand
| some and alert young man from Pontar-
lier, who had just been appointed to a
| government clerkship. He successfully
passed Nine. Chantepoulets inspection
and, as he liked the accommodations Of
fered and amazed by their cheapness, the
| bargain was soon completed.
- This was the great news that had inter-
upted the ex-optician's siesta.
| Don't be too saguine. ma bonnie ami,
he said, noting his wifes enthuiasm 1T
| remains to be seen whether the young
| people will like each other"
| They are made for each other, Ma
dame said with conviction.
| He may be engaged already, said the
good man, who was not easily excited.
Engaged Nonsense! He Is only
boy"
| ..Verv we'll nv dear only don't count
| your chickens-you know the maxim"
There is another which says; God
| helps those who help themselves
helped myself and Providence has come to
my aid"
But the ingenious Nine Hortense was
| forced to admit to herself that the we'd
| ding was a long way OF Fortunately
| however, she could count not only on
| Providence, but also on old Angelo. who
| had once been Juliettes nurse, and had
| ever since then been a member of the
| household. She had the tenacious fidelity
| of a Newfoundland dog. She loved JUL
ette and regarded her mother as a super
| ior being. When the Machiavellian plot
was revealed to this faithful retainer,
! she entered into it heart and soul
So it came to pass, a few days after NJ
LiredouX's installation, that he found his
water jug empty. Being of philosophic
| and easy going nature he simply took II
| to the kitchen to fill 1t, whereupon, the
| faithful Angelo respite his protests,
possessed herself of the vessel, and in so
| doing contrived to knock down a half a