The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-02-06

Hb soou Us VlliOn round nlEllSelI
alone he looked cautiously around him.
comprehending In his astonished glance
the gray walls of the palace, the moss
grown terrace, the petal strewn steps,
the old stern tower with it's ominous
sun DIAL, and the wealth Of wonderful
roses all about him, making the air a
very paradise Of exquisite colors and
exquisite odors. He shut his eyes for
a few seconds and then opened them
sharply as If expecting to find that the
scene had vanished shadow-like into
thin fmpalpable air, but castle and ter
race, w and roses remained as they
had been, very plain to the poets as
tonished senses. Tiptoeing cautiously
across the grass, he reached a marble
seat which stood beneath a bower of
roses and seemed to be protected by a
great terminal statue of the god Pan,
which had been given as a present to
Louis by an eastern prince, who had
carried it from Athens. Pressing his
hand to his forehead, Villon tried to re-
call the events of the evening before,
which for some fantastic reason seemed
to lie long centuries behind him. He
could remember dimly an evil looking
cell with straw upon the floor and
chains Upon the walls; he could recall
the sullen faces Of u~nfriendly gaolers.
One of these gaolers, he remembered,
had thrust a mug of wine into his hand
n bad him drink surlily, and he had
drunk greedily, as was his way when
free drink was offered to him, and
drinking, drank oblivion sudden and
complete.
But why had he gone to a dungeon?
His senses ached as he asked himself
this, and faint pictures began to piece
themselves together out of the episodes
of the dead night. He saw again the
squalid walls Of the Fircone tavern
and in his mind jumped back to his
recitation of the ballad and his fierce
sense of indignation at the humiliation
of Paris, girdled by a wall of hostile
~Burgundians and governed by an i'm
potent king. Then came the vision Of
an angels visit and a ray that a
more devil than angel in it, and then
came a quarrel, and a fight in the dark
ness shattered by the flaming torches
of the watch and Thibaut's huge body
lying on the ground, a huddled heap Of
shining armor He remembered the
ribbon that had been flung to him from
the gallery and thrust his hand into the
bosom of his vest Of cloth and gold
and found the token there, it's glossi-
ness Of white and gold soiled by it's
touch Of the floor Then came his cap
ture, his contumelious march through
the gloomy streets, his taste of ar I'M
known prison, his taste of popped wine.
and then sleep.
His next consciousness was that he
was lying on a soft bed instead of on a
truss of straw, and that the darkness
about him was not the darkness of the
cell. Suddenly some one drew a cur
tain and in a second the place where
he lay filled with a soft light and
showed that to Villon which astonished
him as much as if the gates of para
disc had parted before him and shown
him the shining lines of the hosts of
heaven. He remembered that he was
lying in a stately bed, nestled in snowy
:. linen, beneath a coverlet Of crimson
silk. He remembered hat the bed
stood in a gorgeous room, heavy with
magnificent tapestry and rooted with a
carved and painted ceiling that gilt
tered with gilt and stars. Curtains OF
purple velvet admitted the daylight
through windows or which rich rmo
ial bearings glowed in colored glass
Soft and delicate odor impregnated the
atmosphere and tender strains of deli
cate music stole wooingly on the senses
from the strings of a distant lutte.
Then there came, so kindly memory
assured him, an obsequious man In
black, with no less obsequious attend
ants, and singular ceremonies of bath
ing, pertaining mo hair dressing and q
putting on of sweet linen and furreC
raiment and jewels, and all the cere-
1 i III iS ~ ~ VI {
ragged robin into the likeness of 6
mighty lord. On the top of all this
preparation rose the sun of a splendid
banquet, served in ware of gold I'M
silver and waited on by the same OBJ
sequious figure in black and the same
respectful pages. Then followed the
summons to walk into the air, the pro.
cession through quiet corridors on tt
the coo gray terrace and the fina in.
stallment in the scented solitude of thu
rose garden. Villon was head-sick anC
heart-sick with the effort to put ST
much of the past together. He felt a:
if in some strange titanic way he hae
ruined a world and was suddenly called
upon by Providence to piece the frag'
ments together and make all Who'll,
again. He tapped his forehead won,
deringly.
Last night l was a red-handed out
law, sleeping on the straw of a dun
geon. Today I wake in a royal bed AM
my varlets call me monseigneur. Their,
are but three avs of explaining th1
singular situation. Either I am drunl
or 1 am mad or I am dreaming. If l an
drunk, I shall never distinguish Dor
deaux win from Burgundy melan
choly dilemma. Let's test it"
The marble table stood but a littl
way from him. The golden vessels tina
stood upon it had served him at tina
morning meal which was still an i'm
mediate excellent memory, and he re
membered 10Y his attendants had toll,
him that one held wine of Bordeau.
and one wine of Burgundy. He rose an,
crept across the soft grass to the tabl
and lifted one of the golden fagon
gingerly, shifted at it fearfnlly an
poured some of it's contents CAREFUL;
into a golden goblet. Lifting i
cautiously to his lips. he tasted it ju
; diciously. A ripe, warm royal havo
rewarded him.
by heaven!" he cried: mo noble
juice ever ripp!ed from Burgundia,
vineyards"
He drained the cup md set 1t dow
to fill another from the companion yes
sci and to repeat the ceremony of snif
fng, tasting and swallowing. Agai
\ the desire of his palate was pleased an
I pacified. He reflected as he slipped an,
/ swallowed.
] This quintessence of crushed violet
ripened no otherwhere than In the val
\ leys of Bordeaux. Ergo, I am no
i drunk. L do not think / am mao
neither, for I know in my heart that
am poor Francois yillon, pennies
4 master of arts, and no Wilt o. the wis
4 grand constable. Then 1 am dreaming
4 fast asleep in the chimney corner of tn