The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-03-04
CHAPTER TX.
MADEMo1sELLE.

In the morning of the following day
we We're engaged about a business
which troubled me no little. Had 1t
not been for Jerome l fear 1 had never
come through 1t at all with credit.
First, we repaired to another house
which Jerome possessed in q more
fashionable quarter. and thither by his
directions came a fawning swarm of
%tailors. bootmakers. BARRIERS. wigmak-
ers; vendors of silken hose and men
with laces. jaunty caps, perfuYnes-it
was a huge task, this making a gentle
ma OF meas Jerome phrased it
l worried over 1t grievously in the
livered myself into his hands. murmur-
Ing an abject prayer for the salvation
of my soul. That. at least, was not to
be remodeled by all their fashionable
garniture. These heated discussions
concerning VIA l was to wear were
not for me to put a voice in. Verify.
l knew nothing and cared naught for
the cut of a shoe my lord of Orleans
had made the style, nor did 1t matter
whether my coat was slashed with
crimson or braided with golden furbe-
lows. Like some wretch a~-quivering
of the palsy l heard the learned doc-
tors w~rangling over my medicine,
which they must needs hold my nose
to make me swallow. Fol all their
biases and twistings I knew full we'll
they could carve no sprig of fashion
from so rough a block as 1. Certes, I
must now have a squire to fasten this
new harness well upon me, for by my
word, l knew not n garment from the
other by the sight of it. Jerome went
off into fits of laughter seeing me try
Ing to struggle into things 1 could not
even guess the use of.
When the worst was over. late In
the afternoon, 1 felt like q play-actor,
dressed for his part. but who, for the
lite of him, could not recall one sylla-
bic or his speech, nor breathe because
or his wig. Jerome surveyed me with
a halt-critical, half-approving scrutiny.
until l essayed to buckle on my sword.
BY my lady, sir, that dingy old cut
lass will never do for a drawing room.
AS well a miller's dusty cap to cover
those glorious borrowed curls of thtne:
we must get thee one shaped in the
mode This quip exterminated my
patience.
ITO the foul flend with all this ever
lasting style of thine. l know this
and by all the gods at once I'll not re-
place 1T with a silly toy"
"A most virtuous resolution, q most
godly oath, but my mettlesome friend,
I'll point out thy error"
To his ~insinuating argument, even
In this matter, at length l yielded; sur
rendered with the better grace perhaps,
that ne provided q most excellent
piece Of steel, which he said had seen
good service. l tried its temper, and
the edge being keen, l laid my own
aside with some misdoubtings, casting
off an old friend to strap on a new.
He now added a touch of rouge here
and there. a black line to my brows
and In the corner of my eyes, stepping
ha6E aNpr and nnNr TO "a
feet. 1t CALLED me raw, yet | must per-
force submit. When the whole job was
finished, and l was allowed to sit. /
gained no comfort. My clothes were
too tight in some places. while in 9TH
ers rocked about as loose as a wash
erwomans arm in her s%crubbing tub.
jerome must now give me some les
sons in department, he called it. It was
but another name for a smirking and
a-boWlng and a~-grimacing. what was
denominated the etiquette of the
court Jerome sat himself contented
down. and put me through my PAGES
IKE some farrier showing off a foun-
defed nag; more than half believed
ne was all the while making gam Of
me, yet knew no better. Al any rate
1t was the Veriest nonsense.
AFTER @ series Of rehearsals Jerome
withdrew to make himself ready, leay-
ing me to practice my new acquire
menus OF gait, OF gesture, and Of
speech. What had taken me the better
part of a laborious day he accom-
plished in a short half hour. Coming
back u-nannounced he caught me bow
Ing and scraping before a mirror, like
a nan stricken with idiocy. 1 felt as
ashamed as though 1 had been detected
hiding In face of the enemy.
Jerome Knocked and tainted me in
to a fine rage, which he deity pacified
in wonderment at himself. I should
never have known him for the plain
Jerome. Arrayed in much the same
character Of finery which bedecked me.
I could give no accurate description Of
his dress, except that with glossy wig
and q bit OF color In his cheeks he