Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-20

paniment of the choragus explanation. a
mechanical snake appeared in the branches
with an apple in its mouth. An unseen per-
son of the stage made the snake twist and
wrthe. Eve put out her hand. took the
apple. and ate a bit. Adam waking. she
pointed to the tree and to the fruit Offering
him a piece. He demurred in pantomine.
but accepted and swallowed what was left
OF the apple. Instantly there appeared ut
the wing an angel with a long. flaNen wig.
who threatened the guilty pair with :in-
sci sword They covered, and then shad-
ing their eyes with their hands were
walking sadly away when the curtain fen
II was tableau number one, showing the
fall of man.
exhibition with devotional reverence, hut
a knot Of young men openly Uttered ard
Jeered. commenting Satrically upon the de-
hciencieS in the stage management Then.
with more music. began the scenes from
the New Testament One was rather pretty.
introducing the woman at the well Christ
being impersonated by sweet-faced young
man In white with light brown wig and
beard. The girl who played the Virgin
was not more than twenty. and had
serene prettiness. with an air OF grave
modesty. which We're very attractive. She
wore her own long hair falling like a man
tie over her dark dress as far down as the
knees.
Each scene lasted perhaps five minutes.
the characters on the stage speaking no
word, but opening their mouths and NOV
ing their bodies in time with the recitation
of the choragus. We had the betrayal in
the garden. the trial before Plate the
scourging. the crucfixion and the resurrec-
ton. all given with feeling and surprising
dignity, and in the crucifxion scene. with
pathos. Most of the women in the audience
were in tears, their compassion spending
itself noticeably more upon the Virgins
sorrow than upon her Sons agony: and all
through the representation the same irrCV-
erent knot of scoffers continued to laugh.
to whistle, to mimic. From many parts Of
the tent there were indignant cries OF
Shame" and silence" but the disturb
ers went on to the end. quite regardless of
good taste and the pious feelings OF the
majority.
heard whispers which informed us that
this company of players had no repertoire;
such thing they would have considered
sacrilegious. but they travelled all over
France in caravans, carrying their own
scenery and costumes. We dared not stay
till the very end of the performance. but
had to get up and steal quietly out, with
Aunt Mary heavy on onr ConscienceS.
I believed poor little Miss Randolph really
was afraid of that scolding she had prophe-
sled. But behold, vice has its own reward.
and the enemy was delivered into our
hands. We arrived at the news. and
there was the car: but there was not Aunt
Mary nor yet Sherlock-Fauntleroy. In
their place. curled up in the tonneau. re-
clined callow French youth. comfortably
snoozing. with his coat collar turned up to his
ears. We reused him. learned that he had
been caught en- PEASANT and hired at the
rate of two francs an hour to await the
return of lady and gentleman; also That
he had been in his present position for
nearly an hour. One lady and gentleman
seemed to his mind good another. for
when offered a five-franc piece he showed
no hesitation in delivering up his charge
to us. although for all he could tell. we
might have been the rankest of rank i'm
posters. After the departure of this faith
less guardian. Miss Randolph and | sat
enthroned in the car for some twenty min
utes before Aunt Mary and Jimmy came
speeding round the corner of the news.
They brought with them an atmosphere of
warmth and good cheer and at first sniff
it was evident that they had dined where
dining in both solid and liquid branches
was a fine art.
In my part of servant | was not on in
the ensuing comedy; but | listened lin the
wings" and chuckled inwardly Well did
Miss Randolph fill the role of injured virtue
which she had taken up at such short
cies of a stupid little boy, a perfect stran-
Jimmy could have been capable of betray-
ing her trust in them; that they should
have gone off and left a valuable car.
which wasn't even hers to the tender mer-
cie3 af a stupid little hoy. a perfect stran-
ger. bravely done. Ii represented
as a miracle that the Napier and every
thing in il had not been stolen during their
absence: and the good dinner the culprits
had enjoyed at the neighboring hotel could
not fortify them against the blghting sense
of their own depravty so wildly brought
hor:e.
Not a repfoach Tor us; all the WIND had
been taken out of their sails. A sadder and
wiser Jimmy and Aunt Mary meekly al
lowed themselves to be driven through
the cold moonlight with distant CLEANS of
lowered towns, to Narbonne, where l am
writing to you, after having dined and
cleaned the car. Our hotel is not ideal
one; yet my hard pillow my head. I
ween, will lie easier than on a downy one
last night. We arrived late. and will leave
early, to lessen the chances OF being
pounced upon by the clutches of the law.
But L begin to hope that. after all. those
peasants decided to let well alone. and that
we shall escape Scathless
When | was little boy we used to have
honey in red-brown earthenware pots la
beled Finest Narbonne Honey" and for
years the place figured in my imagination
a smiling region of brilliant flowers
But the disillgsionng reality is dusty.
rather noisy. very commercial town. paved
with stones the most abominabEe; and be-
tween Carcassonne and here the roads
grow more abominable with every kilo-
meter. l am tired. but not unhappy; and
so. goodnight. Your fraudulent friend.
BROWN-WINSTON.
CTo be continued Monday