Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1905-02-24

ing on. delighted and when the party
arose in body to propose for the sew
enteeuth time the health of their prince
it was with difficulty that he refrained !
from rising too.
At last, though, the frown Of the
waiter impatient TO clear his table for
a newcomer from whom he might re-
ceive more generous tip, convinced
him that ii was time for him to leave.
which he did regretfully.
AS he paid his bill he looked back
over his shoulder at the crowd still |
standing. still drinking. still hilariously
hurrahing and said timidly TO Beef |
steak John. who behind his desk await |
ed the advent of the moth eaten dollar |
from the slender purse:
They used to drink in that way to
me- In my own country" he added. Il
am a marquis
Beefsteak John clappcd his large
hand over his mouth to conceal tue
laugh. When he took it away his face
was rigid, but as the marquis stumbled
I'D the stairs he leaned forward and
whispered honrsely to the German
crowd
There goes marquis.
But the marquis never once connect
ed the guffaw of laughter which fol-
/ lowed him up the stairs from the crowd
! of Germans who were so rayly engag-
( ed in drinking stems of beer tn the
health of their prince with himself.
After that whenever the marquis APP
! peared in the doorway Beefsteak John
/ fastened to wave his hand in the di-
| rection of the waiter.
The marquis" he was wont to ex-
claim. And the waiter, entering into
! the joke, made mad rush to attend TO
| bis needs.
Beefsteak John was not without n
sense of humor. He relished the 'jol-
~" that the marquis was giving him.
He amuse, himself with it, The mar
Uuis was duly pointed out to each new
conner as an honared patron of the
house. and such history as he could
take time to manufacture was dished
up to them along with the pate de fole
gras. He had castles in the old coun-
try. He was possessed Of vast riches.
1t was only his eccentricty which
caused him to run secondhand shop
full of dust laden antiquities in Ann
street little touched he might be,
no doubt was. but harmless and artistic.
cratic. as one could readily see. with
his gentle ways and his delicate fea-
lures. yellow and immoble as any old
carved curio to he found in his own es-
Establishment.
Indeed. it was absolutely necessary
to invent fiction in his case, for after
that first ebulltion Of feeling which
had carried him away to the extent
of revealing his identity the marquis
had not seen fit to reveal anything fur
ther
Beefsteak John eventually became so
interested in the joke that had been
sprung upon him that he caused a
brand of cigars to be issued and sold
from his desk which he called after
the marquis The Marquis Brand"
This brand sprang into instantaneous
popularity among the habitues of the
his little table of the white napkin and
cloth the cigars sold with even more
rapidly. for Beefsteak John. with an
Dbsequious bow, pointed him out as he
passed the box then turned his broad
back to conceal his laughter as the
marquis, smiling his slow and gentle
smile, returned the bow as one to the
vol 70, It,tr
ton.
Then it came to pass that among
those human ants that swarm along
the old network paths Of the lower
town. going each and every one re-
sstlessly. restlessly. relentlessly toward
the sefsame identical goal one ant
dropped out.
Beefsteak John began all at once to
miss the marquis He came no more
down the brassy steps to sit at the lit.
tie table of the white cloth and bow in
answer to his irony, for he had reached
. the goal.
Beefsteak John sent waiter to ques-
ton as to his whereabouts.
The waiter found the door of the
dusty shop closed. the shelves empty.
The unwashed window revealed only
the square Of light from the DINNER
back window which looked dinghy
through.
Dead" frowned Beefsteak John.
But how and when, and who saw to
his burial?" Then. why" he burst
out, didn't they let us know"
But / w could they, whoever they
were-those theys who break open lock-
. ed doors to find the dead lying quietly
within, who were strangers perhaps,
who oftenest are--know of Beefsteak
John and his restaurant and his heart,
which was large in spite of the fact
that he must have his little fun over
those who pretended though ever so
timidly, that they were what they were
not?
THE marquis is dead said Beef
steak John that night, and, with a
great sigh, passed box Of "The Mar
qus Brand" to be smoked to his mem.
Dry.
He was the talk Of a week. not more,
and the marquis was numbered among
those who are forgotten.
Then one fine day IN June-all this
happened in the winter time, when the
snow was on the pavement and on the