The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-11-12

BY the time they had recovered
themselves sufficiently to think Of an
pa IN kettle lying handy IN the gutter
she mad turned the corner. Two
inlserably clad - urchins, unable to
scrape together t2le few sous necessary
for the hire Of a rag or two, had new
ertheless determined not to be alto
gether out Of il. They had managed
to borrow couple Of white biouses-A
not what you would understand by a
white blouse, dear madame, a dainty.
thing Of frills ard laces. but the coarse
white sack the street sweeper wears
over his other clothes. They had also
borrowed a couple Of brooms. Ridicu-s
ious little objects. they looked, only the
tiny head Of each showing above the
great white shroud as gravely they
walked, the one behind the other,
sweeping the mud into the gutter.
They also were of the Carnival playing
at being scavengers. Another quaint
sight I witnessed, coming sharply
round the corner of a by-street The
"serpentne'' is feature Of the Belgian
carnival. It is q strip of colored paper,
some dozen Yards long. perhaps You
fling it as you would a lasso. entangling
the head OF some passerby- Naturally
the object most aimed at by the Bel
CLAN youths is the Belgian maiden.
And, naturally also, the maiden who
finds herself most entangled is the
maiden Who-to use again the Ian
guage of the matrimonial advertiser
is considered good looking The ser
pentine about her head is the feather
in her cap of the Belgian maiden on
carnival day. Coming suddenly round
the corner I almost ran into a girl
Her back was towards me. It was a
very quiet street, leading into another
quiet street. She had half a dozen OF
these serpentines in her pocket. Hur-
riedly, with trembling hands, she
was twisting them round and round
her own head. looked at her as
passed. She flushed scarlet. Poor lit
tie snub-nosed, pasty-faced woman!
Oh Faz ~
have bought six-penny worth Of SER
pentines, followed her and tOrmented
her with them; while she would have
pretended indignation, sought discreet-
~ to escape from me.
Down south, where the blood flows
quicker. King Carnival is indeed a jo1y
old soul In Munich he reigns for six
weeks, the end coming with a mad two
days revel in the streets. During the
whole of the period, folks in ordinary
everyday costume are regarded as Curl
osities; people wonder what they are up
to. From the Grain to the Dienstmad-
schen, from the Herr Professor to Ric-
colo, as they serve to make antics that
answers to our page boy, the business
Of Munich is dancing, somewhere some
how, in a fancy costume. The costume
ball is 'everyWhere-at the palace, at the
beer-hall. Every theater clears away
the stage, every cafe crowds its chairs
and tables into corners, the very streets
are cleared for dancing. Munich goes
mad. But then, that does not mean Il
goes far. Munich is always little mad.
The nnaddest ball ever danced at was
in Munich. went there with a Har-
ward university professor. He had been
told what these balls were like. Ever
seeking knowledge Of all things, he de-
termined TO take the matter Up for
himself and examine It. The writer also
must ever be learning. I agreed to &C
| company him. We had not intended to
I 49, ~
indulgent spectators, regarding from
the foolish crowd. The professor was
clad as become professor. Myself. I
wore a simply-cut frock coat with
! trousering in French grey The door
/ keeper explained to US that this was a
/ costume ball; he was sorry. but gen
/ tlemen could be admitted only in even
4 ing dress or in masquerade. It was
/ half-past one in the morning. We had
sat up late on purpose; we had gone
I without our dinner: we had walked two
/ miles. The professor suggested pinning
up the tails Of his clerically-cut coat
and turning in his waist coat The
| doorkeeper feared It would not be quite
the same thing. Besides. my French
/ gray trousers refused to adapt them
selves. The doorkeeDer proposed our
] hiring a costume-a little speculation OF
his own; gentlemen found it simpler
sometimes, especially married gentle
men, to hire a costume in this mau-
ner changing back into sober garments
before going home. It reduced the
volume Of necessary explanation. Have
you anything. my good man." said the
! professor, anything that would effect
/ a complete disguise2" The doorkeeper
| had the very thing-a Chinaman with
/ combined mask and wig. It fitted neat
/ ~ over the head and was provided with
a simple but ingenious piece OF mechan-
/ ism by means of which much could be
done with the pigtail- Myself the deer
keeper hid from view under the ccwl
Of Carmelite monk II do hope noe
+ body recognizes u.s." whispered my
/ friend, the professor. as we entered I
can only hope sincerely that they did
not do not wish to talk about my
self; that would be egotism. But the
mystery OF the Harvard professor trout
bles me to this day. A crave, earnest
! gentleman, the father OF a family,
saw him with my own eyes put that
ridiculous pasteboard mask over his
/ head. Later on--a good deal later on
I found myself walking again with him
/ through silent starlb streets. Where
he had been in the interval and who
then was the strange creature under
the Chinaman's mask viii always re-
main to me an unsolved problem.