Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-08-01
CHAPTER Xxx.

CHAPTER XXX.
THE great day finally arrived,
and no carnival could havebeen
more successful The morning
was devoted to athletics and
side shows The firemen won the tug Of
war, and the people marveled when
| Monty duplicated the feats Of the strong
man in the circus. DeNIille was called
upon for speech, but, knowing only ten
words of French, he graciously retired
| in favor Of the mayor, and that POM
| pous little man made the most Of a
rare opportunity References to Frank
| lin and Lafayette We're so frequent that
Subway Smith intimated that a rubber
stamp must have been used in writing
the address.
| The parade took place in the after
noon and proved quite the feature Of
the day. The question Of precedence
nearly overturned Monty's plans, but
| the chief Of police was finally made to
see that if he We're to be chief marshal
| it was only fair that the firemen should
march ahead of the police. The crew Of
the Filter made wonderful showing
1t was led by the yachts band, which
fairly outdid Sousa in noise, though it
was less unanimous in the matter Of
time. All the cabs came at the end, but
there were so many Of them and the
line Of march was so short that at
times they were really leading the pro
cession despite the gallant efforts Of the
| grand marshal.
From the balcony of the hotel Monty
| and his party pelted those below with
flowers and confetti. More illusions to
Franklin and Lafayette were made
when the cure and the mayor halted
the procession and presented Monty
with an address richly engrossed on
imitation parchment. Then the school
children sang, and the crowd dispersed
to meet again in the evening.
At 8 o'clock Brewster presided over
large banquet and numbered among
his guests every one of distinction in
the town. The wives were also invited,
and Franklin and Lafayette were again
! alluded to. Each Of the men made at
least one speech, but Subway Smiths
third address was the hit Of the even
ing. Knowing nothing but English, he
had previously chung consistently to
that language, but the third and final
address seemed to demand something
more friendly and genial. With a
sweeping bow and with all the dignity
OF a statesman he began:
"Mesdames ct messieurs, TAI, tn as,
il a, nous avons''-with a magnificent
gesture-"vous avez" The French
members of the company were not
equal to his pronunciation and were
under the impression that he was still
talking English. Thay were profound
~ impressed with his difference and
grace and accorded his preamble a
round of applause. The Americans
did their utmost to persuade him to be
seated, but their uproar was mistaken
by the others for enthusiasm, and the
applause grew louder than ever. Sub
way held up his hand for silence, and
his manner suggested that he was
about to utter some peculiarly impor-
tant thought. He waited until a pin
fall could have been heard before he
went on.
''Maitre Corbeau sur I'm arbre
perche"- He finished the speech as he
was being carried bodily from the room
BIZ DeNIille and Bragdon. The French
men then imagined that Smiths re-
marks had been insulting, and his
friends had silenced him on that ac-
count. A riot seemed Imminent when
Monty succeeded in restoring silence
and with few tactful remarks about
Franklin and Lafayette quieted the
excited guests.
The evening ended with fireworks
and dance in the open ARA dance
that grew gay under the masks. The
wheels had been well oiled, and there
was no visible failure of the carnival
spirit. To Brewster it seemed a mad
game, and he found it less easy to play
part behind the foolish mask than he
expected. His own friends seemed to
elude hicl, and the coquetries of the
village damsels had merely a fleeing
charm. He was standing apart to
watch the glimmering crowd when he
was startled by smothered cry.
Turning to investigate, he discovered a
little red domino, unmistakabiy fright
ened and trying to release herself from
a too ardent Punchinello Monty's ar
rival prevented him from tearing off
the girls mask and gave him an en-
tirely new conception of the strenuous
life. He arose Tuning and suffering,
but he was taken in hand by the
crowd and whirled from one to anoth-
er in whimsical mockery. Meanwhile
Monty, unconscious that his mask had
dropped during the encounter was as
tonished to feel the little hand Of the
red domino on his arm and to hear a
voice not all unfamiliar in his ear.
Continued in Next Issue.)
S1oo-Dr. E. Decthon's Anti.Diuret!c
~