Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-03-04

OSED DRINK IN THAT WAY To
ME-.
ing on. delighted, and when the party
arose in body to propose for the sew
enteenth 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
newcomer from whom he might re-
ceive a more generous tip, convinced
him that it 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, 81
| am marquis"
Beefsteak John clapped his large
hand over his mouth to conceal the
laugh. When he took it away his face
was rigid, but as the marquis stumbled
up the stairs he leaned forward and
whispered hoarsely to the German
crowd:
There goes marQuiSw
But the marquis never once connect
cd the guffaw of laughter which fol-
lowed him up the stairs from the crowd
| OF Germans who were so gayly engag-
ed in drinking stems of beer to the
health of their prince with himself.
After that whenever the marquis ap-
peared In the doorway Beefsteak John
fastened to wave his hand in the di-
rection of the waiter.
THE marquiSr he was wont to eX-
claim. And the waiter, entering into
the joke, made a mad rush to attend to
his needs.
Beefsteak John was not without n
sense of humor. He reliShed the "iol-
ly" that the marquis was giving him.
He amused himself with it. The mar
quis was duly pointed out to each new
conner as an honored patron of the
house, and such history as he could
take time to manufacture was dished
up to them along with the pate de foie
gras. He had castles in the old coun-
try. He was possessed of vast riches.
II w us OlllN Ills cCGClllTlCllN which
caused him to run n secondhand shop
full of dust laden antiquities in Ann
street. \ little touched he might be,
no doubt was, but harmless and ariSto-
cratic, as one could readily see, with
his gentle ways and his delicate fea,
lures, yellow and immobile as any old
carved cupo TO be found in his own es-
Establishment.
Indeed, it was absolutely necessary
to invent fiction in his case, for after
that first ebullition of feeling which
had carried him away to the extent
Of revealing his identity the marquis
had not seen fit TO reveal anything fur
Their.
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
place. Whenever the marquis sat at
his little table Of the white napkin and
cloth the cigars sold with even more
AbpiNhlS' lOI ISctlSledk JOnn, with an
obsequious 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
manner born and accustomed to adula-
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-
sistlessly, restiessly, relentlessly toward
the selfsame 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 toshis irony. for he had reached
the goal
Beefsteak John sent waiter to cues
ton as to his whereabouts.
The waiter found the door of the