The Cairo bulletin., 1906-06-30
WHY JACQUOIN
LAUGHED
BY JOHN r. MacD ONALD


The bourgeois of Paris, like every
bourgeois has his Sunday tie and his
Sunday coat, his wife has her sunday
bonnet his daughters have each q
dress Of turquoise blue and heliotrope;
when thew have donned their finery
the bourgeois and bourgeoise are EN-
dimanches" Hence follows this adj
vantage No one, seeing them, can be
dubious as to the day; the heliotropf
puts an end to all perpleXity- instant
ly you can safely wager, YOU may
swear, even if you have been an in
valid for months or traveller for
years, even If you have lost all count
OF time, that II Is Sunday.
But in the village of Sannois, the
few hundred inhabitants are 'endi-
Wednesdays and Saturdays as well as
Sundays. The Wednesday and Satur-
day finery is the same as the Sunday
finery, not a trinket has been held
over, and if the church bells do not
summon the villagers to High Mass on
those common days, other bells from
the cobbled square call them merr.ly
to the market.
Moreover, the ariatocracy OF Sannols
Ca petite hourgeoisie that has retired
and raised six-roomed villas after "a
years economies has also dressed.
Still, one incongruity is noticeable:
a
fancy thing. not the little pannier into
which the heroine of a melodrama
packs fresh eggs and honeysuckle; but
a stout basket, yeritable market bas-
ket. All foods are stored in it, enough
food to last from Saturday until
Wednesday,
AS Sannois holds its bi-weeltly "con-
versazione for this it is--the basket
becomes laden, heavy. The villagers
at last dispensing, cheertully bear of
their burdens; but the aristocrats seeE
an idler, 4 ne'er-do-well (Sannois has
many neer-do- wells) to carry the bas
kets to the six-roomed villas in eH
change for sous. A dozen idlers pre-
sent themselves and are engaged
Most of them are scrubby, clumsy; bu
the readieet, the most agile of then
all. is Jacquon-"le Toilet" as they
call him, as he likes to be called
shock -headed, with tow-colored hair
light, restless eyes, a loose mouth,
lean face; the lank figure of q boy
Of II. the brain of a child of seven
but in reality-so the villagers affirm
30 years of age or more. He /
hailed as Jacquon, and he laughs. II,
laughs again as he takes the basket
and as he raises it, and when he rest
it on his shoulders He laughs stu
pidly, and his mouth witches wher
he laughs,
No one feared Jacquon lie Folle
when we encountered him on the mar
ket place some months ago.
"He is insane" Sannos admitted
but never harms anyone. He only
laughs-laughs continually"
And IT was true-Jacquon laughed
continually: but his laughter was &c
familiar that the villagers did not
even shudder when it rang ont sud-
denly, eerily, at night
"Jacquon is returning from the sta
ton" was all they said; for Jacquon
was hired sometimes by the Sannois
arlstocrats TO light them with his Ian
tern to the station or 10 light them
home. as the way was rough and dark
They trusted Jacquon; and yer he
was an uncanny spectacle in the moon
light. with his lantern and his laugh
often he wandered abroad all night;
and the garde champetre described
how he. on more than one occasion
had come suddenly upon Jacauon
laughing az the windmill-"but laugh
ing. mon cher!"--in spite OF the muc
and the mist. The "garde champetre"
also trusted Jacquon; trusted him SO
implicitly that he allowed him 10 carry
a knife-a long. sharp knife--with
which he dug out mushrooms and
fashioned sticks.
sannois. in fact. was kind to JAG.
auon: but his parents rarely huIrOreG
him. They, the hardest workers iu the
village. the healthiest and the strong
est farmed. grew vines; IL crossec
Them 10 see Jacquon incompetcnt and
haif-witcd. Constantly and altoeeth
or they toiled, father. mother and twc
etaIwart sons. And they scarcely
spoke 10 Jacquon; while Jacquon never
smoke To them. lie ate his meals IN
silence. whereas they reviewed the la-
bors Of The day. and they never asked
where is Jacquoua Never inquired
WV -. uum hon L.lur Iacnunu