The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-06-15

the man inside was too much for him
''Diable You luke right But 70
can not explain. Eet ees on zce
tongue, but Get rayfuse. la! I hat Ell.
You lack vot gay call zee re1l. You
make me t'ink uf zee sairyant on
stage something bettair off: en-
This was as near as monsieur ever Got
to the truth of things.
During this speculative inventory
Warburton's face was gravely set;
indeed, it pictured his exact feeliHG
He was grave. He even wanted Pierre :
approval He was about TO pass
through very trying ordeal; he mieh,
not even pass through it. There W.
no deceiving his colonels eyes, han
him! Whatever had induced fate tc
! force this old Argus-eyed soldier upoI
the scene? He glanced into the kitchen
mirror. He instantly saw the salient
flaw in his dress. 1t was the cravat.
Tie it as he would, it never approached
| the likeness of the conventional era al
of the waiter 1t still remained a poll
ished cravat, a worldly cravat, the
cravat seen in bathrooms, drawing
rooms, in the theater stalls and boxes,
anywhere but in the servants hall.
Oh, for the ready-made cravat that
hitched to the collar button! And then
there was that servants low turned
down collar, glossy as celluloid. He
felt as diffident in his bare throat as
a debutante feels in her first decollette
Oall-gown, not very we'll covered up,
as it were And, heaven and earth,
how appallingly large his hands had
grown, how clumsy his feet! Would
the colonel expose him? Would he
keep silent? This remained to be
found out; wherein lay the terror of
suspense
Remembair,' went on Monsieur
Pierre, after pause, feeling that he
had a duty to fulfill and a responsible
ity to shift to other shoulders than his
own, 'remembair, .eef you spill zee
soup, l keel you. You carry zee tureen
in, zen you deesh out zee soup, and
sairve. Zee oystaires should be on zee
table tree minutes before zee guests
hat arrive. Now, can you make zee
American cocktail?"
81 can,"-with a ghost of a smile.
make heem, with pompous
wave of the hand toward the favorite
ingredients.
What kind?"
'Vot kind! Eez zare more cocktails,
zen?"
"Only two that are proper, the man
haitian and the martini"
MAKE zee martini; I know heem."
But cocktails ought not be mixed
before serving"
81 say, make zee one cocktail
colby and skeptically. II test heem."
Warburton made one. Monsieur
slipped it slowly, making wry face,
for, true Gaul that he was, only tive
kinds of stimulants appealed to his
palate, liqueurs and wines. He found |
it as good as any he had ever tasted.
''Ver' good, "-softening "Zare ees
zen, one ting Eat all zee Americans can |
make, zee cocktail? l am educate;
l learn. Now leaf me till eight. Keep |
zee collect head, and Monsieur Pierre |
turned his attention to his cartridges.
James went out of doors to get
breath of fresh aid and to collect his /
thoughts, which we're wool-gathering, I
whatever that may mean. They
needed collecting, these thoughts of
his, and labelling, for they were at all
points of the compass, and he was at
a loss upon which to draw for support
Here he was, in devil of fix, and
no possible way of escaping except by
absolutely boiling; and he vowed that
he wouldn't bolt, not if he stood the
chance of being exposed so times over.
He had danced; he was going to pay
the fiddler like man. He had never
ran away from anything, and he wasn't
going to begin now.
At the worst, they could only laugh
1t him; but his secret would be his no
onger. ASS that he had been! How
% tell this girl that he loved her? How
% appear to her as his natural self?
What a chance he had wilfully thrown
way! He might have been guest
o-night; he might have sat next to
Ter, turned the pages Of her music,
md perhaps sighed love in her ear, all
# which would have been very proper
ind conventional. All, if he only knew
What was going on behind those Med
terranean eyes of hers, those heavenly
apphires. Had she any suspicion?
70, it could not be possible; she had
Iumiliated him too often, to suspect
he imposture. Alackaday!
Had any one else applied the dis