Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1906-07-26
WHY JACQUOIN
LAUGHED
By John F. MaeD
CCopyright. BY Joseph B. Bowies.l

Duhudg COdls us Wllb mas ueI ouuudy
bonnet; his daughters have each a
dress OF turquoise blue and heliotrope;
when they have donned their hnery
the bourgeois and b%ourgeoise are "en-
dimanches' Hence follows this ad-
vantage: No one, seeing them, can be
dubious as to the day; the heliotrope
puts an end to all perplexity-instant-
ly YOU can safely wager, you may
swear, even If you have been an in
valiC for months or a traveller for
years, even If you have lost all count
of time, that it is Sunday.
But in the village of Sannois, the
few hundred inhabitants are "endi-
manches' three times a week, on
Wednesdays and Saturdays as well as
Sundays. The Wednesday and Satur-
day inery is the same as the Sunday
inery, not a trinket has been held
over; and if the church bells do not
summon the villagers to High Mass on
tho Sc common days, other bells from
tho cobbled square call them merrily
to the market.
Moreover, theraristocracy of Sannois
Ga petite bourgeoisie tina has retired
ard raised ~six-roomed villas after 80
ytars' economies) has also dressed.
Still, one incongruity is noticeable:
Each person carries a basket; not a
f. ucy thing, not the little pannier into
which the heroine Of a melodrama
packs fresh eggs and ~honeysuckle; but
a stout basket, a veritable market bas-
ket. All foods are stored in it, enough
food to last from Saturday until
Wednesday.
AS Sannois holds its bi-weekly con
versazione'-for this it is-the basket
becomes laden, heavy. The villagers,
at last dispensing, c%heerfully bear off
their burdens; but the aristocrats seek
an idler, z n~e'er-do-well (Sannois has
many ne'er-do-wells) to carry the bas-
kgts to the six-roomed villas in ex-
change for sous. A dozen idlers pre-
sent themselves and are engaged.
Most of them are scrubby, clumsy; but
the readiest, the most agile of them
all, is Jacquon-"le Toilet" as they
c4il him, as he likes to be called;
sEbck-headed, with tow-colored hair,
light. restless eyes, a loose mouth, a
lean face; the lank figure of a boy
OF II, the brain of 'child of seven,
but in reality-so the villagers affirm
sc years of age or more. He is
hailed as Jacquon, and he laughs. He
laughs again as he takes the basket,
and as he raises it, and when he rests
it on his shoulders. He laughs stu
pidly, and his mouth witches when
he laughs.
No one feared Jacquon lie Toilet
when we encountered hin on the mar
ket place some months ago.
HE is insane" Sannois admitted,
but never harms anyone. He only
laughs-laughs continually"
And it was true-Jacquon laughed
continually; but his laughter was so
familiar that the villagers did not
even shudder when it rang out sud-
denly, eerily, at night.
"Jacquon is returning from the sta
tion," was all they said; for Jacquon
was hired sometimes by the Sannois
a~ristocrats to light them with his Ian
tern to the station; or to light them
ht,me, as the way was rough and dark.
They trusted %Jacquon; and yet he
was an uncanny spectacle in the oun
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 Jacquon,
laughing ut the windmill-'but laugh
ing, mon cher!"-in spite of the mud
and the mist. The "garde champetre"
also trusted J%acquon; trusted him so
Implicitly that he allowed him to carry
a knife-a long, sharp knife-with
which he dug out mushrooms and
fashioned sticks.
Sannois, in fact, was kind to JAG
quon; but his parents rarely humored
him. They, the hardest workers in the
village, the healthiest and the strong
est, farmed, grew vines; 1t crossed
them to see Jacquon incompetent and
half-witted. Constantly and altOgeth-
err they toiled, father, mother and two
stalwart sons. And they scarcely
spoke to Jacquon; while Jacquon never
spoke to them. He ate his meals in
silence, whereas they reviewed the la
bors of the day; and they never asked,
Where is Jacquon? Never inquired,
I What have you been doing, %Jacquon?
Never gave him his beloved title,
| Jacquon lie Toilet. Consequently JAG
quon stunned the farm; and, out of
revenge, at no time brought home
mushrooms for the table, but present.
ed them instead u the garde cham
petre for his, and to the villagers for
theirs.
The ne'er-do-wells (who hated JAG
quon's parents because, sober folk,
they spent none of their earnings at
the wine sellers zinc counter), loved to
make Jacquon tipsy; then to chaff him
a0out his father. When the ne'er-do-
us themselves were tipsy, their
es grew coarser, then vile. In
ably Jaequon's mother. falsely re-
Of loose conduct in her youth,
fnbiect of cruel jests. And
a laugh and laugh.