The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1909-03-18
VERDAVIN'S
CANDIDACY
How the Representative Of
His Wife Wa Elected

| ~ 10 ooiS DCttiHS thuS y~"A
tor, no matter who he may be, Will
exclaim:
"Verdavin. Well of all the ambi-
tious, intriguing men l ever met, Yer
DAWN was the worst
However, now that the vox populi
has pronounced upon my old friend,
permit me to have the honor OF intro
ducing to you the real Verdavin, that
you may compare him with Verdavin
the legendary
Born of honest but poor, parents,
Amedee-such was his name-had,
from his childhood up, one single care
to live quietly and cozily on the 30
600 francs a year beQueathed TO MIN
by his pa and ma. He had CHEEKY
little town residence, love of coun-
try house In spring he made little
trip to Paris; in summer he fished; in
autumn he shot; in winter there was
the club. Nothing could have been
pleasanter.
Nevertheless, Amedee perceived that
something still was lacking in his life.
He wanted some one to keep his ac-
counts and oversee his expenditures.
How was he to get rid of this business
which threatened his idleness and
pacidity? He made up his mind to
take wife.
She whom he had chosen was a
Young girl of candid brow, but full Of
resoution--a fact which had guided
Verdavin in his selection. He had said
to himself she will have will enough
TO see after all my business affairs,
and | shall be saved any trouble in
such matters"
The moon that shone above-round
as the crown sf his hat-had not yet
filled her horn six times after their
marriage, when, one fine morning, my
lady summoned her husband, who
FASTENED to her apartments, bearing
in his hand a package of books, to
which he was attaching new lengths
of line and gut.
What is it. my darling?'
"Amedee, be so good as to listen to
me- During the six months of our
married life | have been studying your
character and scrutinizing your apti-
tudes, for you know we'll that man
of your age and position cannot rust
in inglorious idleness.'
why bless me, Emmie, | thought
my time was sufficiently occupied. For
instance. just at this very moment |
was setting off for the brook, where
expected to get you mess of fish for
dinner that"
"Amedee. In serious, | beg of you,
if YOU can. | have been canvassing
the whole subject thoroughly in my
mind, and have found the one pur
suit"
But, my dear when | say that"
THAT one pursuit in which, now
adays, a man can rise to power and
honor is politics"
Politics. Heaven be praised,
never have gone In for politics; and
heaven helping me, madame, | never
will"
In three weeks there will be an
tlftllOU III tllS hSpoi tiiNht' "'i'
that is to say, you WILL come forward
as candidate"
But, dearest, you have not
thought"
Yes. dear. have thought it over In
It's every aspect Indeed | have pre-
pared your address to the electors
The deuce you have,"
Don't swear, Amedee; swearing of
tends the scrupulous voters. Do you
think ii is very agreeable for wom-
an to spend all her lifetime shut up in
this poky old hole, absolutely un-
known? The provinces do not make
regulations, but they elect deputies.
What would ! not give to hear people
say. as | passed: You see that pretty
little woman in brown? She's the wife
Of our Representatives.
"Emmie, you are only jesting,'
"This, then is the address you are
to issue to the electors" and she read
as follows:
Fellow Citizens; At a time when the
we'll being-nay. the very eXistence--de-
otc men. feel it my duty to desire an
opportunity of combating on the parlia-
mentary field of battle for the regener-
alton of our beloved country. What ] de
| sire-what YOU must all desire-is order
| in liberty with liberty in order
There were nearly three columns OF
this.
The next morning there began for
the unhappy Verdavin life the hor-
rors of which it would be difficult to
| retrace. He, the friend of rcpose, the
enemy of emotion!
For instance, one day madame said:
"Amedee, | have drawn up a list OF
the leading residents of each parish
in the constituency We will call on
the most prominent you will write to
the others"
seventeen hundred letters-I never
could"
You can easily hire secretaries. In
half an hour we will set off on this in
dispensable journey
For Is days the only man one
seemed to meet on the roads, the
steamboats,. the cars, was the unhappy
Verdavin, the candidate in spite OF
| himself. In the peting rain, in the
broiling sun. everywhere went he.
Every morning his wife drew up the
program for his days journey; every
night he had to bring home to her
good and sufficient evidence that he
a Il a