The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1922-11-09
A BUCK IN FRANCE
CONTINUED from page I


lady wildcat for companion. At least
he expressed himself to that effect. But
then a man who absorbs absinthe cannot
be held accountable. More than one escort
was cycling Badly hostilely before the
evening had progressed, so we decided to
move on to save him from being the vic
tim of justihable homicide or some dapper
boilu from finding out how Badly rode
Corkscrew at the last rodeo, for the pun
cher was at that stage where he was feel
ing like climbing a prickly pear tree,
naked, with a wildcat under each arm.
And a roomful of frogs was his idea of
the Daily Dozen if it came to real battle.
Buck was endulging in lachrymose tears
when he caught a come-hither from the
opposite side of the room.
The Montmarte section of Paris lies al
most due north of the Palais du Louvre,
and but a short distance from the Care
du Nord. This district is not one long
street, as is often believed, but comprises
the Cimetiere Montmarte to the west and
extending to La Chappele section on the
east. The Montmarte itself is on the
northern outskirts of the city.
MANY of the resorts are world famous
so the old saying, "See Paris and die"
infers that when one has seen this city, he
is ready to pass in his earthly checks. In
a way Paris was disappointment to me,
but perhaps expected too much 1t did
not come up to my expectations at any
rate. I have seen gayer spots in the old
U. S. A. during the days when you didn't
have to bride prohibition sleuth to acquire
the dark brown taste the morning after.
Neither are the French the speed demons
they are supposed to be. Many Americans
enormously harbor the opinion that the
French live unconventionally as race,
that their theatres would shame the old
ellis in K. c. during the pre-war days,
and that they are nation of hounds.
In fairness that should be corrected First,
loose morals do not predominant in France,
lurid newspapers to the contrary; the
risque shows are patronized by the many
tourists or I. B. M. of Paris; and lastly,
during my several months stay in France
I never saw one Frenchman under the
influence of liquor. After you have
tackled a bottle of eognac you will give
the natives credit for possessing sense. As
our blacksmith who was known through
out the regiment as "King Cognac," once
said after prolonged SPREE "The only
difference between cognac and arsenic is
that you get kick out of cognac while it's
working"
Absinthe is even worse than its first
cousin, if such thing be possible, so
you may well imagine our party of seven
making the rounds. Badly and Buck
leading the way, and taking up enough of
the street to march battalion through.
Badly was bent on engaging one of the
famed abaches in combat, and he believed
in advertising. Perhaps it is fortunate that
Aio VOCABULARY was u COmUIGW!
(How much?) and a few other stock
phrases that had to do with wine, woman,
and song. The most comical situation 1
ever witnessed was that evening when he
and Buck attempted to order meal for the
party in French. Badly would bunch over
the menu, wrinkle his barren pate, stutter
something, while the garcon waved his
hands, uncomprehendingly, then the pun
cher would grab the poor waiter and stab
his finger at the particular dish he de-
sired. Buck would wag his head solemn
ly in Affirmative, and neither knew whether
they were ordering fish or salad. But then
they were too far gone to tell the difference
so it really didn't matter.