Year: 1865

r7The Paris correspondent of The London
Times t,lls the following story ,ot the times
OF Louis XIV UH LIWIy trdyy .Vnrf az


Charna.e had been rone of the Kings
pages and an officer in his body-guard. In
early lie he. had played some very strange
| prauks, but had always met with favor and
protection from. the King He did many
clever things, but one in particular i'm which
he was eDgagedimade everybody laugh. He
had long and handsome avenue to his
chateau in Anjou, in whiclla peasant had
a little house. and garden,a which had stood
IinIthe samespot long before the avenue was
planted, and which neither Charnaee nor
| his father could ever persuade the rustic to
sell on any terms. This, observes Saint
Simon, with proper disdain for 80 low a per-
son, is a species of obstinacy which petty
proprietors often show expressly to annoy
Epeople of condition. Charnace pretended
to let the matter drop, and for long time
said no more about it. i- .rlii.r.I...i


At last, disgusted that a paltry cottage
should intercept the sweep of his fine
avenue, he conceived scheme to get rid of
it. 1t CHANGED that the eownerof the cottage
was tailor, and worked at his trade when-
ever an opportunity offered. He lived


alone, having neither wife nor children.
One fine day, Charnaee sent for him, and


said that he was suddenly. ordered up to
| court to fill an Office OF great importance,


that he was anxious to get there as soon as
| possible, and as he had no liveries for his
servants, he wished them to be made forth


with. The tailor agreed, and the bargain


was struck on thespot. Charnace stipulat-
ed, however, to avoid unnecessary delay,


he should do the work at the chateau, and


that if he promised not to quit it until it


was finished he would pay him something


over and above, besides boarding and lodg-


ing him. The tailor set to work on the
spot. In the meantime Charnace got an


architect to make an eXactplan Of the house
and garden, tile rooms, the furniture, and
even the Kitchen utensils. He then sent
workmen to pull down the house, take
away every thing that was in it, aad recon-
struct it exactly as it had been, internally
and externally, at some distance from the
avenue, with every article in its place, and


the garden exactly as it had been. ai' a'


They then cleared away all traces of it
from the ground it originally stood upon,
so that nobody could guess that it had been
there atall. This was completed before the
tailor, who was carefully watched, had fin
ished his liveries. When the liyeries were


completed, Charnace paid his man well,


kept him to supper, and then dismissed


him. The tailor set out for his home at


nightfall. He found the avenue unusually


long, thought lie had gone too far, retraced


his steps, and looked about for the well
known trees near which his house stood.
The night was dark, and he grouped his


way through them as well as he could, but
was astonished to find his house nowhere.
He passed the whole night in this way.
When day broke he saw that he had not
gone astray; but that house and garden
had all disappeared, and he came to the
conclusion that he was the sport of some
evil spirit. After wandering about for a
good deal he thought he perceived at con-
siderable distance from the avenue cot
tage which greatly resembled his own,
| though he knew that there never had been
one in the same place.. G.,l .ur .
He approached it, examined it closer,
and the more he did so the more he was
struck with the exact resemblance. He
was curious enough to try whether the key
he had in his pocket would fit the lock. 1t
did fit the lock. He opened the door, walk
ed in, and was thunderstruck on finding
not only that the rooms were the same, but
that every single article of furniture was
the same, and precisely in the same spot
where he had left them. He was near
fainting with fright; he fell on his knees
and prayed, for he religiously believed that
the demon had played him this trick. The
following day, however, he learned the
truth from the mocking and laughing of the
villagers to whom he told his story. He
got furious, went with his complaint to the
intendantof the province, and insisted up
on getting satisfaction; but he only got
laughed at. The King heard tile story, and
laughed more than anybody, and Charnace
had his avenue as he wishedit it. .5.aV .