Life — April 24, 1884 — page 5: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Teas ee ee an nd ny. + on the AN. nner thy - LIFE: 229 Editor of LIFE: J notice the statement in a recent issue of your versatile paper that ‘it is probable that beef-tea was invented about the time Henry VIII. dissolved the papal bull.” Does not this overlook, however, the fact that Godfrey de Bouillon lived some four hundred years earlier ? Davin WILLcox. CHEERING SIGNS. UR prospects are brightening hourly, and if the O war of rates between the public cabmen and the Cheap Cab Company continues much longer at this rate, it will soon be cheaper to ride than to walk in New York City. The new vehicles quickly forced the cabmen to come down in their prices, and they have painted their cabs to resemble their rivals’. These moves have now been met by further concessions from the company. With these results it seems more re- markable than ever that the public should have sub- mitted so long and so quietly to the extortions of the hackmen. Tue other letters have their value, but O is always good for nothing. . Tue best way to make a bargain—Sell bad spirits at good prices. THE ALBINO ELEPHANT. A TALE OF LOVE, JEALOUSY AND GREEN PAINT. CHAPTER I. R. HORATIO BOKER was evidently very sad. His expression, his manner, and even his atti- tude betrayed great mental distress, But what caused his unhappiness? Was he not well clothed and com- fortably seated on an elevated platform? Were there not crowds about him gazing admiringly at his red waist-coat and brass buttons, and did he not weigh four hundred and twenty-eight pounds? Yes, all these facts were indeed true, and he was, moreover, the “Champion Fat Boy in this or any other country,” but yet the heart which fluttered two feet beneath the sur- face of his expansive shirt-front was wrenched with agony. Any one who had followed Mr. Boker’s glance could have at once divined the reason—the Siamese High Priest who attended the “ Imperial Holy Albino Elephant” was wearing a ring which belonged to Vivi- enne Spangleton! This meant a great deal more than is at first sight apparent. Suddenly, as Mr. Boker gazed, his eye caught that of the High Priest, and his look of anguish changed to one of wrath, while the Siamese assumed a sinister ex- pression, and his brown hands clenched in a very significant manner. It was obvious that Horatio hated the High Priest. .It was “equally clear that the High Priest hated Horatio. They detested each other be- cause Mlle. Vivienne Spangleton, “ The Lady with the Tron Jaw,” was the object of their mutual affections. With what interest they daily watched her hang by her teeth. forty feet above the ring! How proudly they saw her dangle by one foot from a trapeze, while she fired off a cannon with one hand, waved an American flag in the other, and by sheer strength of jaw lifted an elephant clear of the sawdust! And with what sup- pressed emotion they saw her bite pieces out of a two- inch spruce plank! And yet they begrudged each other the mere pleasure of looking at her, and on sev- eral occasions they would have had a personal en- counter, but for the timely interference of Mr. Bayrum, the ring-master.’ On that especial evening, Horatio for the first time was made aware of the true state of his emotions—he saw all clearly. He realized that he adored Vivienne, and that he was frightfully jealous of the High Priest. Long and thoughtfully he pondered that night as to what he should do, and by morning he had determined upon a mode of action. In order to win his heart's idol, he must first get rid of his rival. Two ways of accomplishing this occurred to him. At the outset, a murderous spirit fired his heart, and he planned to catch the High Priest asleep some evening after the show, and then to softly and suddenly sit down on him. Of course he would struggle a little, but unaided, he could not extricate himself from beneath such a pon- derous mass, and in a few minutes all would be over. On second thought, he resolved not to take his life, but simply to bring him into disfavor with Mr. Hind- paugh, the manager, and cause him to be discharged from the troupe. This would be easy to do. The High Priest who watched at the side of the Holy Ele- phant was zot a High Priest. He was, moreover, not a Siamese ; he was from New Jersey. Lastly, the Im- perial animal was not white, and it was the High Priest’s duty to give him a coat of white paint twice a day, once at noon time and again in the evening, just before he was led into the ring. This process was done in the most secret and guarded manner. Each night while the opening procession dragged its glittering length slowly around the circle, the elephant was re- moved from his temple to an unlit apartment in the innermost dressing tent, and there, in pitchy darkness, the High Priest carefully daubed his leathery hide, and then completely covered him with regal trappings. He made his grand entrée, concealed beneath gold em- broidered rugs, and after his wonderful characteristics had been fully explained, the coverings were removed, and he stood revealed in the full grandeur of his daz- zling whiteness. The responsibility for his condition rested entirely upon the High Priest, and the latter’s position in the circus had thus far been one of honor and confidence. CHAPTER II. T did not take long for Horatio to put his plan into execution. The outlay of a few dollars at the apothecary’s, and a stealthy visit to the dark chamber where the elephant’s complexion was retouched, com- pleted his preparations. The next evening, after the cavalcade of knights had retired, and the band had ceased thundering forth its brazen notes, Mr. Bayrum advanced to the centre comicbooks.com