Life — September 8, 1898 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

194 the boy with the big head, was, it is true, half-witted, almost an idiot, but quite harmless, and witb a per- petual grin on his face when beating his drum. He cberished, be worshipped that drum; and at night, when everything was quiet, he would steal out, ebuck- ling to himself, and wander about dreamily, beating hiv drum for hours, tila big voico—his father’s voice —would be heard from the cabin: " Now, Jean, give us arest! Itis time to go to bed, my boy!” But the most important member of the family—tho main hinge, the soul—was Mile, Clara La Pause. A cripple by birth, poor child! Oh, the untold sorrow of the robust father and the fat mother when they discovered that their first child was deformed! But what they at first called a calamity turned out a piece of extreme good luck for them, The child grew to be a beautiful, strange creature, with two marvel- ously large, dark eyes, that seemed to look into the very soul of those on whom they rested. By what miracle this offspring of parents so massive and com- monplace grew to be that slender girl, with such an exquisitely sensitive nature, is onv of those anomalies which ofte le believers in heredity, Sho was the bright one,” and well she de- served the name. Always happy, always satisfed with everything and everybody, she was the joy of the little household on wheels, Very young she developed a gift so wonderful that she soon became famous _. througbout the country fairs, Whenever something was lost or went wrong in a country village, the people would exclaim: “ Well, wait the return of Clara La Pause, She'll find it out.” She was not, however, an ordinary fortune-teller, makinga living by playing on the credulity of the com- munity at large. She did not read the past by the lines of the hand, she did not predict the future by cards, Oh, no! That bumbuggery might be good enough for the less gifted, but not for Clara La Pause, Whenever a customer entered the roulotte, she would suze at him, search him out with ber wonderful eyes, then take his hand, and, while he spoke to her, close her eyes as if asleep. Then she would speak. Ah, she knew well the human heart—our poor human heart— this wonderful creature. She had seen nothing of the world, yet she knew 80 much about it, thanks to her unbounded imaginative power and her constant thinking, To those who came to her in trouble she spoke in a low, musical voice, and always sent them away comforted and moro hopeful for what she had said to them, She was better than a physician—sho cured the soul, And while at Arles, one beautiful summer afternoon, she saw a young man enter, Her heart beat violently, and, when her warm hand clasped his, both trembled. She did not close her cyes, but remained there speechless, looking at him; while he, blushing vio- lontly, looked at her, his brown eyes filled with admiration, It was love at first sight. It was as simplo as it was touching. He, Pierre Boudin, was tall, strong and active; she was slender, weak, and a cripple. He did not ask any compensation for his work; he just wanted to be near her; and shortly afterwards they were married. Oh, not without some objections from Father La Pause. But Clara ruled the family. She wanted him, Well, sheshould havehim, And so the buppiness of the La Pauses was increased by the happiness of this young love. Nothing could be more touching than the care the young giant took of his crippled little wife. When the show was. over he would take her in bis strong arms, lift her as tenderly as UNIQUE IDEA FOR A CABLE CAR PASSENGER CATCHER. mother would her child, and carry her out into the night to enjoy the pure, cool air. Ob, those happy evenings spent together, he holding her on his lap, she her head on his large breast, her slender arms tied around his strong neck; while in the distance the boy with the big head beat bis drum, cbuckling to himself all alone in the dark, But Pierre was an ambitious young man. He proposed to his father-in-law to add to their income by performing feats of strength in the enclosure near Clara's roulotte, Thus the cus- tomers would be amused and kept in line till their turn came for consulting the oracle. This new venture proved very successful, but, strange to say, Clara did not like it very much, From the small window of her car she could see ber fatherand Pierre boxing or wrestling together, and Pierre performing the star act of the show by lifting a table on which three heavy weights had been placed. A strange sadness appeared in her face. She seldom sang now, ‘ What’s the matter, dear; what's the matter?” Pierre asked, anxiously, But she did not answer at first, At last one day she spoke: “Iam afraid you'll hurt yourself.” But he answered her with the strong laugh J! a young giant. This morning at Nonce, however, she begged him, almost in comicbooks.com