Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 144 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

with anxious eye, and repeated in a voice more rugged than betore, ‘‘ Water !’’ He was answered with peals of laughter. There is water for thee, dear varlet,”’ cried Robin Poussepain, throwing in his face a sponge soaked in the kennel. “ 1am in thy debt.” A woman hurled a stone at his head. “That will teach thee to waken us at night,’’ said she, “ with thy cursed bells.” w “ Take thatto drink thy liquor out of!’’ shouted a tellow, throwing at him a broken jug, which hit him upon the chest. “It was the sight of thy frightful fizure that made my wife have a child with two heads.”’ ‘Water |” roared the panting third time: ' At that moment he sawthe populace make way. A young female in a strange garb, approached the pillory. She was followed by a little white goat, with gilt horns, and carried a tambourine in her hand. Quasi- modo's eyes sparkled. It was the Bohemian whom he had attem ted to carry off the preceding night. He d notion that for this prank he was suf- fering his present punish ment, though in fact it was because he had the misfortune to be deaf and to be tried by a deaf judge. He thought that she was com- wee Sadar revenge alse and to give him her blow as well asthe rest. | He watched her with nimble foot ascend the- steps. le was choked with rage and vyexation. Had the x h ‘of his eye possessed the power, it would ve Quasimodo for the had a con eS - an -- > -_ a ee Ge et ee ee — - the Egyptian before’ she reached the | Without uttering a word she approached | Yerer, who vainly writhed to avoid her; and Wooing a gourd from her girdle, she gently lifted it to the parched lips of the exhausted wretch.: A big tear Ps seen to start from his dry and bloodshot oye, p to trickle slowly down his deformed face so lon contracted by despair. It was perhaps the first he hac d since he had arrived at manhood: leanwhile he forgot to drink. cha arp tiga pouted her pretty up with impatience, and then put the neck ef the gourd between Quasiniodo’s jagged teeth; he ak gr y, for his thirst was extreme. en he had finished, the hunchback protruded his dark lips, no doubt to kiss the kind hand which had brought so welcome a relief; but the damsel, perhaps recollecting the violent assault of the foregoing night, weal! auieely drew. back hes pane with the same start of ter- = = - ite. + -—. ——_ —— _——_— 9 | rer that a child does from a dog which he fears will bite ie him.” gr) thy le then fixed on her a look of re- Hatt) pro unutterable woe. nM r any circumstances it would have been a touch- ight to see this girl, so fresh, 60 pure, so lovely, ia and at the same tine so weak, humanely hastening to ‘: i the relief of so much distress, deformity, and malice. Ui} Ou a pillory, the sight was sublime. The populace tive ¢ acted ves were moved by it, and clapping their Mlb hands and shouting, “ Huzzal huzzal’" HE pre at this pomeet that the recluse per- ay yindow of her den the Egyptian on the : i ounced upon her that Litter impre- ; Lou, spawn of Egypt! cursed! rnad pale, and with faltering step pillory. The voice of the recluse ner. ‘Get pve down! get thee down, ian child-stealer ! thou wilt have to go up again hese days !"’ : ‘ y is in her vagaries to-day,’’ said the people, ling, and that was all-they did. Women of her ‘. Seeger or ee —e ee SE OSS ae oe =. - = y liked to attack persons who wére pray- oe had réached the 4 Pont on their return, when she sud- mé!"’ she exclaimed, ithe boy, “ while you were talking n in that desk holevs big dog came an out of it, so Late some too.’ : DANGER OF TRUSTING A GOAT WITH A SECRET, a to let it alone, RH er, smilin it J - BOOK VI. el 7 Rs corrareeeer ah CHAPTER I. weeks had elapsed. It was now the begin- h. Precis bartas, that classic ) 8, had not yet styled “ the grand- ecandles,”” shone forth brightly and cheerily, | 0 g days which are 80 sone of those s ‘eso mild and ! , that all Panis, pouring into the public : rom , keep them er peliaare On , 36 Warm, and so serene, there is & par- 80 hour mire the at which the curious spectator should go porch of Notre-Dame. It is the moment eiready sinking in the west, looks the t in the face. His rays becoming more : , Slowly withdraw from the pave- ; and mount along the pinnacled ; thousand of figures in relief to stand ont foul thet adows, while the great central rose- window glares like the eyé of a Cyclop, tinged by the actions of the forge. a wee mow Jue 0 hour. osite to the | cathedral, glowin the sun- sot, upon s stone balcony, ever the poten ment of the P of a rich ' i ' ee ee ee eee OS Tle CO CLUS CO” mn deemed holy and reverénced accord- | unishment having expired, ‘or widow of a knight-banneret. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME. eg . —— Gothic building which formed the angle of the Place — ——~> —_ ce He felt the necessity of making an attempt at conver- and the street of the Parvis, some young and hand- | sation. : some;females were chatting, laughing, and disporting | themselves. By the length of their vails, which tell | from the .top of their pointed caps, encircled with pearls, to their heels; by the fineness of the embroid- | ered neckerchief which covered their, shoulders, but | without wholly concealing the delicate contours of their virgin bosoms; by the richness of their petticoats, | which surpassed that of their upper garments; by the | gauze, the silk, the velvet, with which their dress was | trim med; and above all by the whiteness of their hands, | which showed them to be unused to labor; it was easy | to guess that they belonged to noble and wealthy tam-_ ilies. It was, in fact, Damoiselle Fleur de Lys de Gon- | delaurier and her companions, Diane de Christeuil, | Amelotte de Montmichael, Colombe de Gaillefontaine, | and little de Champchevrier, who were staying at thie house of the Dame de: Gondelaur, a widow lady, on ac- count of the expected visit of Monseigneur de Beaujeu | and his consort, who were to come to Paris in April, | for the purpose of selecting ladies of honor for the dauphiness, Marguerite. Now all the gentry for a/| hundred miles round were anxious to obtain this favor | for their daughters; and with this view numbers had | already brought or sent them to Paris. Those men- | tioned above had been placed by their parents under the care’of the discreet and venerable Dame Aloise de Gondelaurier, widow of an officer.of the king’s cross- | bowmen, Who resided with her only daughter in her) own house in the Place du Parvis. The balcony adjoined an apartment hung with rich, | ‘fawn-colored Flanders leather, stamped with gold bor- ders. The parallel beams which ‘crossed the ceiling amused the eye by a thousand grotesque carvings, | painted and gilt, On richly-carved coffers were here and there blazoned splendid coats of arms: while a boar’s head in Delft ware crowned a magnificent buffet, | indicating that the mistress of the house was the wife At the further end, by a high fire place, surrounded with eseutcheons and ar- lip insignia, sat,in a rich arm-chdir with crimson velvet, the Dame de Gondelaurier, whose age of fitty- five years was as legibly inscribed upon her dress as upon her face. By her side stood a young mam, of a bold but somewhat vain and swaggering look—one of those handsome fellows to whom all the women take a liking, though the grave man and the physiognomist shrug their shoulders at them. This young cavalier wore the brilliant uniform of captain of archers of the king’s ordnance, which 80 closely resembles:the cos. tume of Jupiter described in the outset of this history | that we néed not tire the reader with a second descrip- tion of it. , The damsels were seated part] y in the. room, partly others on oaken stools, carved with flowers and figures. Each of them held on her lap a portion of a large piece of tapestry, on which they were all working together, while the other part lay upon the matting that covered the floor, a i -They were chatting together, in that low tone and with those titters so common in a party of young fe- in the-balcony, some on cushions of Utrecht velvet, | comfortable only among -coarse ry conaiiats. ‘And what is it intended for ?’’ he inquired. ‘ For the Abbey of St. Antonie de Champs,” replied Fleur de Lys, without raising her eyes. The captain lifted up a corner of the tapestry. “ And pray, my tair cousin,’ said he, *‘ who is thie big fellow, in the disguise of a fish, blowing the trumpet with puffed-out cheeks ?”’ “ That is Triton,’ answered she. ; In the tone of Fleur de Lys’s brief replies there was still something that betokened displeasure, @ oap- tuin was more and more at a loss what to say. He stooped down over the tapestry. ‘“ A charming piece of work, by my fay !’’ cried he. At this exclamation, Colombe de Gaillefontaine another beautilul girl, of a delicately fair complexion, in a dress of blue damask, timidly ventured to address a question to Fleur de Lys, in the hope that the hand- some captain would answer it. (‘My dear Gonde- laurier,’’ said she, ‘‘ have you seen the tapestries in the hotel of La Roche-Guyon ?” hes “Is not that the building next to the garden of the Louvre?’ asked Diane de Christeuil, with a laugh. ‘This young lady, be it observed, had remarkably hand- some teeth, and consequently pever spoke without laughing. ' is ‘And near that great old tower of the ancient wall of Paris ?” inquired Amelotte de Montmicliel, a charmin brunette, with ruddy cheek and dark curling hair, wh | had a habit of sighing as the other of laughing, without knowing why. , At this moment Berangere de Champchevrier, a little sylph of seven years, looking down upon the Place, through the of the baleony, cried, “Oh! look, = Fleur de Lys! look at that pretty dancer ancing on ‘the cheats and playing. on the tam- bourine, among the people down yonder!” |. ‘Some Egyptian, Idare say,’’ replied Fleur de Lys, carelessly turning her head toward the Place. ** Let's see | let’s see,” cried her lively companions, running to the front of the balcony, while Fleur de Lys, thinking of the coldness of her lover, slowly fol- lowed, and the captain, released by this ipaldent, which cut short a conversation that embarrassed him not a little, returned to the further end of the a : ment with the satisfaction of a soldier ved from duty: The service of the gentle Fleur de Lys. was nevertheless easy and delightful; and so it had for- meriy appeared to him; but now the prospect of a - y marriage became every day more and more disagreeable. The fact is, he was of a rathér, incon- stant disposition, and if the truth must be told, rather Ren in his tastes. "Though of high bith he had contracted more*than one of the ts of the com- mon soldier. He was fond of the .tayern, and felt allantries, easy beauties, and easy -con He had nevertheless, received trom | y some education and polish; but he had been thrown a4 the army too pemacsorw ene placed in garrison, and the va ot gentleman was daily “nord Ww - by’ thehard friction of his guardsman’s s belt. Though he still paid occasional, visits to males when there is a young man among them, He | rejati from 8 slight f of h a whose presénce was sufficient to set at work the self- aan left him, he found ed se em amet love of all this youthful company, appeared h f when he called toe Me oe Lys; in the first. p! to care very little about it ; and, while these beau because he Tibuted his love: so uously that girls were each striving to engage his attention, he | je qt very small roe on for ; and in seemed to be busily engaged himself in polishing the | the second, because in the company of so hand- buckle of his belt with his leathern glove. some, ees eee nen ap females he was pene Now and then the old Jady spoke to him in a very | stant apprehension lest his tongye, habituated to oa low tone, pata deod aq well as Ne coehe, witha an the bet of sort of awkward and forced politeness. amiilen, fom various other little significant tokens, | and from the nods and 1 b yaar ee a cted toward h ughter, Fleur de Lys, while softly | ing to the ¢ in, it was easy to oth that he was an accepted lover, and that a match was on toot and would no doubt be speedily concluded between the young officer and Fleur de Lys, It easy to see trom his coldness and embarr ent that, on his side at least, it 1 anything but #love match. The good , who, fond mother as she was, doted upon her , did not perceive the indifference of the cap- ee ugh tain, and strove by her words and g ) make him notice the grace with which tigar do: Lye plied “ her needle or her distaff. — “Look, nephew,’’ 4 she, plucking - by the plese. ino - tags : ig oar, i tobk at liee now, as she wf . “Yes, indeed,” replied the young man, relapsing into former cold and irksome on % siti moment afterward he was required to stoop again, d you ever,” atid Dame Aloise, “behold a come- by or gehteeler girl than rintended? Is it ble to be fairer? Are not hands and arms perfect models ? and “her nepk, has it not all the elegance of eRe doubt he replied, thinking of else “«“No doubt,” he replied, ng of something all the while. — “ Why don’t you go and talk to her then?” retorted | the lady, say some at once. Now we can assure the reader that neither shyness nor modesty were to be numbered among the captain's eye He attempted, however, todo as he was de- sired, : “ Pair cousin,” said he, stepping up-to Fleur de Lys, “what is the subject of this tapestry which you are working ?”’ Ye “ Pair cousin,” answered Fleur deLys, in a peevish tone, ‘I have told you three times already that it is the tto of Neptune.” — vo Rauhing him toward Fleur de Lys. “‘Goand ng to her. You are grown mighty shy all Tt was nt that the captain’s cold and absent manner had not escaped the keen observation of r de Lys, though it was not perceived by her mother. | oe mes ns, Should all at once»get her the and launch out into the taverns. Highly did he piqne himself withal upon elegance in dress and BPPO ntments, and comeliness of person. The reader t reconcile these things as well as he can; I am but the historian, _ The captain, then had sto lost Orin h you not ¥ yc , e Cv abou: two months ago wonder,’ emia | Bacr 3 e and see whether you kno her, poi hy ” ‘In this gentle invitation to come to her, and the ton in yer was uttered, he — am den desire of Phebus de with slow steps te the balcony. Fleur y8, soitly the captain’s arm—" look at yon girl dancing in that circle.” Is she your Bo- hemian?” | ; Phebus Yooked, “ Yes,’’ said he, “I know her by her “@Oh! whata pretty little goat !” exclaimed Amelott er! her hands in Eton. ng “ ts horns of real gold ?’’ asked Berangere. “Godmother,” she began again, havin at once raised her brighiteyes which were in Aes. Be motion, to the RP of the towers of Notre-Dame, ‘“who is that man in black up yonder ” | All the young ladies looked np. A man was jndeed lolling upon his elbows on the most balu e of the northern tower, overlooking the ve. It was a priest, as might known by his dress, which was clearly dist and his head was supported a ands, was motionless as a statue. | eye Was hawk onas as that of a covered, . said Fleur de Lys. 6)(6\(6) (EO) (C (EO)