Rouge et Noire Page: 454

Ainslee's Magazine

:ppriloltl.ionI that was the mIlore ominousllli
iher( ile it pull zld. No lone il larel a:n o t-
bur t , ;a revolt of thel discontents, for thee
had no aeillr. The. 1 President and thil l
lheal to hint hm, lver even haud whispered,
a a1111 ;aum ng the(1 (.;igc Ile of crystallizing
the dissatisfaction into Olpposition. No,
there oul I, no danger. The people al-
ways procure'd a new ido! before they"
destl royed :n lhi one.
At length, after ;t prodigious galloping
m lI rurvetting of red-sashd nutjors, gold-
I;u d colonels and epuiuletted ;enerals, the
proii(-illn I'ormed for its annual formal prog-I
iress l in th e 111 ici l stri(i 1 tl ll e ('tmll tillno
Ileal tol the ' overil en llt uiling at its
The Hidis and hId the line of march.
\Atr it la (.ed the local coniLandante,
mounted, atnd a detaelinuet of his troops.
\ex( (;Canw a (",riae with I'.our Inemihers of
the l hill( , (colnspiclluous ing them the l
Minister of \Vn, old ,em ral I'ilar, weith his
white muslache nld his soldierly hearing.
Then Ihe resident's vehich, containing also
l('the I ;thine and the MiniIste(.s of lintlce
a ld tal(e; m;I surrll(undhd by (';iptain ('ruz's
light, horse ]'frmed in a close double file of
isll. Folll\ing them the rest of the ofli-
(.ials of stale, the judge,; a l distinguished
osilitary md social ornaments of public and
privte life.
\s th hmnl struck u), and tile movement
beae , like a bird of ill omn the S..J. PI'z-
cui, .IJr., the swil'test steamship of the
Vesuvius line, elided iito the harbor in
plhtin view of the President antl his train.
Of our('llse, there Wvas ol(lhing menaccing ;l
about its arriv;l a )usiness firm does not
go to i war with a nation hut it reminded
t il)r ()rtiz al others in those carriages
that: the \esuvius Fruit Copanily was t-
o)uhtedlly carrying something up its sleeve
tf r t hen.
ly the t:inw the van of the procession had
reached the government building, ('aptlain
('ronin, of thlile S. . I'i._zzni, .Jr., and Mr.
\Yincenti, ntmiber of the Vesuvius companyny,
had landed and were pushing their way,
bluff, h)e'ty and nonhlhalant, through tl e
cr(owd on the sari-ow sidewalk. ('lad in
while linen, hig, d{hen ir, with an air of
gtood-htnored authority, theV made con-
spi'uous figures amtng the ldark maass of mi-
iiposing t'ostaragtans. They penetrated to
within a few yards of the steps of the brown
'tune huindig (';asa Moreno, the brown White
house of t'( :<laragun. Looking ensily ahove
the En".,s: of the crowd, they perceived

antlherilr that towered above the undersized
mitires. It \was tile fiery poll of Dicky lIa-
]oney against the wall close by tile lower
step, and hiis Ibroad, seductive grin showed
that he recognized their presence.
Dicky had attired hiisellf becominlllj for
the festive occasion in a well-fitting black
suit. Pasa was close by his side, her head
covered with thle uhiquitous black mantilla.
Mr. Vincenti looked at her attentively.
"h'otticelli's Maidonna," he renmrked,
gravely. "I wonder when she got into the
game. I don't like lis getting tanled with
the wonan. I hoped he wouli keep away
(Captain ('ronin's laugh almost drew atten-
tion froni the parade.
"\With that head of hair! Keelp away
from the women! And a Maloney! hasn't
he got a license? Bu t, nonsense aside, what
dlo ou think of thell p1'rosp)ects ? It's a species
of filibustering out of my linee"
Vincenti glanced again at )icky's head
and smiled.
"]Rug e et Muir," lie said. "There you
have it. Make your play, gentlemen. ()ur
money is on the red."
'l"The lad's {ate," said Cronin, \vitlh a
comm!lending look at the tall, easy figure hi
the steps. "But 'tis all like fly-by-night
theatricals to me. The talk's bigger than
the stage; there's a smell of g;,asolinle in
tihe air, and they're their own audience and
scene-shi fters."
They ceased talking, for General I'ilar
had descended from the first carriage 1and1
h111(1d tken his stand upon the tolp step of
(asa Morenia. As the oldest member of
the cahinet, custom had decreed that he
shoull imke the address of wvelcomie, plre-
senting the keys of the o!licial residence to
the President at its close.
General 'ilar was the most distinguished
citizen of the reipuillic. HIero of thrie wars
and innumnerale revolutions, hie 11\s :ul
honored g esl at lIEuropealn conits aili campcs.
An eloquent speaker and a; friendly to th
people, ie represented the highest type of
the ('ostaraguans.
Ilolding in his hand the gilt keys of Casa
Morena, he Iegan his allldress in a historical
form, touchling upon each administration
a(l the 1advalnce of civilization land i,- rler-
ity from the first dim striving after liberty
down to prevent times. Arrivin- at the
regime of I'residellnt Zarilla, at whil point.
according to precedent, lie should lnv deliv-
ered a eulogy upon its wise condl t and
the happiness of the people, Gener( lilar

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