United States or Tunisia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
More than anything else in the world, Yvonne longed for a bath, but she suppressed this desire as unworthy of a true vagabond and washed in a bucket of water which Philidor had brought from the pump, sharing at the last in the suppressed excitement which pervaded the arena. There was no doubt in the minds of any that the Troupe Fabiani was to be the great success of the occasion.
Fabiani, who for all his braggadocio did not lack a certain magnificence, had insisted that the visitors remain in camp for the night. Madame should sleep in the house-wagon with the Signora Fabiani, Stella and the baby. Were there not two beds? As for Monsieur Philidor he knew a man when he saw one. The night was heaven sent. Monsieur should sleep as he and Luigi slept la belle toile.
Had he, Markham, been but an incident in this entertainment, a humble second-liner like Luigi Fabiani, who broke stones upon his mighty brother and caught the infant Stella when she was hurled at him? The thought was unpleasant to him, and did his lady no honor so he dismissed it with reservations.
Come one, come all, Messieurs, only once in a lifetime does one have a chance to see the Signorina Stella Fabiani, the child wonder, Queen of the Mat and Queen of the Air, in her extraordinary acts of flight and contortion " During this harangue Philidor had felt rather than seen the figure which had slowly wedged through the crowd at one side and now stood beside him.
Signor Fabiani brought the pitcher from the stream and Luigi cups from the house-wagon, and there they all sat, as thick as thieves, drinking healths and wishing one another a prosperous pilgrimage. The Fabiani family had never been to Alenon. This was one of the few parts of the world into which their fame had not yet spread. All the more their profit and glory! Sacro mento!
He, Cleofonte, would have paid ten francs a performance anything to keep them there. Signora Fabiani moved silently about her tasks, but her eyes were deep with wisdom. What she was thinking, Philidor knew not, nor did Yvonne set the matter straight. It was necessary to go that was all. It was very sad and made Yvonne unhappy, but she had, unfortunately, no choice in the matter.
A wagon it was a wagon with a roof, its end showing a window which caught the reflection of the sky a house wagon, and near it, phantom-like against the dim foliage, a shaggy gray horse; to the right, the white smoke of a newly made fire rising among the trees. It was the roulotte of the Fabiani family and there in the woods was his friend of a night, Cleofonte, the incomparable.
Toward three o'clock of the afternoon Yvonne mounted her piano box. The Fabiani family had been so well received that once it had been necessary for Philidor to draw the flap at the gate because there was no room in the enclosure for more people.
The Signora insisted on preparing the meal, so Markham filled his pipe and helped Hermia to amuse the bambino. "You will pardon?" said Fabiani. "But this is the hour of practice, while the supper is preparing. Luigi, Stella, we will go on if you please."
The chicken, a luxury, for which for many days the palate of the Fabiani family had been innocent, was acclaimed with joy and dispatched with magic haste. The cheese, the rye bread, and the salad were beyond cavil; and the coffee of Monsieur Duchanel's best made all things complete. The dusk had fallen, velvety and odorous, and the stars came peeping shyly forth.
Word Of The Day