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Updated: July 27, 2025
I also notice with what attention Monsieur Caterna looks after his wife, and encourages her to make up for the time lost when she was unwell on board the Astara. He keeps her glass filled, he chooses the best pieces for her, etc. "What a good thing it is," I hear him say, "that we are not to leeward of the Teuton, for there would be nothing left for us!"
Now the road is clear to Tcharkalyk; what do I say? to Pekin. We resume our places. Popof gives the signal for departure as Caterna trolls out the chorus of victory of the admiral's sailors in Haydee. A thousand cheers reply to him. At ten o'clock in the evening the train enters Tcharkalyk station. We are exactly thirty hours behind time.
Did the Chinaman speak the language of Boccaccio? The Twentieth Century ought to know, and it would know. Madame Caterna arose, very pale, and Monsieur Caterna, a model husband, followed her on deck. The dinner over, leaving Ephrinell and Miss Bluett to talk of brokerages and prices current, I went for a stroll on the poop of the Astara. Night had nearly closed in.
Miss Horatia Bluett, English. 3. Major Noltitz, Russian. 4. Monsieur Caterna, French. 5. Madame Caterna, French. 6. Baron Weissschnitzerdörfer, German. As to the Chinese, they will have a number later on, when I have made up my mind about them.
"But that is a good deal for you!" whispered Caterna in my ear. The marriage for a moment was in check for five per cent.! But all is arranged. The interests of the two houses have been safeguarded. The Reverend Nathaniel Morse repeats the question. A dry "yes" from Horatia Bluett, a short "yes" from Fulk Ephrinell, and the two are declared to be united in the bonds of matrimony.
There is not one missing. Thirteen, always thirteen! We were still on the platform, just after the signal of departure had been given, when Caterna asked his wife what was the most curious thing she had seen at Lan-Tcheou. "The most curious thing, Adolphe? Those big cages, hung on to the walls and trees, which held such curious birds " "Very curious, Madame Caterna," said Pan-Chao.
"Of course, Monsieur Claudius Bombarnac, correspondent of the Twentieth Century." "At your service, believe me." "A thousand thanks, Monsieur Bombarnac, and even ten thousand, as they say in China, whither Madame Caterna and I are bound." "To appear at Shanghai in the French troupe at the residency as " "You know all that, then?" "A reporter!" "Quite so."
It was a pleasure to listen to Caterna; he was in steam, as the engineer says, and the only thing to do was to let him blow off. Surprising as it may seem, he adored his wife, and I believe she was equally fond of him.
It certainly did seem as though it was miraculous for the locomotive to explode just on the verge of the abyss. Now that all danger had disappeared we must take immediate measures for running back the cars on to the Pekin line. "The best thing to do is for one of us to volunteer " "I will do that," said Caterna. "What is he to do?" I asked.
"For life like two bullfinches," said the actress, who had not forgotten that these birds are noted for the fidelity of their armours. "In China," said Pan-Chao, "it is not the bullfinch but the mandarin duck that symbolizes fidelity in marriage." "Ducks or bullfinches, it is all one," said Caterna philosophically. The ceremony is over. We compliment the newly married pair.
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