No More Learning

Before he was fifteen, he brought home from his first year at
Hellmuth College, near London, Ont. , five prizes; and to crown these,
the medal given that year by the Governor-General for the highest
average marks.
In those days he also scribbled copiously, verse and
prose, but verse the more; and his art with words was already light
and happy far beyond the common. He first appeared in print then,
with an ode of Horace put into English verse; and at twenty-one he
was in the Atlantic Monthly with more verses, entitled Archæology. '
By inheritance a scholar, but himself robust in fibre, fond of swim-
ming, and of cricket, and of life, he did not sustain his prize-winning
eminence at the University of Pennsylvania. There he was graduated
in 1879; with no array of honors, but like his father, knowing and


## p. 15820 (#152) ##########################################

15820
THOMAS WHARTON
loving well the things that he knew. From all the shelves Attic,
Augustan, Romance, Renaissance, through Shakespeare, Molière, and
Heine, to Mark Twain - he pulled the books down and rejoiced in
them. His knowledge of what man has written mellowed his judg-
ment, seasoned his imagination, and preserved him from those errors
of taste and theory that waylay so many genuine but half-educated
talents in our country.
The law was Thomas Wharton's hereditary, logical, but inappro-
priate choice of career. After a few years his talent revolted, the
inevitable crushed the conventional, and he became out-and-out
writer. In 1888 he went upon the editorial staff of the Philadelphia
Times, and was Sunday editor when he died. Dangerous for the
clever ignorant, it was beneficent for him, this swift journalism, -
compelling the scholar to be himself, to take up his scholarship and
walk. Until now, neither his matter nor his manner had been quite
his own. To look at his articles and stories in Lippincott's Magazine
and in Puck, and especially his clever novels, A Latter-Day Saint'
and Hannibal of New York,' is to see a genuine gift often mis-
directed. From the novels turn to Bobbo,' and in, a flash the true
final Wharton stands revealed. This is what the gods made him for:
weaver of fancies, rainbow-colored whims, dreams away from the
jangle of life, through which life's pathos and humor and tenderness
should delicately play. Had the word gem with us Americans not
been thumbed out of all critical meaning, Bobbo) should be called a
gem. Its light completely radiates from a form complete.
Wharton attained this through newspaper work, and side work of
verses and fantastic texts for operas. The newspaper made him
master of his scholarship instead of being mastered by it, and set
free his fancy. From Charlemagne's paladins, from the teocalli of
Montezuma, from Paris streets as Villon knew them, he brought
fancies, and more fancies, verse and prose ever finer tempered,- the
spontaneity shining even brighter through the chiseled language. It
is wholesome knowledge that he was a civilized college-bred Ameri-
can, dwelling quiet at home; that cultivation made valuable his gift;
that he did not believe rawness to be symptom of originality. Cer-
tainly, for our pleasure and his rare example, we can ill spare him.
So many of us seem born mere observers, with all the note-making
apparatus — but no wings!
Ourn Wister.


## p. 15821 (#153) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15821
BOBBO
I
-
From (Bobbo and Other Fancies. Copyright 1897, by Harper & Brothers
WAS Ash-Wednesday morning; and thanks to the carnival the
night before, the labors of Monsieur Anatole Doblay, most
respected of the magistrates of Paris, seemed likely to be
severe. True, the prospect did not weigh upon the mind of
the worthy magistrate, who customarily busied himself only
with his duty, and accepted that duty in whatever form it was
arrested and brought before him, so to speak, by the gen-
darmes. But the thought of a long and harassing session was
anything but refreshing to another functionary of the court, — the
clerk, Paul Patureau. Half asleep and nodding was Monsieur
Paul as he sat and waited for the hour of opening court; his
head ached, and the riotous melodies of the carnival still rang in
his ears.
He had been out very late himself, -oh, very late! -
and this morning his dearly despised official duties seemed, like
the vast court-room, more forbidding and gloomy than ever.
Now, when a young man finds his office gloomy in the morn-
ing and his clerical duties irksome, that generally means that he
has a soul above routine; and dissipation the night before only
aggravates his unrest. And as a matter of fact, Paul Patureau
deemed that in being made a clerk, he had arrived at the wrong
address: like most other young Frenchmen, he thought he had
been directed "À la Gloire. ” And he wished to be, instead of a
«»
clerk in the Correctional Court, a poet, a dramatist, and most
particularly a writer of librettos,— librettos that should make all
Paris laugh and sing and dance; that should go round the world,
like the Grande Duchesse' or the Fille de Madame Angot';
that should bring him fame and money, and the friendship of the
Muse,- and it need not be said that as yet he had not achieved
his chef-d'œuvre. Alas, the dramatic ambition, if it is only to
write a play around a tank, is the most torturing of all ambi-
tions; for while there are theatres and actors the appetite can
never be controlled. As it feeds, it grows and grows; it begins
in the gallery and descends by degrees to the orchestra stall;
sometimes it may even conquer the green-room and the coulisse:
but thus to feed unsatisfied is the bitterest vanity if the ideas
will not arrive. And that was the difficulty with Paul Patureau.
Ideas cut him dead.
Except when he was asleep. For when he was asleep and
dreaming, the most striking plots revealed themselves to him,


## p. 15822 (#154) ##########################################

15822
THOMAS WHARTON
whole dramas performed themselves before him as author and
sole spectator; only, when he awoke he could not remember a
single situation. It was a new demonstration of Fate's unfailing
and subtle irony that poor Paul Patureau should nightly renew
the bitterness of his own conviction that he deserved success,
and daily exasperate himself against his own unlucky memory as
being to blame for his inability to command it. Yes, when he
slept he saw all kinds of plays, with characters and motives,
plots and stories, drawn from every age and clime: heroes more
romantic than Ruy Blas, more comic than Figaro; theatrical sur-
prises more thrilling than the horn in Hernani,' more clever
than the scented glove in ‘Diplomacy': and as for stage pictures,
he had but to close his eyes and they crowded on his sight,
magnificent in their complex accuracy and perfection. Yet what
good did they do to him ? None at all. Now, at this very mo-
ment, should he yield to his overwhelming desire to doze off,
forgetful of the criminals and the gendarmes and the stuffy, evil-
smelling crowd of spectators, he would probably witness one of
these very productions, to be performed only once and then to
be lost forever — which would leave him no better off. Still, if
he remained awake the criminals and the gendarmes and the
spectators would suggest nothing to him, and he would in addi-
tion be bored, so that there was some reason for going to sleep.
“Indeed, I wish I could go to sleep,” he said to himself; and
he folded his arms and closed his eyes. Almost every Frenchman
looks as if he had artistic possibilities; and with his pale cheeks
- the result of the carnival — and thin, delicate, closed eyelids,
the young clerk was by no means a bad type of a poet and a
dreamer. "A pretty figure I must be,” he said drowsily to
himself, “to assist at the administration of justice to unfortunate
carnival-makers who have been less cautious than myself! ” And
he began to wonder how he could best secure the magistrate's
clemency for some of those very unfortunates in whom he was
particularly interested. Among the prisoners waiting their turn
to appear before Monsieur Doblay were certain masqueraders,
who, it was said among the ushers, were well-known actors; they
had been quarreling among themselves at a restaurant after
the ball, and their quarrel had grown so violent that the whole
party had been taken into custody. It may be guessed with
what sympathy Monsieur Paul viewed their incarceration. If he
could have passed upon their offense, their detention would have
been very quickly at an end.
a


## p. 15823 (#155) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15823
All of a sudden there broke out from the adjoining room,
where the prisoneșs were in custody, a snatch of a chorus:
"And every time the princess sighs,
Her tearful subjects wipe their eyes. ”
>>
Paul started up, instinctively crying out Silence! ) and he
heard the officers calling for order; but a few voices still con-
tinued:
They sorrow most because her griefs
Entail such waste of handkerchiefs. ”
(C
"Outrageous! What do they mean by such a disturbance ? »
said a stern voice behind him; and Paul turned with an almost
guilty realization of the dignity of the court and of Monsieur
Doblay. To tell the truth, he had just lost his own conscious-
ness of official dignity in the perception that the words of the
chorus were new to him, and that discovery never fails to set
the nerve cells of the amateur tingling.
He explained the situation to Monsieur Doblay.
“Actors, indeed! They take great liberties. ”
« They are a most picturesque collection,” said Paul, longing
to find a good word to throw in on their behalf. « There is a
Punchinello, a Harlequin, a Pierrot, a Pantaloon, a Domino Noir,
a Pierrette - »
«The classics, eh? ” growled Monsieur Doblay. “They wish
to turn my court-room into a scene from Racine ? »
"Monsieur,” cried Paul, suddenly illumed, "I have it! They
must be singing from the new operetta at the Folles-Farces: it
is the one operetta I have not heard; but only because I had
not time: and perhaps this is the cast. ”
« Have them in at once,” said Monsieur Doblay, replying, it
almost seemed, to Paul's unspoken wish. « Have them in, and
we will see how they excuse themselves for their follies. ”
"Ah, monsieur, wait till you see the Pierrette,” said Paul.
"She is a nymph - a true nymph! Oh, she is wonderful!
It is always these old 'friends of ours who are getting into
trouble, thought Paul, as the masqueraders were ushered into the
court-room, disheveled, haggard, absurdly out of keeping with
the daylight in their carnival paint. The Pierrot and the Pun-
chinello led, followed by all the other familiar figures,- a Panta-
loon, a Harlequin, a Columbine (wrapped in a long fur cloak), a


## p. 15824 (#156) ##########################################

15824
THOMAS WHARTON
Domino Noir, and two young men in dress-coats and false
noses: their costumes gave them all that droll, half-deprecating
look of conscious guilt which Punchinello and Pierrot wear before
the Law. And Paul, as he prepared to take down their names
with a stub-pen on stiff court paper, felt himself a figure in the
comedy which the carnival and the stage hand down unchanged,
eternal,- the comedy which shows man human, weak, but there-
fore lovable.
And here a singular incident happened. For while this red-
and-white procession was being marshaled toward the seat of
justice, to the immense delight of the habitués of the court-
room, an altercation was heard to arise next door, in the room
devoted to the prisoners. "I will not accompany the rest of the
troupe,” cried a woman's voice – a young and fresh voice. " I
am the prima donna, my good man, and I insist on my entrée! ” .
You hear her ? That is Adèle," murmured the Pierrot, as
he lounged forward, his eyes dropping with sleep. He shrugged
his sloping shoulders. It was indeed Mademoiselle Adèle, of the
Folles-Farces, as Paul all of a sudden became aware; and a hard
time the gendarme had to bring her out into the court-room,-
flushed, frowning, mutinous, long strands of her straight glossy
black hair undone, and falling over her creamy cheeks and the
white sleeves of her Pierrette dress. The tall rebellious andro-
gyn tossed back her hair, and put her hands on her supple slim
hips, and looked devastation at the magistrate; but he was not
nearly so much affected as was Monsieur Paul Patureau as he
took the names down.
He thought it more appropriate to set them out as a cast, as
follows:-
• PUNCHINELLO
PIERROT
PANTALOON -
HARLEQUIN
COLUMBINE
DOMINO NOIR
PIERRETTE
MM. TAVERNIER.
BRÉBANT.
MUELLER.
GERVAIS.
Mmes. JOLIFROY.
GAUDRION.
ADÈLE.
All of the Théâtre des Folles-Farces. In addition to these,
M. Rébus of the Matinée, and M. Obus of the claque.


## p. 15825 (#157) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15825
»
>>
Monsieur Doblay listened gravely to the report of the gen-
darme. A case of disorderly conduct, fracas, and defiance of the
authorities of the Café des Blafards. Blows had been struck and
furniture broken. The women of the party encouraged the par-
ticipants. The defendants Brébant and Rébus had taken no part
in the fracas, but on the appearance of the authorities had inter-
fered to protect their companions. It had consequently been
necessary to arrest the whole party.
"And all,” cried Mademoiselle Adèle, “because Tavernier can-
not act Bobbo. ”
“Silence! ” cried the ushers. And everybody stood aghast.
Monsieur Doblay pressed his fingers together and looked over
his spectacles, not so much severely as reflectively, at the rebel-
lious Pierrette, so full of grace and wild beauty.
"Upon my word,” he said at last, “I should be glad to have
some explanation why so many people of reputation and intelli-
gence have been engaging in such a lamentable dispute. Is it
only because Monsieur Tavernier cannot act Bobbo ? Pray what
is Bobbo ? )
"An opera-bouffe, Monsieur le Juge,” said the actress, proudly
inclining her head, composed for the Folles-Farces by Monsieur
Brébant there, and the libretto is by Monsieur Tavernier himself.
And I am the Princess Lisa. ”
“You mean that you take that part in the opera ? »
« Yes, Monsieur le Juge. And Monsieur Tavernier has the
title rôle. ”
“Which he sustains with the utmost art,” murmured Bré-
bant.
Adèle gave him a glance which might have withered him.
« Which he does not sustain with art, Monsieur le Juge – oh,
not at all. For though it is an adorable little story, but adorable,
it does not draw the public; and why? Because Monsieur Taver-
nier, though a comedian not a little proud of his own prowess,
cannot carry out the very part he has imagined for himself. ”
And here her slender limbs began visibly to chafe under the
oppression of keeping still. Her voice rang higher, but always
sweet. "And the Folles-Farces is a new theatre, Monsieur le
Juge; not a rich theatre. It is most important to us to draw the
public: and we do not draw the public, monsieur, because Mon-
sieur Tavernier cannot act Bobbo. And we shall all starve! ”
And she looked daggers at poor Tavernier, who twisted his
XXVII-990


## p. 15826 (#158) ##########################################

15826
THOMAS WHARTON
»
hands together — the thick, short-fingered hands of a true bouffe
actor and drew a long sigh.
"And yet,” said Monsieur Doblay, gravely, “if there was a
quarrel, mademoiselle, there must have been those who disagreed
with you. Why did the quarrel arise ? »
"Because,” cried Mademoiselle Adèle, “I frankly counseled
Monsieur Tavernier to leave the cast. As a friend. ”
"That was the way of it, Monsieur le Juge,” said Brébant,
who shrugged his shoulders with languid cynicism. “She frankly
counseled my colleague, the author of the operetta, part owner of
the theatre, stage-manager, and leading actor, to leave the cast.
I forgot to add that it was to him she owed her engagement. ”
"And when Mademoiselle Adèle gave this advice to Monsieur
Tavernier, there was opposition ? ” asked Monsieur Doblay.
« Pronounced,” said Brébant.
“Vociferous,” said Rébus. “Even minatory. ”
“Upon which ” — Mademoiselle Adèle's eyes were blazing indig-
nantly at Brébant, but he persevered relentlessly — "upon which
Mademoiselle Adèle treated her colleagues, particularly Made-
moiselle Jolifroy, to epithets of an injurious character. ”
Pray, if I might ask — »
“I called them pigs of gallery-crushers,” said Adèle, impetu-
ously breaking in,
« The words were uttered in heat,” said Brébant dryly.
"I do not withdraw them,” said Adèle.
"And it was on this provocation that the fracas arose ?
Monsieur Doblay patiently.
"As if the words had been dynamite,” said Rébus.
There was a moment's silence.
"Ladies and gentlemen,” said the magistrate, "I am afraid
that I see nothing for it but to fine you all. I regret that there
should be differences among you behind the scenes, if I may so
express myself; but the law really cannot concern itself with the
origin of these differences. »
“I would leave the cast willingly,” said Tavernier, whose
heavy face looked so sad that his Punchinello's hump seemed to
belong to him, but we cannot afford another actor. ”
"Monsieur le Juge,” said Madame Gaudrion, speaking with
dignity from the mysterious folds of her domino, “I desire it
should go on record as the opinion of those members of the com-
pany whose sentiments are in accord with what has just fallen
» said


## p. 15827 (#159) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15827
(
from the lips of Monsieur Brébant, that the rôle of Bobbo is per-
fectly sustained by Monsieur Tavernier, and that if any one's
acting is at fault it is Mademoiselle Adèle's. ”
« Mazette! I believe you,” murmured the little Jolifroy. (Un-
derstudy. )
From Adèle's eyes shot forth a flame of contempt; she spread
her small brown hands wide to the poles. "Listen, Monsieur le
Juge,” she cried, -"listen, and you will understand why they all
speak evil of me. I am alone against them all; and last night
they would have driven me out of the theatre forever, except
that Monsieur Gervais, that good young man whom you see there
as Harlequin, Monsieur le Juge, and Monsieur Obus, with the
false nose, like chivalrous and gallant friends, constituted them-
selves my champions,— and the resistance they encountered was
such that the gendarmes were hurled upon us. It is true,
Monsieur le Juge, it is true that I act badly — that in my great
scene where I should laugh I want to cry — and thus I am so
angry that I cannot laugh at all — and the whole scene is spoiled,
and the whole play is spoiled, and our happiness, and our busi-
ness, and my career, all, all are spoiled! But why? Because it
is Bobbo who should make me want to laugh, and every night
when I play it is Bobbo who makes me want to cry! ”
«Fudge! ” said Madame Gaudrion, decisively, and quite loud
enough to be heard.
" You say that, madame began Adèle; but Monsieur Do-
blay silenced her with a word.
“You are a firebrand, mademoiselle,” he said; and he turned
to Brébant. "As I am still in the dark, monsieur, perhaps you
will explain a little further. ”
“Willingly, Monsieur le Juge,” said the Pierrot. « The fact
is, Mademoiselle Adèle is convicting herself by her own testi-
mony; for Monsieur Tavernier's rôle, admirably conceived, is one
of those which blend humor and pathos, and it is the pathos
which should make, not Mademoiselle Adèle, you understand, but
the Princess Lisa laugh. And if Mademoiselle Adèle forgets that
she is the Princess Lisa, and herself feels the pathos of the scene,
she is not an actress, that is all. ”
"Ah! ” said Monsieur Doblay, looking benignly wise. The
paradox of acting. ”
"Exactly, Monsieur le Juge. ”
)
>>
>
(c


## p. 15828 (#160) ##########################################

15828
THOMAS WHARTON
»
(
>
“But,” cried Adèle in a transport, “it is Tavernier who is
not acting! ”
"Not acting! ” cried Brébant, Gervais, and Mueller together.
In fact, the whole company turned to Adèle with looks of aston-
ishment.
"No, he is not acting! Do you suppose that I, an actress,
cannot tell ? It is real with him; yes, I affirm it, Monsieur le
Juge, it is real with him! and that makes it real with me, and I
cry instead of laughing. ”
At this remarkable statement all eyes were turned on Taver-
nier. His face was doleful enough; but he only shrugged his
hump, as if to say, "I do not understand, but I will not oppose
her. ”
Monsieur Doblay laid down his pen in despair. “The further
we go,” he said, “the greater is my perplexity. Suppose, made-
moiselle, I were to ask you to give me a brief précis of the plot,
and then perhaps I shall understand. For really it has come to
this,- that Monsieur Tavernier's acting is on trial, and I feel it
my duty to examine into his case and pronounce one way or the
other. »
It seemed to Paul Patureau as if his ideas mysteriously com-
municated themselves to his superior, and what was
markable, controlled him.
Adèle stood forward.
She made a gesture of such grace and
eloquence as thrilled Paul Patureau to the marrow. “Monsieur
le Juge," she said, “I am overcome by the honor — oh, but over-
come! You ask me for the plot of Bobbo,' Monsieur le Juge.
Monsieur Tavernier's idea was charming, most charming; and I
should be the first to make its eulogiums, for he honored me by
giving me the chief rôle,- after his own. I, do you see, am the
Princess Lisa. The scene is laid in Italy at the time they called
the Middle Ages,—but how did they know then they were the
Middle Ages, Monsieur le Juge ? -- and I am very melancholy.
Oh, I am the most melancholy princess that ever was known!
They give fêtes for me, balls, tournaments, cavalcades, water par-
ties, illuminations — all to no purpose; they might as well have
paraded the funerals of the town before me. Then they have
plays to amuse me, jugglers, clowns, dancing-dogs, acrobats, the
whole Folies Bergères: worse and worse — I weep all day long,
and I swear that nothing can cure me. So my father, the king,
more
re-


## p. 15829 (#161) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15829
>>
C
who is excellently played by Monsieur Mueller, Monsieur le Juge,
- my father is in agonies; for not only am I his favorite child,
but if I do not marry, the kingdom must go to his brother, whom
he despises. And when they talk to me of marriage, I weep so
bitterly that even Madame Gaudrion, my governess, you under-
stand, my most aristocratic governess,- gives me up. So the
king has an idea. He offers my hand to any one who will make
me laugh. Is not that an idea worthy of a father ? But, never-
theless, so stupid are men that numbers of poor young princes
and counts and barons come and try to win a smile from me,
and they all fail, and their heads are taken off by the headsman
- Monsieur Gervais. Such things happen, you know, in opera-
bouffe - in the Middle Ages. And of course, as these repeated
executions happen, I go into convulsions of grief, and grow more
and more melancholy. ”
“Because none of the young men succeeds ? " asked Monsieur
Doblay with a smile.
"Possibly,” said Mademoiselle Adèle. “But of course," she
added, with a sudden and dazzling smile of her own,-
of course
I do not confess that to myself, so there my poor father is at
the end of his resources; and even my sister, the Princess
Beatrice (played by Mademoiselle Jolifroy), confesses she does not
know what is to be done.
And as a last resource my
father
thinks once
more of Bobbo. Bobbo, Monsieur le Juge, is the
most celebrated jester in the world, - irresistible, enchanting, the
very soul of drollery and humor. It is not only that his wit is
so quick and keen, but his features are the perfect epitome of
comedy. You die of laughing just to look at him; it is impos-
sible to remain grave in his presence. My father would have
brought him before me long ago but for one unfortunate circum-
stance,- Bobbo is attached to the court of our young and hot-
headed neighbor the Prince Eugenius. Now some time ago,
before all these experiments that ended so sadly on the heads-
man's block, the prince personally asked for my hand; and as I
declined to hear of marriage, it was refused him. So he vowed
that if my melancholy was not removed by the announcement
of his suit, I might remain in my present state of depression till
the end of my days before he would lift a finger to prevent it.
Accordingly my father goes to war with him, captures both
him and Bobbo, and brings the captives back to court. For he


## p. 15830 (#162) ##########################################

15830
THOMAS WHARTON
is a terrible man, my father, as the prince -- who is Monsieur
Brébant — finds out. ”
"I begin to see the plot,” said Monsieur Doblay, deeply inter-
ested. Court officers and spectators too all hung upon her
words.
"Is it not too natural ? » cried Adèle, her eyes sparkling.
"What stupid beings fathers are, Monsieur le Juge! Why should
the king suppose that I, who have succeeded in my obstinacy —
yes, I admit that it is obstinacy: the idea of weeping one's eyes
out like that for any other reason! - that I, who have persisted
in torturing my lachrymal glands while any number of nice
young men were trying to entertain me, should all of a sudden
face about, dry my eyes, and laugh like a cook at the antics of a
professional clown ? Much he knows about a woman! Actually,
when he brings Bobbo before me, he is smiling for the first
time in years.
Poor man, he is doomed to disappointment. Per-
haps Bobbo is not over-confident, for he knows what will happen
to him if he fails; but no matter how he exerts himself, — and in
two minutes he has the rest of the court rolling on their sides
on the floor,- Monsieur le Juge, I pay absolutely no attention to
him. He says the wittiest, most excruciating things: I am deaf.
He gambols and capers so as to make you ill with laughing: I
scarcely lift my eyebrows. He even makes sport of his master,
the prince, for suffering himself to be captured: I turn away in-
different. And then what happens is that he loses his courage,
he falters, he stammers, he wrings his hands, and finally falls on
his knees and begs pathetically to be spared. Consequently my
father orders him to be beheaded at once. ”
"He was wrong," said Monsieur Doblay judicially.
"Very wrong, Monsieur le Juge; but after all, see how for-
tunately it turned out! For on hearing his sentence, Bobbo, in
despair, turns to me and sings a song begging me to intercede
for him; he joins his wrinkled old hands together, and the tears
run from his poor old face, and his nose is red, and his eyes are
bleared, and his voice cracks and creaks, and altogether he looks
so absurd and ridiculous, and he is such a refreshing, delightful,
irresistible contrast to the terrified and unnatural gayety which
every one about me has been forced to exhibit, that I burst out
into a good hearty fit of laughter, the first in years. Bobbo has
saved me! ”


## p. 15831 (#163) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15831
(
>
Brava! There followed general applause, which was at once
suppressed, but which did not seem to annoy Monsieur Doblay
very greatly. He smiled with satisfaction at the escape of
Bobbo, and by the nodding of his head appeared to congratulate
the princess on the breaking of the spell that afflicted her. As
for Paul, his heart sank. “There! ” he said to himself:
« do you
wonder that it falls to the lot of others to write libretti, and not
to mine? Effectively! They have ideas, while I – »
"And so you marry the prince,” said Monsieur Doblay ap-
provingly.
“Oh, not yet! » cried Adèle, radiant with her success. « Of
course finally I do; but if it ended now it would be flat indeed. ”
Paul's heart sank again: he had supposed this was the finale,
and behold he did not know the elements of construction !
“What happens next is that I become serious once more,
and swear that as my father offered to marry me to whosoever
should make me laugh, and as Bobbo has been the one to suc-
ceed, I will marry Bobbo. This, of course, is meant to punish
the prince for his pride; yet, after all, I have a-a little feeling
for Bobbo. But you may guess, cried Adèle, with a heightened
color, “how this resolve affects my father and the court; and it is
only a very little while before they are all in tears at my feet,
begging me to reconsider my decision. And as they are now the
melancholy ones, I am well amused, I promise you. If you all
sniveled till Doomsday,' I say to them, you couldn't make me
break faith with my dear Bobbo. Poor Bobbo, you know! ready
'
to put his head in a meal-bag and pull the strings. Well, at last
the situation is resolved — but you must ask Madame Gaudrion
how. ”
How, Madame Gaudrion ? »
"Oh, very simply,” replied that lady in her measured tones.
"I am the governess, – very aristocratic, as Mademoiselle Adèle
says,- and I have been talking a great deal of my family pre-
tensions, and setting my cap at the king; and it turns out that
Bobbo is
my husband. "
Whereat there was a laugh.
“And everybody is made happy, except probably Bobbo,"
commented Monsieur Doblay. “Let me compliment you, Monsieur
Tavernier, on the grace and charm of your little theme. The
springs of sorrow and happiness lie very close together in our
hearts, and you have perceived this and made excellent use of
(
>
(
»
(


## p. 15832 (#164) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15832
>
»
your penetration of human nature. ” And he made a polite yet
magisterial bow.
“I beg you to believe, Monsieur le Juge, that I know how to
value such compliments," said Tavernier, a little flush of pleasure
breaking out on his anxious face. « But the story has gained
greatly from Mademoiselle Adèle's manner of recital. ”
« Doubtless she will answer that she has gained her inspira-
tion from the story,” said the courteous magistrate.
< But come
now, Monsieur Tavernier, here we are on the threshold of the
mystery; let us examine it to the bottom. You are charged
by this young lady with singing your ballad in such a manner as
to prevent her from listening properly in the character of the
Princess Lisa. Now here I am about to throw out a suggestion
which may assist us. Perhaps the difficulty lies in the ballad
itself; and I should be very glad if you will repeat it, Monsieur
Tavernier. Or better still, if any one here has a libretto — »
Obus stepped forward, solemn-faced leader of the claque. He
drew a marked libretto from the pocket of his paletot.
"You will pardon my critical remarks on the margin, Mon-
sieur le Juge,” he observed.
The magistrate found the place, and adjusted his glasses.
>
LA CHANSON DE BOBBO
OH, is it you, all youth and grace,
Who turn an unrelenting face,
And cruel send
Me to my death, so bent and worn,
So pitiable and forlorn,
So old a friend?
Think! in the nursery, long ago,
A form like mine you used to know,
With curving back,
With painted cheeks, and staring eyes.
Look at me! don't you recognize
Your jumping Jack ?
You only had to pull a string,
And he his arms and legs would fling
A dozen ways;
And then you'd laugh-ah, yes, indeed!
'Twas easy for me to succeed
In those old days.


## p. 15833 (#165) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15833
You clasped me to your baby breast,
And cried, “Dear Jack! ) and soothed to rest
My clumsy head;
And when they asked you which of all
Your toys the prettiest you'd call, -
"My Jack! ” you said.
Yes, let my poor absurd grimace,
My crooked back and wizened face,
My pardon make.
O child, your childhood bring to mind,
And be to Punchinello kind,
For pity's sake!
« Mon
While Monsieur Doblay read this aloud, slowly, and with the
reserve of a man who does not commit himself to the support of
his author, there was a deep silence in the court-room. Then
Monsieur Doblay raised his head, and it was not difficult to see
that he was disappointed. “I confess,” he said, “I do not find
these verses in themselves so affecting as to justify Mademoiselle
Adèle's representations. ”
There was a little nervous professional stir among the actors;
but before any one else could speak in behalf of Tavernier's
song, Adèle was boldly making her own special defense.
Dieu, Monsieur le Juge,” she cried, “they are not meant to be
read like verses in a book, you know — they are written for
music and the stage effect. Ah, monsieur, if you will ask Mon-
sieur Tavernier to recite them to you, you will see! Yes, Mon-
sieur Tavernier, if you really desire to clear yourself, repeat
them to the magistrate — and let him judge. ”
“You see, Monsieur le Juge, what she exacts," was all Taver-
nier could say.
"After all,” said Monsieur Doblay, she is correct. I am mis-
construing your verses, Monsieur Tavernier, and I see that my
doubt disposes of itself. If the lines are written solely for the
actor, there is nothing intrinsically pathetic in them — there can
be nothing. ” And Monsieur Doblay smiled reassuringly. "And
now let me hear you repeat them. Permit me to say that I
anticipate a great artistic gratification. ”
Tavernier looked over at Adèle, and murmured something no
one could hear. She, her face flushed, seemed ready to spring
upon him, take him by the shoulders, and shake him into action,
so eager was she to be proved in the right.


## p. 15834 (#166) ##########################################

15834
THOMAS WHARTON
As if fascinated, he kept his troubled eyes fixed upon her
and began in a low voice:-
«Oh, is it you, all youth and grace –
>>>
It was
And as he spoke he betrayed all.
There was no mistaking the import of his tone.
The man
had a voice that should have made his fortune. Resonant,
strong, full of feeling, and yet dominated by a strange and over-
powering timbre, a curious vibration, which though hard and
masculine was inexplicably attractive, and even affecting, - a per-
fect stage voice, intended by nature for comedy and bouffe,- it
aroused not only instant carnal delight, but also the obscure
yearning that accompanies the highest artistic sympathy. But
now it was quivering with the deepest pathos. To hear him
struck to the heart. Tears sprang unbidden to the eyes.
an appeal, all concealment thrown aside, to the beautiful young
girl who stood before him. It told the whole story of their re-
lations,- of his dumb despairing love and her girlish obtuseness,
perversity, and self-love. The words fell slowly and like sobs.
They conveyed the yearning of a life.
The surprise of his emotion deeply disturbed his hearers.
Brébant, in particular, was visibly startled out of his languor,
and launched uneasy glances at Adèle. She alone appeared to
see in this sudden confession merely the confirmation of her
charge. Her eyes sparkled with triumph; her foot patted the
ground; she could hardly wait until Tavernier had finished. She
did not give Monsieur Doblay time to speak.
“You see,” she cried — "you see, all of you, that I have told
you nothing but the truth — and yet you would not believe me!
He sings it himself — and not to the Princess Lisa, but to me,
He does not know how to sing it. Hold! I will show you how. ”
And before any one could stop her, she suddenly pushed away
Mueller and Obus, clearing a little space for a stage, as it were,
and dropped her tall supple form into a hunchback's crouching
pose and began to sing.
It was a most amazing feat of mimicry. Her head sank and
rolled on her shoulders, her arms hung long and loose by her
sides, her back was crooked - yet all these things were shown by
the lightest, swiftest indications, like the heart-breaking falsetto
in her rich, splendid voice, which, with her frightened eye and
trembling lip, showed the poor Punchinello at his wits' end for


## p. 15835 (#167) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15835
refuge. Sing it well? Not the greatest comedian that ever
lived, it seemed, could have sung it better, - with all its whim-
pering, its ridiculous terrified grimaces, its shaking fingers weakly
clawing the air, its tottering knees and cracked comic voice, its
absurd senile smiles broken by swift spasms of terror as the
singer alternated between hope and despair. Adèle subdued it
all to her purpose, with the true bouffe touch so perfectly be-
stowed that the very pathos of it seemed a thing to laugh at,
because it so surely promised that happiness was on the other
side of the picture. And indeed, as verse succeeded verse,
smiles were running over all their lips, as they stood breathlessly
listening, ready when she ended to break out into laughter and
applause. When all at once, just as she was nearing the end,
perhaps overcome by some sudden emotion, perhaps tired by the
night of confinement and the strain of the police examination,
perhaps at the end of her artist's tether, since extreme were the
demands the song made upon her thus to counterfeit a buffo at
the height of his art, — for whatever reason, she faltered, gasped,
and tottering against Mueller, who caught her round the waist
and supported her, burst into tears.
Then, heartlessly enough, but with full professional enjoy.
ment of her break-down, the actors raised a peal of laughter, in
which all joined - except Tavernier. He stood apart, forgotten,
watching her with his burning eyes. But the little Jolifroy
was especially merry, and clapped her hands in an ecstasy of
mirth.
Adèle leaped up; furious, angry gleams darting from her eyes.
“What do you mean by laughing at me ? ” she cried.
all beggars, wretches, vile travesties of actors, whom the public
will cover with shame! ” That her tumult of wrath must have
physical relief was obvious.
It was
the little Jolifroy who
suffered. Adèle's glance fell instinctively on her understudy's
sniggering face, and she smacked it.
A cry of horror rose - gendarmes sprang at the offender.
Contempt of court, lèse-majesté - what had not Adèle com-
mitted ? She herself, at the realization of her offense, paled and
stood trembling in the grasp of the military police before the
magistrate.
The only reason why Tavernier was not scuffling with those
same gendarmes was that Brébant and Rébus, by a common
impulse, threw their arms about him and restrained him.
(You are


## p. 15836 (#168) ##########################################

15836
THOMAS WHARTON
Monsieur Doblay seemed for a moment lost in consternation
at the iniquity of the deed which his own lenity had encouraged;
then he roused himself, and addressed the prisoner at the bar.
“Mademoiselle,” he said sternly, “insensible of the kindness
with which you have been treated here, you have permitted your-
self to commit an outrage upon the dignity of this court which
merits the severest retribution. And what is more, you have
shown yourself intolerant, unreasonable, unjust to a brother
artist, who after all can only do his best, as his talent permits,
and to whom it would appear you are bound in very gratitude
to defer. Art is not life, mademoiselle; it is but a representa-
tion of life, and all the more, therefore, perfection in it cannot
be demanded or hoped for. It rests with all artists to give the
public their best; but having done so, they must be satisfied.
And since this seems impossible to you, since your ungovernable
temper makes you a firebrand among your colleagues, the pun-
ishment that I must now impose upon you should be responsive
to this fault, that justice may prove remedial. I condemn you
to prison, Mademoiselle Adèle, for forty days,- and suspend the
sentence on condition that you pass the whole of the ensuing
Lent in retirement, in good works and meditation, without ap-
pearing once at the theatre. And that will teach you, perhaps,
to control yourself. ”
“What, Monsieur le Juge — leave the stage? ”
Then might you have seen Adèle, breaking from the gen-
darmes, kneel, actually kneel like a guilty sinner before the trib-
une, imploring mercy. To be condemned for forty days to leave
the theatre — to leave a successful play, to see which the house
was crowded every evening - she would be forgotten by the pub-
lic, by her friends - her understudy would supplant her- and the
theatre was her life, her very being! She would die without it;
to do penance would kill her!
Would not Monsieur le Juge fine her — she could afford to
pay a fine, oh, a heavy fine — and let her go?
And it did occur to Monsieur Doblay that his scheme of po-
etic justice did not consider the management of the Folles-Farces;
and he said, “After all, I ought not to visit the penalty of your
misbehavior on the theatre, and therefore a fine — ”
To every one's surprise, here Tavernier interrupted. "No,
Monsieur le Juge,” he cried, quite beside himself with suffering:
“I would rather let her go! ”
(C
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## p. 15837 (#169) ##########################################

THOMAS WHARTON
15837
“Let me go? ” exclaimed Adèle, her face suddenly growing
white.
“Yes,” he answered, turning on her, his breast heaving: “we
cannot go on like this, - one of us must leave the Folles-Farces.
There is a limit to what a man's heart can bear; and since you
mean to break mine, since there is no limit to your contempt,
your disdain, and your ill-usage, I must protect myself, - I must
snap the chain in two. God knows I would give you all, - the
theatre, my heart, my life, if you would but accept them,—God
knows I have offered you both my heart and my life, again and
again, and you would not take them — »
« You have offered me your heart ? ” said Adèle, with a strange
sound in her voice.
« Yes,” he cried in exaltation: "every night, in the song I
sing to you, the song I wrote to you, the song I cannot sing
because every word, every note, breaks my heart when you will
not look at me or care for me. But why should you ? - you, so
beautiful, so young —
He could not go on.
Adèle drew a long, shuddering breath; her face was white.
She choked as she tried to speak. Finally she said, “I did not
know-I did not know I was so much to you. ” And after a
pause she added, "I have promised to marry Brébant. ”
Tavernier gave a cry, and then covered his ghastly face with
his hands. Brébant looked at them both from under the dark,
delicate lines of his eyebrows, pulled at his mustache, and said,
Fichtre! "
Nobody seemed able to speak, and there was a long silence.