Volume I Part 72 (1/2)

O'Neilan places himself under arrest, but the next day he is set at liberty He had, only to plead that it was an accident

The officer Laurent not having called uponthe week, I told hier considerhimself, he said,

”I do not care!”

The ansas insulting, and I intended to coive me reparation, but the next day O'Neilan told one mad and had been locked up in a mad-house He subsequently recovered his reason, but his conduct was so infamous that he was cashi+ered

O'Neilan, as as brave as Bayard, was killed a few years afterwards at the battle of Prague A man of his complexion was certain to fall the victiht be alive now if he had been endowed only with the courage of the fox, but he had the courage of the lion

It is a virtue in a soldier, but aler with a full knowledge of it are worthy of praise, but those who do not realize it escape only by aitself to thereat warriors, for their unconquerable courage is the offspring of a strong soul, of a virtue which places them above ordinary ne I cannot restrain my tears

He was as brave as Achilles, but Achilles was invulnerable He would be alive now if he had reht that he wasknown him, have not shed tears in his memory? He was handsome, kind, polished, learned, a lover of the arts, cheerful, witty in his conversation, a pleasant companion, and a man of perfect equability Fatal, terrible revolution! A cannon ball took him from his friends, from his family, from the happiness which surrounded him

The Prince de Waldeck has also paid the penalty of his intrepidity with the loss of one arm It is said that he consoles himself for that loss with the consciousness that with the re one he can yet command an army

O you who despise life, tell me whether that contempt of life renders you worthy of it?

The opera opened immediately after Easter, and I was present at every performance I was then entirely cured, and had resumed my usual life I was pleased to see that Baletti shewed off Marina to the best advantage

I never visited her, but Baletti was in the habit of breakfasting with

He had often e for more than twenty years, and pretended to have been my father's friend One day I took a fancy to call upon her, and he accompanied me to her house

I saw an old, broken-down crone whose toilet astonished me as much as her person In spite of her wrinkles, her face was plastered with red and white, and her eyebroere indebted to India ink for their black appearance She exposed one-half of her flabby, disgusting bosom, and there could be no doubt as to her false set of teeth She wore a hich fitted very badly, and allowed the intrusion of a few gray hairs which had survived the havoc of ti hands made mine quiver when she pressed them She diffused a perfume of a ht possibly have been the fashi+on twenty years before I was looking with dread at the fearful havoc of old age upon a face which, before hted it, had evidently been handsome, but what amazed me was the childish effrontery hich this ti ith the help of her blasted charms

Baletti, who feared lest my too visible astonishment should vex her, told her that I was amazed at the fact that the beautiful strawberry which bloomed upon her chest had not been withered by the hand of Time

It was a birth-mark which was really very much like a strawberry ”It is that ave oletta'”

Those words made me shudder

I had before my eyes the fatal phantom which was the cause of my existence I saw the woman who had thirty years before, seduced my father: if it had not been for her, he would never have thought of leaving his father's house, and would never have engendered me in the womb of a Venetian woman I have never been of the opinion of the old author who says, 'Nehtful I was, she politely enquired my name from Baletti, for he had presented iven her notice of my visit When he told her that my name was Casanova, she was extremely surprised

”Yes, madam,” I said, ”I am the son of Gaetan Casanova, of Parma”

”Heavens and earth! what is this? Ah! my friend, I adored your father!

He was jealous without cause, and abandoned me Had he not done so, you would have beenmother”

I expected as much, and, for fear she should fall, I went to her, received her kiss, and abandoned myself to her tender recollections

Still an actress, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes, pretending to weep, and assuring me that I was not to doubt the truth of what she said

”Although,” she added, ”I do not look an old woman yet”