Part 17 (1/2)
Then he turned slowly about, and came back towards Pantaloon and the rest of the coaze
Pantaloon advanced to meet hiht he was about to be eover us, chilling us to the very h we be poor, yet are we all honest folk and not one of us has ever suffered the indignity of prison Nor is there one of us would survive it But for you, ic did you work?”
”The 's portrait The French are a very loyal nation, as you will have observed They love their King--and his portrait even better than hiold But even in silver it is respected The sergeant was so overcoe--on a three-livre piece--that his anger vanished, and he has gone his ways leaving us to depart in peace”
”Ah, true! He said we must decamp About it, my lads! Come, come”
”But not until after breakfast,” said Andre-Louis ”A half-hour for breakfast was conceded us by that loyal fellow, so deeply was he touched True, he spoke of possible gardes-champetres But he knows as well as I do that they are not seriously to be feared, and that if they caht in copper this ti effect upon them So, my dear M Pantaloon, break your fast at your ease I can sue that there is no need to wish you a good appetite”
”My friend,man's shoulders ”You shall stay to breakfast with us”
”I confess to a hope that you would ask me,” said Andre-Louis
CHAPTER II THE SERVICE OF THESPIS
They were, thought Andre-Louis, as he sat down to breakfast with theht sunshi+ne that te, an odd and yet an attractive crew
An air of gaiety pervaded them They affected to have no cares, and made merry over the trials and tribulations of their nomadic life They were curiously, yet a the estures; stilted and affected in their speech They see to a world apart, a world of unreality which becalare of their footlights
Good-fellowshi+p bound them one to another; and Andre-Louis reflected cynically that this harht be the cause of their apparent unreality In the real world, greedy striving and the emulation of acquisitiveness preclude such amity as was present here
They nuht e names: names which denoted their several types, and never--or only very slightly--varied, no ht be the play that they performed
”We are,” Pantaloon infor staunch bands of real players, who uphold the traditions of the old Italian Commedia dell' Arte Not for us to vex our memories and stultify our ith the stilted phrases that are the fruit of a wretched author's lucubrations Each of us is in detail his own author in a ned to him We are improvisers--improvisers of the old and noble Italian school”
”I had guessed asyour improvisations”
Pantaloon frowned
”I have observed, young sir, that your huent, not to say the acrid It is very well It is I suppose, the huo with such a countenance But it may lead you astray, as in this instance That rehearsal--awith us--was necessitated by the histrionic rawness of our Leandre We are seeking to inculcate into hilected to endow hiainst his present needs Should he continue to fail in doing justice to our schooling But ill not disturb our present harmony with the unpleasant anticipation of misfortunes which we still hope to avert We love our Leandre, for all his faults Let me make you acquainted with our company”
And he proceeded to introduction in detail He pointed out the long and amiable Rhodoth of limb and hooked nose were his superficial qualifications to play roaring captains,” Pantaloon explained ”His lungs have justified our choice You should hear him roar At first we called hireat an artist Not since the superb Mondor amazed the world has so thrasonical a bully been seen upon the stage So we conferred upon hiive you entleman, monsieur, or was--that he has justified us”
His little eyes beaaze upon the object of his encomium The terrible Rhodoirl as he met the solemn scrutiny of Andre-Louis
”Then here we have Scaramouche, whom also you already know Sometimes he is Scapin and sometimes Coviello, but in the main Scaramouche, to which let me tell you he is best suited--sometimes too well suited, I think
For he is Scarae, but also in the world He has a gift of sly intrigue, an art of setting folk by the ears, coressiveness upon occasion when he considers himself safe from reprisals He is Scaramouche, the little skirmisher, to the very life I could sayto all -wench,” snarled Scara
”His humour, like your own, you will observe, is acrid,” said Pantaloon
He passed on ”Then that rascal with the lu bucolic countenance is, of course, Pierrot Could he be aught else?”
”I could play lovers a deal better,” said the rustic cherub