Bildungsromans; Humorous stories; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Millionaires -- Fiction; Young men -- Fiction
The parade took place in the afternoon, and proved quite the feature of
the day. The question of precedence nearly overturned Monty's plans,
but the chief of police was finally made to see that if he were to be
chief marshal it was only fair that the pompiers should march ahead of
the gendarmes. The crew of the "Flitter" made a wonderful showing. It
was led by the yacht's band, which fairly outdid Sousa in noise, though
it was less unanimous in the matter of time. All the fiacres came at
the end, but there were so many of them and the line of march was so
short that at times they were really leading the processional despite
the gallant efforts of the grand marshal.
From the balcony of the hotel Monty and his party pelted those below
with flowers and confetti. More allusions to Franklin and Lafayette
were made when the cure and the mayor halted the procession and
presented Monty with an address richly engrossed on imitation
parchment. Then the school children sang and the crowd dispersed to
meet again in the evening.
At eight o'clock Brewster presided over a large banquet, and numbered
among his guests every one of distinction in the town. The wives were
also invited and Franklin and Lafayette were again alluded to. Each of
the men made at least one speech, but "Subway" Smith's third address
was the hit of the evening. Knowing nothing but English, he had
previously clung consistently to that language, but the third and final
address seemed to demand something more friendly and genial. With a
sweeping bow and with all the dignity of a statesman he began:
"Mesdames et Messieurs: J'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons,"--with a
magnificent gesture, "vous avez." The French members of the company
were not equal to his pronunciation and were under the impression that
he was still talking English. They were profoundly impressed with his
deference and grace, and accorded his preamble a round of applause. The
Americans did their utmost to persuade him to be seated, but their
uproar was mistaken by the others for enthusiasm, and the applause grew
louder than ever. "Subway" held up his hand for silence, and his manner
suggested that he was about to utter some peculiarly important thought.
He waited until a pin fall could have been heard before he went on.
"Maitre corbeau sur un arbre perché--" he finished the speech as he was
being carried bodily from the room by DeMille and Bragdon. The
Frenchmen then imagined that Smith's remarks had been insulting, and
his friends had silenced him on that account. A riot seemed imminent
when Monty succeeded in restoring silence, and with a few tactful
remarks about Franklin and Lafayette quieted the excited guests.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account