LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1612, 21 April 1879, Page 3

LITERATURE.

TWO FAIR DUELLISTS.

(From the • Danbury News.’)

Continued.

It seemed to became insufficient pleasure to her that Koltoff allowed himself to be disarmed without a word, and was always at hand with retorts and quadrants. He was compelled to take instruction on the flute, that he might accompany her when she performed on the primitive piano of the time ; he took lessons in dancing at her command from a Parisian professor of the dainty art who had settled in St. Pete-sburg, and it was his duty daily, while his goddess reposed in her artificially darkened chamber after dinner, to take her pet dogs out for a walk.

At last she imposed a task on him scarcely equalled by the demands of ladies on troubadours of earlier times, fche had in her park, among other things, a large brown bear, who was confined in a spacious cage. He had come into her possession when very young and showed no signs of viciousness. For all that tete-a-tete with the animal was a dangerous undertaking. Lubina asked Koltoff one morning with the most amiable smi’e in the world to step into the cage and dress the droll old fellow’s head In the fashion of the day.

Koltoff' was amazed at the nature of the request, but he know the penalty of a refusal. Fortunately he had already insinuated himself in the good graces of Hruin, unbeknown to his cruel mistress. He had made it a practice daily to present him with a generous allowance of fruit and honey-comb which the bear received with especially polite growls and grunts. On this occasion, also, the young lieutenant had provided himself with a supply of these dainties, and pocketing a brace of piste's, and a Persian huntingknife, he proceeded, with comb, brush, pomade and powder, to the bear’s cage The gardener opened it and Koltoff entered, while the beautiful Lubina stood before the door, viewing the scene in a half-curious, half-alarmed manner. At first the bear remained perfectly unmoved, resting his huge head between his two fore paws and winking from left to right his small black •yes, Koltoff addressed him in a loud voice. Ha did not move. Then the courageous lieutenant threw a little of the fruit he had brought with him into the bear’s trough. The bear sniffled, raised his ponderous form and licked the fruit suspiciously. Suddenly he arose to his full height, and utter.ng a peculiar, low growl, attempted to embrace Koltoff.

The countess became terribly alarmed and cried aloud for help ; she thought her admirer was lost.

But the bear had no hostile intentions. The smell of the honey, which Koltoff carried, had aroused him from his siesta, and recognising his friend, he attempted to caress him in thoroughly bearish fashion. Koltoff quickly shoved a large honeycomb down his throat, upon which the bear seated himself politely on his haunches and closed his eyes like a perfect epicurean.

Now was the moment to perform the bold act. Koltoff quickly took his comb and with the aid of the pomade, shaped a rude toupet of the shaggy top-piece, throwing the bear more honey when he exhibited impatience. In a few moments the great head of the bear was densely powdered, and Koltoff withdrew quickly and noiselessly Whe ■ the door of the cage had been locked he drew a long a long breath. The dangerous undertaking had been accomplished successfully. Lubina heaped compliments and encomiums on him. She seemed deeply affected by his bravery ; but, to the poor lieutenant’s great surpr se, she imposed another task on him that very ev< uing ‘ You have convinced me of your courage and prtsence of miud,’ she said ■ 1 now I must have evidence of your intellectual powers.’ This frightened Koltoff; ho bowed, but did net utter a word.

‘I will give you a task worthy of you,’ con*inn»d the Amazon; ‘write mo a work entitled “Man and Nature ” "■how the relations in which they stand to one another — show to what extent man is dependent on his great mother must remain d- pendent, j and how he cm show off this dependence, | and perhaps evert influence over her. But I forget that it is you who w 11 open now, unthought of theories and spocula'ioas on this great subject, Koitoff bad never been so utterly miserable and unhappy in his life, not even on the night when ho had determined on suicide, as when he left the beautiful Countess Mentschikoff as the prospective author of ‘ Man and Nature ’ Where was he to gather the ideas, the knowledge, even the payer on W’hich *o begin this grand work P

On the following day he abs°nted himself from the palace and slunk, moody a”d dejected, t"' rough the streets, watched his comrades at play, and finally went sadly to the home of the professor of dancing Kve-y----where he seemed f< llowed by a voice, which whispered in his ear, ‘ Man and Nature !’ and as he stood in the third position of the minuet, awaiting the first note of Monsieur Predrix’s fiddle, he exclaimed involuntarily, * Man and Nature !’

Ihe little Frenchman, who had just raised his bow, looked at the lieutenant in astonishment.

‘ “ Man and Nature,” ’ he repeated, ‘what are they to you ?’ * Pity me,’ answered Koltoff, ‘I am to write a book on that subject, a philosophical work in the style of the French encyclopedists. and I have not the slightest knowledge of the whole matter.’ ‘ Why attempt it, then ?’ asked the Frenchman.

‘Because everything, my very life, depends on the accursed book !’ cried Koltolf. ‘ Your life,’ queried the dancing matter, with a smile.

‘I swear it, my life.’ exclaimed the Russian, looking so much the picture of desp ir that the little Frenchman began to see that matters were serious. When Koltoff had made a confident of him and explained the circumstances of the case, Mender Predrix suddenly made a desperate leap into the air ; he scraped his old fiddle furiously with the dilapi ated how, danced around the room in every conceivable step and motion ; at last he halted in a pirouette , and standing before the astonished K oltoff in a graceful posture, said—- ‘ I will save you I will write the book ! *

‘ What you V exclaimed Koltoff * you dear, kind Monsieur Predrix !' and he embraced the little gentleman, lifted him high into the air, and earned him around the room. * But how is it to be done V he asked, when ne deposited Monsieur Predrix on the floor ; ‘ for my part I should much rather powder the bear twice a day than w.’ite a line of the confounded hook,’ ‘Row? how I will manage to doflt, you young Leom’das ?’ said the old dancing master, smiling ; ‘ you will receive the work, parole d'honneur, but you must not ask me how I wrote it ’

A few weeks passed. Koltoff called on the countess early in the evening but staid only a few minutes, and was rarely to be seen ; his excuse was that he was deeply engagd in his studies. In the meantime the dancing master, Monsieur Predrix, was fairly buried in a forest of books ; he had ev-rything treating of philosophy and natural history, obtainable in the capital of Catharine II heaped around him, and wrote, making a random dash at this and that volume, now Aristotle, now Hippocrates, then Voltaire, Que'nay, Bacon, and Aristotle again, amputating them mer cil'-ssly—for copying or plagiarizing would not describe the furious literary butchering to which he subjected the philosophers,— writing, reading and writing again with a grim determination ; in four weeks he had tinithed quite a stately manuscript Of course not an idea or phrase was his own, but, with a neatness peculiar to his nation, he had arranged his gleanings with extreme nicety hud—what was possible only in his perfect, academic tongue to a person of comparatively little education —worded it in good, clear, elegant French.

Chapter VII.

A RIVAL AND A QUARREL,

When Koltoff read the manuscript, on the title page of which was emblazoned in bold taotbic letters the legend ‘ Man and Nature, a philosophical essay, by J. Kolt'iff, lieutenant in the Preobraschenski Guards,’ he was so affected by the evidence of his own genius that ho shed tears, called Monsieur Predrix the preserver of his life, embraced him, kissed him, dragged him into five rum shops, in each of which he entertained him in princely fashion at Lapinski’s expense, and finally handed him a fee of seven rubles, at that time a stately sum, also advanced by Lapinski. Lapinski, who did not understand a word of ‘ Man and Nature,’ was also in an exuberant state of mind.

Now Koltoff could enter the presence of the beautiful Lubinia in blissful consciousness of being a literary and scientific light of the first magnitude. On the same evening he road the W'Tk of the dancing master to her, having already convinced himself fully that he was its author ; she listened with wrapt attention, interruped him occasionally with such comments as ‘ how ingenious I’ or ‘ excellent’ and again ‘ absolutely original—a a bold, cleverly conceived theory,’ until he promised in perfect, good faith, filled with just pride, that he would follow his first attempt with additional dissertations to the honor of not only himself, but of his country. ‘ Man and Nature’ fell into the hands of the Countess Daschkoff, and she presented it to the empress. And this genial woman, who possessed the vast intellect of a man, read it

‘lt contains nothing new,’she said, ‘but it betrays extensive knowledge and is beauti, fully written.’ The young officer’s fortune was made. A few days aftewards he received the appointment of captain in the Tobolsk Ilegiment, at that tme commanded by a woman, the beautiful Amazon Madame de Melliin. The manuscript of the French dancing m-ster was printed at the expense of the Academy. There remained one bar to the supremo happiness of the scientific officer; ('aptain Koltoff, the author of “ Man and Nature” had as little success in his siege of the (lountess’s heart, as Lieutenant Koltoff, the friseur of the hear, had had. The beautiful coquette evaded his advances with the same ingenuity and persLtence.

It so happened that one evening Koltoff found another admirer in the presence of the amiable J.ubina, This other was the handsome, dashing Pole, Czartoriaki, an attache of the Polish legation of St. Petersburgh, famous for his elegant presence and manners, acquired during a long residence in Paiis, and conversed fluently and intelligently on all subjects : he was at home in the higher realms of science and a> t, which he could discuss with as much facility as the toilette of the Marquise de Pompadour, or the plan and attractions of the royal deer park. When he left the countess he kissed her hand with more admiration than deference, and she him with an amiable smile.

Kolt iff. already excited and displeased, became furious. When the Polo had retired he took exception to her conduct, to which she listened without any manifestations of surprise; she scarcely showed interest.

‘So, this is your new ideal?’ exclaimed the captain, furious with passion. JYou are indeed a man of genius,’ she replied, coolly. ‘You discover what others scarcely dream of You have at this moment discovered to me my own feeling. Yes, thY Pole is ray idea, he ’ ‘ For how long!’ inte r rupted Koltoff, harshly. ‘ There was a time when you had another ideal. ’

•Yea, yes, ’ answered the countess, with a weary smile, ‘ I have had a great many ideals.’

Koltoff paced the floor with long, impatient strides, so that the white curtains

puffed out like sails and the porcelain chinamen on the mantle nodded industriously. Suddenly he stopped before the caprio ous woman, whom ho was amusing against his will, and exclaimed in a very serious, almost solemn voice—

‘We must arrive at home conclusion, madame!’

‘ Let us onmp to some conclusion,’ she replieh mocking the fellow. ‘To day !’ ‘ Yes, to day.’ ‘ You will answer my questions frankly and without evasion P’ ‘Yes.’

‘Frankly ami without evasion?’ * Frankly and without evasion.’ ‘ Dou you still love me ?’ began Koltoff. The counts a was silent.

* I desire an answer,’ urged Koltoii, a tr'fle impolite, ‘do you still love me?’ ‘What shall I say ?’ asked the countes 9 , to gain time ‘ You promised to answer my questions frankly and without evasion, continued Koltoff, trembling with rage * answer me!’

The countess hesitated. ‘To you still love me?’ repeated Koltoff, furiously, ‘I don’t know,’ answered the countess, shrugging her shoulders * I perceive that my presence here is superfluous,’ he exclaimed, taking his hat

At the same moment the countess sprang towards him and held him back.

‘You shall not go,’ she exclaimed in a commanding voice, ‘I forbid you !’ Koltoff buret into a rude laugh and wont; he had lost all control of himself, when—just as he was about to close tho door behind him—there occurred what he least expected, the countess broke into tears and sank to the floor in hysterics. Koltoff hastened back to her assistance—he was caught again. (7b he continued.)