The innocents abroad; . ewent thither. Here the light was dim, and the masses of peo-ple were pretty closely packed together. And now I made amistake which any donkey might make, but a sensible mannever. I committed an error which I And myself repeatingevery day of my life.—Standing right before a young lady, Isaid— Dan, just look at this girl, how beautiful she is! I thank you more for the evident sincerity of the compli-ment, sir. than for the extraordinary publicity you have givento it! This in good, pure English. We took a walk, but my spirits were very, very sadly damp-ened. I did not fee
The innocents abroad; . ewent thither. Here the light was dim, and the masses of peo-ple were pretty closely packed together. And now I made amistake which any donkey might make, but a sensible mannever. I committed an error which I And myself repeatingevery day of my life.—Standing right before a young lady, Isaid— Dan, just look at this girl, how beautiful she is! I thank you more for the evident sincerity of the compli-ment, sir. than for the extraordinary publicity you have givento it! This in good, pure English. We took a walk, but my spirits were very, very sadly damp-ened. I did not feel right comfortable for some time after-ward. Why will people be so stupid as to suppose themselvesthe only foreigners among a crowd of ten thousand persons ? BLONDIN IN A FLAME, 135 But Blondin came out shortly. He appeared on a stretchedcable, far away above the sea of tossing hats and handker-chiefs, and in the glare of the hundreds of rockets that whizzedheavenward by him he looked like a wee insect. He balanced. WE TOOK A WALK. his pole and walked the length of his rope—two or three hun-dred feet; he came back and got a man and carried himacross; he returned to the centre and danced a jig; next heperformed some gymnastic and balancing feats too perilous toafford a pleasant spectacle; and he finished by fastening to hisperson a thousand Roman candles, Catherine wheels, serpentsand rockets of all manner of brilliant colors, setting them onfire all at once and walking and waltzing across his rope againin a blinding blaze of glory that lit up the garden and thepeoples faces like a great conflagration at midnight. The dance had begun, and we adjourned to the ^ithin it was a drinking saloon; and all around it was a 136 THE OUTRAGEOUS CAN-CAN, broad circular platform for the dancers. I backed up againstthe wall of the temple, and waited. Twenty sets formed, themusic struck up, and then—I placed my hands before my facefor very shame. But I looked through my fingers
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectvoyagesandtravels
