The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Page 7

him the most distinguished man on
board because he was accustomed to taking champagne with all his

meals. He was of medium height, a decided brunette, with a small foot,
which obliged her to tuck hers under her skirts, and a triangular face
under two masses of hair, straight, black and glossy as lacquer, the very
opposite of the type of men about her. Besides, he was living in Paris,
in the city which she had never seen after numerous trips in both
hemispheres.
"Oh, Paris! Paris!" she sighed, opening her eyes and pursing her lips in
order to express her admiration when she was speaking alone to the
Argentinian. "How I should love to go there!"
And in order that he might feel free to tell her things about Paris, she
permitted herself certain confidences about the pleasures of Berlin, but
with a blushing modesty, admitting in advance that in the world there
was more--much more--that she wished to become acquainted with.
While pacing around the Chapelle Expiatoire, Julio recalled with a
certain remorse the wife of Counsellor Erckmann. He who had made
the trip to America for a woman's sake, in order to collect money and
marry her! Then he immediately began making excuses for his conduct.
Nobody was going to know. Furthermore he did not pretend to be an
ascetic, and Bertha Erckmann was certainly a tempting adventure in
mid ocean. Upon recalling her, his imagination always saw a race
horse--large, spare, roan colored, and with a long stride. She was an
up-to-date German who admitted no defect in her country except the
excessive weight of its women, combating in her person this national
menace with every known system of dieting. For her every meal was a
species of torment, and the procession of bocks in the smoking room a
tantalizing agony. The slenderness achieved and maintained by will
power only made more prominent the size of her frame, the powerful
skeleton with heavy jaws and large teeth, strong and dazzling, which
perhaps suggested Desnoyers' disrespectful comparison. "She is thin,
but enormous, nevertheless!" was always his conclusion.
But then, he considered her, notwithstanding, the most distinguished
woman on board--distinguished for the sea--elegant in the style of
Munich, with clothes of indescribable colors that suggested Persian art
and the vignettes of mediaeval manuscripts. The husband admired

Bertha's elegance, lamenting her childlessness in secret, almost as
though it were a crime of high treason. Germany was magnificent
because of the fertility of its women. The Kaiser, with his artistic
hyperbole, had proclaimed that the true German beauty should have a
waist measure of at least a yard and a half.
When Desnoyers entered into the smoking room in order to take the
seat which Bertha had reserved for him, her husband and his wealthy
hangers-on had their pack of cards lying idle upon the green felt. Herr
Rath was continuing his discourse and his listeners, taking their cigars
from their mouths, were emitting grunts of approbation. The arrival of
Julio provoked a general smile of amiability. Here was France coming
to fraternize with them. They knew that his father was French, and that
fact made him as welcome as though he came in direct line from the
palace of the Quai d'Orsay, representing the highest diplomacy of the
Republic. The craze for proselyting made them all promptly concede to
him unlimited importance.
"We," continued the Counsellor looking fixedly at Desnoyers as if he
were expecting a solemn declaration from him, "we wish to live on
good terms with France."
The youth nodded his head so as not to appear inattentive. It appeared
to him a very good thing that these peoples should not be enemies, and
as far as he was concerned, they might affirm this relationship as often
as they wished: the only thing that was interesting him just at that time
was a certain knee that was seeking his under the table, transmitting its
gentle warmth through a double curtain of silk.
"But France," complained the manufacturer, "is most unresponsive
towards us. For many years past, our Emperor has been holding out his
hand with noble loyalty, but she pretends not to see it. . . . That, you
must admit, is not as it should be."
Just here Desnoyers believed that he ought to say something in order
that the spokesman might not divine his more engrossing occupation.
"Perhaps you are not doing enough. If, first of all, you would return that

which you took away from France!" . . .
Stupefied silence followed this remark, as if the alarm signal had
sounded through the boat. Some of those who were about putting their
cigars in their mouths, remained with hands immovable within two
inches of their lips, their eyes almost popping out of their heads. But
the Captain