Ziska | Page 9

fancy dress, all ready and eager for the ball.
Pierrots and Pierrettes, monks in drooping cowls, flower-girls,
water-carriers, symbolic figures of "Night" and "Morning," mingled
with the counterfeit presentments of dead-and- gone kings and queens,
began to flock together, laughing and talking on their way to the
ball-room; and presently among them came a man whose superior
height and build, combined with his eminently picturesque, half-savage
type of beauty, caused every one to turn and watch him as he passed,
and murmur whispering comments on the various qualities wherein he
differed from themselves. He was attired for the occasion as a Bedouin
chief, and his fierce black eyes, and close-curling, dark hair, combined
with the natural olive tint of his complexion, were well set off by the
snowy folds of his turban and the whiteness of his entire costume,
which was unrelieved by any color save at the waist, where a gleam of
scarlet was shown in the sash which helped to fasten a

murderous-looking dagger and other "correct" weapons of attack to his
belt. He entered the hall with a swift and singularly light step, and
made straight for Denzil Murray.
"Ah! here you are!" he said, speaking English with a slight foreign
accent, which was more agreeable to the ear than otherwise. "But, my
excellent boy, what magnificence! A Medici costume! Never say to me
that you are not vain; you are as conscious of your good looks as any
pretty woman. Behold me, how simple and unobtrusive I am!"
He laughed, and Murray sprang up from the chair where he had been
despondently reclining.
"Oh, come, I like that!" he exclaimed. "Simple and unobtrusive! Why
everybody is staring at you now as if you had dropped from the moon!
You cannot be Armand Gervase and simple and unobtrusive at the
same time!"
"Why not?" demanded Gervase, lightly. "Fame is capricious, and her
trumpet is not loud enough to be heard all over the world at once. The
venerable proprietor of the dirty bazaar where I managed to purchase
these charming articles of Bedouin costume had never heard of me in
his life. Miserable man! He does not know what he has missed!"
Here his flashing black eyes lit suddenly on Dr. Dean, who was
"studying" him in the same sort of pertinacious way in which that
learned little man studied everything.
"A friend of yours, Denzil?" he inquired.
"Yes," responded Murray readily; "a very great friend--Dr. Maxwell
Dean. Dr. Dean, let me introduce to you Armand Gervase; I need not
explain him further!"
"You need not, indeed!" said the doctor, with a ceremonious bow. "The
name is one of universal celebrity."
"It is not always an advantage--this universal celebrity," replied

Gervase. "Nor is it true that any celebrity is actually universal. Perhaps
the only living person that is universally known, by name at least, is
Zola. Mankind are at one in their appreciation of vice."
"I cannot altogether agree with you there," said Dr. Dean slowly,
keeping his gaze fixed on the artist's bold, proud features with singular
curiosity. "The French Academy, I presume, are individually as
appreciative of human weaknesses as most men; but taken collectively,
some spirit higher and stronger than their own keeps them unanimous
in their rejection of the notorious Realist who sacrifices all the canons
of art and beauty to the discussion of topics unmentionable in decent
society."
Gervase laughed idly.
"Oh, he will get in some day, you may be sure," he answered. "There is
no spirit higher and stronger than the spirit of naturalism in man; and in
time, when a few prejudices have died away and mawkish sentiment
has been worn threadbare, Zola will be enrolled as the first of the
French Academicians, with even more honors than if he had succeeded
in the beginning. That is the way of all those 'select' bodies. As
Napoleon said, 'Le monde vient a celui qui sait attendre.'"
The little Doctor's countenance now showed the most lively and eager
interest.
"You quite believe that, Monsieur Gervase? You are entirely sure of
what you said just now?"
"What did I say? I forget!" smiled Gervase, lighting a cigarette and
beginning to smoke it leisurely.
"You said, 'There is no spirit higher or stronger than the spirit of
naturalism in man.' Are you positive on this point?"
"Why, of course! Most entirely positive!" And the great painter looked
amused as he gave the reply. "Naturalism is Nature, or the things
appertaining to Nature, and there is nothing higher or stronger than

Nature everywhere and anywhere."
"How about God?" inquired Dr. Dean with a curious air, as if he were
propounding a remarkable conundrum.
"God!" Gervase laughed loudly. "Pardon! Are you a clergyman?"
"By no means!" and the Doctor gave a little bow and deprecating smile.
"I am