Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 101, August 22, 1891 by Various
page 15 of 47 (31%)
page 15 of 47 (31%)
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minute, the substantives being occasionally expressed, but mostly
"understood,"--pronouns and prepositions being omitted wholesale. "What! DAUBINET!" I exclaim, he being the last person I had expected to see, having, indeed, a letter on my desk from him, dated yesterday and delivered this morning, to that he was then, at the moment of writing, and practically therefore for the next forty-eight hours--at least; so it would be with any ordinary individual--in Edinburgh. But DAUBINET is not an ordinary individual, and the ordinary laws of motion to and from any given point do not apply to him. He is a Flying Frenchman--here, there, and everywhere; especially everywhere. So mercurial, that he will be in advance of Mercury himself, and having written a letter in the morning to say he is coming, it is not unlikely that he will travel by the next train, arrive before the letter, and then wonder that you weren't prepared to receive him. Such, in a brief sketch, is _mon ami_ DAUBINET. [Illustration: "He is a Flying Frenchman."] "Aha! _me voici!_" he cries, shaking my hand warmly. Then he sings, waving his hat in his left hand, and still grasping my right with his, "_Voici le sabre de mon père!_" which reminiscence of OFFENBACH has no particular relevancy to anything at the present moment; but it evidently lets off some of his superfluous steam. He continues, always with my hand in his, "_J'arrive! inattendu! Mais, mon cher_,"--here he turns off the French stop of his polyglot organ, and, as it were, turns on the English stop,--continuing his address to me in very distinctly-pronounced English, "I wrote to you to say I would be here," then pressing the French stop, he concludes with, "_ce matin, n'est-ce pas?_" |
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