The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jack, by Alphonse Daudet

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Title: Jack
1877

Author: Alphonse Daudet

Translator: Mary Neal Sherwood

Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25302]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK ***

Produced by David Widger

JACK

By Alphonse Daudet

Translated by Mary Neal Sherwood

From The Fortieth Thousand, French Edition.

Estes And Lauriat, 1877

JACK

CHAPTER I.~~VAURIGARD.

"With a _k_, sir; with a _k_. The name is written and pronounced as
in English. The child's godfather was English. A major-general in the
Indian army. Lord Pembroke. You know him, perhaps? A man of distinction
and of the highest connections. But--you understand--M. l'Abbe! How
deliciously he danced! He died a frightful death at Singapore some years
since, in a tiger-chase organized in his honor by a rajah, one of his
friends. These rajahs, it seems, are absolute monarchs in their own
country,--and one especially is very celebrated. What is his name? Wait
a moment. Ah! I have it. Rana-Ramah."

"Pardon me, madame," interrupted the abbe, smiling, in spite of himself,
at the rapid flow of words, and at the swift change of ideas. "After
Jack, what name?"

With his elbow on his desk, and his head slightly bent, the priest
examined from out the corners of eyes bright with ecclesiastical
shrewdness, the young woman who sat before him, with her Jack standing
at her side.

The lady was faultlessly dressed in the fashion of the day and the hour.
It was December, 1858. The richness of her furs, the lustrous folds of
her black costume, and the discreet originality of her hat, all told the
story of a woman who owns her carriage, and who steps from her carpets
to her coupe without the vulgar contact of the streets. Her head was
small, which always lends height to a woman. Her pretty face had all the
bloom of fresh fruit. Smiling and gay, additional vivacity was imparted
by large, clear eyes and brilliant teeth, which were to be seen even
when her face was in repose. The mobility of her countenance was
extraordinary. Either this, or the lips half parted as if about to
speak