Chenet and Braux now interposed, and the latter taking
his better half by the shoulders pushed her out of
the door in front of him, shouting to his sister-in-law:
“Go away, you slut: you are a disgrace to
your relations;” and the two were heard in the
street bellowing and shouting at the Caravans, until
after they had disappeared from sight.
M. Chenet also took his departure, leaving the Caravans
alone, face to face. The husband soon fell back
on his chair, and with the cold sweat standing out
in beads on his temples, murmured: “What
shall I say to my chief to-morrow?”
In Senichou, which is a suburb of Prague, there lived
about twenty years ago, two poor but honest people,
who earned their bread by the sweat of their brow;
he worked in a large printing establishment, and his
wife employed her spare time as a laundress. Their
pride, and their only pleasure, was their daughter
Viteska, who was a vigorous, voluptuous-looking, handsome
girl of eighteen, whom they brought up very well and
carefully. She worked for a dress-maker, and was
thus able to help her parents a little, and she made
use of her leisure moments to improve her education,
and especially her music. She was a general favorite
in the neighborhood on account of her quiet modest
demeanor, and she was looked upon as a model by the
whole suburb.
When she went to work in the town, the tall girl with
her magnificent head, which resembled that of an ancient,
Bohemian Amazon, with its wealth of black hair, and
her dark, sparkling yet soft eyes, attracted the looks
of passers-by, in spite of her shabby dress, much more
than the graceful, well-dressed ladies of the aristocracy.
Frequently some young, wealthy lounger would follow
her home; and even try to get into conversation with
her, but she always managed to get rid of them and
their importunities, and she did not require any protector,
for she was quite capable of protecting herself from
any insults.
One evening, however, she met a man on the suspension
bridge, whose strange appearance made her give him
a look which evinced some interest, but perhaps even
more surprise. He was a tall, handsome man with
bright eyes and a black beard; he was very sunburnt,
and in his long coat, which was like a caftan, with
a red fez on his head, he gave those who saw him the
impression of an Oriental; he had noticed her look
all the more as he himself had been so struck by her
poor, and at the same time regal, appearance, that
he remained standing and looking at her in such a way,
that he seemed to be devouring her with his eyes, so
that Viteska, who was usually so fearless, looked
down. She hurried on and he followed her, and
the quicker she walked, the more rapidly he followed
her, and, at last, when they were in a narrow, dark
street in the suburb, he suddenly said in an insinuating
voice: “May I offer you my arm, my pretty
