partll MATHIAS SANDORF. f hence came their queer names? Were they the two aphical points between which curves the Bay of *SA "IT _._ An_3+-l-__1«.T_ «« —_,_£__!_____ ."Ill __ y J "ilgiers r -x i * Yes. And the names fitted them perfectly, as ;0f Atlas does some giant wrestler. ""(jape Matifou is an enormous mamelon, strong and un- -kkable, which rises at the north-east end of the vast Ldstead of Algiers as if to defy the unchained elements .,,1 illustrate the celebrated line— "Its mass indestructible wearied our time." And such was the athlete Matifou, an Alcides, a Por- t]l„S) a fortunate rival of the Ompdrailles, of Nicholas Qj-este, and other famous wrestlers who have shone in the arenas of the South. This giant was more than six feet in height, with a voluminous head, shoulders in proportion, chest like a smith's bellows, and limbs like tree-trunks, with the strength of steel. He was manly strength in all its mag- nificence, and had he known his age, we should have farad, not without surprise, that he had only just entered lis twenty-second year. Although this. giant was not 2ified with striking intelligence, yet his heart was good, and his character was simple and gentle. He knew not late or anger. He would do no one an injury. Seldom, indeed, would he shake the hand that was offered him' for fear he should crush it in his own. In his powerful nature there was nothing of the tiger, although he had tie strength. And besides, at a word, at a sign even from lis companion, he would obey, as if he had been the gigantic son of that little slip of a man. As a contrast, at the western extremity of the Bay of Algiers, Point Pescade, opposite Cape Matifou, is a thin, spare, uarrow, rocky tongue running out into the sea. From it the name of Pescade was given to this fellow of twenty, who was small, slender, skinny, and of not half lie weight of his friend, but supple, active, quick-witted, of inexhaustible good humor through good and evil fort- une, a philosopher in his way, inventive and practical—a regular monkey without his mischief—and indissolubly "by fate to the enormous pachyderm whom he led all the phases of a mountebank's life. Both were acrobats by profession and traveled from fair to fair. Matifou—or Cape Matifou as he was also called— wrestled in the ring, giving all sorts of displays of strength, tailing iron bars on his biceps, lifting the heaviest of his audience at arm's length, and juggling with his young companion as if he were a tennis ball. Pescade—or Point Pescade, as ho was commonly called—gesticulated, sung, played the fool, amused the public by his clownish wit, as- tonished them by his feats as an equilibrist, at which he ws yery clever, and mystified them with his conjuring But why on this occasion on the quay at Gravosa are w poor fellows left out inthe cold, while the people »wd to the other booths? Why have they taken so little «en they want it so much? It is difficult to say. their language, an agreeable mixture of Provençal and pan, was more than enough for them to make them- *es understood. Since their departure from Provence, were they had known no relatives and seemed to have wi produced by spontaneous generation, thev had wan- wed about from markets to fairs, living ill rather than 2 but still living, and if not dining every day, at least Wing something for supper every night; and that was m enough for them, for, as Point Pescade remarked, «e need not ask for the impossible." .mit it the worthy fellow did not ask for it on this occa- J? fl tr'ed at it none the less in his endeavor to get to- ff',a dozen spectators before his platform in the hope 2 they wouldpay a visit to his miserable arena. But jj.,1"."is witticisms, to wliich his foreign accent gave L P0111^ nor his patter which would have made the iiaied- a vau^evillist> nor h's facial twists which would [onj !awn a S.1''11 from a graven image, nor his acrobatic |e 5,0ns_wliich were quite prodigies of dislocation, nor listed [act'ons °f his grass wig whoso goat's beard tail *o.tlt If ^em °f his jacket, nor his sallies which were (lc "[«aPnlcinello of Rome or a Stentarello of Flor- uit116 slightest effect on the public. }iatly yet. fchey had been practicing on the Sclaves for Wbaiv? S' A-^er leaving Provence they had crossed fly and Venetia, mounted, it could almost be said, Poînt vil. °ther-Cape Matifou famous for his strength, Point Pescade celebrated for his agility. Their renSwn had preceded them to Trieste in Illyria. From Trieste they had advanced through Istria, descending on the Dalmatian coast at Zara, Salone, Ragusa, finding it more piofitable to advance than to retreat. Behind them thev were used up; in front of them their entertainment was new and likely to bring good business. Now, alas! the tour which had never been very good threatened to become veiy bad, and the poor fellows had but one desire, and that they knew not how to realize; it was to get back to their native land and never come so far away from it again. But they were dragging a weight behind them, tiie weignt of misery, and to walk many leagues with that weight at their feet was very hard. But without thinking of the future they had to think of the present-that is, of the night's supper, which had not yet been earned. They had not a kreutzer in the treasury, if that pretentious name could be given to the corner of the handkerchief in which Point Pescade used to keep the money. In vain he sparred away on his tres- tles. In vain he shouted despairing appeals into vacancy. In vain Cape Matifou exhibited his biceps, on which the veins stood out like the ivy on an old tree! Not a specta- tor showed the slightest idea of entering the canvas ring. ' Hard to move these Dalmatians!" said Point Pescade "As paving-stones," remarked Cape Matifou. "I don't think we shall have any luck to-dav! Look here, Cape Matifou, we shall have to pack up " " "Pack up—where for?" "You are curious!" "Tell us." " Well, I will think of some place where we are at least sure of one meal a day. "What place is that, Point Pescade?" "Oh, it's far, far away—and much further than verv far, Cape Matifou." J "At the end of the world?" "The world has no end,"sententionsly replied Pescade. " If it had .an end it wouldn't be round ! If it didn't turn it would be immovable, and if it was immovable—" "Well?" asked Cape Matifou. "Well, it would tumble into the sun in less time than I could juggle a rabbit." "And then?" "And then there will happen what happens to a clumsy juggler when two balls go smash in the air! Crack! crash, collapse, and the people hiss and want their money back, and you have to give it to them, and to-night we shall have nothing for supper!" "And so," asked the giant, "if the earth tumbles into the sun we shall have nothing for supper?" And Cape Matifou fell into infinite perspectives. Seated on a corner of the platform, with his arms crossed on his tights, he began to nod his head like a crockery mandarin: he said no more, he saw no more, he heard no more. He was absorbed in a most unintelligible association of ideas, all mixed up in his mighty noddle. And this is what he felt gape like a gulf in the depths of bis being. It seemed to him that he rose high, very high, higher than very high; this expression of Pescade had struck him as being very appropriate. Then suddenly he was left alone, and he fell—into his own stomach—that is to say, into empti- ness. It was quite a nightmare. The poor fellow rose on the stops, with his hands extended, as if he were blind. A moment later he tumbled on to the platform. "Eh! Cape Matifou, what's up?" exclaimed Point Pes- cade, seizing his comrade by the hand, and dragging him back. " Me?" answered the giant, in great confusion. " The — do you mean?" " Yes, yon." " I have," said Matifou, collecting his ideas—a difficult operation, notwithstanding their number was so incon- siderable—"I have been thinking that it is necessary I should speak to you, Point Pescade!" " Say on, then, my Cape, and fear not that I shall not listen! Avaunt, thou public, avaunt!" The giant sat down on tlie steps, and, in his strong arms, gently,