30. The End of the Nightmare.—The fisherman's friends come back and find him in this ridiculous situation. They go out and call in the people of the village, and in the midst of general hilarity they extricate him from his ludicrous predicament. Ives confesses that the drinks are on him when all is explained and understood. So he invites everybody present to adjourn to a neighboring café and clink the glasses at his expense. All's well that ends well.
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925–928. The Skipping Cheeses. Length, 280 feet
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$33.60 |
The first part of this exceedingly comical view takes place in a surface car. The passengers are seated in their respective places, some reading, some chatting, others gazing at the scenes which the moving car unfolds to them as it passes along the street. Suddenly the wheels cease to turn, the car stops, and a new personage gets aboard: it is a cheese-woman. Her clothes are hidden by the traditional white apron and sleeves. She carries on her arm a huge basket containing her merchandise. Way down at the end of the car, she takes possession of the only seat, and she puts her basket down in front of her. The odor from her wares is so strong that it penetrates the entire car making the place almost unbearable. The passengers look at one another with annoyance and suspicion, wondering who may be the cause of so much discomfort. One looks at the soles of his shoes, another accuses a child whom a nurse holds in her arms; the nurse furious that her baby should be suspected makes an investigation which proves that their suspicions are groundless. At last, all is discovered—the cheeses are the cause of all the odor. The conductor stops his car and requests the cheese-monger to get out. She flatly refuses to budge an inch: she has paid for her seat, and it is up to those who are not satisfied to move or clear out. The police are called; they enter the car, and with the aid of the conductor they eject her, but not without a lively resistance on her part. All the passengers follow after her while she is being taken to the police station. The cheeses, being greatly interested in the result of the proceedings, leap out of the basket in which they were placed and dart in pursuit of their owner.
The second scene takes place in the police station. The cheese-monger is led before the magistrate by some officers. While the travelers are expressing their grievances, the cheese-monger constantly interrupts the complainants with her side of the story—the magistrate is at a loss to know whom to listen to. During the confusion the cheeses make their appearance; one of them, a magnificent fromage de Brie, darts for the head of the magistrate, and the poor man dies from asphyxiation—a victim to duty. The passengers in terror rush away. The officers would like to avenge their chief. So they seize the cheeses, with drawn swords; they would pierce them with their weapons but they have not time, for they too, like the magistrate, are immediately asphyxiated and fall dead upon the floor. The cheese-monger is now left alone, victorious and absolute mistress of the situation. She puts her basket down upon the floor and, with a tender, coaxing voice, she calls her boarders back to their lodgings. The cheeses, slowly and regretfully, leave their victims and saunter back to their dwelling-place. The old woman, rid of her enemies, withdraws bearing gently in her arms the recalcitrant cheeses.
