The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1852-05-15
A Pretty Story.


Seeding Romance, aud Finding Reality.
Towards the middle Of th. wear 1875, n short
time after the dcplorahlc affair of Quberon an
English lady was taken prisoner, Just ~ she was
entering France by the swiss frontier Her know.
ledge Of French was limited TO a few mi, pro.
uOunccd works An interpreter was soon found
and upon his luteuoysilng her ms to her motives
for attempting 90 pcrllous an enterprise without
q passport, she replied that she had exposed her.
sell to all these dangers for the purpose of visit.
ing the chateau where the barbarous Sieur de
Fayel had made Gabrielle dc Ne'gy ca, the heart
of her lover. such declaration appeared 80 ri.
diculous 20 those who hcurd it, that they were
compelled TO doubt either the sanity or ,eracitv
Of the strange beng who ycnturcd upon il. The,
chose to do the latter, and forwarded the stranger
to Paris, with strong escort "a an English spy
[ pon her arrival there, she was safely deposited
in the ConciergcrIc
Public feeling Just then ran very high against
the English. The countrywoman of PITT wa.
loaded with i'll usage and her tcrrors expressed
in singular jargon of the English mingled with
broken French served but TO augment the coarse
amusement 0: the jallors After e1hausting ev.
cry species of dcrslon and insult upon their pri
soncr, they ended by putting her in the damp,
eat and most luconyenIent dungeon they could
find The door Of this den was not more than 4
feet high and the light that dimly revealed the
dripping walls and carthprn floor, came through
n horizontal opening, inches in height, by 3 in
width. The sole muvcables Of the place consist.
ed of a rope pallet and a screen.
The bed served for both couch and chair; the
screen was intended as a partial barrier between
the inhabitants Of the dungeon and the curious
gaze Of the ailcrs stationed in the adjoining
apartments, who could scrutinjzc at will, through
a narrow opening between the cells the slight.
est movements Of their prisoner.
Tie stranger rccoled with disgust. and asked
whether they had uot u less terrible place to con
fine a woman.
"You are very hard to please Madame" re-
piled her brutal iallcr, mimickng her defective
French. "Ion are in the palace Of Madame Ca
pet
And shutting behind him the massive door
b1rlcadcd 10y 3 or rusty bolts he left her 10
repeat ll. joke To his companions, and enjoy with
them the CONSERVATION Of Madame HOhJt
Meanwhile the prisoner fell upon her knees
ard gazed around her with species Of plou-
emotion.
"What rigl, have l." she cried "to complain
Of being cast INTO this dungeon, once inhabited
by the Queen OF FrAncc-thc beautiful, the noble
Marie An;unettci ! sought food for my mag
inatlon; | undertook a journey to France to Wis
| 1t the most celebrated sojourus of the most ccle
hntei individuals. Fortune has come to my aid
, Here is what Is better than the chateau Of the
Sicur de fayal, and terrible history Of the bleed
/ ing heart. Never did graud,r ns plratun over
/ flow my spirit will to work"
She drew from her pocket n small roll Of pa
| per that had escaped the scrutiny Of tue jnilcrs
and, passing her hand across her forehead, an.
preached the horizontal opening, in order to make
| the most 81 the little remainder of day light
iRcp- 'bhgG; WITH trtf tnGrtfo' o'.cSbT aRilbEGqgTrtolt
/ liucs The increasing darkness at length COMPEL
ed her to pause, and She was rcfoldng the Ms
to replace it in her pocket when i rude hand
snatchod it from her grasp
All ah' Madame Rosmi, cried the iailer
| triumphantly, so YOU believe yourself at liberty
| to scrlhblc away here, plotting against the Re
public, and holding intelligence with the encme:
Of the nation. Nous utyTOHS celia These paper,
shall be rcmttcd this very day to Monsieur Tai
lien and we will know all about this new attacl
upon liberty, Entenie- ronsF miserable agent
Of Pitt and Cobourg
The same evening Tallicn received the stran
gers manuscript Beng unacquaintcd with th'
English language, he rang for hls Secretary bu
the latter was nowhere at hand, 50 the puzalcC
Minister took the papers and proceeded to hi
wlfes apartments.
Madame Tallicn was Just completing her toi
lette for fancy ball Leaning forward in
graceful attitude, she was in the act Of twiniul
round her slender ancc the fastening, ola purpl,
bu,kIn. Her Grcclan tune simply cla,ped upol
her shoulder with diamonds, and her hair knotteC
like that of the poyhymnia of the Louvre, lar
monzed admirably with the classical contour o
her features Monsieur Talien, as lie gazed up
on Ler, half forgot his crraud.
The lady uttered little cry Of surprise.
upon what grave errand has Monsieur deign
cd to favor me with u visit at this unactustomc,
hour.
Il have here some papers" replied the Minis
ter, "that have been seized upon the person of {
female spy, aud are said to contain proofs Of
dangerous cons piracy. They are written in En-
glish my Secretary is absent and must asi
you to do me the favor to translate them to NE"
Madame Taleu took the Ms, aud locked i
over.
shall read aloudr said she, in an amuse,
tone Of voice.
Her husband assentcd.
1.-THE wind howls mournfully through the 70
liagc aud the descending rain falls in torrents
The terrors Of my prison become every nstau
more fearful. Phantoms arise on every side
and wave their snowy winding sheets. Msiur
tune, with her cold and plttlless hand, weigs hea
Willy on my youthful brow
Thus spoke the lovely prisoner, as she gropc
with trembling hands over the humid walls q
the dungeon"
"Iiere is a singular conspiracy, truly" said Ma
dame Tallien, as she finished reading the above
Let me see the enyelop; Chapter XII. I'll
Dungeon of the Chateau" And the authorcsS
name, Anne RatclIiie' Iitc citoyea. Set thi
woman at liberty, and bring her to me. You
spy is no other than the great English romano
writer the celebrated authoress OF the "Mysteric
OF udolphoF
Iallien now recalled the romantic Intention
the strangers hazardous journey, as confessed b
her agents perceived the mistake OF bis agent
and laughed heartily, Going quickly out, he i
sued orders for the immediate liberation Of Il,
prisoner, and desired the messenger to bring he
straight to the presence Of Madame Tallien.
Meanwhile the beautiful Frenchvoman, tor
getting her toilette and the ball, paced the apat
ment with almost childish delight and impatlrnc
She was about to make the acquaintance--in
manner the most piquant and unexpected
the authoress Of those romances which had so Of
en- filed her vivid Imagination with ideas of al
partitions, and prisoners dying OF hunger in ho
riblc dungeons. She consulted her watch porpe
ually, and counted the very seconds. At lengt
there wa. sound Of carriage wheels in the cou
yard of the hotel Madame Tallien rushed ,
the door, it opened, and the two celebrated W,
men stood face to face.
} The Minister, wife could not avoid rccoilir