Butte record., 1855-11-24
Gbe 5torq.
HE II OiS NJ.
IN Incident Q Napoleom's toar ,oith Spain.
BY MARY STUART.

1t was in the spring of 1903. Napo-
leon was prosecuting his V gorous victo.
ries in Spain, and adding fresh laurels
to his already overgrown laurel crown.
Murat was in Madrid at the head of
his troops. 1t was well known that
Russia was at that peri d a friend of
France. Baron Stroaganoff, the Rus
sian Amhas ador Of Spain, vas therefore
on excellent terms with Murat, and was
in the habit of listening to his schemes
OF war with a collnrss of attention-the
natural result of his neutral position
which made him, on more than one oc-
caslon, an excelllnt and valuable coun-
sclor.
The follow NJ example of success of a
plan of his proposing affords also a case
Of as rare youthful heroism as ever fell
to the lot OF historian to describe.
Observing, as they sat together one
evening, that Murat seemed perplexed,
he inquired the reason. A shadow
pas ed over the countcnance of Murat as
he replied:
Il am indeed perple1ed, and this
time the evil is beyond our reach"
You are not sure of that" replied
the lively Russian, taking his cigar out
of his mouth; tell me what i, the mat
ter"
The "Feathered King" as Murat was
called in Italy. from his extreme love of
dress, moved uneas ly in his round backed
arm chair
81 am indeed perp'exed," " replied he
''Ihe fact is that have important dis
patches to send to General Junot, at
Lisbon, and the difficulties which lie in
the way, are, l fear, n>urmountablr.-
All the roads, great and small, and even
the woo S, are filed with Spanish troops,
or what is worse, with mauderios gueril-
las. l see no poss bic means of trans
mitting papers, and yet my not doing 50
may ensure consequences fatal to
France -
The Russian ambassador put his scgar
in his mouth again, and fell into fit of
musing. Murat gazed in silence upon
the ugly profile pictured on the wall by
the light of pair Of tallow candles
Suddenly he saw the wide mouth open
81 have it! have it! the easiest thing
in the world. Admiral Sinavin, our Ad-
miral, is in the port of Lisbon. Send
me one of the brayest and sbarpest!--do
YOU hcar?-of Your Polish Lancers He
shall put en- Russian uniform; [ will
give him dispatches for Sinavin; you
can give him your instructions for the
French General, verbally, and | VII an
swer for it all will be right, even though
he should be taken prisoner twenty
times between this and Lisbon. The
Spanish army is too anxious to preserve
the Russian neutrality to make mes.
stnger of mine source of disagreement
with my country
Murat, though somewhat doubtful,
liked the scheme. Selling pen and
ink, be wrote as follows to Brasinski, the
commander chief of the Polish troops
who had joined the French army:
"Despatches of moment are to be i'm
me dialely forward d 10 Gen. Junot at
Lisbon. Select for that purpose an in-
tellisent, courageous young man from
your troops, the best You have, and send
him to me- MURAT"
Two days after, youth presented
himself before Murat, for whom the
Polish commander said be would answer
with his life. He was but eighteen years
old, and named Lecklnskl.
Murat was not a little astonished to
find the youth manifest the utmost ca
gerness to undertake his expedition, one
Of no common peril; for if discovered by
the Spanl"rds, bis fate would be certain
sath He listened with smile to all
anticipations OF dang and difficulty ,and
said with a BOW:
eff your imperial bighness will give
me my orders, pledge my self to execute
the mission. l am deeply grateful to
my commander for having chosen me
from among my comrades. There was
70. one who was not emulous of the dis
notion"
Na?at argued favorably Of the Young