Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-12-08
EVENING STAR.
THE GOLDEN GUILLorINK.
ICONCLUDED.I

y
only barrier against the enemy was Fort Pen
thievre, which stood, q darker mass, against
the dark sky. lay upon the sand, with my
sword-my inseparable companion-iu my
grasp. Suddenly, a shout was heard above
the rear Of the waters. / started up-but
could see nothing. 1t proceeded from the di.
rection Of the fort, and knew that a surprise
was at least attempted, if il had not succeed
ed. A moments agony passed across my brow.
like the glow Of force fire. This was the
only contingency I had not foreseen my ene-
my and might be close to each other in the
darkness, without coming into contact.
My worst suspicious were the best founded
Fort Penthievre had been surprised and taken
we were now at the mercy Of the republican
army All those within reach of me rose along
with me, and obeying the word of command,
placed themselves in order, and rushed upon
the advancing enemy. The collision was tre-
mendous. Hoche's guns had already began
to play, and in few minutes the English
squadron, which had been obliged to keep
out to sea, in consequence Of the tempest, an
nouncod their presence by the roar OF their
artillery. From the first /. saw that resist
anco was hopeless; and that escape was al
most equally so. D'Heryilly was mortally
wounded; Sambreuil, who succeeded him,
was q stranger to the place, and lost his pres
ence OF mind. 1t was hopeless carnage, and
my men fell around me in heaps. Neverthe-
less, assumed the command which Others
were unable to exercise, and contrived for
some time to protect the masses of emiSrants
who, with their wives and children, were rush
ing into the water TO embark on board the Eag-
lish boats. 1t must have been calm; for while
engaged in this arduous duty, took advan-
tage of every cannon shot fired close to me 70
survey the opposite ranks in search of Levas-
seur In so dark night, the fash Of the dis
charge from piece Of ordnance throws an
| intense glare for a considerable space; and as
had habituated my eyes to take in numer-
Gus objects distinctly at a sudden glance,
l was now, after one or two of these nom enta.
ry surveys, able to ascertain with tolerable
accuracy the order of the hostile column, and
| where L ought to look for him. / found that
| in order to confront him, must move to the
right, or as close to the edge of the sea as pos
sible. This was difficult, in the face cf the
| enemy; but finding that Sombreuil had Just
come up 10 the point defended with a fresh
body of emierants, drew my exhausted men
off for a moment, and moving round a small
| sandy eminence, threw them once moro upon
| the hostile army, almost within the surf Of
| the sh0reward waves.
The result was as L had anticipated Ger
| tain signs gave evidence of Levss5eur's vicin-
ity. I recognised the uniform of his corps,
| and at last had the inexpressible satisfaction
| of hearing his voice, above the roar of the
Waves, urging Ou MS meH
By this time matters had drawn TO a conclu
| sion. The two armies were mingled together +
| in the darkness. The few boats which had
| succeeded in gaining the shore had either
/ sunk or were sheering On overloaded with fu-
| gitiYes In all directions cries were heard of
"quarter! quarter" a boon which In some
i stances was accorded by the soldiers, as the
| despairing emigrants or ChOuans laid down
their arms; though in most, these wretches
| we're cut down without mercy. From the sea,
| the frightful confusion was aided by the
| broadsides of the British feet, poured in upon
| the shore, and sweeping off friend and foe in
| ndiscriminate slaughter. 1 had almost given
up the hope of surviving to fulfil my mission,
when q sudden fash discovered Levasseur
within FIVE yards Of me, a littlo advanced be-
| fore his men, in the act Of pointing a gun at
n boat which had just quilted the shore, filed
with women and children.
might have rushed forward and cut him
| down. l do not know why did not do so.
| walked up to him, and laid my hand upon his
| shoulder, uttering In his ear the word "Ls-
| vssseur" He started up from the stopping
posture, and in an instant drew a pistol from
his belt, and fred Had he not been discOn-
| certed, he must have killed me; as it was, the
ball grszed my ribs He drew back, aghast.
"COward o. cried L, " draw your sword
shall wait until you can defend yourself 3"
We could see each other, now we were so
close, by the cleaning of the cannonade
Even at the desperate moment L was startled
as 1 suddenly became conscious that a change
had taken place In his appearance. Has
| black hair had groacn achtts. Tha confrlna
ton of an original surmise flashed across my
mind. lie must have existed for greater or
| less period of time under the belief that, at
| the moment of his mortal sin, he had fallen
| into the hands Of the LIVING Cop.
"Wby should we fght?" he now exclaimed,
| in subdued voice, " She is dead, long ago -
And buried ~ cried, holding up to his
eyes the Golden Guillotine.
"God, whence has that comen'
"From the depths of the ocean, in which
| thy bones shall whiten ere long Thoughtest
| thou that thou vert to escape the Avenger of
| Blood, because thou hadst placed milestone
round the neck of thy secret, and sink il il
| the sea?"
"De Martigny, thou vast my rival-thou
| soughtest to strangle me-was it not SO 2"
With death staring him in the face, he wa:
yearning to extract some expression which
| should relieve him once for all from the rem
nants of the horrible suspicion which had
| once haunted him. / saw that; and at the
| same time felt myself growing weak from los:
| Of blood yet, so much was / still overpow-
cred with the thought of the fiery tcrtures the
wretch must have gone through to turn the
| stony blackness Of his locks into silver il The
II L
| him, and have done with him.
Nor had need. He had just observed my
| growing faintness, and was planting his feet
| to commence the combat in which the chance:
began to show in his favor, when ball from
| an English line Of battle ship ploughed the
sand over both of US, and in its ricochet tore
Levasseur right arm from Its socket, laying
the ribs of the same side bare to the waist
| We fell together-he in the agonies of death
| from the shock and previous loss Of blood
| had strength left to dip my finger In the
pool of gore between us-whether in his OF
mine know not, or both mingled together
and write upon his forehead the single word
| ALpHoNsINE. This did that the dcyil might
| know what to do with him.
| Our men, on both sides, had missed US, and
as the action now confined itself 10 another
quarter, they had drawn of to lend their aid
at that point. was left alone with the dy
ing man and witnessed the blackness Of hii
brow fade into the spectral palor of death
upon which the CORY letters came out lik'
| faint writing held against fire.
The object of my life was accomplished
dizziness came over me. 1 believed that