Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-12-06
EVENING STAR.
THE GOLDEN GUILLorIyg.


the concealed passage leading to our hiding
place. TraverSirg 1t as quickly as we could
into the pitchy darkness, we both Of Us storped
simultaneously ltwas-it must be- a dream
We rubbed our eyes Where We had left the
chamber We emerged into this open cavern,
into which the lurid sky darted its dull
glances, and tho cries We had left found their
way with the yapors and exhalations Of the
night.
Nothing was there. Nothing was to be seen
but ruin. Not vestige. Not piece of fur
niture. Not an article of clothing. Nothing
but these hugo fragments scattered about, and
the desperate marks of wedges and crowbars,
and other mechanical means Of aiding human
fury.
The lightning, Leyasseur darted across ny
mind Gle is alive" shrieked, dsshirg
my hands mp towards heaven. The next NC
ment had fed out through the aperture into
the darkness, leaving the archbishop motion.
less where he had first became aware Of the
catastrophe.
For weeks my existence is dream. be-
lieve was mad. Levelled with the beasts,
l acquired the keen scent and ssgacity of
these tribes, when instinct draws them after
their prey. / remember myself at SGumur,
at Angers in the forests of Brittany, subSist
ing upon roots The slot of my enemy lay
towards Nantes. Their Carrier was multi
slow IN flowing. The river offered more speedy
execution and q roomier grave. Shoals of
victims chOked the channels Of the Loire, and
turned its waters into putridity. There were
people about here and there, who could afford
some inslings. Kennelling as 1 did with the
wolves, with them made nightly descents
| upon habitual places and the abodes of men.
As these bore away lambs and other weak
| lings Of the flock, SO L fragments Of intelIi
rh hnor c1rC- Tr,rr-
and vague surmises of the bloOdshot stranger,
who was urging some females westward. L
| saw whittier all this was tending Hope had
| left my bosom l scarcely cared TO accomplish
rescue and dared not think upon any thing
| but revenge. To enter Nantes was certain
death, and death would illustrate all 0ty OBJ
jects, and crown his with triumph 1 re-
| served myself to the consummatiOp.
Joined the remnant of the Vendeans, wan
! deIing housCleSsly through Brittany, and
prowling sbout since the battle Of Savenay in
| bands of fifties and hundreds, with every
mans hand against them. For such l was a
| ft companion. They armed me; L clasped
my sword like friend who was to do me a
| service. ThencefOrth it was my closet COM
| panion.
| Daring as were these Chouans, they found
| in me one whom they could not hope 10 rival
| The gang led gained a name for its despe-
| gates Of Nantes, within which unhappy towD
| likewise that fearful presence now stalked
| abroad in visible shape, and daily dcvoured
its victims wholesale. The river which had
| flowed past the walls ever since they were
| built, bearing blessings on its bosom and re-
| hecting heaven on its surface, now yawned
| like judgment close at hand, and into Its
depths continually travelled tho youth aud
bravery and beauty and virtue and loyalty of
Nantes. We, when we were caught were shot;
but it was not easy to catch Us, and We geaoI-
| ally obtained more than life for life.
| 1t was the spring equinox. Carriers nOy
odes went on it was now whole ship loads of
victims that he sent down the stream, to be
| sunk bodily at its mouth, where he believed
the ocean would do the rest, and rid him Of
further trouble. But ocean itself began 10
show symptoms of refusing to dispose Of more
dead than lay to its own account II had
| enough to answer for already. RenouEcipg
completely in these deeds Of earth, it al last
took advantage Of mighty west wind and
cast the unburied mass of mortality at the
mouth Of the stream that had rejected 1t. The
whole population hocked down to discover
and reclaim its dead. What it found il had
to dispute with the osprcys and vultures, and
| the losthsome familiarity of wild beasts, which
struggled between the legs Of the human
throng, in the absorbing fascination Of such a
banquet
And like fascinated wild beast there Am
| I. The storm howls across the bleak sands
carrying tie grains along like a mist, min
| gled with the surf and foam flakes. And the
blast, as il howlS, bears other sounds upon il
-Shrieks Of sea-mews, and OF mothers and
| daughters Of stranded corpses, croakings oi
| quarreiing ravens, and the imprecations Of
desperate outlaws, who dispute the bones OF
a comrade. There l stand, looking seawardS
for know that ocean has an account to rem.
der UP to NE, and that it will fulfil its trust
And il is without shuddering, therefore, that
l find al my feet thing of human outline,
having mark and token which may be recog.
nised, such as ribbon with a golden Orns.
ment attached, and on the ornament the words
inscribed
ala tete tombe, lie ceur reste."
Yes, boy, am prepared for all that and
| with my sword dig hole in the sand, hig
up above the reach Of the tides, and there
cover up that human remnant, after placing
the ornament in my bosom; then, having ia
ken the bearings, l plunge into the woods
| again, and whet my blCnted sword against
the first smooth stone l end.
One object was left me in life. 1t wore 9
definite aspect, but the means Of obtaining il
were difficult and circuitous. For many g
month herded with the Chouans of Bretagne
| a wild, irregular banditti. The gang led
hoyered closer to the enemy than the rest o.
our adherents, and addicted themselves lest
to plunder. Something which might be called
strategy marked our movements, and the in
formation we acquired from prisoners wac
frequently of considerable service to the cause
Of the oyalists in communication with Puis
saye and the British Government
Since the discovery OF the body, my charac
ter had undergone a change. was no longer
the reckless madman who inspired respect only
by his personal daring. My mind now CON
trO!led without impeding the impetuosity Of
my animal nature. In particular, certain
tact and subtiety evinced i'll the examining
o. prisoners and deserters caused that depart
ment at last to be left exclusively TO me; and
it was during this period that perfected and
brought TO the condition of system, that the
ory of the investigation Of character which
put in practice on my first encOuntering you
Ever and anon l was able to CLEAN somo ia-
telligence respecting my enemy. He was neal
me. When Carrier was superseded at Nantes
he was for time in disgrace as his friend
but coon associated himself with Hoche, and
| .loI Iacartar Infarm pC