The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-04-29

and. having bestowe them there In safety,
made ready to 60 outx gain, and continue TIE
work of murder and lilage, in his own neigh
borhood. Before he cent away, however, be
addressed himself to de Ia Force, and in.
sisted on that gentleuf .fs pledging his word Of
honor that neither he stor his children would
attempt to escape bsfos the ransom was paid.
Having been satisfaction this point, flor be
knew we'll enough that M. de Ia Force was a
man who held his pe mise sacred,) be took
himself Cf, RECOMMENDING the prisoners to be
quick in getting the aoney, and leaving two
Swiss soldiers to guard them in his absence.
M. de la Force, know ing the importance OF
losing no time, immedii tely sent bis man-ser-
want, CAST, to his sis er.in.law, Madame de
Brisembourg, who lives at the Arsenal Cast
was to tell her all thss happened, and to i'm
plore her to raise the 1: m of money required
for the ransom, as soo,.a possible.
On his return to hi. master, Cast reported
that the lady would Undertake to raise the
money and send it by re next day. She ALSO
sent word that the nssls of the lives OF her
brother-in.law and hi children having beon
spared had reached the ears of the King, aud
that the worst conseqHn noes were to be appre-
hended as the result o. that unhappy circum-
stance. =
Having delivered h1 message, the servant
implored his master t. seek safety by flight
the more especially, a.. he two Swiss soldiers,
appointed to watch ths-2risoners, were secretly
Mortified at the massacre, and were perfectly
ready to let them gos But M. de la Force,
with dauntess sense of honor, which would
have influenced few 10 at that moment, and
which no words can pr. Use as it deserves to be
praised, steadily refusei to profit by Gsst's
suggestion.
al have passed my x,rd to wait here till the
ransom is paid" said hat brave and admira
BILE gentleman "anGi will not save my lite
by breaking my promjss. Here i will stop till
the money comes; az. l will leave it to God
in his wisdom to dispc of me and of my chill
dren as be He sees go J."
Hearing these word the servants hesitsted
about taking to flight y themselves, not know
ing where to go, and rrrt having any means of
procuring horses. tt y waited therefore, in
the house, with the, purpose of concea]ing
themselves in the upper rooms at the first ap-
proach of danger.
The rest of the da passed, and the night
followed, and nothi. happened. Mel her
Captain Martin nor a - of his men came scar
the house. On the ne T day, when the ransom
was due, there arrived instead of the Captain,
who was to receive itf certain Papist noble
man, named the Cou, de Coconas, followed
by guard of forty s-ldiers. The Counp in
formed M. de Ia Force hat the Kings brother
had heard of their be jg taken prisoners, and
that he desired to spea with them immediate
ly. While he was gil ng this message, he al
lowed his men to tear If the outer clothing of
M. de la Force and his sons. Finding them
selves used in this way, they suspected that the
pretended message was falsehood, and pre-
pared themselves for the worst. M. de la Force
appealed, as last resource, to the Counts
sense of justice, pleading that his life, and the
life of his sons, had been spared on condition,
of paying a ransom, and that the money wigs to,
be sent that very day. His youngest son, who
had shown marvellous courage and coolness IN
the midst of deadly danger, Joined M. de Ia
Force in trying to touch the Counts heart by
his innocent entreaties. They spoke long tho
boy, when he found his father getting agitated
trying to console and quiet him. When they
had said all that possible to say, the ONLY
answer the Count condescended to give then
was this
81 was told there were two servants witt
you and / see neither of them. Where ar.
theyf
On the first approach of the soldiers, thu
Page had wisely flown to the protection Of tn
two Swiss guards. CAST unfortunately 70
himself, had rushed up stairs to one of th. gar
rets, and had there endeavored to lie hid. H.
was searched for by the Counts order wa
found, and was brought down stairs, to tax
his place with his fellow prisoners. The Pag'
could not be discovered anywhere. 7
"Only four |! said the Count, running then
over with his eye. Never mind. March ,heul
out" +
They left the house, with their guar,,s all
round them, and were led into lonely by
street in the neighborhood. There the solder
halted, drew their swords, called out all to-
| gether, "Killl kill I" and attacked thes, de,
fenceless prisoners.
| The eldest boy was the first slain; and hin
father was the next victim. The younge.t son
1.-THE same who had shown such COURAGE in
pleading for his life) bad the presence of.nind
to drop to the ground with them, and lie
there as still as if he too had been killed y the
same sword-thrusts which had despatched his
father and his brother, Cast, the servant wss
murdered last. All the clothing of the bodies
in the blood of his nearest and dearest rela-
tions-to all outward appearance death-stsined
by his wounds, like the rest.
As the Count and his men withdrew, / elieS
ing that they had successfully accompl she's
the butchery of theE four prisoners, dftaio
poor Papists, living in the street, stole out
from their houses to look at the dead bodiea
One among them, marker at a Tennis CourS
stsid longer than the rest on the sce.e Of
slaughter, and said to himself, sorrowfnlly
looking at the younger son, as he lay On the
ground:
"Sad, sad here is the body Of a mere cbild!'
The boy, whose name was Jacques, hearing
these compassionate words, ventured to raise
his head, and said, piteously:
81 am not dead. For niercy's sakes save
my lifel"
The Marker instantly pressed him back to
the ground again, and whispered:
Hush Don't move yet, my little man. The
soldiers are still in the neighborhood."
Having spoken these words of warning, be
withdrew a few paces, and walked backwards
and forwards for little while, watching, On the
other side of the street. In few minutes DC
came back, and saying, "They are gone, pow--
you may get up, my boy" put his ragged old
/ cloak over the naked body of jacques and LED
him away by the hand. They had not walked
many PAGES, before sotne people met thera, and
, asked who that strangely dressed boy wal.
My nephew" answered the Marker. s"The
1 little rascal has been getting drunk, and am
taking him home to give him good whipping.
, The worthy mans home was q garrA in 9
, ruinous old house. arrived there, he gave
Jacques some water To wash himself, anc some
. ragged clothing belonging to the nephew, whom
, the boy now personased. He was so po,r tba
: he had nothing to eat or drink; and seeia,
} that Jacques had little ring still left On Iii
/. finger, he asked leave to go out and pawn it t.
get some food. They supped and bres sfastet
the next morning, oc the money obtaiaed BY
, the ring; and then the Marker asked Jacque
, what he proposed to do next, and where b.
wanted to 60.
The boy answered BY begging to be taken t.
the Palace, where he had q sister who occupie.
a place in the QueenJ household. The Marke
shook his head at that proposal, and dsclipet