The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1866-11-13
a STORY or THE FRENCH
ARMN.


n ma ruan I.ee ana
,htu h'fty uand
weiluel citizens. pres a.ea uear.S
i0uiIt tha force which e5ai bo brought
t8tEe ult 81 there wasu uea. oftAe
utmost oH tle partat tlla
t1Hels fai desperate ltH from tle
garrison mado unaNre .lt provo
ealmit
At mid. sht Jerome Dubois wa pl8c-
81 upon enc ofihemost important posts
iu ti4e advance liHe 81 p.ckets i being
upon auarrm strip Of land rdsedahale
the mlrshy iiai called tie Peninsula q
Neh1unr For more than nu hour he
paced hjslonamaehaat without hearing
auv tLng moro .han the moaning of the
wind and the driving of the Iain Az
lenph however another sound broke
upon Ills eor Hestapped and-listoued,
and presently be called.
Who's there
Ihoonlv answerwa amoaning sound.
He called again, and this timo De heard
something likc the cry 81 d child end
pretty soon the object came toward him
aui frum the darkness, With s quick.
emphatic movement he brought his mus
ket t9 the charge, and ordered the in-
irudei Is halt
"Morcy !" exclaimed childish voice.
Don't shoot me ] am Natalie Don't
you know me n
Heavens cried Jerome, elevatine
the muzzle Of his piece. Is ii you,
dear ehild?"
Yes; and You are good Jerome. Q,
You will come and help mamma Come,
sho is dying"
II was certainly Natalie, a little girl
ONLY eight years cd daughter, ofLisetto
YQillant Liaotte was the wife Of Pierre
Valiant, a sergeant III Jerolne's own
regiment, and WAS in the army in the
capacity Of nurse
why. how is this, my child?' said
jerome, taking the little oneby the arm.
"What is it about your mother?'
30, good jerome, you can hear her
now Hark 4"
The sentinel bent his ear, but could
hear only the wind and the rain.
Mamma is in the dreadful mud, -
said the child, sand is dying. She is
not far away. @ can hear her cry
ing"
BY degrees Jerome gathered from Na-
tale that her father had takon her out
with him IN the morning, and that in the
evening when the storm came on her
mother oamo after her The sergeant
bad offered TO send a man back to the
camp with his wife, but She preferred 70
rctG alone. feeling sure She should
meet with no trouble The way, however
had become dark and uncertain, and she
bad lost the path and wandered off to
the edge Of the morass. whore she had
sunk into the soft mud
20, good Jerome cried the little one,
seiziug the mans hand, "ean't You hoar
her She VIII die if You do not come
aud help her
(. Al that moment the sentinel fancicd
be heard the wall Of the unfortunate wo-
man. What shold hc do? Lisctte, the
good, the beautiful, the tendcr-hearte3
Lisette wasin mortal danger and il was
in his power 70 save her 1t was not in
his heart to withstand the pleadings Of
the child He could 80 and rescue the
nurse, and return TO bis post without
detection. At all events, he could not
refuse the childish pleader
Give me your hand, Natalie lllgo
with You,
With d cry Of Joy the child sprang to
tho soldiers side; aud when she had Sc
cured his hand She hurried him along
toward the place where she had left her
mother. It seemed a long distance to
jerome, and once lie stopped as though
lac would turn back He did not fear
DEATH but be feared dishonor
"Hark Y uttered the child.
The esoldier listened aud plainly heard
the voice Of the suffering woman calling
for help He hesitated mo longer On
he hasteued through the storm, and
found Lisctte sunk TO her arm-pits in
the soft morass. Fortunately, q tuft of
long grass had been within her reach,
by which means she had held her head
above the fatal mud II was no easy
task TO extricato her from tic miry pit
as the workman had to be very careful
that he did rot himself lose his footing.
At length, however, she was drawn forth,
and Jerome led her toward his post
who comes there?a cried voice
from the gloom.
"Heayensi' gasped Jerome, stopping
and trembling from head to foot
"Nho comes theret" repeated tie
voice
Jerome heard the click of muskct-
lock, and he knew that another senti-
nel had been stationed at the post he
loft The relief Lad come while he was
absent.
Friend, with the countersign, he
answered to tie last cali Of thenew SEN
uuel
tie was ordered to advance. aud When
he bad given tAe couutersign he found
himself ID the presence 81 Tie officer u
the guard In few hurried words he
toll Ais story. md BAD th. officer been
alone. he might have allowed the mat-
ter to Fest waerc d was Bot There
were others present and NheHor8erea
80 give up Els maekei hl aboyed wiih-
out q lnurmur. and silently aecampau-
Jed thc officer to thc camp, where be
was pnt in IRONS