Middletown transcript., 1869-06-12

Ollence! salu the young man, briefly
and authoritively. "Is the fire lighted
in my apartments ?"
"All rightw answered the concierge,
drawing himself up stiff as ramrod, and
making the military salute.
Then bring hot water there instant
ly," said the young man.
With that he passed out of the porters
lodge, to the " pavilion" suite ofrooms
on the ground floor, and opening on the
garden
That means be deaf, dumb, and
blind p said the porter, looking after him,
and muttering to himself. Hear moth
ing, see nothing, say nothing, no matter
what do, Connu monsieur. An old SOL
dier obeys the consign. But, mile pipes
what bundle of rags he has there he
who, where fine women were as plenty as
blackberries, never troubled his head about
them"
So muttering, he went off after the hot
water.
When the young man had carried his
burden into his apartments he laid it on
the sofa. A fire of sticks was burning in
fire place, ancient, OF th; days Of Henry
vi. and lit up, with intermittent flame,
an apartment of considerable size, all the
hangings and furniture of which were as
old as the fire place, of carved wood,
which rose at the middle in sculptured
peak almost to the ceiling
The young man lighted the candles in
the silver sconces on the mantle shelf,
and, taking one of them down, examined,
for moment, with it the woman he had
brought there.
Then he took flask of brandy, and,
with much patient trouble, succeeded in
getting little of it down her throat.
By this time the porter came with the
hot water
" Set it down there, Pierrie," said the
young man, pointing to the corner of the
alone; but no one, except yourself, en-
ters that door"
Connu Monsieur le-'
Silence, IDIOT" interrupted the young
man, stcrnly. Il am plain, Henry Beau
vallon. Don't forget it again, Or"
That or must have meant some
thing very disagreeable to the last degree,
for Pierre Potion uttered another " Con-
ma," saluted and vanished with extreme
haste
Then Monsieur Bovallon drew the sofa
close to the fire, and throwing off coat,
stock and waistcoat, went to work in
workmanlike manner You would have
said, had you seen him, that it was sur
geon, or at least very handy hospital as
sistant doing his best for a wounded com
rade.
He bathed the girls face and head with
some strong and exhilarating essence,
mixed with water, from time to time
few drops of cordial between her lips, and
laid clothes stepped in brandy upon her
chest and the pit of her stomach.
These operations were mixed with fire.
quent consultations of the pulse of the
young girl, as he felt doubtful or assured
of his ability to restore her to life, or, to
speak more accurately, to snatch her back
from that torpor of death into which she
had fallen.
Then this eccentric Beauvallon, acting
much more like mother to her baby than
a tall fellow of twenty-five to q young
woman, carefully removed the girls mud.
dy shoes and worn stockings, and having
washed her limbs with hot water, pro-
ceeded to bathe and rub them continuously
with warm brandy. Over the red Goals
in the chimney, too, he had placed small
tripod, and on it covered silver dish,
from which, as it grew hot, came the gra-
cious smell of very fragrant soup Into
this he stirred full pint of wine before
taking it off the coal.
Success, not enough to awaken conf
dence, but sufficient to stimulate continued
effort, had rewarded these exertions. A
little warmth returned gradually to the
chilled limbs of his patient. Her breath
ing became perceptible, and towards the
last her eyes opened little. She seemed
indeed to be making powerful but vain
efforts to lift the heavy lids which dropped
over them with heavy weight. Once he
even thought that she was momentarily
conscious and looked at him with a kind
of dreamy gratitude.
Mademoiselle, he said, "you are
safe. You are with friends. Make no
exertion even to think. With Gods help,
all shall be we'll"
Then he said to himself:
Reaction has commenced. Unless
some shock prevent, she is saved. Let us
act quickly"
He had not taken time to remove her
damp shawl and dress; but now, going
quickly into the adjoining room, he re-
turned with large and heavy blanket,
and broad-bladed dagger. This dagger
was not for any deadly use. On the con-
trary, it was to play the part of peaceful
pair of scissors for he used it very quickly
and skillfnlly to slit her dress in such and
SO many places, that it fell off almost
without moving her. Then wrapping her
in the blanket till she was swathed like
mummy, he began to feed her with the
soup from the silver dish by small spoon
fuls, and at intervals of few moments.
Half an hour. afterwards the death like
color had gone from the young girls face.