South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-06-02

i Il do not wish to deny 1t, he answered
|, quietly lido love her better than my
e life. Still think l could give up love,
/ with life, if were chosen by Heaven to
e be hero or martyr"
v "But if you are not so chosen, which
: does not seem likely in these commonplace
Y time, you will marry Leonie and rock the
' baby's cradle in due course, will youn y
said Jules, looking at him laughiDgly.
D 81 dare say l shall, he answered, with a
a bright smile, "and be thankful enough
. that / was allowed to be happy in life, in
, stead of glorious in death" -.-s..
} =" Sol we are all three provided for, In
spite of the cure" said Martel, " et pas mai,
i | / must say !" and after little more con-
' versstion on Indifferent subjects, the three
: friends separated, and walked away to
, their different homes.
; a few more days-during which the
birds still sung among the sunlit trees, and
the grapes ripened on the vines, and the
inhabitants of Vaux Vilaine went TO and
fro in happy security, and talked of the
, prospects of the harvest as the most i'm
; portant subject in the world-and then
the pastoral quiet of even that most peace
full home was awfully broken by the stun
ming thunders of the great war news,
which. all knew to be, in truth, the death
knell of thousands upon thousands of the
bravest hearts in France. srt
Was there spot in all that fair and
q pleasant country, however secluded and
remote, to which the dreadful tidings
failed to bring anguish and terror, even
before shot had been fred or single
life sacrificed? Surely not one; and Vaux
Vilaine was no exception, though, for the
first two months, the tide of war rolled
far away from its green fields and tranquil
homes. But there was scarce a family
who had not relation with the army
and day after day brought tidings which
told of beloved faces that would be seen
no more-of national disaster, and heroic
lfdeYotion that courted death, but failed
to retrieve the terrible disgrace
Jules, Martel and Evariste had each
brother in the army but they themselves
for various family reasons, had as yet been
held exempt, greatly to their indignation
and annoyance; for even the special ties
which bound Martel and Evariste to the
homes that held Vevette and Leonie did
not prevent them feeling quite as strongly
as Jules did the burning desire to throw
their young lives into the balance, and
help to turn the scale in favor of their
| beautiful and unfortunate France, in
whose ultimate success and glory they
could not cease to believe, in the face of
| the worst reverses. $3.50
Still, though there was lamentation and
disquiet in Vaux Vilaine, and many sig
nifcant notice on the church door asking
the faithful, of their charity, to pray for
| the soul of some brave soldier lying in his
last cold sleep on the blood-drenched soil
of Woerth or Weissenburg, yet the ordin-
ary life Of the villagers went on much as
usual; no one prevented them from con-
tinuing their accustomed employments
the harvest and vintage were gathered in
with only little additional toll, because
the numbers of the men who remained to
accomplish that pleasant task were so
much fewer than they had ever been be-
fore. And the domestic events in the
various families proceeded as they had !
ever done; children were christened, |
young maidens given in marriage, and old |
men peacefully buried, whose last sigh |
had been for their dear and fair France, so |
sorely worsted in the gigantic conflict.
Amongst other plans which had under |
gone no alteration, the marriage of Martel |
was still to take place on the day originally |
fixed; but he and Vevette were not alone |
in their happiness now. Evariste and |
Leonie were to unite on the same day; |
and Jules often declared that of the three |
he was the only victim of the war, and it |
was, to say the least, very doubtful whether |
he wGuld be able to join his uncle in the |
besieged capital at the time he proposed; |
though, with the irrepressible buoyancy |
and confidence of Frenchman, he de- |
clared that Trochu and his brave soldiers |
would have broken through the PIussian |
lines, and utterly routed the enemy, long |
before November came.
After the investment of Paris had taken |
hon -
great combat that was flooding France be-
gan to draw nearer and nearer to Vaux |
Vilaine
Prussian troops fastening down to join |
the besieging army, constantly passed |
quite close to the village Occasionally |
come of the nondescript stragglers who |
followed in the rear would make raid |
upon the little shops in the main street |
and carry off all they could lay their hands
upon This exasperated the peasants, |
already furious at the national disgrace;
and the cure in vain preached patience,
and impressed on his people that the for
giveness of injuries was the noblest of |
Christian virtues. There were not few |
turbulent spirits who declared that if they |
could get the chance, they would have |
their revenge on these "naudits Prus-
siens," and knock the life out of some of |
them, at least. These threats gave great
anxiety to the wiser and more experienced
inhabitants; for rumors had reached the
village of the terrible repriSals exacted by
the Prussians for every attempt at defense
en- the part of the peasantry. VaGs1
At length one evening, when the autumn
days were growing dark and cold, an un-
usually large number of Prussian troops
marched past the village, and bivouacked
for the night within quarter of mile
from Vaux Villaine. They had never
been so near before, and scarcely was their
presence known, whena Prussian Colonel,
with small escort rode haughtily up to
the house of Lepelletier, Martel's father,
who acted as Mayor, and made requisi-
ton of food and wine for his men, which
could only be obeyed at the cost of i'm
poverishing the whole inhabitants of the
village for some months to come.
Remonstrances and entreaties were all
IN vain, and every family sullenly yielded
up of their best, till the exhorbitant de-
mand was satisfied, and then the Germans
rode away, followed by the curses of every
man in the place. There were some, how
ever, who were not content with maledic-
tions, and muttered ominous threats,
which caused Lepelletier, as the chief
parsonage in the place, to make an earnest
W luC dooCu4OlCQ DcOplC, III
which he implored them not, by any rash
act, to bring down upon their unprotected |
village the wrath of the whole vast host
who lay encamped so near them. He
could see that some of the younger men
listened to him with Unsurpassed i'm
patience; but he could do no more, and
calling to his son, who was standing near
with Jules and Evariste, he made them
all three enter his house with him, lest
they should be led away by any of the i'll
advised proposals which were circulating
amongst the crowd.
Several of the principal inhabitants of
Vaux Vilaine, both men and women, fol-
lowed Lepelletier into his sitting-room
and remained in sorrowful conversation
for some time over the disasters of their
unhappy country and their own present
wrongs. Among them were Vevette and
Leonie, with their parents; and their
presence tended greatly to reconcile Martel
and Evariste to the inaction TO which they
were doomed, even with the hated enemy
living so near to them