The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-05-27


some of the younger men listened to him will
Unsurpassed impatience; but he could do M
more, and, calling TO his son, who was stand
ing 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 ILL.,
advised proposals which were circulating
among the crowd.
Several of the principal inhabitants of
| Naux Vilaine, both men and women followed
Lepelletier into his sitting room, and re-
mained 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 inao;ion to which they were doomed, even
with the hated enemy lying so near to them.
Jules, meanwhile, who was naturally elo-
| quent, was talking eagerly with Lepelletier
and some of the gray heads of the village on
the remedies which, in his inexperience and
| sef-confdence, he thought might rectify the
| dreadful state of matters in France.
Suddenly, as they were all thus engaged
and the conversation was waxing more aud
excited, there came a sound, clear and ring
ing, though distant, which caused the voice
of the speakers to cease as suddenly as if a
thunderbolt had fallen among them. 1t was
shot coming from the direction in which the
Prussians lay, and followed in quick success
slon.by one or two more, as if from the dis
charge OF revolver. There was consterna-
tlon on every face as the sound died away,
and Tor few minutes no one spoke; and then
one OF the women hazarded, in trembling
voice, the remark that perhaps one of the
mdudats PTusSienS had killed some of their
people; and while the other women cried
out In horror at the idea, Lepelletier shook
his head and answered gloomily:-
''If OnlV If ba Dotbino uporca tbo, bot
you fear. But 1 doubt there is that in the
sound we have heard which may cause our
whole village to be burned over our heads
stop" he exclaimed, as Jules and one or two
others sprang to the door with the intention
OF ascertaining what had happened" -"Stay
where you are, one and all, L charge you
Let not man from Vaux Vilaine be seen
near the spot where that shot was fred, if
you would have any one of us left alive by
this time to- morrow"
Suppressed shrieks from the women fol-
lowed these words as the young men drew
back from the door. Vevette threw herself
into Martels arms, and Leonie lifted up her
blue eyes, swimming in tears to Evariste,
and became suddenly awed and tranuuillized
by the peculiar expression of his face His
soft hazel eyes, wide open, appeared to be
looking far away into scenes unperceived by
others, and his lips were parted with q calm.
sweet smile, which seemed full of hidden
meaning. All agitation, she felt, was mis-
placed In the presence of such look as Eva
riste wore, yet Leonie trembled with some
dark, mysterious foreboding, even as she
gazed, and wished with all her heart that he
would look less beautiful and noble, and more
like the joyous, light-hearted fance with
whom she hoped to pass all the years of her
earthly life.
For an hour or so the persons assembled at
Farmer foil
gether, the women in tears, the men sullen
and disquieted; and then in groups of two
or three they crept away silently to their
homes.
Before day broke over Vaux Vilaine next
morning it was known throughout the village
none could have told how-that the Prus-
sian Colonel had been shot dead by an unseen
foe as he rode round the outposts the evening
before, and it was whispered cautiously that
two of the hottest spirits among the young
men of Vaux Vilaine were missing from their
homes.
From the moment that this was known,
but one thought filled the anxious minds of
every inhabitant of that once happy village
what vengeance in blood or fire would the
Prussians require for this lll-advised and
cruel deed {? They were not long left in sus-
pense.
beautiful sunrise it was which brought
the light of day to Vaux Vilaine on that fair
autumn morning. The heavy dews which
had fallen the night before glistened like scat
tered gems in the early sunshine, and the air
was sweet with the breath of flowers, yielding
mp their perfume to the soft, warm breeze.
The bleating sheep and cattle, lowing in the
fields, seemed to call the people to their usual
peaceful occupations, and the little church
bell, with its silvery tone, gave notice that
the cure meant to celebrate an early mass on
behalf of their dear patTie, so sadly in need
of aid from heaven. All things were as they
had been many and many morning before,
when the people of Vaux Vilaine rose to carry
on the gentle, peaceful life which made SO
sweet an existence for them, and nature still
was doing her part in beauty and bene6cence.
The skies failed not to shed on all their
brightest smile, but there were human pas
sions at war upon earth; and truly the records
of this tremendous struggle might we'll lead
one to believe, that If all the demons of hell
had been let loose they could hardly have
made more terrible havoc in Gods fair world.
While yet the peaceful church bell rung,
and the sunbeams streaming through the
lattice windows of the cottage woke the chill
dren in their cradles, there was heard coming,
ever nearer and nearer, the heavy tramp of a
large body of mounted Uhlans, galloping
down upon the village. In a moment more
they were swarming, a fierce and mercless
crowd, in the main street, and in every lane
and alley in the place. A certain number
were told off, who dismounted, and entering
into all the houses, from end to end of the
village, they dragged out every man they
could find, and drove them in mass into the
church, where a very different scene was to
be enacted from the quiet holy service the
good cure had intended to hold.
The women, who would have followed their
husbands and brothers, were driven back
with blows and cnrses bV the Uhlans and tha