Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-12-20

/ lr
such was the daShing plan Of these three
men.
They started At daybreak, and Dumas made
his way to the Fort St Jean. where a small
pavilion, close to the gateway. was used rs
| the magazine. He dared not attempt the
gate, bat, stealing round. climbed up the wall
cautiously, and took peep into the fort. lie
saw two soldiers busy hoeing in a little gar
den al the corner. lie let himself down
| again, looked over at the distant cathedral
He saw distinctly against the ,lva dark ont
line Of some figures, then the white flag. af-
ter being tossed about in an extraordinary
fashion that could not have been owing to
the wind, finally disappeared. and the tri-
/ color took its place. Now was the moment
his companions had done th3ir part He
| slUng hi, doube-barreed gun about him and
began to climb the wall When he got to
| the top he saw the two soldiers staring with
wonder at the strange flag on the cathedral
/ then, cooking both barrels of his gun. he
! leaped down, and stood before them One
was named Captain Mollard the other Ser
/ geant Ragou Headyanced on them present
/ ing his piece and made them a courteous but
hurried speech, explaining who he was. and
] his errand lie was Monsieur Alexandra
!
came in the name of General Gerard 10 de-
mand the surrender Of the powder and
there was his order signed bv the General.
| which he presented with one hand and hold
! ING his cooked gun in the other The pair
were much taken back. and knew not what
to do, when the colonel D'Orcourt. who was
in command. was seen approaching The
matter vas explained 10 him and. after
!
ranged by which the three officers promised
their neutrality. aad engaged to keep within
doors Thus the powder magazine would
seem 10 have been captured by Dumas single
| handed IL has tie air Of "a very brilliant
achievement. and TIE picture Of the hero
alone in the fort. his finger ON the trigger Of
his ggn, courte1usly but firmly controlling
his three opponents, Is 4 most dramatic scene.
| When writing the account of his adventure.
| from which We take these particulars, how
ever. Dumas forgets, that, in the official re-
! port furnished 10 the Monitqr twenty-three
| wears before. be had stated that three of his
friends We're waiting at the gate
Thus successful, hc opened the gate. and
found his friend Bard To him be handed
over the charge Of the magazine, and went
away 90 deal with the c0mmandaut Of the
!
risen. and discussing the news of the sudden
| appearance Of the flag on the cathedral Du-
mas laid down his gun at the door. intro
duced himself, and made his demand for an
order to remove the powder. The other de
clined to acknowledge General Gerari'~ or
der and said there was scarcely any powder
in the magazine The commandant seemed,
in fact. rather amused, and smiled -corufully
| when Dumas answered that the party at the
magazine We're his prisoners. Alexandra. re
plying that be would 60 back at once and
bring proof under their hand that the epowder
was there, made his bow and retired lie
flew back, found that Dc was right. and re-
turned presently with satisfactory proof that
a large quantity of powder was in the maya
zine But when hr reached the command
ant t. Office he found that the party had been
increased during his absence. and that Len
fena. an officer of gendarme-. and Binyil-
lier-. Colonel Of the Engineers. were there,
in full uniform. and armed The command
ant addressed him In sort ollantering tone,
telling him that he had sent for these officers,
who, with him. were in command of the
town, In order that they might have the
pleasure of hearing VI. Dumas explain his
mission. The Young man saw thar h1dne~S
was his only resource, and co0Ay told them
that he had been engaged hy Lafayette To
bring the powder to Paris. or To- lose hi- life.
and that he insisted on The commanIant
handing over that powder 60 him The of
iiccr~ passed on Gerard order from one 70
the other with q sort of smiling contempt.
And So" said the comandant In the
same timc-''So ~incle-hanled, Monsieur
Dumas think You said tha- was your name
You propose to force me t. d1 this You
see that We are four
The voun. man saw that matters Were
coming toa crisis. and took prompt reSolu-
t~on. lie stepped back. pulled his double
barreiei pistols from his pockets and PIE
scented them at the startled party.
.'Youare four, he said gentlemen, but
We are FIVE If that order bee not signed in
FIVE seconds, give you my word Of honor !
will blow your hruins out. beginning with
the commandant'S there
He owned he felt little nervous. hrtAe
was determined
Take care be went ou BE- mean what
I say. am going to count. One-two-
three
At this critical moment side door was
flung open. and lady flung herself among
them in paroxyism af alarm.
Agree agree - she cried "Oh this
j. another revolt Of the negroes Think OF
my poor father and mother whom they muir
dered in st. Domingo
Aexandre owned that tie lady's mistake
was excusable considering his own natural
tint (deepened by violent browning from the
SUM- and the peculiar character OF hair and
voice But we may wonder at the nsensl-
bilitv to ridicule which could prompt him to
set down such 4 ie,t at his own expense. The
truth was, he was 50 filed with vanity, thar
all the nicer senses became blunted and he
was even unconscious OF the roar5 OF laughter
which those foolish confidence produced.
The commandant could not resist the entrea-
ties Of his wife Alexandra declared that he
, had infinite respect for the lady, bnt entreated
her husband to send her away and let the
. men finish the business. The poor command
ant protested that his seli-reSpect must De
, respected lie could aot decently yield TO a
r single man Alexandra then offered 10 sign
a paper To the effect that the order had been
extorted at 1.-THE mouth Of the Pistol-'arrel.
'Or would yoa prefer, BE- added, "tnat
1 should fetch two or three Of my companions
] 50 that Won should seem % haye Welded to q
more respectable force The commandant
? accepted this proposal, and Alexandre LETT
him. blcntly declaring that no advantage
f must De- taken of the delay. OF lie would re
turn and .' blow al their brains out. and
that the whole party must give their parole
% of honor that they xould remain exactly a.
f they were.
.:Yes, yes cried the lady NeNandr'
f made her n low bow. but declared that it wa
5 not her parole that he wanted. The com
mandant gave what was required ei hm, anC
e. Alexandra. hurrving away. speedily returned
with two or three of his men, whom he placed
A, in the court. Opening the window, he ealieC
m them and hade them inform the gentleman
- inside that they were ready TO fire upoh then
At the first signal an appeal answered by
the significant sound Of the cooking OF guns
The commandant understood, and, going Il
his desk. wrote out formal order.
After this the rest was comparatively easy
q The magazine was broken open. carts wer'
$ procured and loaded and at about o'cloel
they were outside the town. Dumas was So
e exhausted that he sank down on the grass
e under hedge, and fell fast asleep. RouSeC
d up presently. he started on his journey, an'
e by s O'Clock reached Nillers-C Cotterets, wher'
e they found the supper ready, which had Beer
r. ordered the evening before. After a lo'H
Il meal they set out once more, and by 30 cloci
- in the morning were close TO Paris, AZ IN
Il post-house whence they had started At
he had presented himself. with his powder
- at the Hotel de Vile, having triumphant,
q ACCOMPLISHED the daring exploit he had un
10 dertaken.
- When Alexandra told this adventure ther
l was many a shrug Of the shoulders and loud
= scoffno laugh; such a romance as tins wa
- .borrbt worth serious retutati0n, n