The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-07-16
me that little jewel which orna-
ments her pretty hand

me that little jewel which orna
ments her pretty hand
Itwas a large diamond, a soh
.taie, which glided from the mar
quise's slender fingers into the cal
lous hand of the robber. All waI
done in an instant; the boot!
placed on their horses, which
mounted by the bold horsemen
started off at a full gallop:
tt was nearly midnight. Th'
travellers assembled on the high
way; they first united the position
and conductor, who were fastened
back to back, and then consulted
on tie means Of continuing theil
journey, or, at least, Of finding F.
shelter for the night. Fortunately
theyIhad not far to 60 to reach th.
town of Vernon; the captain gave
his arm to the marquise, and at the
end ot half an hour, Madame d.
Belle-C Chase was seated by a gooe
fire, opposite the captain, and botf
/ of them relished an excellent eu{
| Of tea concealed by the maid from
the Investigation of the robbers,
sIndeed, said Madame de Belle,
Chasse, speaking to herself, lit was
onlysfrom the marquis
sAnd I: said the captain, in his
turn, 4 only had it from the watch
maker, amp it was not as good Of
he represented it to be-"
Thcre was a moments silence
and the captain who had lost q
little of his dislike for marquises
or perhaps the event of the night
had made him forget his political
prejudices, drew nearer to Madame
de Belle Chase, whose veil half
hid her face, and said tamiliarly-
"Parbleu! madame, this route
is favorable-fatal, I mean, to me.
It is not the first time that I have
been stopped on it,
Indeed, monsieur!'
sYes, madame; and I confess
that souvenir is one of the sweet
est Of my life. Imagise that in
''9O-I was twenty then, and had
left Caudebec to 20 to Paris, repub-
lican as all. were then. Pardon,
madame
Not at all, monsieur, not at all F.;
opinions are free.
This marquise is very liberal,
thought the captain.
He wanted to see the face of the
marquise, but a green veil nearly
covered it; yet, from a smile On
her lips, he ventured to proceed.
I was then a republican, said
he, 'and I was going to Paris to
demand arms and a passport to the
frontier. At Rouen I took a bad
carriage into which about fifteen
passengers were slowed in the
most uncomfortable manner, and
which took two days to go thirty
leagues. In those times there were
robbers"
sAs we'll as now, monsieur
sOh! madame, many more, and
tar more dangerous: the chouans,
forgers, and companies of Jesuites,
terrible frequenters Of the high
ways, who, under political p.etexts,
infested the roads, and killed peas
ants even in their cottages. We
were assailed as we were tonight,
by ferocious men, plunderers and
assassins; they were quite numer-
Gus, and, as at this time, all resis-
tance was useless: They made us
leave the carriage, forced us to sit
down on the roadside, and brutal
ly searched us. What should We
do? Let ourselves be killed by the
brigands? It would be to die a
useless and almost shameful death.
The two or three men who were
with me in the carriage submitted; !;
I did the same. I had a young
citoyenne. near me. Pardon, mad
anne; they were called citizens
then
Proceed, MONSIEUR said the
marquise.
"A young woman. All! madame,
I have travelled oyer all Europe,
Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, and
never saw one so beautiful, so
graceful, so perfect. The poor
child was from Rouen; she was
going to Paris to be married to a
Jockey, to to whom she had been
betrothed land carried her dowrle
in her bodice .. -.
In her bodice, monsieur = ex-
claimed the marquise. ....
'Yes, madame, replied the cap
tain. ..Susanne, (that was her name)
needed no fortune; had l been
king, I would have shared my
crown with her, only for her beau
tiful eyes; she had, nevertheless,
stitched sixty louis in her bodice,
which she was carrying with her
to her betrothed.'
sDoyou believe asked the mar
quise, that she loved the jockey?'
He was from Rouen as we'll as
she; their parents had arranged
the marriage, and she asked moth
ing but to love him. But yeu are