The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-06-08

of the land; and if a domestic traitor
comes in thy way, keep quiet and still,
till look along thee at his heart You
me; that's ALL" Throwing 1t
on my shoulder, | then took my way to
Louise.
Louise, sir was my betrothed, and as
pretty and honest girl as dwelt in the
/ had known her from
infancy, and often had heard her say
"Jacqnes, love thee" We were to have
been married in days, if nothing came in
the way. But something did come in
the way, and that is the reason why |
am still a bachelor.
''As soon as Louise saw me coming
with my old carbine on my arm, she ran
to me and cried: 20 Jacques, are you
going to ight2" eyes, louise" "And
what if you are killed ?" "Then 1 shall
be happy, my dear, for shall not see
strangers and conquerors enter Paris"
"But for me, Jacques what will become
of me2" II will watch over you from
above, Louise" and / pointed to heaven,
"But tush - continued every soldier
does not die in battle. And it is but
to-day that the serious chance will be,
for to. morrow the Emperor will arrive,
and then our enemies may pray to their
saints to save their souls, if they have
saints and souls, for we will have no pity
on the invaders bodies. We must leave
all to the will ofHeaven, Louise. Come,
kiss me, my girl, and don't cry" At the
same time, l wiped away two large tears
from my own cheeks, but Louise did not
see them, for her eyes were closed, and
her cheek 30 pale that one would have
said she was dead. But she recovered,
and fixing on me her two large sloes of
eyes, she said. Jacques, you must let
me go with you~ p "lmpossible| | re.
Piled; "where | go is no place for women"
"You will have need Of suffers, Jacques;
will attend the wounded, and carry re-
freshments TO the soldiers. / will do
anything that you desire Of me They
won't refuse to allow a poor girl to be
serviceable TO her wounded and dying
countrymen"
"Yes, if that would be injurious to her
and not useful to Others, But listen,
Louise. In a few hours will meet the
enemy, and | cannot deny that wounds
may fall to my share as well as others
Well, 90 This evening TO Pere Ia ChGtse, to
the tomb of thy mother. If ! am living
| will come and meet thee there; but if
night comes, and you see me not, then,
my Louise, pray to Heaven for me-and
for France, for l, and many, many more,
will then lie lowp
"At this moment the trumpet-Call
sounded in the streets. A regiment de.
filed past the window, accompanied by
several hundred artisans. prohted by
the occasion, embraced and kissed Louise,
who hung by my neck, and would scarce
ly let me go; opened the door, and in
two steps was with my comrades in the
street. AS long as could see the house,
turned always back to look at it, and
even thought of etreturning to my poor
girl But when her dwelling was out of
view, / began to cry with the rest -
"Long live the Emperor" and then
thought only Of how quickly l could
move forward to the foe"
At this part of the story of Jacques, !
cannot he p remarking how much | was
struck with the change in his manner as
he warmed with his subject. His voice
became grave and deep, and his express
sion and delivery easy and forcible,
while at the same time the pecuiarities
of pronunciation common to his class
disappeared.
"When we came to the wood of Ro.
mainville," he continued, 1--WE found the
Cossacks already in possession of it, We
were charged by our old hero of a leader,
Marshal Mortier, with the task of driving
them out of the wood; and never, per-
haps, since the invention of arms, did
soldiers enter battle with such good
will. The wood was carried at the point
of the bayOnent in twenty minutes AS
| live, it was beautiful But when we
had gained our point, we saw forty thou.
sand more of the allied enemy appear,
and move on towards us. We counted
not two-thirds in all of that number, and
had neither wall nor ditch to protect us.
But, Notwithstanding, we enLured in
that wood eleven consecutive attacks
without finching, we were at length
compelled to evacuate the place, and,
alas to leave the enemy in possession
of those positions from which he could
destroy the capital. The suburbs were,
in a measure, in the enemy's power.
When retraced my steps to Paris with
my sad hearted companions, | said "If
the Emperor is not here this night, his
empire is endedW
"Immediately after this, recollected
nv appointment with Louise in Pere la
Chaise Cemetery, and bent my course
rapidly thither. As | entered the place
of death, it was just growing dusk. The
enemy had already begun from the out
side of the city to rain small bomb-shells
upon it, and the sounds of the cannon
ade contrasted strangely with the repose
of the funeral grounds around me. |
was also startled with something like
the glitter of bayonets among the will
lows and trees of the place, but conceived
my eyes to have mlsled me. My eyes,
however, did not mislead me, when, on
reaching the well known grave of the
mother of Louise, which she and / had
so often strewed with flowers, beheld
enemy, a Cossack-sitting
with his arms folded on the very tomb.
stone, and a woman's lifeless or motion
less form stretched on the ground by its
side A dreadful thought flashed across
my brain in an instant. An unprotected
girl-the hour-and a savage enemy
What misery was in the thought My
knees trembled, my eyes lost their power
of vision. But another feeling banished
the momentary imbecility; l was close
behind the unconscious monster, and,
with my carbine swung in my hands, |
advanced to him, and in another mo-
ment his brains sprinkled the ground at
my feet!
II sprang to the girl-to my own poor,
unhappy Louise--raised her, and sat
down with her in my arms. My voice
recalled her from her swoon, but she
shuddeled at the sight of me. She came
by degrees to seeming calmness, and
parting her wildly dishevelled locks,
looked me in the face for time without
speaking. Jacques . said she at length,
81 have lived too Iong Be witness that
| ouisa ponld not SurViVe dishOnOr y