The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-02-14
md sent back to the Salleys, Fortrl-

. orderly anu SeleCCeu Illl tO auleuu lllLl LII
the Russian campaign. Passing by
Chalons on his road to the front Dubois
could not resist the temptation to visit
his family. His brother-m-law denounced
him to the authorities, and Dubois was
sentenced to twentyfour years at the gal
leys. They sent him to Anvers, whence,
in 1918, he escaped to rejoin the army, as
We have already said, and vainly seek
death.
Retaken in 1914 by Vidocq, the pris-
oner was sent to Rochefort. After seven
or eight years he was pardoned. A mis-
erable thing was freed convict in those
days. For ten years he was condemned
to police surveillance; his yellow ticket
of leave announced his disgrace to every
one !; he could find no employment nor
even shelter. They hunted him from
place to place like Wild beast or leper.
He tried to shoot himself-and failed.
Refused work and lacking bread, he stole
the means to purchase meal. The court
only looked at his record of escapes and
sentences; counsel were assigned him too
dull to see the magnificent opening such
a case presented, and the poor fellow got
ten years more.
For thirty years now he had been con-
vict and. soldier, but he had not lost
strength-possibly even some hope sur
vived in him that the luck would turn.
At any rate, he broke jail again-he had
been confined at Dijon-and made his
way to Paris, where, August 10, 1923, a
detective recognized him on the Rue st.
Martin, and hauled him before the COM
missioner of the second division, NJ.
; Henry. It was before NJ. Henry that
Dubois had been taken when he was ar
rested at Bondy in 1914 to him the SOL
dier had intrusted the 4, 900 francs placed
in his hands from the regimental chest !;
he knew all about his case. To his in
Geible disgrace the official only recalled
that Dubois had been before him on n
previous occasion, and the prisoner was
sent to Bicetre.
/ Bicetre and In Force were then literal
hells. There was no classification Of
prisoners; the strongest and most brutal
ruled his ward without interference by
his keepers. The prisons swarmed with
vermin and reeked with malaria, and the
prisoner who could not bribe the turn
keys ran an imminent risk of dying Of
hunger. Dubois remained here four
years, slowly sinking in health and
spirits. Justice seemed to have forgot
ten him, when he was taken back to
Dion. He had been condemned IN con-
tunaacidm for his escape in 1922. The
prison doors opened for him again as i'll
cxorably as ever, this time Mont st.
Michel being his destination. On his
way thlther, while passing Prez-en-
Pail, he escaped again.
He was subsequently asked why he
had so frequently escaped, and an
swered:
81 had lost hope. I begun to believe
that I was destined to end my days I'M
der the lock and key, and I sought to
escape because every day of liberty was
day saved from inevitable captivity. 1t
had been for more than thirty years my
luck to be rearrested and committed, and
since it had to be SO, I tried when I
could to cheat it.
Yes It was his luck. November 25,
1881, he was entering the diligence, Rue
du Bouloi, when hand was laid on his
shoulder. 1t was the inevitable police
officer. For the first time, gaining
strength and eloquence from his des-
peration, Dubois resolved to plead his
own case. He told his story, insisted on
his innocence of the original crime laid
! to his charge, recounted his honorable
service in three armies of France, show
ed his scars. The court heard him part
ly through, yawned and sent him back
to Bicetre.
! Small wonder he gave up for while
and abandoned himself to despair. He
was almost sixty, and luck had run
cruelty against him for nearly forty
years under the republic, the consulate,
the empire, the hundred days, two res
! torations and one revolution. He was
destined to Mont st. Michel, most hor-
rible of the prisons of the day. The
monarchy of July was then in it's first
flush and inclined to be merciful, and as
last hope he wrote out the whole story
of his life from the time that he entered
the school of Brienne. He did not omit
an incident, his escapes, the petty theft
he committed after vainly attempting
suicide.
You will find it all in the Gazette des
Tribunaatr of the time. It concludes
thus:
Advanced in age, my strength is fail
ing. There remain to me but one hope
and the sorrow of never seeing the end
to my evils. Still the sovereign's mercy
is great. I have never committed a
crime which should make me despair of
pardon. I cannot survive the hardships
of the fearful route from Paris to Mont
st. Michel. I beg, therefore, that my
position may be ameliorated, by sparing
me that terrible journey and severe treat
,ment, and that may be sent to place
of detention nearer Paris, as Poissy or
Melun, where my brother, who will give
security ty for me, can find me work at my
trade (saddleryl, and l can await in pa
tience the moment when your majesty
will deign to take pity on my misfor-
tunes"
This plea he sent to Queen Amelia
most pious and venerable of sovereigns.
And now with a tender hearted woman,
and she q queen, on his side, Dubois
luck turned. The queen had the whole
story hunted out.
It was all true
The regimental records attested the
bravery and scrupulous honesty of Fran
co.'s Dubois.
Old Marshal Martier told how the hus-
sar had ridden first and headlong into the
battery OF Bout-de-Lain.
The Duke de Trevise bore witness be-
fore the queen of the hussar's repeated
! gallantry and of his services to France as
! a dispatch carrier, and interceded warmly
for him. D.
The prefecture of police itself could
onIyreport that the worst ofense against
, Dubois was his breaking jail it was fo1
this that he had been so relentlessly pur-
sued and 30 often arrested there was NO