The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30
.'' Did you sit down to taste it, [

well, yes, think So
Did you taste it more than once?'
al don't know, but might have
"' And you sat down each time?'
"' Well; yes
Then how could you get from your
hut to the cross, and back again, in less
than half an hour?'
"' | walked fast
=" After these questions and answers
the distance was measured, and it was
found man could walk it in half an
hour.
But not an old man. said nv
counsel, not man who sits down four
or five times by the way to drink
"' He must have left the hut earlier
than half-past nine, observed the Pro-
cureur du roi. His ideas of time are
vague till he sees Luc Leroy's watch
eve fought a good fight, Monsieur,
my counsel and L, but we were de-
feated. | was found guilty, and con-
demned to prison for life. My exact
statement of the truth was entirely dis
credited; the loss of my knife, especial
ly, was looked on as flimsy inventions;
and but for the extenuating circum-
stances which were presumed to exist
in my passionate jealousy, and poor
Elmire's love for the villain Leroy, l
should have lost my head under the
knife of the guillotine.
"Ah, Monsieur, when tell you that
|, an innocent man, spent four years in
all the sufferings of the Bagne, you will
not wonder that my face has the lines
of age, the marks of an iron servitude,
the scars of a fire not yet quenched.
o." Have you ever seen wild bird beat
itself to death against the bars of its
cage?
"Well, l should have done that but
for one thought-the thought of Elmire.
The burning desire to avenge her kept
me alive, and sustained me through all
my miseries.
"This gave me hope to study plan
of escape; this gave me courage and
fortitude to pursue it.
"God is just God, said to myself,
continually, therefore [ shall not fail
in my purpose.
"And did not | escaped, but how,
and by what means, | am bound never
to tell.
"Four years of prison had so changed
me that none of my old companions,
looking on my face, would have said,
There goes Pierre, the charcoal
! burner
"To free man of the woods like me
chains had been a living death, and my
anguish had made me old and ghastly
when, once more at liberty, | breathed
again the fresh air of the forest.
81 knew it was dangerous to return
hither, nevertheless | came. l trusted
one of my old friends, and he proved
faithful. He hid me and supplied me
? with food till the heat of the search for
me was over. 1t is a hard thing for
gendarmes to find a man in the forest;
as well hunt for wolf or wild boar
without dogs as look for fugitive in
this wilderness.
"In six months my hair and beard
had grown long and thick-it had be-
come gray, nearly white, as you see,
and Ifelt that the eye even of a detective
would scarcely recognize the escaped
forcat, much less then would the vii
layers see in this white-haired, aged
man, Pierre, the charcoal-burner.
'' Claude | said to my friend, Il
shall hire myself as servant to Mad
anne Leroy
He was frightened at my scheme,
but he could not dissuade me from it.
81 had heard from him that Luc Lee
roy's mother had married again, but
her new husband had died suddenly,
leaving her with an infant of whom she
was passionately fond. This child was
the source of constant quarrel between
Luc and his mother, and in this dissen-
sion l hoped to find weapon of de-
Tense and retribution.
Moreover, Pere Martin, no longer
supplied with drink by young Leroy,
was now his sworn enemy. Thus the
ground was prepared for me, and | en-
tered on the battle without fear.
"'Do you mean to hire that old
manP said Luc Leroy to his mother.