Litchfield enquirer., 1879-05-15

procession ana murmured: An, there goes poor M. Brunei. May the bon Dieu be mer- ciful to himv just as if it were my funeral. And this felt it to be.
 ssI was marched into the large hall of the l Marie, and there I found the Maire, dragged from sick bed; also the worthy Pottier, and the rest of the Municipal Council, each under an escort of bayonets. It was then, by the | way as we waited in silence and suspense our | fate, that intrusted to my brave friend the secret of the exact spot where my strong box | lay buried. Soon after fierce white-headed General appeared, and snapped out rude ad- dress in his native tongue; rude, malevolent we felt it to be, and even when softened by l translation into our own language it appeared sufficiently truculent. Last night, or early | this morning rather, it seemed that sentry had been killed at his post. The culprit must | be found, and handed over to the military | authorities with sufficient evidence to justify his being shot, Disperse, and use every effort | to discover the doer of thls dreadful crime, 1 and meet me here at noon with the culprit, or | by Him in heaven one of you shall die for it. | settle among you which.
 1 ''This was the conclusion of the address, and we locked at each other in wonder and l disnlay. Then we were marched out into the ante room to view the body of the dead sentry. There he lay stiff and stark fine tall soldier, klIicu Uy hHllc uTlVeH lLlkO HIS HoaTG. rue knife lay by his side-one of the pieces of evidence-and recognized it in moment as my own-the silver-mounted dagger that Earnest had appropriated.
 Man of peace as l am, bOOk-wOrm to whom arms are hateful, 1 felt fierce throb of | joy as I saw this proof of my brothers prow- ess. He had not died altogether in vain, and it was now for me to justify the deed, and take the burden of it.
 ' Tell your General, said turning to the
 officer who had us in charge, that know the man who did the deed he was my brother, but it was no assassination, but fair blow struck for the lives of five good Frenchnen. The knife that did the deed is mine, and if an other victim is required
 No cried the brave Pottier, he was mlne, my son; it is my right to suffer for him.
 Settle it among you' cried the officer roughly.
 And we were thrust into the street, with orders to come back at noon precisely. Pot tier walked back with me to my house. There we saw two female figures, in deep mourning, and closely yelled, waiting for us in the pas sage. Madame Pottier had risen from a bed of sickness to bring her daughter down to visit the body of her .faancee, which, owing to the kindness of my German friends, had been brought to my house.
 You will be glad to hear, dear brother, whispered Therese, who bore up with forti- tude quite marvellous in one SO young, that poor Ernest did net sacrifice himself in vain The five others got safely across the liver, and were seen to plunge into the forests beyond.
 'They had disposed the glorious tri-color about the body, and some one had laid sprig of laurel across the breast. went reverently to uncover the face of the corpse. It was not nf hro eft Ivy pressed, and yet composed, in death, but not Ernest's.
 '1 turned to Therese, who had followed me into the darkened room. It is not he He lives; he has escaped 1!
 ''Therese fell fainting into my arms. gave her to her mothers care and left the house My task seemed easy now; could picture to myself the future. Ernest and his wife-their children clustered about them, as he tells them the story of the good old uncle who was killed by the Prussians. The sacrifice was not SO hard, after all but thought little regret fully of the unfinished monograph it would be, one day, swept up among the rub bish of my library, and consigned to perdition. a And ,,,syiIIs sa rotslsr, S,if s s
 .-- .s---o-,s hilis and hraad plains and winding river gleafned softly under a ray of Winter sunshine. Farewell to all this
 ''At noon I presented myself at the Marie, passed through file of soldiers to the grand salon, and found that my colleagues of the Municipal Council-all except Pottier-were already assembled. My resolution to offer myself as victim, if one were demanded, was generally applauded, and a resolution ac- cepting it passed without dissentient volce. It was promised that my name should be in- scribee = the records of the town as one of It's noblest citizens. All very well, no doubt, in it's way.
 "There was general crash of arms as the General entered the salon, accompanied by an officer whom 1 recognized as the Prince L. Pottier, at the same moment, slipped in be- hind us, and gave my arm reassuring squeeze.
 "There was no victim to be offered up after all. Pottier had appealed to his distinguished guest, Prince L., telling him the whole affair, and the prince had spoken to the General and the latter new announced 1ni in somewhat surly. disappointed accents: That the penalty of death to Municipal Councillor was commuted into fine on the Commune of twenty-five thousand francs
 ''Soon after we had news of the armistice, and in little while Ernest was once more among us. Lucky fellow, to have Therese to welcome him home and fete him as the greatest hero of the war! They were married soon after, and removed to Paris, where Ernest is now practicing at the Bar It seems that it was not Ernest himself who killed the sentry, but the brave fellow who was shot, to whom Ernest intrusted the chart and the knife. Ernest would have done the same, he says, had he been in the way of it: but 1 think Therese is rather glad that it was not so. hope shall never see my two German friends again, although we parted on excellent terms. They accepted from me d case of champagne, as memorial-which l did not care should be too lasting-of their occupation of my humble dwelling and the other day had in return sundry bottles of the veritable Kirschenwasser of the Black Forest, which, hope, is to your taste. And now let us talk about the Expo sition. AU the Yenr Round
 Yesterday afternoon citizen on his way to the postoffice was halted by a woe begone tramp who looked as if a dinner of shiugle- nails and currycombs would be gladly welcom- ed if served up warm.
 You have the same old story to tell suppose, said the citizen, as he came to halt
 No, sir haven't" was the prompt reply; '1 am simply about to ask your advice. You look like keen, sharp business man, and 1 thought I'd ask you what you thought of my going on to the next town"
 'Why-why, go on, of course," stammered the citizen.
 ''That is your advice, is it' continued the tramp. *I shall leave it to you and do just as you say about it. have every confidence in your judgment.
 "Yes, think you can't get out of town to soon."
 And if you were me would you borrow a quarter to get supper on before you left ?"
 s'No, wouldn't. 1 wouldn't wait for SUD- per-"
 ''All right-you seem to be kidn-hearted, we'll posted man, and will take your advice" qeietly obseJ ved the tramp, as he moved away.
 The citizen looked after him until he was lost in the distance, never once thinking of cal ling him back and handing him a quarter. He had had the same game played on him twice before. Detroit Free Press
 Hardly any better retort is on record than one made to Professor Bonamy Price of Ox- ford University on his late visit to this coun- try. He was not remarkable for his geniallty, and at dinner-party at which popular ideas