Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1879-04-12
THE CONDEMNED SENTINEL.

A cold, stormy night in the month OF
March, 1907, Marshal Lefebvre, with
twenty.seven thousand French troops
had invested Dantzlc. The city was gar.
risoned by seventeen thousand Russian
and Trussian soldiers, and these, to-
gether, with twenty or thirty thousand
well-armed citizens, presented nearly
double the force which could be brought
to the assault. So there was need of the
nels, fo1 a desperate sortie from the gar
rison, made unawares, might prove cal
ami+ous.
AT midnight Jerome Dubois was placed
upon one of the most important posts in
the advance line of pickets, it being upon
a narrow strip of land raised above the
marshy fiat, called the Peninsula of Neh.
rung. For more than an hour he paced
his lonesome beat without hearing any
thing more than the moaning of the wind
and the driving Of the rain. At length,
however, another sound broke upon his
ear. He stopped and listened, and pres
emily he called: "Who's there %
The only answer was q moaning
sound.
He called again, and this time he heard
something like the cry of a child, and
pretty soon an object came toward him
out from the darkness. With a quick,
emphatic movement he brought his
musket to the charge, and ordered the in
truder to halt.
'Mercy!" exclaimed a childish voice :;
t'dont shoot me! 1 am Natalie. Don't
you know me ~
"Heavens" cried Jerome, elevatirg
the muzzle of his piece. "Is it you, dear
child %
eyes, and you are good Jerome. o,
you will come and help mamma! Como,
she is dyingv'
1t was certainly Natalie, little girl
only eight years old, daughter of Lisette
Valiant, a sergeant in Jerome,s own
regiment, and was in the army in the
capacity of nurse.
'Why, how is this my childw said
Jerome: taking the little one by the arm.
What is it about you: mother!"
o good Jerome, you can heare her now
Harkp'
The sentinel bent his ear, but could
only hear the wind and the rain.
"Mamma is in the dreadful mud" said
the child, "and is dying. She is not far
away. ., can hear her CRYING"
BY degrees Jerome gathered from Ma
talie that her father had taken her out
with him in the morning, and that in the
evening when the storm came on her
mother came after her. The sergeant had
offered to send man back to the camp
with his wife, but she preferred to re-
turn alone, feeling sure that she would
meet with no trouble. The way, how
ever, had become dark and uncertain,
and she had lost the path, and wandered
off to the edge of the morass, where she
had sunk into the soft mud
ooh, good JEROME" cried the little
one, seizing the mans hand, "can't you
hear her She will die if you do not
come and help herr'
At that moment the sentinel fancied
he heard the wall of the unfortunate
woman. What should he do9 Lisette,
the good, the beautiful, the tender
hear ed Lisette was in mortal danger,
and it was in his power to save her. It
was not in his heart to withstand the
pleadings of the child. He could go and
rescue the nurse, and return to his post
without detection. At all events, he
could not refuse the childish pleader.
"Give me your hand, Natalie, I'll 60
with you"
With cry of joy the child sprang to
the soldiers side, and when she had
secured his hand, she hurried him along
toward the place where she had left her
mother. 1t seemed a long distance to
Jerome, and once he stopped as though
he would turn back. He did not fear
death, but he feared dishonor.
"Harkw uttered the child.
The soldier listened, and plainly heard
the voice of the suffering woman calling
for help. He hesitated no longer. On
he fastened through the storm, and found
Lisete sunk to her armpits in the soft
Fortunately tuft of long grass
had been within her reach, by which
LuCdho ouo AttAl uolu ucI uettu dDONo Cnc
fatal mud. 1t was no easy matter to eX-
tricate her from the miry pit, as the
workman had to be very careful that he
himself did not lose his footing. At
length, however, she was drawn forth,
and Jerome led her toward his post.
"Who comes there % cried q voice from
;he gloom.
"Heavens" gasped Jerome, stopping
md trembling from head to foot.
"lpho comes there" repeated tho voce.
Jerome heard the click of the musket-
ock, and he know that another sentinel
lad been stationed at the post ho had
eft. The relief had come while he had
'een absent.