The Osceola times., 1880-10-09
THE A4ETIAL FAIRY.
Br p "


During the war gayed bv the German
e0aliti0n IN I7sZ-3 szzin,t France, al tnzi
| time under tbe tyranny of the national
convention. the generals Oi the inyad-
/ ing armies wefe Represented ~ the ia
I c01ils - ferOcigus and yIDdicilye mon
stefs, hOse mission 4as destruction, and
who pl1njeTed and piilseed without
mercy. HOatiiities are Dcyer 70 nsrri-
less a. er long peaee a. they become
when the soldier j. Injured - The hOrTOFs
II var througn a long series 81 sue
ce-slve camnaisEs. The object Of fte
! princes Oi the Coalition va - re-eTtah-
l lIsh the 5Oy 81 authority a, Paris; and ss
YOU wander sDOag tie ,Ine-elsd bills,
I AMI rural hamleis ~ Champagne, you
| find tbs the great msiOIiiy Of the Ger
man officers hA.e 10 endeaf Their mem
Ories ~ tie simple elections Of the in
/ habiian.s, WHEREVER they we're quar-
tered az Bds nos thus, 81 the epOcn 81
the aDliy reyeDgeill invasion which
terminated ia the overthrow Of SapOl-
con in 1914: meas minds Werh then en-
bite. 81 Oy nearly a guartty u a century
of wa. and ihe Invaders had personal
and national Rr0n2s 10 redress but We
mu.t nor wander from the German
vino. in 1872, encamped in Champagne 10
crush the ~ adle II the yet lettering re-
pepubiic: and the reader shsll be
treated 10 one Of the LEGENDS Of that
period.
One cold morning IN autumn a Ger
man officer Oi rank entered 4 pretty
house IN a village gaTisened by the al
lied forces The hostess, kind aud
simple-heari.d woman 81 the middle.
class, courtcoG-ly bade bin welcome, -
his noble features and bland manners
we're a guarantee that, wherever be wa,
none Oi those di-comiorts inEeparabie
from military occupation would be per
mitied 10 occur.
Il am very sorry, madame" Eaid hc
80 cause You any inconvenience, and ]
assure you that NY presence shall b.
rendered a. agreeable to you az pos
sible"
The lady Of the house delighted By
his gracious introduction, expressed, as
forcbly 10 she could, the lively salts
faction il gave her % receive ~ gentle
manly person under her root aud IL
sued orders to her servant TO arrange
the foreign generals apartment in the
| most comfortable manner. these pre-
liminaries being finished, the soldier
asked for breakfast.
The general always took tea at break
fast, aud bis vale. - -ried the tea-c -caddy
tO The mistress Of the house, and begged
| her to pare II for him, which she
promised. She seemed to be engaged
an unusually long time in getting this
most simple rvpast, as the stranger sew
cral lime. requested 10 know If his meal
was ready. 10 .hese demands the good
lady always replied:
IT viii be ready in three minutes, my
lord"
At last the general, to his great sur
| prise raw them bring into his apart
| ment table regularly laid out with
cloth, napkins, forks aud spoons, plates
and bottles. lie thought at Gr.t thai,
| that was the way they drank tea in
| Champagne, but his astOnishment in
| creased whcn he saw the landlady make
| her appearance With dish OF boiled
herbs, nicely garnished with small broil-
| ed sausages
She had thus cooked all the tea she
could find in the cady. The good
woman, who was ignorant Of the
the use Of tea, had served il as she would
a dish of spinach she had boiled IT well.
| put 1t in q cullender 30 Grain off the water
which she threw away; and then, in or
der 10 display her taste 10 her guest, and
! improve upod his usual meal, she had
flaukcd his dish Of herbs with the sa-
worry and dclecately broilcd sausages.
The stranger was a 20 ,d.hearted soul,
and instead Of flying out into rage at
such novel mode Of making tea, he
laughed till his sides ached; and, having
/ explained 30 his hostess the proper pre-.
| pardtign, he invited himself 10 breakfast
| with her and her family on thcircountry
| fare. She was a widow and her family
| consisted of an into. esiiug and gentle
! girl Of sixteen, son about twenty four,
| who seemed IN low splits, and her own
sister rather advanced IN years.
| The strangers dcmcanor toward the
! young lady, although she was only a rus
! tic, was distinguished by that polite and
! frank gallantry which is peculiar 10 all
well educated Germans. But he quickly
| perceived, that thc young man, whose
name was Marcel was depressed and
quite silent. His eyes were remarkably
fine. and this only made the deep mel
ancholy Of his looks the more particular.
! AZ his mothers FIRST glance, lac FASTENED
| 10 pay 10 their gucst with momentary
| checr'ulncss and cordially, all these at
/ icntions which Of necessity are so many
and various in 4 citizens family when
| entertaining slra ger OF high degree.
| lie put bo.tie OF Al upon the table,
| which the stranger seemed 10 drink with
| undisUiiscd relish.
When the rcpast was over, the gencr-
| al, With that hcneyolence Of accent which
| denotes that a person has sounded the
| depths Of the heart, but Is fearful to tear
open It's wounds. said to Marcel: "Do
you believe IN fairies, my young friend"
81 dad once, my lord" replied the
youth sadly.
But are you an inGdel on that subject
noB2'
The youth looked at the stranger with
a sineularly anxious expression. After
a moments silence, he added and sighed:
You know very well that there are
no fairies now"
But suppoJe there were?" said the
general.
"Ah. II indced there were?" And Mar
cells fine eyes sparkled.
young man, observed the general,
If fairy we've here am sure you would
have some highly-cherishcd favor to beg
Other"
1T Is very true, my lord said Marcel,