The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1881-03-12


gay and well-looking. 1 ought to have
detested him, and he has remained my
friend. Well, Father Servan said to
me as he held out his hand:
You ale worthy to be my son-in- law.
my lad; but first of all you must please
my daughter. l will ask her.
Marguerite, when asked, said that
she would gladly consent to be my
wife. But she said the same when they
talked to her about Puvioux. She
loved both of us, one as much as the
other; she hesitated-she did not dare
to decide. But still she could not mar
ry both of us.
lime went on. When the time of
the consumption come we drew lots,
Puvioux and /, on the same day.
/ had number three and he had number
seven, and so we both of us became
soldiers For a moment / was in a
state OF great fright, / confess. People
at Mezleres said that Puvioux had q
rich aunt, and that she would buy him
OF. III Puvloux did not join the army,
Puyloux would marry Marguerite, and
L, knowing that | should be obliged to
| go, for L was poor, [ thought 1 already
heard the fiddler at the wedding, rend-
ing my ears and my heart
6 must tell you that Marguerite Ser
van has not her equal. If [ lost her
now, after having waited seven years for
her, upon my honor | think I should
| blow out my brains
Luckily, Pierre Puvioux was not
| bought off. His aunt died leaving debts
instead OF a fortune. He had not a pen
ny any more than [ had. We were
obliged to shoulder our guns, and we
were expected on our way-bill every mo
ment. One night, Father Servan took
us each by the arm and led us to an inn.
and this is what he said to us as we
emptied a bottle of Moselle wine.
My boys, you are good and honest
Ardennais, equal in merit [ love YOU
with all my heart. One of you shall be
my sOn-ln-law, that is understood.
Marguerite will wait seven years. She
has nopreference either foryou, Puvioux,
OF for you, Chevaucheux, but she loves
both of you, and she will make happy
| the one whom fortune shall choose
These are the conditions on which one
OF you shall marry my daughter: you
start on the same day, it is probable
/ that you will return on the same dav.
/
hands with Father Servan, and saws:
Here l am, my time is OUT he, swear,
shall be the husband of my Marguerite. >
" was astonished; [ thought that /
had misunderstood. [ looked at Pierre
/ Puyioux and he looked at me, and. al
! though we were sad enough at heart, we
were certainly ready to burst out laugh
ing.
&C But Father Servan was not Joking.
/ He had discovered this means of getting
ont of the difficulty, and he meant to
/ stick to it. | held out my hand and
swOre to act neither by ruse or violence.
and to let Pierre Puvioux marry Mar.
guerite, if he returned Mezieres before
| did. Pierre stood up and swore the
same, and then we shook hands while
Father Servan said
"NOw the rest is your affair. The
only thing is to escape bullets and return
safe and sound
" He filled our glasses once more and
we drank a parting draught.
Before leaving / wished to see Mar
guerite. Just as | was arriving under
her windOw-it was at dusk-I saw some
one III the shade coming in the same
direction. | stopped short. 1t was
Pierre PuviOux. He seemed vexed to
find me there. I was not particularly
pleased to meet him. We stood there
for moment like two simpletons look
ing at the toes of our boots. Then with
movement of courage [ said to Puvioux.
" Shall We go in together ?"
ave entered and took our farewell of
Marguerite. She listened to us without
saying anything, bat there were tears at
the tips of her blonde eyelashes. Sud
denly Pierre, who was talking, stopped
and began TO sob and to do the same.
Then Marguerite joined in, and there we
were all three shedding tears and press
ing each others hands.
"When the diligence that took us
away from Mezieres began to rattle on
the pavement the next day, | felt in
clined to throw myself down from the
imperial and get crushed under the
wheels. The more SO as there was
Lorrainer, at my side who was singing
In a melancholy voice a song of his
! country, and | said to myself: 1t is all
! over, Jean, you viii never see her again.
Well, you see. Time passes. The
seven years are over, and who knows?
Perhaps [ am not only going to see her
/ again, but to marry her
/ "There are, indeed, strange chances
in life" continued Jean Chevaucheux.
'Pierre and [ started on the same day.
and at the same hour, and we was placed
/ in the same regiment. At first I was
yexed. [ should have liked to have
/ known that he was far away. AS you
may imagine, | could not love him much.
/ But / reflected afterwaTd that if Puvioux
was with me ] could at least talk about
/ her. That consoled me- Well, I said
| to myself, l am in for seven years of it.
| After all, one gets over it.
! In the regiment / became fast friend
of Pierre Puvloux. He proved to be an
/ excellent good fellow, and at night, in
/ order to kill time, we used often to talk
OF MeZleres, OF Father Servan, and of
/ Marguerite. We used to write to
Mezieres often, but each told the other
/ the contents of his letters 1t was a
| struggle, 1t Is true, but it was loyal
/ When Marguerite or old Servan replied,
/ the letter was for both of us. An equal
/ dose of hope was given to each of us, and
so We went on hoping.
Zone day the colonel took it into his
head to appoint me corporal. I was
vexed and proud at the same time. You
see | was no longer the equal of Puvioux
My stripes gave me the right to com
mand him, and in the eyes of our Arden
nais that was no small advantage. But
| did not glory in my rank; on the con-
/ trary, it made me i'll at ease. I did not
dare to talk to Puvioux any more. Then
| [ reflected that there were more WAYS
4 than one of getting rid of my next rank.
| neglected my duty and was forthwith