The Red Cloud chief., 1881-10-13
THE MYSTERIOUS COACHMAN.

'NDt "a W. CldlCu VI tIt ~ Il AIM
about 20 tell it to you, and it happened
Just as IL was told ME. 1t is not an in
ventiOn designed to show you how a
fault is often sufficient to lose a mans
life; it is a actual fact, in the recital
of which we will not give the real
names, because they would expose the
secrets of a family holding an illustrious
rank in N of the principal States of
Germany.
Marshal C Che was then only a
GeneraD found himself i'm need of n
coachman. He made his wants known
10 a m OF Saint Dominique who
kept a furnished hotel, and rented at
the same time livery carriages. At
first, this woman declared that she was
unable 10 procure one for whom she
could answer; almost all of those who
took care of her coaches were hired by
the day, and did not live with her.
There was only one, who was a sort of
overseer of the others, who would suit
the General, and il WAS on account of
his good qualities that the woman de-
sired to retain him herself. The Gen
eral insisted SO much the more on hay
ing him. AT last. the mistress of the
furnished hotel yielded him up 10 the
employ of the General.
When this man entered the service of
the General, nothing extraordinary was
noticed i'm him, except in extreme pO-
likeness, an attentive care never Il en-
gage IN the ~recreations of the other
servants, and a rare promptness i'm the
accomplishment of his duties which rem
dercd h IN precious 10 his master. BY
an exception very rare. this preference
of the master for his coaclman did not
excite the envy of the other servants.
There was such a continued sadness
about this man that no one could think
that il was through pride that he kept
alOOf from his comrades. At the gen.
cral dinner hour he seated himself ST
lently at the table, ate soberly, and re-
tired TO his stable Immediately after the
meal In the chateau of the General,
at the time when the service of the
horses gave Muller a ~grcssSieal of leis-
urc, ne was not accustomed la 90 TO the
cabaret, nor 10 play as did the others:
he seated himself under some tree in
the park and spent all his time in read
ing. At the time these s~ngularitieS.
which were remembered later, caused
but little surprise; they contented them.
selves by saving that Muller was a bear
and permitted him to follow his taste
without concerning themselves further
about him.
Almost two years passed in this way:
Muller followed the General wherever
the duties of war called him. This was
in the n~eighborhoud OF 1907.
Mullar hal anann,naniat thu f,nnral
10 Ragusa in Dalmatia, of which the
Emperor had made him Governor. aud
if was in this village that the. little ad-
venture happened which, l4m about 10
relate:
One dav. when the Governor General
had invited To his table n large party OF
the officers of his staffand the principal
officers of a corps of the Austrian army
which was stationed i'm the vicinity, il
happened that he was obliged TO press
into the service of the table all the
servants of his household, and Muller
found that he was included in this
requisition; at the hour of dinner he
was in the dining hall, a napkin over
his arm. The great number of guests
present no doubt prevented Muller
from noticing any N in particular, be-
cause the dinner was over before any
trouble occurred, but at the commence
ment of the second service, rs he was
i'm the act of placing n dish on the table.
one of the foreign general officers
turned himself a little, to give more
room 10 Muller. and uttered a cry of
. surprise as he recognized him. Muller
J in his turn. looked at the general Off
.a tr,aI ,n.1a m, Ia l;l r,,, .-l,
ened as he was. In his surprise, he
dropped the dish which he held i'm his
hand. and left the dining hall i'm a con
fusion which struck all The guests with
establishment.
All this happened so quickly that no
N could explain whether it was the
surprise which caused the accident or
the accident which had caused the sur
Prise, and the dinner continued with
ont Muller's r~eappearing. But the
General had too well remarked that the
Austrian officer and the coachman rec
ornized each other; he also noticed
that their astonishment could not be
that of a master who simply recognized
again an old servant, or that of Il Serv-
AMI who found again an old master. A
sin.ular emotion, a profound terror was
faces o these two men.
SShn&h they found themselves face 10
face. and the ~preoccupation of the
Austrian General during the remainder
OF the dinner did not escape the atten
I'm of the General. If war had existed
st that time between France and Aus
~ifia, the General might have thought
That this Muller, whose manners an
nounced that he was more than a coach
man, was a spy, whom the hope OF n
great reward had induced TO play this
role. But As things were. there was no
probability in this supposition. and it
was more reasonable 10 suppose that
the coachman, who concealed himself
>!f3h so much care. had formerly served
the> general officer whom he had recog-
nized. and in whose house he had been
guilty of some acton the revelation of
which alarmed him. Although the
General had every reason to be content
with the service of Muller. he wished to
hrSny if this was not a case of one of
those old, hypocritical servants who
wait efttire years to obtain the conf
dence of their masters i'm order at last
TO be able to abuse it in a manner more
profitable to themselves.
The dinner ended. the General
sought everywhere for the Austrian
officer that he might question him, but
fhe11ficer had disappeared from the
salon, as the coachman had from the
dining hall, and neither of them put in
an appearance during the whole even
ing. When night came, the General,
whom this double disappearance had
annoyed. inquired of the other servants
wiz had become of Muller; he learned
that Immediately after his accident at
the table he flew to the stable mex
IRENE agitation. The Gena6 also
learned that after thNs tie Aus.
he Was, |
Ia that for
! closeted
her servants
spirited con-
ast they had
tinuing their
day the Gen.
Explanation OF
learned that