, 1881-11-20
THE COMMUNE TURCO.

I1E Cttlle ITDuf Lllt llIUC VI OjG4lue1s it4I4 WI
one Of the handful OF. 1urcos who ha
thrown themselves into Paris in the train c
the ARMY of }inVy. He had sol,
through the entire campaign from VII
se,.hourg to CAanpiyny, darling over tn
fields Of battle like Il stor1n-bir'l, wit
his iron drulllstic!Ss and his dertonlsa Cara
| druu.j, so quickly, 50 restlesiy, that the bail
coulh not. hit him. l5ut WHEN winter cam
OIL this little piece of African brunze, red
dci1ed i'll the fire ut caslnister Slut, was III,
able to bear the nights Of guard duty Ait
Aotioulesness III the snow; 50, u,,e ,}un,ar,
morning, they found him OIL the bank Of til,
Marine twisted by the cold and with his fee
frozen. llc remained long while i'll thu
hospital 1t was there saw him fur 1lt
! first time.
! Sad and patient like 4 sick hound, the
Turco looked around him with great, gentle
| eyes. When addressed he smiled and showed
his teeth. This was all he could uo, for ON
language WIS unknown TO him, and he with
difficulty spoke the Sabir, that Algerian
dialect composed Of l'roveneal ltaliai. and
:arabir, nlatte up of varie.atcd words
gathered like shells ait along thu Latin seas.
10 anluse himself kadour had uniy his
! aerbVnka- From time to time, when tx,
! grew too impatient. it was brought to his
| bed anu he was permitted 10 play oil it, but
! not too loudly; BECAUSE OF ihe other sici,
! nlcn. Then lis poor dark face, 50 dull, so
fa,le,!, looking amid the yellow daylight anil
the sulllbre winter landscape Visible with
cut, grew animated, .rin.actd> and followed
afl tie phases Of the music. Now 1!r
white ttctl: gave place u wild laughter: HOW
his eyes 1O!stclIed at some Niusslln1all
strain; his nos1tl!S dilateu, and amid tie
nanseonS odor ct the hospital, tie liais and
the colnpresses, TIC again Saw the groves ut
Blit1ah lo..etl witt. orEan:-cs and Tie Young
monlish girls coming from the batI. el:~
leloped i'll white and pefftlled with veryaln.
two months p;.Ssctt thus. Many things
had happened in Paris during those twe,
months, but kadour suspected nothing. lie
heart the returning army, weary ami dis
armed, pass beneath his windows; later he
lear! the e.sNlon dragged ;lboi.t, rolled from
morning until evening: then the tocsin, the
can1'Hra.c. lie understood nothing OF all
this, except that the war was yct i'll progress
aud that nc could HOW juill tile fray,
since his limbs were cured. lie departed
his drum tIft his back, il. quest uf Ills ctit-
l'any. lie did s.ul search lung. Some COM
hi;lnlsts who were passing took him 10 rie
riacc. After much questioning, rs lie co'iid
draw nothing from him but urlntei!@lale
phrases, tie General in command gave him
IL francs and an omnibus horse ;uid attached
him to his stall.
Yher. was !, little Of everything in those
sts'HS u! tie enHutuHe, fea et'tlS. ioiiSit
e!oaks, Hungarian jackets. marines hlnlses,
gold, velvet. sirs.gltS. amt lace. With lis
blue vest, cilhrOiuertal with yellow. his ttlr- j
ban and his derbolk;, the Turco completed
tl.e 1rsquer''dr. Filled with joy ut finding
himself i'll s1lcls fine company, Intoxicated.
BY tie sunlight, the canllol,tde, the noise
Uf the streets, the confusion OF weapons
alll! uniforms, persuaded, in addition,
that it was the waragai1st Prussia which was
continuing with he knew not with whit az
-
!escrtcr jci''ed innoceitty .in tue. great
Partisan rln1, and WAS Il celebrity nf the t,is,-
hen:. Eycrywilcre upon his passage, The
Communists received him with ;te,lanlatiull5
and te:ei hin., The Commune was SD proud !
billet him, wore hin, like i cock;i,!e.
Twenty times 4 day tic Place Sent |
him to the Gnerrt, the tiuerre to the Hotel !
de Villa. 1t had heen 81 extensively said !
that the Communists marines were counter
At least this man was, without /
doubt, Il genuine Turco. To be convinced !
OF it one had only tn glance at that wide-
awake face VI !; young APT. and all the savage /
OF thai little body asltatin. itself !
upo'l the huge omnibus horse rs in the
wlilrls Of the Arab fantasia.
Something, however, was wanted to COM
Ilctc kaGnnr's happiaeSs. 1le wished to
hight, to make the powder talk. unfort.l-
nately, under the Commune, as under tile
Empire. the STATS seldom went into the fire.
When not engaged in 1iyilg trips or paratits
.he poor Turco passed his time OIL the Place
y ENDING. "f IN THE court-yartls uf the Min
s.ry Of War, among those disor.'ere,l camps
ap, of u$sieads Of bacoi1 with tie heads
out, Of fcasts i'll the open air ut
which WAS again felt all the hunger of the
siege. Too gooL Il Mussu1man to participate
obcr and tranquil, made his abolutiol,s in I,
ur1ler. and sHppen u!i Il handful Of coarse |
neal; then. after 4 little airoH his derbofk;t.
It rollcst himself IN his bonrnous anu fell
sleep UPON astepby the iigiltof the '!iyouacs.
, One morning, III tisa month Of May the
[urco was awakened by terrible f1tsitla.tc. |
The Ministry was i'll coMmotion; everybody
vas running, fleeing. Mechanically lie ,litt
Ike the rest, leaped upon his horse and fol-
owed the staff; Tile streets were full Of
Iild b.s!e blasts and baitaiiots fleeing
People were tearing nj | i:
lle uaye1nents and erecting bar l.
icades: Evidently something extraordinary
;as going OIL. The nearer ute approaci,rd J
ete, the greater the t1lnull. Upon the Punt
G III Concortle k;ltlour lost tho staff Il little
artller On his horse w;,:' take frotn him; it
'as i9r i ktpi. with eight gold cords, III a 6
[0tef tie Vile. III Il state Of fury the T.lrco :
ean to run in the direction ut the conflict. Ks
c ran he loaded his classepol and said, h. {
seen his teeth: +" Nacach bono, Brissicu!' S
l:st entered the CITY,. Already the balls
'ilisticd about thu obeist1 AMI AMONG the II
,lia$e Of tile Tuiicries. At the bArricadc Of b
le Ruc dc Eivnli the avengers OF Flourens !
allied him: "llo! Turro! Turco!' BIT |
,elve Of them were left, and Kadour alonr d
as worth all entire army. G
Standing uuon the barricade, proud :;nd ,,
!uds us Il flag, lie fought with leaps and
ies beneath il storm Of callnistershot. At Il
IL moment the curtain Of smoke which 81
ta1 lif t3..1