Morris tribune., 1882-10-05
HOW SHE TOLD A LIE.


The three travelers-kind Cousin Eva and
her young charges, Cherry and Ruth-were
standing on the staircase of the curious old
Hotel de Bourgthroude, by the Place de Ia
Pucelle, Rouen. The narrow, gloomy little
square looked still narrower and gloomier in
the drizzle of the dull November day;
and the ugly pump in the middle
Of it, with still uslier statue on
the top, marking the place where Jeanne
dare was burnt, had been sore disappoint-
ment to the children They had come, enthu
siastic little pilgrims, to see the spot where
their favorite heroine died; and Cousin Eva
could hardly get them to believe that 1t was
the spot-that the common looking market
place, where a few ordinary market people
were passing and repassing, had actually been
the scene of that cruel deed-that from the
very identical windows, of these Identical
houses, brutal eyes had watched the maid as
she stood, the flames curling round her, clasp
ing the rude cross which some charitable
soul pushed toward her hand.
''Do YOU remember" Cousin Eva said, "how,
at the last moment, she retracted all the false
confession of heresv and wltchcraft whlch TOR
ture had wrung from her, and exclaimed, Yes,
my voices were of God and how, when she
saw the flames approaching her, she shut her
eyes, called but once, Jesus!' dropped her
head upon her breast and that was all, .ill
they raked up q handful of charred
bones out of the embers and threw them into
the Selne?"
The children looked very grave. Atlast they
did realize the whole
81 wonder what sort of a day it was" whis-
pered Cherry; dull and gloomy, like to-day,
or with bright blue sunny sky? Perhaps she
looked up at it before the fire touched her
And perhaps he stood here-just where we
stand-the English soldier who cried out, We
have burnt a salnt!'"
Sand so she was, ;" said Ruth, with culver
passing over the eager little face, - real
saint"
'sBut Cousin Eva" added Cherry, "why Gid
she ever own to being witch, and how could
she say her voices were not true when she be-
1ieyed they were true? One way or the other
she must have told lie"
Miss Cherry was of an srgumentatve, rather
than sentimental turn She thouShta good
deal herself, and liked to make other people
think, TOO, to enable her to- get at the bot
tom of things. She could never overlook the
slightest break in a chain of practical reason
ing; and If she had 4 contempt in this world 1t
was for weak person, or person who told
lie. This flaw. even IN her favorlte Maid OF
Orleans, otherwise so strong and brave, was
too much for Cherry to pass over.
do veu think" said Cousin Eva. shat 1t
would be possible under stress of circum-
stances to tell iie-to confess to something
one had never dOne2 Bishop Cranmer, for in
stauce-have you forgotten how he signed re-
cantation, aud then thrust into the hamos that
unworthy right haud?' And Calico, when
forced by the iuquisitiou to declare the earth
stood stlll, mUttered afterward, E persi
muove.' Yes, yes," continued she, ''one
never knows what one may be driven to till the
time comes. The force of torture Is very
strong Once upon time l remember told
lie ~
You told lie" echoed Cherry, looking
with amazemeu5 into the bright, sweet, honest
face-rosv-cheeked, blue eved-her little
cousins themselves had not more innocent eyes
than Eva's-as clear and round as babys.
But nobody ever tortured you?' asked ten
der hearted Ruth, clinging to the tender hand
which, indeed, she never went far away from,
in these HHfOr6lrQ
''No nv little girl; the tnumscrews, the
rack. and the maiden, belong, luckily, to that
room in the tower where we saw them once,
and the nineteenth and not the ff-
teenth century. Still even nowadays, good
deal of moral torture can be brought to bear
upon one occasionally, especially when one IS
only a child, a. was then. And was tried
sharply-enOuSh TO make me remember 1t even
now, and feel quite that if | had been
Jeanne d. Arc, I should very likely have done
exactly as she did Also, learnt what have
tried to put III practice ever since, that nothing
makes people liars like dsbelieving them"
Ruth gave tender little pressure to the hand
she held, while Cherry said proudly: You
never disbelieve us, and you never need to !!
But tell us, Cousin Eva, about the lie you told.
Was it denying something you had done, OF
owning to something YOU were quite innocent
of, like poor Jeanne d Arc? Do tell! You
know how we'll We like story"
''What, here, in this pelt of rain?" answered
Cousin Eva, as she proceeded to investigate
from undsr her umbrella the curious bas-re.
liefs of The Field of the Cloth of Gold, which
still remain in the court of the Hotel du Bourg
theroude M. children; YOU must wait a
more desirable opportunity"
Which, however, not long in coming
The day briShtened-grew into one of those
exquisite DAYS which French people call Pete
de ST. Martin-and truly know nothing like i
except what 1t most resembles: a sweet, peace
full, contented old age So Cousin Eva decided
to take the children to place which she her
self had once seen and never forgotten-the
obf1ro on a Ia
de Bon Secours.
SIS that the same which Alice sings about il
the opera of Robert lie Diable?'" and Cherry
struck up in her clear, young voice
"Quand ie quittas ma Normandie
Rouen is IN Normandy, 80 Of course it is thu
same
Daigne oroteger nos amours
NoIre-Dame de Bon Secours.'
stPlease don't sing quite 80 loud, or the hote
people will hear you" said the timid Ruth ant
quite relieved when they started off.
need not relate how extremely the children en-
joyed the stiff climb ND the hill, and admired
the lovely building all ablaze with brillian
but harmonious coloriug, and the little sid
chapels, filled with innumerable votive inscrip
tions: ga Marie" "Graces Marie, /" "Ee
exauce mes veux," etc. Curious. simple
almost childish, it all was, yet touching to thos
who feel as Cousin Eva did, that to believ
earnestly in anything Is better than believing
in nothing
Afterward they all sat anil rested il one o
that live and move or for "them that Sleep
the graveyard ON the hill top, close behind tn
church OF Notre Dame de Bon Secours From
this high point they could see the whole coun
try for miles and miles, the Seine winding
through it is picturesque curves Rouen, wit
its bridges and streets, distinct as if map la
at their right hand, and, rising out of the mas
of houses, etherealiz ID by the yellow sunse,
were the two spires of the cathedral and tn
church of st Ouen
Can you see the market place, Cousin Eva
If so, poor Jeanne dare, when she was brough
out to die must have seen this hill with tn
church on top of 1t; that is, supposng Their
was church"
ssThere might have been though not thiaione
which is modern You see."
81 wonder" continued Cherry, who wa
always wondering, eff she looked up at it, an
thought it hard that Notre Dame de Bon Secour
should not have succored her. Perhaps be
cause, to escape from the hereto English
she had told a lie.''
Sand that reminds me-" added Ruth, VII
was not given to ethical questions, "that Will
we sit and rest we might hear from Cousi
Eva, about the lie she told"
eyes, yes. Please say, Cousin Eva, was it
big or listle one? Why did you tell it? An
was it ever found DUTY"
'Idon't quite see the difference between hi
and little, my child. A lie,s lie, though some
times there are extenuating circumstances
the reason for telling it And once told, til
does not matter. My lie was never found on
but it grieved me all the same"
'sWill it grieve you to tell me about it?
should not like thai" said Ruth softly
s.No. dear; because have long since fo
given myself was such o small child, muc
younger than either of you, and, unlike you,
had no parents, only an aunt an uncle and
-. l<,.