The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-04-19

q good deal OF grief shall not be
able to walk until tomorrow morn
ing.
aWalk :" cried my mother, terri.
fed.
The soldier shook his head.
"You don't know. you, must
1t was VOW. |
In our Ardennes those primitive
souls have respect and faith. | saw
my father look at the young man in
the face without astonishment, and
with mute interrogation
.les, said the soldier. II will
tell YOU the whole story. You have,
perhaps, saved my life ought at
least to tell .you who am. Ny
name is Jean Chevaucheux. and my
father is wood splitter at Mezieres.
He is an honest man, like you, mon
sieur. Seven years ago. when /
drew for the conscription, was
madly in love with Marguerite Ser
van, good hearty girl and pretty
IoDe. | had already asked her in
marriage, and her father had not
said no but, you see, Pierre Pu-
vioux had asked her in marriage at
the same time that / did Pierre
Puvioux is a man of my age, who
carries his heart in his hand, as the
saying is, gay and well looking.
Well. Farmer Seryan saidto me as
he held out his hand:
"You are worthy to be my SON
in-law, my lad;' but first of all you
must please my daughter. | will
ask her"
Marguerite. when asked, said
that she would gladly consent to be
nv wife. BIT she said the same
when they talked to her about Pu-
vioux. She loved both of US, one as
much as the other she hesitated,
she did not dare to decide. But still
she could not marry both of US.
time went on. When the time
of the conscription came we drew
lots, Puvioux and ], on the same
day. | had number 3 and he had
number z, and so we both OF us be-
came soldiers. For moment Twas
in state of great fright / confess.
People at Mezieres sid that Pu
vioux had rich aun., and that she
would buy him off. If Puvioux
did not join the army, Puvioux
would marry Marguerite, and i,
knowing that ] should be obliged
to go. for / was poor, ] thought |
already heard the fiddler at the
wedding, rending my ears and my
heart.
II must tell YOU that Marguerite
Servan has not her equal. If | lost
her now, after having waited seven
years for her, upon my honor, |
think / should blow out my brains
Luckily, Pierre Puvioux was not
bought of. His aunt died leaving
debts instead of a fortune. He had
not a penny more than | had! We
were obliged to shoulder our guns,
and we were expected on our way
bill every moment. One night Far
mer Servan took US each by the arm
and led us to an inn, and this is
what he said to us as We emptied q
bottle of Moselle wine.
"'My boys, you are good and faith
full Ardennias, equal in merit. /
love You with all my heart. One of
you shall be my son-in-law; that is
understood. Marguerite will wait
seven years. She has no preference
either of you, Puviox, or 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 daugh-
ter you start the same day, it is
probable that you will return on the
same day. Well, the one who first
comes and shakes hands with Far
mer Servan, and SAYS: Here l am,
my time is OUT: he, | swear, shall
be the husband of Marguerite"
Il was astonished. | thought
that / had misunderstood. Hooked
at Pierre Puvioux and he looked at
me, and, although we were certainly
ready to burst out laughing.
"But Farmer Servan was not iok-
ing. He had discovered this means
of getting out of the difficulty, and
he meant to stick to it. | held out
my hand and swore to act neither
by ruse nor violence, and to let
Pierre Puvioux marry Marguerite,
if he returned to Mezieres before /
did. Pierre stood up and swore the
same, and then we shook hands
while Farmer Servan said:
"Now the rest is your affair. The
only thing is to escape bullets and
to return safe and sound"
"He filled our glasses once more
and we drank a parting draught.
Before leaving ! wished to see
Marguerite. Just as | was arriving
under her window-it was at dusk
I saw some one in the shade COM
ing in the same direction. lstopped
short. 1t was Pierre Puvioux. He
seemed vexed to find me there. /
was not particularly pleased to meet
him. We stood there a moment
like two simpletons looking at the
toes of our boots. Then with mo-
ment of courage l said to pavioux /:
"Shall We go in together p
"We entered and took our fare.
well of Marguerite. She listened to
US without saving anything, but
there were tears at the tips of her
blonde eyelashes. Suddenly 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
pressing each others hands.
when the diligence that took us
away from Mezieres began to rattle
on the pavement the next day, |
felt inclined to throw myself down
from the imperial and get crushed
under the wheels. The more SO as
there was a Lorramer at nay side
who was singing in melancholy
voice a song of his country, and |
said to myself: at is all over, Je.. a,
you will never see her again"
swell, you see. Time passes.
The seven years are over, and who