Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1882-09-27

tricks of fence, but Inever saw one like
that before
az could teach it to your lordship in
week." said the Italian. For man of
your skill nothing is needed but prac-
tice."
"Say you sop cried De Malet. ''Then
the sooner we begin, the better. Come
home with me, and stay till you've
taught me all YOU know. One doesn't
meet man like you every day."
And so for a month to come Antonio
Spalatro was the guest of Henri de Malet;
and the young Marquis learned to per
form the teat which had excited his
wonder quite as dexterously as the Ital-
ian himself.
White lay the snow upon the fields
outside the blazing city of Moscow. The
Russians had fired their own capital.
The veteran bands of Napoleon were fee
ing from fire to perish amid ice and
snow.
"Down with the French dOgP'
''Cut him to piecesp
"Send bullet through himp
A dozen arms were raised at once
against the solitary man, who, with his
back against a wall, and one foot on the
body of his horse, sternly confronted
them. Henri de Malet (now Colonel De
Malet, of the French Cuirassiers) was
still the same dashing fellow as ever,
though twenty-three years had passed
since he took his first lesson in fencing
from Spalatro, the Italian, of whom he
had never heard word all this while.
But if Spalatro was gone, his teaching
was not, and De Malet's sword seemed to
be everywhere at once, keeping the
swarming Russians at bay, as it had done
many time already during the terrible
FLeave him to me-" cried deep voice
from behind; ''he's a man worth fight
ing, this fellow"
GAY, leave him to the Colonel" cho-
russed the Russians "He'U soon settle
his fine fencing tricks"
A tall dark man, whose close-cropped
black hair was just beginning to turn
gray, stepped forward, and crossed
swords with De Malet, who, feeling at
once that he had met his match, stood
warily on the defensive. The Russian
grenadiers watched eagerly as the swords
flashed and fell and rose again, while
the combatants, breathing hard and set
ting their teeth, struck, parted, adj
vanced and retreated by turns. At
length De Malet, finding himself hard
pressed, tried the blow taught him by
Spalatro; but the stranger met him with
a whirling back stroke that whisked the
sword clean out of his hand. Instead of
cutting him down, however, the Russian
seized him by the hand with a cry of JOY.
"There's but one man in the French
army who knows that stroke" cried he,
''and I am glad to see you remember 80
well what taught you. Now at last
| Spalatro the officer can repay the kind
ness shown to Spalatro the vagabond.
When came over here with the Rus
sian Prince to whom you so kindly rec
commended me, they soon found out that
could handle soldiers as well as swords,
and gave me a commission in the army,
and here 1 am, Colonel Spalatro, with
the Cross of st. George, and big estate
in Central Russia. Now if you fall into
the hands of our soldiers you'll be killed
to certainty, so you'd better come
with me to headquarters, where I'll re-
port you as my prisoner. You will be
safe under my charge until there's a
chance of sending you home, and then
you are welcome to go as soon as you
| please"
And Colonel Spalatro was as good as
his wOrd.-HarpeT'S Young People.