Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-05-19

| eS CURED nercely up to their eyes az
they looked at Gabriel.
"Well, gentlemen" said he
blandly, "in what can | have the
pleasure of serving you ?"
"We have the honor" answered
one of the cuirassiers in II deep base
voice, "to be the bearers to mon
sieur of a message from the Baron
of Damanhauer."
"And who is the baron ?'' asked
Gabriel. 81 have not the honor of
his acquaintance"
POSSIBLY, monsieur. Neverthe-
less he is well known as the major
of the Red Hussars of the Guard"
"Indeed? And what does he
want of me?"
"An apology, monsieur, for your
conduct this evening toward him
self, and his cousin, his Serene
HighneSs the Prince Of Potsdam."
Gabriel was puzzled. 1t was evil
dent that these men were trying to
pick quarrel with him, but on
what grounds?
"Gentlemen," hesaid, abe pleased
to explain yourselves. l do not
know either the baron or you. Who
are you ?"
~ am Captain Count Hoffman, of
he White Cuirassiers," answered
the other, stiffiy, "and this, my
friend, is Lieutenant Won Schilling,
of my squadron. The baron being
in attendance on the lady who is
shortly to become the Princess of
Potsdam, declares that you rudely
took advantage of her being a
Frenchwoman, and carried her
away from him without even the
formality of asking him TO excuse
you. The baron demands an apol-
ogy:"
"Then the baron will not get it,"
replied Gabriel, sharply. l talk TO
whom l please, and ask no mans
permission"
"Then monsieur will please refer
us to his friend at once" replied
Count Hoffman, stiffiy. Monsieur
must know that lady affianced TO
a member of the PruSsian court be-
longs to us, and that in taking her
away from Prussian officer of the
Guard he insults the whole Guard"
Gabriel stared.
"The whole Guard Am to un-
derstand, then, that am expected
to fight the whole Guard if do not
apologize to the baron ?' ID
The count twirled his moustache.
"FOr the present, only the Red
Hussar5. If they fail to finish you,
we shall have our turn"
"Then, monsieur" said Gabriel,
u,sII do R,On riDaSrrn IN honin
with you, who are the advancer OF
a prepOsterOus doctrine to which
will not submit. l will fight you,
if you wish it but as for the baron,
he and his Red Hussars can cool
their courage in waiting. I'll not
fight them for nothing. If they
choose TO attack me, let them look
out for themselves. One good
cuirassier ought to beat dozen
hussars."
The count waited till he had fin
ished, and then replied, eagerly:
at will afford me pleasure to take
the place of the baron. Name your
friend"
Gabriel named a Spanish officer
who belonged to the legation, and
in Berlin, where the French embas-
sy was representing a nation at war,
at once, with England, Russia and
Austria.
Count Hoffman and his friend
bowed stifiiy, and went off in search
of Don Louis Carrera, while Gabri-
ell left the ball and returned to the
embassy. r..
He sought and found General Du-
roc in his private cabinet writing
dispatches, and reported to him all
that had happened in the matter OF
the duel.
Duroc nodded.
"Very good. Fight the count and
kill him. Did you see the young
lady and make love to her as told
you ?"
Gabriel flushed scarlet. This
frankness was a little too strong for
him. He could bear to report his
duels, but his love affairs were an
other thing.
81 am not at liberty to answer,
general" he finally said, in the dri-
est of tones.
Duroc smiled and went on writing.
Presently he looked up.
"YOu are discreet man." he
said, $50 l can trust you with a
secret. The emperor, as you know,
jumpad you over the heads of
whole regiment from recruit to cap
tain in a single day. OF course all
the others are furiously jealous Of
you, and it will only be by the
rrootoSt riSlxS tbat won 0an knpn
your place. | have found out that
the Prussian officers here have re-
solved to kill you, ifthey can, and
after your duel with this count you
will have to fight about twenty
more. If you, on the contrary, kill
three or four of them, it will be nec-
essary for you to leave the embas-
sy. When you leave it, there is
nothing in the world to prevent you
from making a romantic flight, and
all YOU have to do is tell me how
much money you need. That is all,
sir. Report tomorrow morning at
noon what you have done. Good
night" ..-..... ...
And General Duroc turned to his
writing again with a jerk. He had
fallen into the habit of doing every
thing abruptly, after the manner Of
the master he adorned. 1t was a
noticeable trait of many around the
person of the emperor that they
mimicked his peculiaries of body.
AS for Gabriel, he went away to
his own room thinking deeply over
what had happened. He had often
wondered at his own good luck in
being promoted so suddenly and
being assigned to such pleasant du-
ties, but he began to see the reason
now. The emperor expected him to
undertake such desperate service
that the chances of his ever getting
back alive to the regiment were
small.
"But if there is one chance in
hundred" thought he, "I'll take it.
/ am to win IneZ if can, that Is
plain. What would he say if he
knew she had asked me TO run
away with her-tO convent, ii is
true, but still to run away with
her 2"
His reflections were disturbed by
a tap at the door, and Casse Tete
looked in.
"Don Luis Carrera, of the Span
ish embassy, to see my captain"
"Show him in at once"
Don Luis entered, gay young
Spaniard, whose face was unusually
grave that night as hesaid:
Its all arranged, LeDiOr. You
are to fight i'm the Deer Forest at
six in the morning with swords or
on hnr5 NO xyn1I rrofar