The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-05-17
a Courier from Napoleon.

81 once enjoyed the high honor of carry
ing letters from the Emperor Napoleon to
Josephine" remarked MIR. Charles Martcl,
French wig.maker, at No. S02 Walnut
street. hlr. D1artci, venerable looking
| gentleman. who is in his eighty-fourth
year, feels very proud Of the services ren
derod his Commander-in-C Chief on that oc-
! cason. Whenever he can be persuaded to
talk of the affair his wrlnkled countenance
| lights up with emotion. and the old man
relates with evident pleasure the particu.
lars Of how he came to be selected courier,
and how we'll he discharged the task as.
signed him.
Alr. Martel was rather disposed to evade
the lntcrrogatorios of his visitor at first,
but he was eventually prevailed upon to
| tell tho story. s'The Emperor was ad-
Vanclng upon Moscow at the time l speak
OF, which was in the early part of the year
1872 MIR. Nlartel began. "rhc army
| had arrived at Warsaw when Napoleon
issued an order for a courier to instantly
| set out tor France. | was but thirteen
years of age at the time. and was a drum.
'ner boy IN the Fourth Regiment of Hus-
sars. Our General came TO me- knowing
that was good horscnlan, and told nc
that the Emperor wanted to see me- Upon
being led into the presence of Napoleon,
found three other soldiers there, who had
also been recommended by their respective
Generals to act as couricrs. His Excel
lcncy had summoned the four of U.s. in
order to see for himself and make his own
| selection. When l entered the camp Ma.
poleon smiled. and, turning to my General
asked: "Do you think the boy will do 2"
Though l was only a lad, and knew moth
ing of the contemplated mission beyond
the fact that there was a long distance 10
be covered on horseback, l was ambitious
TO be selected. You may imagine how
my heart leapcd when my superior vividly
recommended to the Emperor the tricks
he had seen me perform with several of
the cavalrymen's horses. had learned to
ride well, and even at the age of thirteen
l could manage a horse as we'll as any
body, Napoleon appeared somewhat
pleased at the n commentator of NY vGener-
al, and remarked: "ue will do" lie then
selected another man, much older than !
was, because at the time 1t was customary
to send two couricrs by different routes
with the same messages, for fear that If
only one were dispatched the letter would
not reach It's destination. After dismisslng
the other two soldiers my comradc aud l
remained 10 receive our instructions.
When all was ready and we were about to
mount our horses, Napoleon said: 81
think the boy will arrive 5rst, though his
route is nine miles longer. Such encour-
aging words from The Emperor OF France
fairly set me wild, and | resolved TO hand
my packet of letters to Josephine before
my companion, though / should fall dead
ut the feet Of the iady the moment after
doing 49,. '-,.----.. .....
81 securely placed my package in a
belt around my waist. The only food
took was some crackers, a few slices of beef
and n flask of brandy, which / slowed
away in my saddle bags. Upon receiving
the word 'go' l sprang lightly into the
saddle and dashed away, closely followed
by the other courier. l determined to
draw away from him before arriving at |
the forks of the road. Digging my spurs |
into the horse l gave him the whip, and |
IN few moments had the satisfaction of |
seeing him falling behind cnvcopcd IN a
cloud Of dust. L mounted fresh horse |
every twelve miles along the road, which |
were kept in the Government stables tor !
the especial use of the Governments !
ccurers. For sixty hours | rode along iu |
this way. Though was very much ia
tigued never gave up, for l was deter |
mined TO prove the truth of the Empcror's |
prophecy that would arrive first. Night |
and day / sped along through tho snow
and ram, with only one idea on my mind,
and that was TO win the race. The dis
tancv is over 500 miles, but l managed to
get to Paris one full hour ahead OF every
competition, Arriving et loseph!no's man
sion, which was seven miles outside of
the city, was Immediately ushercd into
her reception parlor, though l was covered
with mud from hca.! to foot. Tho noble
lady graclously took from my hand the
letter, and, with SIMPLE thank you,'
turned away and departed. The Emperor
caused a message TO be conveyed to me
rendering his sincere thanks for what /
had DONE"