Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-08-04
CHAPTER XXXIV.
CONCLUSION,

CHAPTER XXXIV.
CONCLUSION.
a week after the battle of Fried
land, the Russians proposed truce /;
two weeks later, ON the 9TH of July,
1907, the EmperOrs of Russia and the
French met on the raft of Tilsit, and
signed the famous treaty of peace.
The new Count of Friedland had
been ordered, as special mark of
favor, to command the guard of
honor for the two emperors on this
occasion, and by his request, the
guard was composed of his old regi-
ment, the Deaths Head Cuirassiers.
1t was a proud moment for Ga
briel when the two emperOrs, riding
side by side, passed in front of the
motiOnless lines of black hOrsemen
and he heard Alexander say to the
first man in France:
''Sire, my brother, these are ter
ribIe men. They look as If they
were made of iron. What is the
name of this regiments"
When he was told, he cried out:
"Eh, mon dieu! so these are the
fellows that cut up my COssaeks so
badly the other day. Why, there
are not two hundred of them all
told. 1t is Il thing amazing"
Then Napoleon said, smiling:
"Sire, my brother, it was all ow-
ing to spite they had against their
colonel. You see, they are all dark
men, and he was the only blonde
that ever renamed in the corps
more than a week. They tried to
kill him, and l had to help them,
for / knew they hated him. But it
was no use. Every time he ought
to have been killed, he only came
back victorious; so that finally, to
please these grumblers, had to
make him Il general, or he would
have had the regiment reduced to
corpOraPs guard in trying to get
himself killed"
"And where is this blonde colo
mel? asked the ear, amused at the
story.
Permit me TO present TO your
majesty General, the Count of Fried
land"
And Gabriel found himself bow
ing to the ear with the conscious
ness that all eyes were fixed on
him.
Monsieur lie cOmte," said Alex
ander, 81 am glad to see lucky
man like you; but / must say you
treated my poor CoSsacks very !
rudely the other day. Doyou know |
that you made a general run away |
in that little affair ~
ayes, sire, fancied saw q gen. |
eral officer, but he was a PruSSian."
True. You'll see him present
ly! He is in my suit"
And the two emperorS passed on,
followed by brilliant staff, while
the escort was diSmOunted and
told to rest.
Then Gabriel rode away after the
staff, found DelarOche, and whis-
pered
"He is here. Will you act for
me?"
Certainly" was the eager re-
ply. "Where is he now ?'
"Out yOndGr in the ears suit"
An hour later DelarOche came
back and told him:
ATS all arranged. There's a
nice moon, and I've found a place
outside the pickets. My friend
Chabannes has the command out
there, and he'll let us through.
You're to fight with the small
sword. He's afraid of the saber."
$50 much the better, DelarOche.
1t wants three hours to sunset"
lie passed the three hours in pac
ing up and down, cursing the clock
for being SO slow, and at sunset
rode out with DelarOche just AS the
full moon rose in the east. 1t was
hot and dusty, with red sky in
the west.
They found the prince, with q
Russian officer in the forest, outside
the French lines, and DelarOche
said:
"MOnsieur lie COmte de Friedland
wishes to be clearly understood be- :
fore this affair begins. He accused
the prince of spreading false reports
against madame In comtesse. If
the prince retracts these reports, he {
does not wish to kill him."
The Russian officer looked at his
principal, saying: (
That's only fair, POtsdam.
~ have nothing to retract," was
the sullen answer. ale has had (
good luck l bad. Let him do his
best" 5
He was rather flushed in the face
and thick in the voice. Gabriel
saw he had been drinking to keep
up his courage.
Without another word, the prin-
cipals were stripped of their gar
ments to the waist, the seconds
handed them the little slender IA
piers and Gabriel faced his foe at
last, sword in hand. q
The prince sprung back out of L
instantly and waited for
his foe to come on, with a CHASTITY L
smile on his face. f
lie was meditating some trick, v
and the young general felt puzzled
as to what il might be. He knew a
the prince had been taking lessons h
for several months in Paris and 4
was turning over in his mind all {
The movements in fencing he knew.
For himself, he had never used the
Tolls much, but he had the advan- 81
age of being a practical fighter. 80
Presently POtsdam said in sheer g
ing sort of way:
$50 he's afraid mt last. Why Il
lOn't you attack, monsieur ?"
Gabriel made no answer but
straight lunge with all the strength
and rage that was in him, and with n
4 harsh, grating laugh the Prussian Il
eVaded it and seized his wrist with al
MS own left hand, crying as he Ii
shortened his sword: "
"At last l have your d
In the same instant, ere the other
,Ould stab, the stalwart cairaSsier oil
,losed in, catching the point of Pots V,
lam's weapon, careless that il cut IA
his fingers, ran it under his own ia
Irm and pinned it fast; then if
away his right hand by
main strength, and in another mo-
nent had his foe on the ground on co
lis back. il
Then, with his own knee on the
chest, his sword at his kl
nemy's throat, he Missed out W
"Retract, or die ~
The seconds looked cOldly on, for M
was understood it was duel to m
he death. All of POtsdam's spu-
;ous courage founded on his snn- 81,