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

ANh1Ay wv ~ CSCapCs
we will show him that we are not
asleep"
"And to whom was the king
speaking ?"
"To the Minister of State, my
captain, and they talked German,
SO that Pantoutfe could not under
stand them, as they thought. But
our cOuntryman is no fool. He will
not talk their accursed tongue, but
he can understand it for all that.
Aud then the minister said; I'VE
must be patient, your majesty, till
we have Hanover safe. 1t we make
the demand now, he may come
back on us and leave Austria alone;
but if we wait till he gets to Vienna,
we can have our own way Then
they both laughed, and Pantoufie
heard no more, for he had finished
shaving the king and had to come
from the room."
"And that is all you've heard p"
"All, my captain; but a sign is
enough for a Gascon. 1t may be as
well, thought, that my captain
should know this"
"You did right to tell me. | will
go and see General DurOc at once !"
So, Gabriel sought his chief, and
told him the little bit of gossip he
had herd.
Duroc nodded, as if well pleased.
81 knew it all along captain but
/ am glad they talk of it openly to
each other. 1t is important to keep
the Prussians quiet till the emperor
has thrashed the Austrians thor
oughly. By the way, you may find
it necessary to keep up the honor of
France before some of these young
officers of the Guards tonight. My
position forbids me to fight, you
know, but in your case-I suppose
you can fence Well@'
''Passably, general"
Then he departed, thinking to
himself what strange kind of bus
mess he was in, when his chief want
ed him to fight duels and make love
to ladies at balls, as part of his
regular duties.
That night our hero was at the
ball in the palace according to his
orders, and gay scene he found it.
Uniforms of favery nation in Europe;
bright dresses of ladies the glitter
of gold lace and diamond the
presence of royalty itself, all COM
bined to dazzle the young Inan,
whose duties had hitherto kept
him roaming about the country far
from the atmosphere of courts.
There was however, something SO
seductive in the scene; so many
people bowed to him, recognizing
him as the French dttdche, that he
soon forgot all about the reason why
he had come there, and was recalled
to himself by voice at his elbow,
saying:
have you already forgotten your
charges on the way ?"
He looked around, and there was
the Marquise de st. Jean, smiling
amiabIe through her wrinkles, as
she leaned on the arm of POM
pous old Prussian general, who had
not yet left off the powder and pig
tail of the days of the Great Fred
erick.
"This is Captain Lenoir, general,
of whom | was telling you, who
protected us so bravely from those
frightful robbers" she went on.
Then to Gabriel in a whisper.
sit is the old Prince of Potsdam,
the father of our prince. He is own
cousin to the king"
Meantime the old prince eyed
Gabriel over his white stock as if he
thought him some Objectionable
sort of a beast, and favored him
with the coolest of mods, saying:
"Been long in Berlin?"
81 arrived yesterday, prince"
(which way came you ?''
"FrOm the Austrian TyrOl into
Bavaria and so hither through Mu-
mich and Nordlingen."
The old prince deigned to look in
terested.
"Indeed! Did you come across
my son there ?'
Il met Monsieur lie Prince in Ba-
varia," said Gabriel quietly, land
when we parted company he prom
ised to follow as soon as possible"
"The young dog! growled the
old prince. HE ought to fly here
on the wings of Love, as he knows
WnaL Is 10 come 10 MIN.
Then he passed on with the mar
quise, and soon after Lenoir caught
sight of the dark rich oval of IneZ
de Reals face, as she passed to a
seat, escorted by handsome young
officer of the Red HusSars, who
appeared to be much struck with
her.
Gabriel lost no time in making
up to the lady of his secret affec-
tions, who greeted him with a sweet
smile and accepted his arm at once,
dropping that of the Red Hussar in
a manner as frankly pleasing to Ga
briel as it was displeasing to the red
PruSSian.
The latter watched the cuirassier
take away the lady, and his eye
flashed with hatred of the French
man. Then he strobe away to
the corner of the ballroom, where
were standing quite large group
of his brother officers, and they en-
gagged in an earnest and excited col
lOquy.
Meantime Gabriel was playing
the agreeable to the best of his pow
SES1 anu Will OuOAA ouSSCoo tltdi lllC
lady beside him suddenly said
"Oh Monsieur LenOir, | have no
one here to confide in but you. You
are French soldier and the empress
has taught me that l can trust at all
times a French soldier"
"You certainly can in me, mad
emoiselle," said Gabriel, his heart
beating rapidly.
"Then, monsieur, l tell you that
| hate this marriage that | am
about to make. / hate it. [ abhor
it," said the girl in low passionate
tones. "The emperor forces me to
it and l dare not diSobey him, save
to do one thing"
,,And what is that, mademois-
ellie ?"
"Take refuge i'm the clOister," she
said in the same low voice. "Oh,
monsieur, something in your face
told me, from the moment | first
saw you on guard at the Pavilion
of Diana, that you were II man to
trust. Monsieur, will you help me
to escape from this place and flee to
a convent 2"
Gabriel was so much astOunded
at this sudden burst of confidence
that he could only repeat vaguely:
"a convent? You Z"
Eyes, convent rather than a
wedding with him." she replied
with slight shudder. There are
converts in Bavaria, in Spain, even
i'm France. In one of them l shall
be safe. Only say you will help me
to escape"
GahrioI hnxuod HE haoI