St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-02
THELITTLE SPY.
SY ALPHONSE DAUDET.
copyright, 1851


perhaps 10 years old, perhaps 15-one can
never tell about these midgets. His mother
was dead; his father, an old soldier of the
marines, took care of an open square in the
quarter of the Temple. Babies, nurses, old
ladies with camp-stOOls and poor mothers
knew and adored Father Stenne. They all
knew that, under that fierce mustache, the
terror of dogs and loafers, lurked a ten
der, good-hearted, almost motherly smile,
and that to call it forth one had only to ask
the good man how was his little boy. He
loved his boy so dearly!
With the siege, Father Stenne's square
was closed and guarded, and, the poor man,
compelled to keep up constant surveillance.
passed his life among the deserted shrub
berry alone, without smoking, and saw his
boy only at night, late at home. And you
should have seen his muStache when he
spoke of the PrussianS.
A Siegel 1t is so amusing for the boys!
No more school! Vacation all the time, and
the street like fair ground.
The child was out till night, running the
streets. He accompanied the battaliOnS of
the quarter as they went to the rampant.
choosing by preference those who had good
music; and, in that matter, young Stenne
was thoroughly at home. He could tell
you very well that the band of the Ninety
sixth was not worth much, but that in the
Fifty-fifth they had an excellent one. At
othert times he watched the military drill;
and then there were the parades.
When little Stenne was neither at the
rampant nor at the bake shops, you were
sure to find him at the game of galoche a
famous game which the Breton military had
brought into vogue during the siege of the
Chateau dEau. He was not playing, of
course; it required too much money. He
was content with watching the players with
all his eyes,.
One especially, big boy in blue Jacket,
who staked nothing less than hundred
sous, excited his admiration. When that
one ran you could hear the crown-piece
jingle in his pocket.
One day, as he picked up a coin that had
rolled to the feet of little Stenne, the big
boy said to him in low voice:
That makes you squint, hey? I can
tell you if you like where to find them"
The game ended, his friend led him away
into a corner and asked him to go with
him to sell newspapers to the Prussians at
80 francs trip At first Stenne refused
with great Indignation. and allowed three
whole days to pass without coming again
to watch the game. Three terrible DAYS.
He neither ate nor slept. At night he saw
piles of golOsheS heaped at the foot of his
bed, and hundred sous pieces. cleaning
brightly, spinning in the platter. The
temptation was too great. On the fourth
day he returned to the Chateau d'Eau. saw
the big boy once more and was beguiled.
They set out one snowy morning with
linen bags over their shoulders and news
papers concealed under their jackets. When
they came to the Gate of Flanders" it was
hardly daylight. The big boy took Stenne
by the hand, and going up to the sentinel
a sedentary brave with Il red nose and good
natured lOOk-Said to him with the voice of
beggar:
Let us pass out, my good sir-our
mother is i'll; papa is dead. want to 90 with
my little brother to pick up potatoes in the
field"
He was crying. Little Stenne, over
whelmed with shame, hung his head. The
sentinel looked at them a moment, then
cast glance out over the deserted and
whitened highway.
Pass at once" he told them, and turned
away. There they We're, then, on the Au-
bervillier road. The big boy was the one
that laughed.
COnfusedly as in a dream, the little
Stenne saw mills transformed into barracks,
barricades deserted, hung with wet rags,
tall chimneyS clearing the fog and rising
into the sky, empty and shattered. Occa-
SiOnally sentinel, some hooded officers
looking into the distance with spy-glaSSes,
and little tents soaked with melting snow.
with dying fires before them. The big boy
knew the way and went across fields to
avoid the SentrieS. Without being able to
-.
of sharp-shoOters- There they were, with
their little cabins, huddled in the bottom OF
trench full of water dug along the rail-
road from scissors. This time the big boy
repeated his story in vain; they would moi
let them pass. But while he was Wailing
from the gate-keeper's hut came an ole
sergeant, white-haired and wrinkIed, who
resembled Father Stenne.
''Come. youngsters! ''You shall go Il
your potatoes; but come in first and warm
yourselves. TE.t little scamp looks fro
Zen."
Alasl It was not with cold that littI,
Stenne was trembling; it was with fear anC
shame. In the guard-house they found
few soldiers crouching about feeble fire
a real widows fire, in the flame of which
they were thawing biscuits on the end O.
their bayOnetS. They crowded together to
make room for the children. They gave
them dram and little coffee. While the,
were drinking an officer came to the door
called to the sergeant, spoke to him in
low tone and went away quickly.
Boys" said the sergeant, returning witt
a radiant face, ''Y aura du tabac tonight
We have surprised the cue for the Prus
slams. We will take it back from then
this time, that accursed Bourget!'
There was an explosion of laugh ter an,
applause. They danced, they sang, the
| polished their saber bayonetS: and takin
advantage of the confusion the boys dis
appeared.
Having passed the trench, tn ere lay befor
them only the plain, and at the foot lon
white wall pierced with loop-hOleS. 1t wa
toward this wall that they had advanced
stopping at every step to make a pretenS
of picking up potatoes.
Let us go back. Let us not go there,
entreated little Stenne again and again.
The other shrugged his shoulder ant
kept right on. Suddenly they heard tn
click OF gun.
''Lie DOWN. whispered the big boy, throw
ing himself on the ground.
Once down, he whistled. Another whistle
came in answer over the snow. They ad
yanced, crawling. In front of the wall
level with the earth, appeared a pair of yel
low mustaches under dirty cap. The bi
boy leaped into trench beside the Prus
sian.
This is my brother" said he, indication
his companion.
Stenne was so little that at sight {
him the Prussian began to laugh, and wa