Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-10-18


said that his time had come at last, and
that for thafuture the Department OF the
Groseille must get It's bridges and roads
looked alter by somebody else. he pre-.
sented himself at the Ministery, brimfnl OF
his scheme, expecting to be sent oack' al
the end Of week at the latest, with
authority 10 begin the new road at once,
This belief of honest Pierres will make
1t plain to everybody that he knew little OF
the WAYS of men in Office, and OF the quick
sands that besst them. NJ. Bronqueil, II
seemed, had become by this time strictly
constitutional, and as the new Ministers
were still little shsky on their legs, they
too. were beginning to doubt whether 1t
would be prudent 10 cross the wishes OF 80
influential citizen. So Pierre had to wait
week after week till June passed and July
came and By the middle of July the Govern-
ment of France had taken in hand JOB
big enough to employ all their energies,
without attending TO the roads, ne" OF DID,
of the Department of the Groseiile. Pierre
did not spend ell his time in the anteehsm-
Der Of n. lie Ministre. he looked up MS
old friends, notably Rsoul de PontignY,
his most intimate chum of the old Polytech-
njuus DAYS, and there was hisyoung brother,
Louis, nominally reading Law, but really
counting the Muses. and INDUCING IN some
rather perilous coquetry with the genius
of revolution. Louis was poet and
Young; and men of this sort who live nnder
an absolute Government are usually ter
rible fellows on such subjects as tyran-
pieide, the majesty Of man, and so forth.
Fortunately for his skin, NJ. Louis La
grange could find nobody willing to print
the 6loodthirsty verses he scribbled by the
resm. Pierre was forced to wade through
rolls of Alexandrines the first time he
climbed up to the attic where the poet
lodged, and though he smiled and com.
mended, he was fam to admit to himself
that it was not merely the ssdition that was
in them which made the poems &c. Begging
for publisher.
Raoul de Pontigny was gay dog, a
pretty boy" light hearted, Open-hsnded,
md possessed with an enormous respect
for his old friend, although Pierre coat
was none OF the smsrtest. He slapped
Pierre on the shoulder, and said he must
show him something Of life in Paris, and
proceeded to do so at once by carrying him
off to a breakfast at Lambeaux ), where
Mdlle. Delphine, of the Folies Histrioniques,
and her friend Mdlle. Kleber, made up
snug party. After the ice had once been
broken, Pierre saw plenty Of Prsisian life;
and he ended by doing what no man In hls
senses ought to have done, least OF all
man with mind perfectly balanced by a
Polytechniuue trainiug-he fell head over
ears in love with M6iie. Delphine; aud BY
the time Woer,h had been fought. and when
the wonderful new mitrsilleuses we're en-
routefor Berlin, he was careless whether his
new road should be made or not; careless
even about the course of the war, 30 long
as the fair Delphine would give him her
smiles and allow him to spzzad his money
upon her. :,
Well, it was his folly. Many learned
men have their folly; some IF them, indeed,
are not content with one.s He went on
signing. Surely, DelphinG never had 80
easy q conquest before. She did not need
to use the Clumsiest of her pretenses to be-
fool him. Meantime Sedan came, aud as
the German host drew near to Paris Del
phine thought she would rayber read OF the
coming siege in London THAI face its dis
comforts on the sacred soil Of France. So
she wrote to Pierre, tellin,, him that she
had been called to the bed # sick sister
in London, and exhorliDg Am to bear him
self like a hero and rush =, the front to
hurl back the barbarous il sder should be
show his face before the fail capital OF the
world.
Rsoul staid in his beloved Paris till the
last moment. Then he, so, having no
taste Tor possible bsnquetS Of horsedesh
and black bread, took flight to fog haunted
Albion. Pierre, somewhat piqued BY the
fight of his mistress and his ftisnd, offered
his services to the Government, aud Gen.
Trochu, knowing something of his story,
gave him a post Of honor an responsibility.
Young Louis, partly through his brothers
influence, came well to the 3ront. By this
time he was tSangiUg his revolutionary lyIe
With q will, and his forte seemed 10 lie IN
the denuciations of tyrants III general
rather than in 6ghtiUg the Prussians at the
city gates. !
At last came the end. Pierre, disguised
with the fractions lncsp2city of the men
Sho had been proclaiming themselves sub
lime" for the last three months, went to
England to seek for Delphine, whom be
mad pictured sitting by her sick sister s bed
and worn out by her vigil Of duty. He
put up at a French hotel, called on Del. .
phiue, and found her looking surprisingly
we'll considering all she had gone through;
hunted up Raoul, who told him there was
plenty of fun aud spice to be found In Lon.
don if one knew how to look for 1t, and,
6ually, on his return to his hotel, found
himself seated next to his old chief. NJ
de Cousssc, who, 10 Pierre's surprise, show
ed no sign of resentment for the past, but
remarked, with a sigh, that it behooTed all
Frenchmen to sink their differences now.
He asked Pierre to call on him at his
lodgings in Jsmaicssquare.
There are rooms vacant IN the house.
be said. why not Gomez 1t is cheaper,
and you can always dine here as | do"
In less than q week both Pierre and
Raoul were established 10 the house near
Jamaica. square. Rsoul gave little din
per at a restaurant near, at which Delphine
and de Coussac were both present, and
during the festival Pierre several times
faucied that his ex-chiet was more polite
than necessary to Delphine.
A day or two after, as he was going to
call upon her, he saw a man leave her door
whom he could have sworn to be NJ de
but Delphine, when Intercepted,
shook her pretty head and said be must
not be a jealous goose-it was all his absurd
fancy.
In time came the news that the Versailles
troops were at last inside Paris, and few
days after this de Coussac came into
Pierre's room and told him that he had
ust read in letter from Paris, that Louis !
Lagrange had been an sctiye leader under /
he Commune, and was now in prison, from |
whence he would certainly only come out
70 trial and execution, unless some steps /
we're taken to get ct the new set of rules,
There was certain Colonel Miribel now
n high command, aud if they could get
he right side OF this warrior, de, Coussac
bought, the unhappy boy might be saved.
Pierre, ofcourse, IN his grief and perPlexiry,
,,o, g. r,sh;n, off n paris NJ once. Int |