The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1885-06-26
JACQUES.


He died as ne lived-a hero.
DO you remember my friend, TINT falr
spring day when we went to clasp his
hand La his little home in Clamzrt
Jacques welcomed us with his beaming
smile, aRs we dined under the vine
covered bower, while Paris roared far
away in ehe falling night just on the hori-
. zon
1oG never knew much about hEs life
slept IN the same cradle with him, and
can shew you his heart He had lived
two gears at Clamart with that tall,
beautiful girl, who passed away so
gently. 1t is an exquisite and aouching
tale
jacques had met Madeleine at the fete
OF st. Cloud. He loved her because she
was sad and i'll. He wished 10 give the
per child two sweet seasons of love, be
fcre he laid her away forever IN the earth,
and he took her there to hide with him in
the little dale of Clamart, where the roses
bloom if they had gone wild.
You know the house It was modest
end white, lost like = nest among the
green leaves. On its very threshold one
could breathe the fragrance of quiet
3Ove. jacques, little by little, became
absorbed by an infinite affection for his
dying wife. He watched her growing
Madeleine, ikea taper ina church, which
casts one brilliant glow before it dies.
smiled, and cheered thellttle house with
her blue eyes.
During two summers: the child scarcely
ever went out She filled the tiny garden
with her charming presence, her fresh
robes. and her light step. 1t was she who
had planted the largegellow gillihowers of
which she made bouquets for u.s. And the
geraniums, rhododeRGrons, and helitropes,
all those lovely flowers lived only for her
She was the soul of that little nook of ma
ture.
Then, In the Au tumn, you remember,
jacques came one evening and told with
his reluctant voice. She is dead" She
had died beneath that little vine covered
bower, as an infant falls asleep, in the
dim hour when the sun sets. She had
passed away among the green branches in
the forgotten retreat where love had
comforted her.
l had nevef seen -Tacques since our visit.
knew that ss Eas still embowered at
Clamart, living in the memory of Made
leine. Since the opening OF the eeige 1
had been so wearied that I had thought
no more of him until the morning OF the
18th, when, learning that there was fight
ing near Mendon. the little white house
hidden among green leaves, was suddenly
pictured to my memory. And l saw again
Madeleine, jacques, all of us, taking tea
In the garden, in the midst of the deep
peace OF evening while Paris rumbled
falntly on the horizon
Immediately went forth by the " Gate
OF Nanves." and took q straight course
The roads were incumbered with the
wounded. At Moulineaux 1 learned of
our success, but when l turned past the
forest and stood on the hilltop terrible
emotion seized my heart. Before me on
the ravaged plain where the little white
house had once stood, saw only hollow
darkened by flame and grape shot Nv
tears flowed rs descended the hill
oh, my friends, what sorrow! The
Hawthorne hedge, which you remember
had been cut TO the earth by bullets. The
tall, yellow gilliftowers. the geraniunls
and rhodocendrons lay about bruised and
broken, so mournfFul to see that | pitied
them as il had seen before me The bleed
Ing members of old friends
The house is all torn away on one side
It reveals, through ats gaping wound Mad
eleine's room, that modest rose-huuO
chamber. whose curtains were always
seen closed from the highway That
chamber, brutaliy torn open by the Prus-
sian cannoHs, thar amorous alcove now
visible from the entire valley made nv
heart bleed and told myself that stood
in the burial place of our YOUTH The
with she'll, resembled earth freshly stirred
by the spades OF diggers, IN which one can
discern the shapes Of newly-made graves
Jacques must have abandoned the house
and entered the bower which, by mira
Gle, remained almost Intact. There on the
earth, in a pool of blood, slept Jacques,
his breast pierced vita more than twenty
wounds. He had not left the vines be-
meath whose shade he had loved: he had
died where Madeleine had passed away -.
picked up his empty cartridge pouch
at his feet, and l saw that his poor hands
were black with powder For five hours,
alone with his weapon, Jacques had
hercely defended Madeleine's pure shade.