Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-11-24

nEe, Druymg ouv nve, crusnmg Jemg, pun
ting an end to many dreams, many antici
pated joys, many a hope Of bliss; opening il
the hearts of wives and in the hearts O
: daughters, and in the hearts Of mothers
dwelling far away in other lands, wound
} that would never heal.
"Such is lifel" declared NJ. Salvage.
"Better say, such is DEATH" responded
Morissot with a laugh. =
But they suddenly started in terror, feelin,
that somebody was walking behind them
and, turning round to look, they saw, RICH
at their backs, four men, four tall beardet
men, armed, dressed like livery servants, ant
wearing flat caps, who were covering then
with rifles.
The two fishing lines slipped from theil
hands, and went floating down the river.
J. n an instant the two Parisians were seized
tied, dragged away, pitched into a boat, and
taken to the island beyond.
And behind the house which they had i'm
agined deserted, they saw a company of SOM,
twenty German soldiers.
A sort of hairy giant, who, seated astral
die of a chair, was smoking a big porcelain
pipe, asked them, in excellent French:
"OA, 6C1AtACAlOUs was UuO USu1lk kOOus
Then a soldier threw down at the officer
feet the net full Of fish, which he had take1
good care to bring along. The Prussia1
smiled: "Well, well! I see you had pretty
good luck. But We have something else t.
talk about now. Listen to me, and don't fee
uneasy.
I'm my opinion, you are simply two spie.
sent to watch me-. Itake you, therefore, ant
have you shot at once. You were pretending
to fish, just SO as to conceal your rea
designs. You lave fallen now into my
hands. So much the worse for you; wal
Is war!
"But as you must AVE passed the outpost
you must also certainly have a password il
order to get back. Give mo that password
and I let you go"
The two friends, standing side by side, with
faces livid and hands quivering a little from
nervous excitement, answered not a word.
The officer resumed: mo one shall eve,
know; you can return home quietly. Thu
secret will disappear with you. If you re
fuse, it's death-and that Immediately
Choose!"
They remained motionless, without utterins
a syllable.
The Prussian, always perfectly cool, pointed
to the river and continued:
"Think of it! In five minutes you will bt
at the bottom Of that water. In five minutes
You must have relatives"
And still Mont Valerien uttered its thun
der.
The two fishers remained silent. The Ger
man gave orders in his own language. Their
he moved his chair back, so as not to be toe
close to the prisoners, and twelve men tool
their places in line twenty PAGES of, with
rifles at attention.
The officer spoke again:
u give you one minute-not a second
Then he rose up suddenly, approached
Morissot, led him away by the arm to q
short distance, and said to him in a whis;
per: "Quick! tell me that password. Your
comrade will know nothing about it. III
just pretend to have changed my mind, tc
take pity on YOU"
Morissot made nc reply.
The Prussian led M. Savage away, and
put the same question to him.
M. Savage made no reply.
The two friends found themselves side by
side once more.
And the officer gave the word of com.
mand; the soldiers brought up their rifles to
q present.
Then the eyes of Morissot fell upon the
net full of fish lying there in the grass a
few steps away from him.
A beam of sunlight made the heap of fish
glimmer, as they still quivered. And he felt
weak for the first time. In spite of all his
efforts the tears rose to his eyes. He STAN.
mered out: "Good-by, M. Savage"
M. Savage replied: "Good-by, NJ. Morris
sot."
They shook hands, shaking from head to
foot with a trembling they could not master.
The officer gave the word: "Fire!"
The twelve shots made only one report.
NJ. Salvage fell all of a heap on his nose.
| Morissot, a taller man, swayed, twirled and
fell back across his comrade. with his face to
the sky, while thick gushes of blood es
caped from his vest-all burst in at the
breast.
Again the German gave some orders.
His men scattered, and came back with
ropes and some big stones, which they fas
tened to the feet of the two dead men. Then
| they carried them to the river bank.
Mont Valerien still ~roared-now coiffed
with a mountain of smoke.
Two soldiers took Morissot by the head ano
by the legs; two more lifted Savage tn the
same way. The corpses, strongly swung 6
moment, were flung out in a curve, and fell
feet foremost, into the river, the weight ol
the stones dragging down the feet first.
The water splashed, dubbed, quivered
then Gained down, while two little waves
broke against the shore.
A little blood foated away.
The officer, always serene, muttered: 9TH
fishes turn now"
Then he walked back to the house.
And suddenly he perceived the net full O
gudgeons in the grass. He lifted it., looket
at it, smiled, and called out:
"Wilhelm!"
A soldier, wearing a white apron, ran out
And the Prussian, flinging to him tn
catch of the two dead men, ordered:
"Cook for me these little things right off
fry them while they are still alive. The.
will make a delicious DISH"
Then he resumed his pipe.-Guy de Mau
PEASANT in New Orleans Times Democra
Translation. -
~,>> Nrnwa YAnD.