The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-08-20

The school-master got through the
day, but the children had strange tales
of what they had seen, and it only
added one more to the general mys-
teries about the school-master.
: He is more than he seems, said
Mr.. Houston to his wife. He may
be" he stopped short; whatever he
was about to say he checked himself
in it, not because he had any thing he
wished to conceal but because he had
nothing to say. What connection had
this country school-master with the
portraits of those two distinguished
| men! It was riddle he could not
solve even to his own satisfaction.
A few months later the school
master went to the village where he
''got on SPREE and again was his
tongue let loose. Mr.. Houston knew
nothing about it until few days later
when one of the villagers came to him
and informed him that in boastful
mood, while intoxicated, the school
master had declared he was Marshal
Ney, Napoleon Bonaparte's celebrated
officer
Marshal Ney,n cried Mr.. Houston,
in astonishment. 1.-The man was
drunk. He can not be Marshal Ney-
Marshal Ney was killed in Paris on the
7th of December, 1885, Then to con-
vince his neighbor of the fact he took
from shelf an old history of France
in which he read the details in full
of the execution of the great Marshal.
| There was a mystery about the school
master and the le mot d. engine was not
in their reach.
For eight years the mysterious
schoolmaster had lived in close inter-
course with the people of Mocksville.
Newspapers came to the neighbor-
hood which Peter Ney read with avid
ity. Peter had great scar upon his
forehead over which he kept his IRON
gray locks combed The good people
began searching the history of the de-
funct Marshal of Napoleon, and to their
surprise found he had similar scar,
the effect of saber cut His feet and
| legs bore the same scars of wounds
that did the Marshall S; many now boldly
| asserted that this mysterious man was
none other than the materialized spirit
OF the Marshal come back among them
to engage in school teaching. The ac-
cession of Louis Philippe TO the throne
of France in 1880, was first discovered
in the papers by the mysterious school
master. His conduct was so strange
as to brighten and astound even his init
mate friend, Mr.. Houston. He gave way
alternately to paroxysms of rage and
| grief. At one moment he was swear
ing and raging like mad man, and
the next he was weeping like child.
Mr.. Houston did every thing he could
to console the poor school-master, and
after a time he partially succeeded. A
week passed and the school-master was
a changed man. He had grown more
haggard and melancholy.
One day he asked Mr.. Houston if he
did not regard his conduct as strange.
Il certainly do, was the answer.
eff you only knew me and my his
tory you would not blame me- I am the
most miserable of men. Know you
that am dead"
The former, not altogether free from
the superstitions which prevailed in the
neighborhood, felt his hair raising on
his head. He could only gasp: ''What
do you mean?"
II am dead to the world, the school
master continued. Il am, / solemnly
declare, Michel Ney, Duke of Elchingen
and Prince of the Moskwa. am the
great cavalry officer of Napoleon Bon
aparte at the side of whom [ have
fought on hundred fields. I see YOU
stare and look incredulous," the school
master continued, ''and I do not blame
you. was tried by court of peers
after my brothers in arms had refused
to sit IN Judgment on me and sentenced
to death. They were all political enc
mics, and | knew my fate was sealed.
But the officers and soldiers intrusted
with my execution were friends and
informed me that my life should be
spared. was forced for their sakes
never to reveal the fact while they
lived, for they would be put to death
for on-performance of duty. Not
even my wife and children know that
| live. On the 18th of December, 1915,
just fifteen years ago, took an affec-
tionate leave of them and was marched
by men whom I had led to battle, to
the end of the Luxembourg garden and
there took my place by the side of my
coffin. | was told that those guns
would be loaded with blank cartridges
and they were. Throwing away my
hat / told them to fire at my heart, and
when the volley rang out fell. The
coffin was buried and conducted from
the city in disguise. My wife and chill
dren plant flowers above my grave be-
lieving that lie there, while I am here,
daring not to reveal the fact of my ex-
istence, lest | should bring death or
ruin upon friends who saved my life"
The farmer believed his story and
could now appreciate the feeling of the
school-master. He alluded no more to
the former life of the great Marshal.
And time began to move smoothly on
again when the news came out in the
papers that the Duke of Reichstadt,
Napoleon's son was dead.
The poor school-master was again
overwhelmed with grief, and retiring
to his own room burned great many
papers, saying:
'They are no use now-I can never
raise an arm for France" He en-
deavored to destroy his sword which
he had always kept with him. He did
break it but Houston begged him for
the hilt as relic, and he gave it to
him. The hilt of that sword which
! added so much to the victories of Ma
poleon in the hands of the greatest
cavalry leader the world has ever seen,
is now in the possession of the North
Carolina farmer.
The school-master was a changed
man from that time. His story was
known to but few, and whether it is
true or not, is implicitly believed by
many prominent men in North Caro-
lima. He is said to have correspondent
with some one in France through the
French Consul at Norfolk until the
death of Napoleon's son, when he gave
up all hope of aiding France and lived
almost in seclusion until his death,
which occurred in 1916. He died at
the residence of Mr.. Osborne Ford. and
was buried in Third Creek church,
yard in Rowan County. A neat stone
bearing the name of Peter Stewart New
marks the last resting place of the
Mysterious School-Master. r.