St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-09-20
A QUAINT FRENCH TALE.

ulCl VI ONOlO
''Get up, Maquelon; it is daylight and
the 'Angelus' has rung; your brothers are
waiting for you down in the yard, the
horses paw the ground; it is time to start"
There is something after bloody war in
order to strengthen q treaty of peace. Ma
quelon was married. although she was but a
child, to Prince Herbert, a child himself;
since they have grown up separated from
each other; row the day has come to con-
duct the bride to the bridegroom.
Maqueion blesses herself, and recon-
mends her soul to the Virgin; she rises and
puts on her wedding dress and long vail.
Then. dressed all in white, she descends
the stairs. Her brothers look at her in de-
light. They mount their horses.
rs Prince Herbert's home very far from
here?"
''Oh! very far. To go there we will have
to cross plains and forests we shall climb
more than one mountain with blue sum-
nit" et -.
Then Maquelon sadly hangs down her head
Yet nothing separates her from the house
in which she was born; she may, by stretch
ing forth her hand, touch the ivy that
clngS to the walls. In the meantime her
father and her brothers say. LET us 60"
but there is Maquelon's mother coming out
from the now deserted house, and with her
trembling hands she presses closely to her
heart her daughters little foot resting Oh
the stirrup.
You are going away" says she. You
leave me! 0. my heart will be empty~
Alas answers Maquelon, lis it not my
father and you, my mother, who have given
me to Prince Herbert?" The tears are
shining i'll the blue eyes of Maquel0n as the
drops of dew on the grass The cayalcade
is moving and MaQuelOn's foot slides out
from her mothers hands.
Tie stirrups sound, the spurs grind, the
stones fly under the feet of the horses; the
Duke of Provence and his three sons are
powerful knights, covered with black arm
ors the alright of the Saracens; in the
midst of this double line of steel and iron
is pale Maquelon mounted on her white
horse.
They go. they go! they cross the plains
and they disappear under the greeniSh
vault of the forests; then they reappear
again on the sleepy TANKS Of the noun
tains. Their thoughts are sad, and neither
song nor ballad is sung to divert their
ennui. Meanwhile, many days and nights
had passed since their departure, when at
the moment of crossing a little stream the
old duke stops his horse.
LAS true as the water of this stream
shall never remount to its source" says he,
Il shall not make another step forward,
but your brothers will accompany you,
Maquelon; my road is now behind me-"
''What will become of me if you depart
from me?" cries Maquelon.
L must return to console your aged
mother. Farewell, dear child, the years
have heaped themselves on my head, and
perhaps will die without seeing you again.
LET the will of God be done! But you,
my brothers, swear that you will never
abandon mel"
The brothers hang their heads and keep
silence.
GLOW long and distressing is this march
ing" says Maquelon. I'VE pass from the
forest to the mountain, and from the
mountain to the plain; and we do not ar
rive. Have we not lost our way in the
country of dreamS?"
mo, my sister, Prince Herbert dwellS
beyond those blue mountains"
Tell me- my brothers, does it seem to
you that the more we advance the more
heaven darkens behind us; the grass is
fading away, and the trees are lowering
their branches to the ground?"
Yes, Maquelon, sadness spreads itself
behind you because you shall pass no mole
on this road. At this hour our heart-brOken
father travels alone. aud our mother wriEgs
her hands in despair"
DO you think l have not also my share
of sOrrow-what do L see? Does your
horse refuse to walk, or are you retaining
the bridle?"
DO not accuse my horse! This oak tree
on my right marks the line that l shall not
cross. My brothers will descend with you
into the valley"
What! Have you not sworn never to
abandon me?" says Maquelon, clasping her
hands. Have you no remembrance of
your oath"
"A vain oath, my sister; 1 must return
to comfort my father and mother. Fare
we'll, beloved Maquelon. am young, but
often the young depart before the old.
Will l ever see you again?"
go, my brother! Now the Holy Vir-
gin knows that you have never loved mew
The youngest of the brothers, named
Amaury, was master in the gay science;
Maquelon cherished him. Dear Amaury,
sing one of those ballads that please the
ladies and the knights so much"
Willingly, my sister. l will sing the
ballad of Inesille of Bearn:"
The Count of Bearn has daughter. the fair
NESTLE.
Provencales, Frenchmen and the wild Corsi-
cans
Want to marry the counts daughter.
They want to carry her away.
She refuses to separ ate from her parents
And to have the castle of Couaracans;
1t is in Bearn where she was born
It Is in Bern where she will die
''Oh! that is a very sad ballad that you
have chosen, my brother"
While she was speaking, suddenly her
second brother stopped his horse; Maquelon
cOmprehended that this one was also ready
to turn back.
What is frightening you, valiant
knight? May it be this grasshopper cross
ing the road? All! you are silent, what
can you say? Co. and be ashamed, you
who leave alone a woman, Your sister!''
Thus speaking with anger, as the blood
of her race was as violent as the flames
she puts down her veil so as not to see her
brothers departure.
Soon traveller meets her:
Salute to you. Maquelon; your brother,
the one that has left you the last, he has
encountered band of thieves; they
wounded him seriously and took all he had
from him."
Another passer-by says:
''God have mercy on you. Maquelon;
your oldest brother has fallen into an am
bush and the Moors have taken him pris-
oner."
A third cries to her:
Happy journey, Maquelon; know that
the Duke of Provence was drowned while
crossing river"
Then fourth comes exclaiming:
pray God. my daughter; the mansion in
which you were born has taken fire and