The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1888-10-20

faithful mameluke of the great Napoleon
was evidently OF n literary turn. At all
events, the editor of an interesting Paris
review which is only read by literary
connoisseurs-La Review Retrospective
has unearthed from somewhere, a
series of documents purporting to be the
memories of the magnificent mameluke
whose bronzed liniments, dazzling dress,
and silken girdle full OF damaskeened
nistols have been preserved for us by the
great French water co,orist, isabey.
Roustum has always been evoked as the
pink and pattern of fidelity; but tits re-
lated that he behaved most ungratefully
to his august master when the Star of
the Brave" began to fade and E.ba loom.
ed in the distance. It is said, moreover,
that he settled down comfortably in a
tobacco shop which had been given to
him by the government OF Louise Philip.
Ee.
Roustum's memoirs are strange med
lev of puerile ingenuity and oriental Gun
ming. He knew that he was an ornamen-
tai appendage in the household of the
household of the great conqueror, and he
relates how he made use of his position
to obtain ell sorts of favors from the
him nickuames and pinche6 his ears in
play. The mameluke states tha5 in his
youth he was stolen from Georgia. his
native country, by brigands, and that on
his arrival at Cairo, at the age of Is, Sala
Bey enrolled him among the chosen
troops. When the hey was poisoned, in
the natural oriental order of things,
Roustum entered the service of shiek
a orfn aF rlc
of Bonaparte, who at onov made him
brilliant offer, which be accepted. Ro-
STUN followed the conqueror to France
but not without many misgivin gs, for
some of the French officers were in the
habit of frightening him by saying that
his head would be struck off and stuck on
u pole as soon as he landed in Earope.
The mameluke soon became the wonder
OF the day IN Paris. Josephint-whom
he calls the good Nine. Bonaparte-made
him present of a ring. Describing the
famoRs coup d'etat of the 18th BrumaiSe
or Nov. Q, 1899, when the grenadiers of
Napoleon, led by Murat, drGve the depu-
ties from the orangeries of st.
Cloud at the point of the bayo-
net, Boustnm iaconically says thas
Bonaparte went down to St. Cloud ito
show some people there the door"
The change from Gen. Bonaparue's hum
ole residence in the Rue Chanterlne 10
the Luxembourg and then to the Tuiler-
les was the event whibh made the most
impression on the memory of the name
luke. He also relates how when he used
to sleep on the mat before the emperor's
door, Napoleon sometimes tried him by
putting ont the lights and coming steal
tbily toward him. Roustum on one of
these occasions nearly strang,ed the
emperor by mistake.
Perhaps the most amusing part of the
memoirs is that relating TO the bad faith
and dishonesty CT Napoleon's minions.
Berthler, for instance, once borrowed
Roustem's diamond hIted sword and
never gave it back. Bessers, who was
told TO put the mameluke's name down
for an annuity of 900 liyres, placidly an
nexed half the sum for himself, His old,
oriental instincts were rather too strong
to permit the mameluke, VINO had seen so
many pashas come AMI go to remain on
the losing side. His memoirs stop at
Elba. He disappeared until
the transfer of NaEoleon's remains to the
lnvalides, when nc hiaZed once more be-
fore Parisians in his magnificent erient-
al fripuery