Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-04-11

the lines, )" said he, coolly.
She was painfully aware Of that in
flexible military law, but how could sh,
bind herself ''to give no aid or comfort
TO her own brother, who, at that ver1
moment, was lying in spualid swami
shanty, suffering, if not dying, for wan
of food and care She was still mourn
ing-in heart as well as in attire-fo
two brothers sleeping in soldiers grayes
70 save this only remaining one, should
I she perjure herself or, for truths sake
must she renounce her mission, anC
leave him TO slow starvation and the bit
ter agony of feeling himself forsaken
Then, too, her gentle invalid mother
whose heart was breaking for her boy
Heaven help the distracted girl What
should she dol
She stood with hands tightly clasped,
looking down, fora few seconds. Then,
with her clear brown eyes meeting the
keen gray ones, she said, "Monsieur,
if l could break it, would take it. "
"Be as good as to explain yourself,
was the sharp reioinder.
II mean that il my conscience would
let me violate solemn oath, would
not mind taking that one, she answer
ed, gently. ~ would not, could not,
refuse to relieve the suffering" she
went on, her lips quivering and eyes
filling, whether Your enemy or mine
whether black or white, Federal or Con-
federate, monsieur"
Such candor was surprising, perhaps
impolite, but it did not seem to dis
please the Provost Marshal. Marie
caught her breath with half-sob.
"But this / can do" she resumed.
earnestly. 81 can give You my word
and no oath could be more sacred than
will hold ito give no information
whatever regarding his post or bearing
in any way upon military affairs to any
one. monsieur"
The attention of all present, citizens,
guards and officers, was conferred on the
pale, graceful girl, whose simple
mourning dress and pathetic repression
of strong emotion excited their respect
full sympathy. The Provost Marshal
scanned the fair, truthful face, and sud
IDENTIFY inquired her name and place of
residence. Both were promptly given.
Another quick, scrutinizing look into
the depths of her unhinching eyes, and
he seized blank, swiftly filed it out,
signed it, and handed it to her.
"How will that do ~ said he, pleas
antly. She read it, her anxious heart
fluttering up to her throat The prec-
ious pass was hers; the conditions
named were in the exact words of her
voluntary pledge.
1t was noon when Marie Latour cross
ed the river on the ferry of the Federal
post A spawned mule and a rickety
buggy were procured hard by, with lad
for driver, and the young girl set forth
on her mission. At dusk she reached
the mouth of the bayou along whose
course the rest of her route lay. Here,
from the occupant of n solitary house,
she learned that the roads beyond were
passable, but that all the horses and
mules of the neighborhood had been
"cleaned out" by the contending armies
and the iayhawkers, while on the bayou,
as on the river itself, the Federals had
destroyed everything in the shape of a
boat,
''Do you know the old Frenehman
who lives in the swamp on Coulee Noir,
some fifteen miles up the bayou I" Marie
inquired.
"Know ole Baptiste Bonzon 2" the
man exclaimed. ''Reckon sol Some
folks lows he's crazy, " he went on, an
if bein' Their cutest rasldl goin' is that,
it's bout time ole Bouzy wur shut up"
Marie pushed ON in the moonlight
three miles farther, TO one Jules Gull
beau's, where she had been told she
&c. I'LL, Il -. 4
the rest of the night. Guilbeau and his
wife listened to her story with mingled
wonder and pity, and the man at once
agreed to go on with her, and bring the
sick boy back in his ox-cart, if only he
could find his oxen, which had been
driven far into the forest for safety.
Earle, to be sure, still INDUCED hope
that Oscar might be sufficiently strong
to return in the buggy. And even
while she was bargaining for the oxen,
her mind, all alert as it was, caught
eagerly at a new possibility. For Bou-
zon had a boat hidden somewhere,
Guilbeau said.
:" Va Joii Eet stay hide, too" he
added, nodding emphatically. :. Not to
sew the life of yonr brothare-no, not
for one hundared brothare-he reesk /
the Yankee to brel1 hees boat
/" But for money!" Marie ventured.
You hev monee, her TEX a care he
know not Of that, ma m 'sella r. was the
quick reply.
Needing this friendly Warrington
the simple honesty of man and wife |
were past suspicion-ske left all but
ten dollars of her store in Madame
Guilbeau's keeping, and by daybreak
was again on her journey. For a time
her course lay between small farms on |
the one hand, and the bayou on the |
ether. Then for miles not dwelling