Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-10-02

balls, but laughing and encouraging
ono another with shouts The SUBJ
lieutenant remained immovable, with
his eyes fixed on the summit, a cold
sweat running of his temples.
Vaudras was spitten with vertigo.
To be attacked by vertigo is almost
as bad as to go mad outright. The
horror OF il suffocates and paralyZes;
and the man predispOsed by tempera-
ment to that mysterious potency of
empty space, to that magnetic attrac-
tion from abysses, loses all conscious
ness of himself and all will power; he
pales, he trembles, he rscedes. and
flies from the mute summons of the
invisible death awaiting him IN the
air.
Vaudras was afraid.
A.! the battlel there is the powder
which laughs, the lead which whistles,
tho steel which darts, the blood which
flows, the splendid shocks, the noisy
death at will! But that great mouth.
silent, terrific, waiting to suck one IN
noI-nol-noI imposslblel neverl
Thirty men had passed, had taken
the lead of EaudraS. They fanciei
that their officer, for the best of rea
sons, doubtless, watched their tragic
defile, and would follow to place him
self at their head again. None noted
his appearance, none suspected his
anguish. The ''little one" afraid BAH
''Mademoiselle'' Naudras nervousl In
deed, that is enough to terrIfy. What
is the matter? My lady suU-lieutenant
is cryingl"
Forty men had gone forward; the
balls whistled harshly, scratching the
granite walls with terrible rebounds.
The kabyles were firing volleys, con-
tinual discharges, sure that they were
lost If the charging foe should reach
| them. Naudras was exposing himself
as target uselesSly.
All the fifty men had passed by him
lie remained alone. lie dismCunted
meaning to try the pass on foot His
horse broke from him and hurled itself
after the others. At a quarter tn,
length of the trail its shoes slipped OF
the rock, it lost its footing and wa
whirled into the abyss, its four hoOf.
| turned upward. NaudTas screamed
his eyes starting from their sockets
! He threw himself upon his knees. II,
| dragged himself upon hIs stomach, bu
| brute instinct drew him backward. III,
| could not go on.
surrounded on all sides 10y the kabyles
three times their number, Rendered
desperate by their danger. The womeI
and children sailed from their rocl
cTannies and hung themselves from the
brides; they plunged knives into tn,
bellies of the horses, they scratched
! they bit. they threw stones. In tha
| swarming of the horde, that entangle
ment, that furious grasp of the ravini
multitude, the chasSeurs, Suffocated
dragged down, felt their limbs grow
numb. Their bleeding bodies wer
drenching the earth with red, and the.
leader vas not there to inspire them
to ordain a victory.
1t was faring i'll with them. Thei
long sabers, dulled and bent, wer
Withdrawn with difficulty from thei
thrusts into the masses. Their arm
were weak and broken. They wer
powder burned-at such close rang
were the kabyles firing. They wer
deafened by the yells of the dogs, eX
cited by the combat; they were deaf
ened by the shrieks of the children, b
the hOwls of the women, by the roar
of the men; cut, bitten, bleeding
scOrched on all sides, the little tToO
melted slowly before the multitud
which asSailed increasingly. sally
ambuscade, be the attack of what ilk j
might, 1t meant defeat and death I
the French cavalrymen.
Vaudras once more started to ru
forward, and with his mouth foamin
he fell back once more-the last time
From afar he gazed with an infnit
tenderness upon his men, dying ther
without him-but, all! in dying the
were fighting bravely-slaying gallant
ly. He drew his pistol from his bel
he held it against his temple, he presse
the trigger and the last convulsions {
the death agony preclpitated his corps
into that bottomless abyss which ha
brought upon him the accuTsed We
tlgo.