Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-07-31
Marie Antoinette's Wooden shoes.

! On the outskirts OF little village of
/ the province of Auvergne, where the
| whole population existed on the manu-
facture of the beeches and chestnut
trees of tl.eIr forest into articles of do
mestIc use, there lived, in the reign of
Louis XVI, young 'sabotler," OF
maker of wooden shoes, no one wearing
any other IN those days, and indeed
hardly IN these, IN Auyergne, He was
an orphan who lived alone and spoke
! little, and SO the country people reck-
oned him something of sImpleton, and
making a pun on his name, RaISon
| (Sensel called him Deraison (FoIly.
They also called him the Queens
| Sweetheart, because, in his little hut,
he had stuck up on the wall, below an
old musket which had belonged TO his
father, a little picture of the beautiful
! Queen Marie Antoinette.
Now. the chateau of the village be-
longed TO the famous General, Marquis
de La Fayette, who. when he came to
stay there, liked TO walk about
among the cottagers, and gossip wi h
his tenants. You may he sure that
they wanted to know of all the grand
things he saw at Versailles, and he told
them how the beautiful Queen and IA I
fair ladies had a fancy 10 live in little
| house arranged like farm, with IA
| dairy and pultry yard, carrying crooks
| like shepherdeSseS, wearing short
/ tucked up gowns. straw hats and
wooden shoes. wooden shoes!" ex-
claimed Deraison, who always had his
ears open when the Queens name was
pronounced. Does the Queen wear
wooden shoes? Oh, If 1 might but
make her pair!''
well, well, make her pair Derai-
son, and will take them 10 her." said
the General, good naturedly.
The very next day the young fellow
set TO work, and on the eve of the Gen
erals departure for Paris, he presented
himself at the chateau, carrying care
fully the loveliest little pair of wooden
shoes which were ever seen. They
were made of the finest chestnut wood,
covered with the most delicate and ele-
CANT carving. On the front of the
shoes was Il heart surrounded by rays,
and above, in a garland Of flowers, were
four letters-''T. L. l.. V"
The General smiled, for he knew the
meaning of these letters, and indeed
such woodeD shoes delicately carved,
and with these mystical letters. are
given by the sabotiers of Auvergne 10
their betrothed, worn at the bridal and
kept rs treasures when the young
bride IS the gray-haired grandmother
The first time General Ia Fdyette
presented himself before the Queen at
TrIanOn, he offered her the delicate
slbO-s, and told her the story.
The Queen was delighted with these
real peasants shoes, made by a gen.
uInc sabO.ieT of Auyergne.
But, Marquis she said, ''what
may be the meaning of these mysteri-
Gus letters?''
Your Majesty alone can give me
permission TO say"
Tell me, Marquis; permit YOU"
''lu the Auycrgne patois, your Ma
jesty, they mean T'aImerai Touta La
Vida; in other words, Il shall love thee
all my life,''' and the Marquis burst
out laughing.
But the Queen did not laugh, and
the tears stood in her eyes, as she said
Poor fellowl Poor boyI"
She spoke i lew words TO the Prin-
cess de l-auIDalle, who left the room
with the sabOts, and presently returned
with them full to the brim of gold
louis. The Queen emptied the money
into an elegant caSket, which she gave
to the General with her thanks and a
kindly message to be transmitted to the
poor cobbler.
The Queen would willingly have
worn the sabotS along with her coquet-
tish shepherdess costume, but, alas,
serious matters were driving all such
fanciful caprices out of her head. The
Revolution was carrying all before it
in its resistleSs tide. The fatal dates
of lTS9-92-93 succeeded each other
pK-if Gr-ff -.
himself had been impe3ched for treason
to the nation; the fair head of the Prin-
cess de Labllle had been borne on
pike for her fidelity 10 her mistress;that
royal mistress herself, dethroned, de-
graded, widowed, parted from her
children, lay in a miserable, filthy
prison. All these terrible stories grad
ually reached the distant mountains of
Auvergne, and the indignant ears of
the Queens Sweetheart"
Oae day he could bear il no longer.
He sewed the louis dor inside the lin
ing of his jacket. he hung the Queens
portrait round his neck, he threw his
musket over his shoulder. and he
started off on foot all the weary, weary
way 10 Paris, full of the tender and in
genuous thought that somehow or
other he must save his Queen
1t was the 18th OF October, 1898,
that, worn out, and footsore, he at last
reached the capital, and on the Place
de IN BaStile, where a short time before
the great fortress had stood in its
strength, he spoke to patriot" F"
wearing the cap of liberty, and armed
with a stout stick
1.-The way to the Temple, if you
please" said he.
''H hat do you want there?"
''To save the Queen!" the poor soul
replied, ingenuously.
1.-The Austriani she was cut short
yesterday" said the patriot, with a
brutal laugh and a ferocious, expressive
gesture,
The Auvergnat turned deadly pale,
and suddenly pointed his musket
against the patriot. who. however. left
him no time 20 fire, but with a tre-
mendous blow of his club stretched
him dead on the ground AN aristo-
cratI Down with all aristocratsl" BEL
lowed he. a crowd collected in a mo-
ment, they opened the dead mans vest
and there round his neck was the
Queens picture with the mystical let
tiers 1T. 7. l.. V" "A traltori A
traitorl' was the cry. In an instant
the corpse WAS dragged 10 the Seine,
and in a moment more the waters had
closed over the body OF 1.-THE Queens
Sweetheart with the louis d'ors still
inside his jacket Snd the sacred picture
on his heart