, 1889-05-05

When / am undressed you must lay me
on the bed ut the end of the room and
put your clothes by me-"
/ was d~umfounded and obeyed me
chemically. Outside we could hear wild
shrieks amid a deafening uproar.
Here they are" murmured Philippe,
again ejecting a quantity of blood.
And he turned his face toward me as
II to kiss me.
/ bent over him In a last embrace.
At the same moment the door, which
we had fastened carefully, flew open.
Three or four shots were fired in but did
not touch me, when a stentorian voice
cried out:
"StopI"
An officer advanced toward me and
said in French:
You are n prisoner, monsieur. YOU
swordI"
/ was dragged down below, where 1
found some privates and officers sur
rounded by Germans. / was indeed a
prisoner.
We marched towards Cologne. My
heart did not give my conscience free
play. / loved my brother more than l
loved myself, and I also loved my coun-
Wy lAAOAo lllthll L lONtu III htll. 1Itl Dul
snatched me from both In the crisis of
their greatest agony. Those only who
have lost n twin brother know that ours
is no ordinary grief. 1t is the other half
of us that is dead.
Philippe and l had never Beer sepa-
rated until he entered Saint Cyr. / had
been rejected and my grief was terrible
TO witness.
My mother, the holy egotist, was
pleased ut 1t. You can guess why.
My father, chief of battalion, had been
killed at Solferino. My sister, five years
our senior, had beer married at 10 to "A
young physician who had just settled In
the west.
My mother was thus left alone, as from
%pecuniary reasons she had been obliged
TO consent to our being educated at Pry-
taneo dc la F1eche.
Perhaps, but for the outbreak of the
war with Germany / might have realized
her dream, which was TO nave one of us
study law and become a magistrate, 30
that we could live near her. But the
blood Of a soldier coursed through our
veins, and as o as war wa declared /
volunteered in Philippe's regiment.
Never were twins moro entirely alike
h we. There was absolutely nothing
to distinguish us-that Is nothing but a
difference In intellect. / learned far less
easily than he, but of course that could
not be known by any outward sign> In
all other respects we were exactly alike.
As children our parents only told us
apart by the color of our cravats. Al
La F1eche tho m~atriculation number on
our clothes answered tho Same purpose.
1t was only when / was alone in the
small room / hired from tho little tailor
ut Cologne, that 1 had time to reflect on
oil the consequences of my assuming my
brothers identity.
l really became n forger by appropri-
ating n rank to which / had no right,
and allowing n certificate of death TO be
entered In the books of tho Etat Civile
that was incorrect.
l Ind received n letter from my heart
broken mother asking for details of my
own death, of which she had been in
formed. The peasants had found the lit
tie book containing my official description
in the room where we had been fighting,
as well rs n letter had received from my
sister, and both had been sent to my
brother-in-law, the physician, who the
mex day learned tho sad story of the re-
covered articles. They said that 1 had
becn carefully buried in the little grave
yard of Elsasshausen, and that when the
war was over my relatives could come to
pray at my grave, OF havo my remains
reinforced near them.
The crime that l had committed at the
request of my poor dead brother weighed
on me heavily. l was eager to return to
Franco that 1 might give up that portion
of the rcgimental funds that had been
confided TO me, and to establish my iden-
tity.
At last the day arrived, and one morn
ing in the month of April, 1871, l rang
ut the door of the pretty house at Lisieux
occupied by my aunt, q manufacturers
widow, and my charming cousin odette,
with whom my mother had found IA
home during the war.
April was exceptionally fine that year
and the garden was rich in floral treas
ures.
All ut once two voices cried out in uni
son
Philippe, my Philippe"
l was just in time to catch my poor
and Odette in my arms as they
came neal %swooning away. They clasped
mo feverishly, almost wildly, in their
embrace, as If some one was trying to
snatch mo from them.
Then odette started back, leaving me
to my mother, who strained me in her
arms, gazed ut me, again embraced me,
and then suddenly exclaimed;
"See, Odette, how they have used him!
He's only u shadow. What u terrible
thing is war, and in what a condition 1t
sends back those whom 1t does not kill.
They slaughtered my Maurice, and see
what they have done with Philippe. Oh!
my fine stalwart boys. Ali the assas
sins! You are not going back again.
you understand, l won't nave you in an
other butchery in Paris yonderi"
"Be calm, lear mother, my regiment
is being re~organized at Havre and we
shall not have to march against the Com
mune."
She turned to my cousin.
Come, Odette, / am not jealous; he Is
yours too. Ali Philippe, love her well.
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