News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-04-04

tenderiy asked.
''Homei'' and tears rolled slowl,
down his wasted cheeks, though til,
poor soldier boy struggled to keep then
back.
''Eet ees the homesickness he hev,
said Guilbeau, gravely, and he hurried
off to resume his search for the oxen
Not long after Marie discovered that til,
driver, too, had disappeared. For
moment the poor girl felt forsaken anC
we'll nigh desperate; but the invalid wa
evidently too weak to sit up, SO that the
loss of the buggy was really of small nc
count. He must be carried in the OK
cart ON a bed of moss, unless, indeed
she could secure BouzOn's S boat. In tn,
latter event, and her heart leaped within
/ her at the thought, they could go straight
! home across the river, while the trip by
/ land would involve the long and danger.
ous ride to the post, and another still
longer down the opposite bank.
But there was no time to waste. A
low fever and that mysterious maladA
| for which there is no cure except home
itself were rapidly consuming the young
soldiers small remnant of strength.
"Home home :" was his constant,
umeasoning plea hour after hour, till Al
last. as the sun went down, he fell into
a quiet slumber, and his sister walked
out to the Coulee.
Lying across the narrow stream was a
great cypress, its immense crown OF
half-dry foliage resting on the further
bank. Marie sprang upon a limb, grasp.
ing also one above her head. Thus she
went from one branch to another, and
looking down, saw something that gave
her throb of JOY.
"a boat! Tie boat!'' Yes, there il
was concealed in small washout open
ing into the Coulee Oh, if the owner
would only come. In her excitement,
she clambered quickly along the trunk
! of the tree. What spectacle greeted
her astonished eyes 1t was Baptiste
Bouzon himself. His lean figure, bent
at the knees and hips, was attired in
blouse and trousers that were a complex
collection of patches, while above his
coarse shoes several inches of bare
ankles we're disaereeably conspicuous.
A funnel-shaped palmetto hat came
down to pair of bloodshot black eyes,
that cleaned with the fierceness OF
burning Goals above a hooked, dipping
nose. The expression of his grizzly,
bearded face was full of cunning.
There he stood, both bony hands
clutching sack slung over his shoul-
der, his broad mouth hanging wide open,
while he glarcd at the girl who had
sprung from the fallen tree-top as if by
some supernatural agency. And Marie I!
Well, her girlish sense of the ludicroUs,
aroused by Bouzon's grotesque pose
Il Il cf I
counter, triumphed over the dread in
spired by his evil reputation. She
spTang lightly from branch to branch,
and then to the ground. As she adj
vanced courageously, the man addressed
her sayagely.
"Who arc you 2" he demanded.
Il am Marie L atour, mo. sieur. the
sister of Oscar, whois i'll in your camp,
she replied composedly. Il have come
10 take my brother home
''Then take him, and yourself, too,
out of my way !" he interrupted, angr;ly.
81 want no women sneaking and spying
around me- You hear?'
81 hear, monsieur, and / will do it;
but L shall want YOU to help me-"
Help you? Ndlediction :" The
proposition seemed to strike old Bouzon
as one of incredible audacity. He burst
into harsh laugh.
Helping people is not my business :"
said he, roughly. 81 am fiend-don't
you know that BLACK enough, aud
pa nted blacker by my good neighbors,'
and Re laughed again maliciously.
Monsieur" said Earle, gently, ''you
have given shelter to my poor sick broth
er, and l thank you for it from my heart.
And now, in appealing tones, ''with
your help we can soon go. You have u
boat -"
She stopped aghast, for at the word
''boat" the old Frenchman turned livid.
His face contracted with the leallicst
rage. and he spranG forward with one
arm uplifted as if to strike her to the
earth. Thanks to Jules Guilbeau, Marie
was not altogether unprepared for this
attack. She stood before the dcmentcd
creature, her graceful figure well poised,
and her gaze tlauntlessly meeting his.
What was it i'll those soft brown eyes
that held the mrrderous arm uplifted as
by n spell? And how was it that--with
tear-bright eyes and n little smile trem-
bling on her quivering hps-a mere
touch of her small, weak hand on that
strong arm should causa it to drop Imply
at the ruffian's side? With avcrted eyes
he turned slowly toward the cabin, fol
lowed by Marie, who was determined to
make the most of the advantage already
gained. He might kill her if he would,
she declared, but first he must hear what
she had to say.
Beginning with an acknowledgment of
the trouble to which Bouzon had been
put, she briefly depicted her brothers
critical condition and the absolute ne
cessity of getting him home as quickly
as possible, and she concluded by de-
claling that whoever would safely con-
vey him thither should be well paid for
his trouble. At the last sentence an
eager, hungry look was flashed ON the
girl from the Frcnchman's burning
eyes.
After many denials and much hag-
CLING, he finally consented to make the
trip for ten dollars at the start, fifteen
more at Jules Guilbeaa's, and twenty
five on landing the brother and sister
safely at home, all to be paid in gold.
If ever the rapaciOus greed of a miser
was unconsciOusly revealed, it was by
Bouzon at the mere mention of
that magic word-gold. Marie con-
of it with her.
Guilbeau did not appear that night
as he had promised. And what n night
it was for Marie, in that lone swamp
hut Often her weary eyes were, with a
terrible fascination, drawn to the pile
Of moss upon which her uncouth host
lay, and Invariably she found his gaze
fixed on her; while the sick boy, rest
lessly slumbering, necessarily reiterated
his mournful plaint for home and
mother. Longing for the cool night
air, yet fearing to move, she sat the night
out ON an old box bv her brothers bunk.
Daylight came at last. They were to
embark in time to reach the river at
dusk, but Bouzon went off early, an d
did not return until after dark. So
another night must be lived through in
that horrid place. And still Jules Gull
beau was missing. What if both the
men should fail her?
The devoted girl had many moments
Of despair during that long, dreary night,
rs she sadly realized her helplessness in
that lonely spot; but hope returned
with the blessed light of day. even
though Bouzon again vanished.
AT noon he reappearcd and announced
that the boat was ready.
BY five o'clock they arrived at Gull |
beau's, and Marie found tlIe good man
PROSTATE with fever So he had not
been faithless at all. She parted from
the kind-hearted couple with no little
regret, and, paying Bouzon his second
Of gold,-t rest she bad /
concealed,-was soon ready for |
another start. To Marie's JOY, her !
brother was already imurovinp: and |