San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-01-17
THE DRUMMER BOY.

That night, Dec 25, 1888, the weather was
abominable. 1t rained in torrents, the wind
blew furiously, kissing as though in anger,
breaking branches from the trees which fell
with sharp cracklings that seemed almost
like cries of pain. L was about o'clock in
the morning. A carriage was rolling along
the road leading from the little village OF
Croix Daurade, some two or three miles from
Toulouse, to the Palificat castle; the wind and
the rain prevented the horses from making
any Roadway; at a favorable moment a
powerful gust extinguIshed the lights in the
lanterns.
'Stop, Jeanr' cried voice.
Jean, the coachman, obeyed; he got down
from his seat, held the bride of the terrified
horses, talking to them Familiarity to prevent
them from running away.
"Do you not see any light, Jeanl" asked
the same voice.
"Yes," replied the servant; "near by, at
Margaridetto's, but the house is very mean
and Marguerite is very poor"
What matters it," said the man who was
speaking in the carriage, 1--WE would be bet
ter off anywhere than in the midst of this
tempest, with a wind strong enough to blow
the horns off an OK"
At the same moment the door Of the car
riage opened and tall man stepped down
with burden in his arms. The man went
TO the house pointed out by the coachman,
from which light was seen streaming through
the rabbets Of the badly joined door; he
knocked, and in a few minutes young man,
or rather a youth of 10 or IA years, opened
the door.
"You, marquis here, at our housel7 cried
the astonished lad
eyes" said the other, laying on a wretched
straw chair his precious burden-a young
girl apparently of the same age as the lad
who had opened the door. The two young
people were of the same age, but what a diff
ference there was between theml The girl
was wrapped in a rich fur, beneath which
could be seen gown of garnet satin her
pretty blonde head, with its two great black
eyes, was hidden under large lace necker
chief The young man, wan, thin, enact
ated, had timid and unhappy look which
was painful to see. The dwelling into which
the marquis and his daughter had just made
their way was wretched, cold and bare; a
chest of drawers, an old cuckoo clock which
licked slowly in the middle of the room,
and an old table constituted the entire
furnishing of the hut, the floor of which
was the bare ground. At the back,
in an alcove on a mean bed, lay a
sick woman, the Marsaridetto, as she was
called in the place. A caDdlestick of three
branches lighted with its Pickering and
smoky flames this miserable home. The mar
quis threw surprised glance over this misery
which surrounded him; the young man, per-
ceiving this establishment, anticipated the
gentleman's thought:
''Oh it is not at all fine here, but, you
know, mother is a widow, and it is now two
years since she was taken i'll, and as for my
self, hardly earn enough tending focks to
keep her from starving"
The young girl began to SILVER from the
cold. The lad threw into the fireplace a
fagot of twigs, which blazed up with a cheer
full crackle, throwing into the room great,
dancing light. This sudden flash awoke the
woman who was sleeping on the bed, and
whose wan, emaciated face looked like that
Of a corpse. The young man ran close to
his mothers bed, and notified the sick
woman Of the visit with which tbcv wGs'
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