The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-05-04


officers and squad of soldiers for body
guard, came along the street a little later
and found the two women nursing the
heads Of the fallen men. He halted and
made some inquiries, then ordering a
surgeon and some attendants TO remain
and examine further, he passed on, going
to have conferences with the Compile de
Championship.
Dona Hortense begged the surgeon to
orderthe bleeding men taken to her house.
She led the way, praying as she went.
Poor Pauline had tainted and was borne
along in the arms Of a stalwart soldier
1t was a strange procession moving
through the silent storm shattered town.
4
It is recorded that Louis Doucet and
Capt. Cortes both recovered; but Doucet
was never afterward able to be soldier,
though he lived to be very old man
He and Pauline were married at Mobile
by priest called Father Roman, and
soon afterward they returned to France
and made their home in Provence amid
the scenes Of their childhood and in the
very house made holy to them by their
betrothal. The legend further says that
their children numbered eleven, seven
of which were sons, the others, presum-
ably, were girls.
The subsequent career of Capt Cortes
is not certainly known, but in an old
though not well authenticated chronicle
preserved at Seville mention is made of
nm officer of that name who; after val
liant service in the Floridas and in many
other countries wherein he followed the
Holy Cross, was granted an estate in
Mexico near by Vera Cruz, where he
lived and died unmarried, always true
to his king and to the holy church, and
it was the proceeds of his estate, be-
queathed for the purpose, that built the
Convent of the Sacred Heart"
Recently, while sojourning in Pensa-
cola spent some golden April days,
with the record in my hand, trying to To-
cate, as near as possible, the exact spot
whereon Doucet and Cortes fought and
fell. If ever you chance to visit that
picturesque and charming little city by
the gulf, it may please you to walk up
the main street toward the site of the old
fort on the hill When you reach rather
narrow, flower fringed cross street about
half way on your journey, turn into it to
the right and go forward until you come
to small garden on the left. On the
flank of this garden, or flower plot, you
will see low, home like, old fashioned
cottage, over whose wide veranda climbs
arose vine of wonderful iuxuriance heavy
with masses of strangely fragrant roses.
Standing on the sidewalk nearly in
front Of this cottage, turn your face to-
ward the bay and let your eyes seek and
rest upon the tallest spire in sight. This
done, let your gaze fall straight down
until it reaches the ground some ten
yards in front of you. That is the spot.
Near by is mulberry tree. little be-
yond stands a clump of oleander with
hedge Of spirea and Grape myrtle stray
Cling away from it. You viii feel the
breeze from the buccaneer islands blow
iag over you, mockingbird will sing in
the moss hung live oak yonder, the bay
will glimmer and toss its foaning waves,
and over all will nang sky as blue and
pure as that of Provence itself.
One hundred and seventy years may
not be a large part of the past, but GER
tainly large enough to have comprised
the growth of the greatest nationof the
earth. If in telling this story have pre-
served one incident of that history, surely
the telling has not been in vain. Such
bits of romance serve to show US how far
our civilization is removed from that
which nodded the lives and directed the
loves Of those whose fortunes / have
found it pleasure to record.