The daily critic., 1890-11-08
THE LITTLE CORPORAL
a SINGULAR STORY TOLD BY AN
OLD HERMIT
lie claims TO- IIe Bouapartc. and says
ue De SON of The First
N.nnIenn-


coryor ,r.r.sifo Tho Siy Milo Ir,rso IN
r,a ,ri..f.. -.,..1 fi,.... "a. ,,.. -
Wy '''''" .'.' .'.'7 'N "'' ''''"' N.
10Y years mas gone oy the name oi
/ Count Napoleon The man who for
wears has borne 'he title of Count was
met by reporter near his doorway. rs
/ tbrniur from % hunt Two cotton
\ tails and auuuhar of guails AMI doves
depending from O. shotgun carried on
| his right shoulder. aitgstgi t1 his ud
| failing Cvesiuhi. aIthuuEh be is iJ years
/ Of age In appearance Count Nt
! po,c1n' Is somewhat striking Nur'v
/ SIX feet tall. strairhtcr than many "a
your ger man i1nt rrav beard 4n
I hair, coupled with an air OF u1i.I dfy
| nifty and self possession, causes one t1
I wonder if the blood of the Blnanlrles
| really does course through his veins
Yes sir, said the old man. in re-.
| ponse 90 the reporters query. as he
| drew himself To- his full height. i am
| closely related TO the Banaplrfes In
fact. I am the son of Nap1leon
] can well remember ihe time con
tinn'd the blue eyed old man, that
walking through one " the large parks
of Vienna with my mother Marie
Louise. daughter of the Emperor Of
Austria was abducted Two men
came mp aud grabbing hold of me.
hastily carried me To a coupe, which
was rapidly driven of My mother.
after screaming for The gems d'arms.
fell IN a dead faint I never saw her
after that time, for ! was taken TO the
coast and placed on board a vessel. ia
which was brought 10 this country.
Nhfe "a he In the TATE e,
vi the bark was the Alert. Captain John
Wilkinson commander.
II am 20 years old now. and was
born In Paris, March 20. ISL This
abduction occurred when I was years
old. Sir Walter Scott refers 10 me as
licentlous aud disgraceful idiot, and
John Gaylord Of Boston iniimates the
same thing. ] have had the iudignity
forced upou me Of being called the
idiot of the First Napoleon
Well, continued the speaker.
when ! reached this Country I was first
taken 20 Nublebor0ugh. Me. Jy two
men and left AT the house Of Mr.. Day.
where I remained for several weeks ia
care of a young lady who spoke French
Mr.. Day was a shipbuildcr One day I
was decoycd 10 the house of one
Matthew Cottril u was precon.
CertCd plan undoubtedly 10 murder me
! was but a child then. but well rcmem
Ter the agony resulting from tortures
II iliCted upon me by two 0r three m n.
who probably feared the conseuupnees
of a direct murder After woundl1p
me, as they thought fatally. WIS
turu,d ont io die
RW Providence inlerposed. aud De
foe had gone far from TIE house
young man overlook me, and by him /
was CarIied tu the house uf Johu Flint
and after weeks NJ Illness aud suffering
recovered my health From there 1
was taken tu house about Two miles
no the DamarisOota River and remained
there, ! think, two or three DAYS On
one of those days lady tolk me 10
into a room In the second story. where
a number Of bags Of money we're % be
seen. Pointing 10 them she said 10
French This money Is all yours. Ifynu
live long enough to reach the age Of 81
years sou will have the handling oft
The recollection Of that occasion
remains as firmly impressed on nv
mind % day as though IL occurred bat
yesterday, | have no idea what the
amount Of money was Ii seems that |
was being continually watched aud
shadOwed by men whom / think were
hired to kill me. That / am now alive
Is not due 10 their good will at an, but
some intervening providence saved my
life. Attempts were made on my life
four different times. At the time refer
20, when ! was shown the bags of
money by the lady. three men came
inlo that house for the purpose OF
killing me- Again / was saved, this
Time by the owner of the place. / can't
think of his name Just now but could
get II by referring 10 nv papers. lie
knew the men were there for the pur
pose Of taking nv life, and, unknown
20 them, took me to the door. aud.
pointing 10 the road, said: NV boy.
follow this road and make haste. This
Is no place for the son Of Napoleonl
In the darkness / wandered on until
/ gave out from fatigue Mynext reeol.
lection Is that Of kind, beautiful face
bending over me as lay upon a couch.
Poor little fellow that was Less than
10 years Of age, hunted By assassins.
butIeted about 10 what then 10 me was
a cherries world, the sight of a friendly
face was almost unknown 10 me. The
face was that Of an angel, I imagined
] knew when / saw her that had a
mother, and was no longer % be home
less little wandeTeF Il was a number
of weeks before / left the sick bed, aud
when ! did recover James Plummer aud
his wife decided 10 adopt me They
had found me that night living near the
gate in an fnsensible condition.
u lived with Mr. aud Mrs. Plummer
until ! became Of age. when shipped
on a whaler from New Bedford /
always had a strong liking for the sea.
aud for three years cruised In Northern
waters and visited various foreign