The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1890-08-26

taverns, 10 roads. You gain by mule
paths hamlets hanging up, as it were,
on mountain-side, and commanding
tortuous abysses whence of an evening
you hear rising the steady sound, the
dull and deep voice, of the torrent.
You knock at the doors of the houses.
You ask q shelter for the night, and
something to live op till the morrow.
And you sit down at the humble
bard, and you s.eep under the hum
BILE roof, and in the morning you press
the extended Land Of your btt, VINO
has guided you as far as the outskirts
Of the village.
"Now, one night, after ten hours
walking, I reached little dwelling
quito by itself at the bottom Of a
narrow valley which was about to
throw itself into the sea, league far
ther on.- The TWO steep slopes Of the
mountain, covered with brush, fallen
rocks, and great trees, shut in this la
mentally sad ravine like two sombre
walls.
"Around the cottage were some
vines, a little garden, and, farther of,
several large chestnut-trees-enough to
live on; in fact, fortune for this poor
country.
"The woman who received me was
old, severe, and neat-exceptionally SO.
The man, seated on straw chair, near
the door, rose 10 salute me, then sat
down again without saying word.
His companion said to me:
"sExcuse him, monsieur, he is deaf
now. He is over eighty-two ye lis
old.'
'tShe spoke the French Of France.
| was surprised.
81 asked hers
"'You are not Of Corsica"
"She answered.:
"sNo; we are from the Continent.
But we have lived here now fifty
years.
GA feeling of anguish and of fear
sci ed me at the thought of those fifty
years passed in this gloomy hole, so
far from the cities where human be-
ings dwell. An old shepherd re-
turned, and we began to eat the only
dish there was for dinner, thick soup
in which potatoes, lard and cabbages
had been boiled together.
.;"When the short repast was finished
I went and sat down before the door,
my heart pinched by the melancholy Of
the mournful landscape, wrung by that
distress which sometimes reaches trav-
elers on certain sad evenings, in cer-
tain desolate places. It seems that
everything is near its ending-exist-
;ence, and the universe itself. You
perceive sharply the dreadful misery
of life, the terrible isolation of every
one, the nothiDgness Of all things, and
the black loneliness of the heart which
nurses itself and deceives itself with
dreams until the very hour Of death.
"The old woman rejoined me, and,
tortured by that curiosity which ever
lives hidden at the bottom of th3 most
resigned Of souls:
1850 you come from France" said
she.
"sYes; Pm travelling for pleasure.
"'You are from Paris, perhaps"
".No, | am from Nancy
tsIt seemed that an extraordinary
emotion agitated her. How ] saw, OF
rather felt it, l do not know.
"She repeated, in slow voice:
"'You are from NancyT
"The man appeared in the door, i'm
passible, like all the deaf. She RI
sumed:
"slt doesn't make any difference
He can't hear
sThen, at the end of several seconds
"'So you know people at Nancy?
"Oh, yes, nearly everybody
90 The family of Sainte-Allaize"
"'Yes, very we'll; they were friends
of my father
sWhat are you called?'
81 told her my name. S.e REG ard
ed me fxedly, then said, in that low
voice which is reused by memories:
"'Yes, yes; I remember we'll. And
the Brisemares, what has become Of
them"
"'They are all dead
"sAh! And the Sirmonts, do you
know them"
"'Ycs, the last of the family is a
general
"Then she said, trembling with emo
ton, with anguish, with l don't know
what, feeling confused, powerful, and
holy, with do not know how great q
need to confess, to tell all, to talk Of
those things which she had kept shut
in the bottom OF her heart, and to
speak of those whose name distracted
her soul:
"'Yes, Henri de Sirmont. I know
him well. He is my brother
"And I lifted my eyes at her, as!hast
with surprise. And all of a sudden
my memory of it came back.
cit had caused, once, great SCAN
dal among the nobility Of Lorraine.
A young girl, beautiful and rich,
Suzanne de Sirmont, had run away
with an under-oflicer IN the regiment
of huzzars commanded by her father.
ssHe was handsome fellow, the son
of peasant, but he carried his blue
dolman very we'll, this soldier who had
captivated his colonePs daughter. She
had seen him, noticed him, fallen in
love with him, double while watch
ing the squadrons filing by.
"But how she had got speech Of
him, hJw they had managed to see one
another, to hear from one another
how she had dared to let him under
stand she loved him-that was never