Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-01-16
ron THE HON0R or FRANcE

ron TIIE HONOR or FR1NCE.
Pardon Madame does not know that
this is a smoking carriage =
But yes. Monsieur is very good 1t is
that my husband would smoke. He is an
old soldier He smokes all the time Ciei
They are like chimneys, these old soldiers
This man Of mine regrets that he cannot
smoke " hen he is asleep :"
While Madame delivered this address she
continued also TO mount the steps, and as
she finished it she seated herself in the cor
ner of the carriage opposite 10 me. She was
short and round and sixty years old. and
smiling like the sun on a fine day Her dress
was the charming dress of Aries, but over
her kerchief she wore a silk mantle that
glttered with an embroidery of Jet beads
This mantle was precious to her Her first
act upon seating herself was to take it off
fold 1t carefully in large handkerchief
and lay 1t safely in the netting above her
head. She replaced it with red knitted
shawl, partly a shield against the dust
and partly as a protection against the fresh
wind that was blowing briskly down the
valley of the Rhone
In Il moment her husband followed her
bowing to me as he entered the carriage
/ Seating himself beside her and giving her
plump hand "A little aitectiunate pat he said :
/ 1t is all right, little one. Marie will receive
| her Jelly in good condition | myself saw
| that the the basket was placed right side up
| IN the carriage. The Jelly will not spill :"
| Then turning 10 me, he added MY wife
makes Il wonderful Jelly of apricots. Mon
sieur. We are taking some Of it to our mar
ried daughter, who lives in Avignon."
lie was well set up old boy, with a face
most pleasantly frank. close-cut gray hair.
short gray whiskers, and a bristling white
mustache. Across his forehead, cutting
through his right eyebrow, was desperate
scar, that at once associated in my own
mind with the red ribbon Of the Legion that
he wore in the button hole of his black frock-
coat. He looked the officer in retreat, and
the very gentleness and sweetness of his
manner made me sure that he had done
some gallant fighting in his time
As the train pulled out from the station
1t was at Tarascon that they had Joined me
he drew forth from his pocket a black lit
tie wooden pipe and tobacco bag. This
was NV oppoI tunlty. also drew forth a
pipe aud a tobacco bag. Would Monsieur
accept some Of my tobacco ! asked. had
brought 1t from America, ! added it was
tobacco Of the Havana
''Alonsieur then is all American That is
interesting. And his tobacco is from the
Hvana, that is more interesting still. Nv
cousins son has been for many wears In
America. His name is Msrius Guiraud : he
lives in San Francisco ; possibly Monsieur
aud he have met T.
Monsieur regretted that he had not had
this pleasure, aud explained that his home
was in New Gork-three times as far from
San Francisco as Marseilles was from Paris
Name of a name Is it possible How
vast this America must be And they tell
me- Here he struck a wax match and
paused to light his pipe. He drew a dozen
whifts in silence while on his face was the
thoughtful look of one whose taste in tobac-
co was critical and whose love for it was
strong.
Thunder of guns, but it is good :" he ex-
claimed, as he took the pipe from his mouth
and passed it lightly back and forth beneath
his nose. Had we smoked tobacco like this
in the Crimea we should have whipped those
rascal Russians in q single week All, that
we often were without tobacco was the
hardest part of all. | have smoked coffee
grounds and hay, Monsieur, and have been
thankful TO get them-l myself, who well
know what is good and what is not good in
pipe. This tobacco-it is divine -
Monsieur served in the Crimea -
This is the proof of it, o." he said, a little
grimly, touching the scar on his forehead
And this his wife added, touching the
bit of red ribbon in his button hole. He
was the bravest man in all that war, Mon
seur, this old husband of mine. His cross
was given him by"
'Tchut, little one What does Monsieur
care how got my cross 1t was not much
| ms ba. 4 81
same
But the others did not do the same They
ran away and left thee to do it alone. Did
not his Majesty tell thee"
An Monsieur hears what bdbiHdrtie it
is II she were given her own wav she
would swear that | commanded the allied
armies, aud that | blew up the Redan and
stormed the Malakof and captured Sebasto.
pol all alone :"
Tell Monsieur what thou didst do" said
the little woman warmly. Tell him truly
precisely what thou didst do and then let
him Judge for himself if what have said he
one bit less than thy due.
And so bring Monsieur to know that
am babbling old woman like thyself = He
pinched her gently, and then settled himself
back against the cushions as though with
the intention of giving himself wholly to the
ia his eyes that showed how strong was the
desire within him-the desire that is natural
to every brave and simple e-mnded old sol
dier-to tell the story of his honorable scars.
Even had felt no desire To hear this story,
not To have pressed him to tell it would
have been cruel But little pressing was
required.
Since Monsieur is good enough 10 desire
TO hear what little there is to tell - he said,
and to show him how foolish is this old
woman of mine, | will tell him the whole af-
fair. 1t is a stupid nothing; but Monsieur
may be amused by the trick that was put
upon me by those great generals-yes that
certainly was droll.
"Our regiment, Monsieur was the Twen-
ty-seventh of the Line twas drawn almost
wholly from the towns and villages in these
parts Aries and Tarsscon and Saint Remy
aud Salon and Maillane and Chateau Renard
there is the old chateau, over on the hill
yonder, beside the Durance-and Barben-
tame, that we shall see presently around the
corner of the hill. We all were JTUreHcrdur
together, and the men of the other regiments
of our division gave us the name of the
Provence cats-though why they gave us
that foolish name am sure they never knew
any more than We did ourselves 1t was
swear our regiment did some very pretty
lighting in its time, as any one may know
by reading the reports which were publish
ed in the gszettes of those days.
Our division held Mont Sapoune the
French right, you know-facing the Little
Redar across the Carenage Ravine. 1t was
early in the siege, and we had only drawn
our first parallel close against the Selling
hinsk and Nallyrie redoubts, and partly COW
ering the ground where we dug our rifle pits
later on But we were going ahead with
our work fast, aud already we had thrown
up the little redoubts known as No. / and
No -. that covered the advancing earth
work leading 10 " here our second parallel /
was 10 begin Redoubt No. II was a good
hundred yards, and Redoubt No, - was
more than three times that distance outside
of our lines and everybody knew that these
two advanced posts would he in great dan
ger until our second parallel was we'll under
way, So very possible was it that they
might be surprised, and the guns turned ou .
our own mines in support of general attack,
that in each of them spikes and hammers
we're kept in readiness against the need for