Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-10-15
CHAPTER Z.
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and thts Is yo1tr first pisit to american
Tom Bannick and his wife con moved
into their new quarters, ard Mrs. Raven
and Olympia accompanied them. Olym-
pia, indeed, had felt somewhat sensitive
about keeping upsuch intimate relations
with people now grown wealthy, but she
Welded to. the Bannicks' obviously sin
cere protestations. Besides, the price
given Cor her pictures by Count de Lisie
and his promise to order another made
her feel almost rich herself.
One morning while she was painting
In the little room set apart for her studio,
and her mother and Mrs. Bannick were
out shopping, the Count de Isles card
was brought in to her. Hes come to
give me the order!'' she said to herself,
and rejecting that it would be business
like to receive him in her studio, palette
In hand, she babe the servant conduct
him in.
He presently appeared, filing up the
doorway with his tall, military figure.
Olympia, rising, glanced at his yellow,
upright hair, his shining eyeglasses, and
his short, pointed beard, and feared she
would find him tiresome. But he had
been 30 good to her friends and herself,
and rumor made him out so extraOr-
binary a parsonage, that she was dis
posed to make the most of any promising
traits he might display.
81 interrupt you at your work. said
he, bowling, and looking SO very French,
and with so marked q French accent,
that Olympia unconseiously replied to
him in the Gallo tongue, which she
spoke really as well as her own. 'Mais
non, monsieur" said she; "vous ne
mincommode pas Ie moirs du monde;
aprupos, c'est de mon Outrage que mons
ayous q causer, restu pas?'
This evidently pleased the count very
much, and put him completely at his
ease He sat down on the little sofa in
the window. Olympia remained at her
easel, but laid away her palette and
brushes, and they were oon chatting to-
gether in the language of Paris with the
freedom and vivacity of old ~acquaint-
ances. Olympia did not find the count
the stiff and rather porterrtous being
that she had pictured him from Toms
description.
"And is this your first visit to Amer
ica??' she inquired at length.
81 feel already so much at home that
can hardly think it is my first" he re-
Piled, land l am nearly decided to make
this my home. France is not, or ever
will be, the France she was"
Then, you are an imperialist? But we
have no emperors herer'
"Frenchmen are not like Americans;
they need tho strong hand. The De
Liales were Frenchmen generations be-
fore the FIRST Napoleon left Corsica. They
vere monarchists: but at present there
l. still less hope for the king than for the
emperor. As for me, 1 was with Ma
poleon during the war with Germany,
and I owe him much"
"You knew Napoleon himself? Did
you like himT'
II owe him much" repeated the count.
II cannot criticise him. He was a great
advensurer, and he conquered fortune
for . time"
"But what did he do especially fol
you?"
SWELL" said the count, hesitating a
little, she gave me the Cross of the
Legion, and be gave me my title. My
father was a plain gentleman"
what had you done to win the cross?
The count smiled. 81 was not a great
soldier" he said, ''but / had good luck
Opportunities came in my way. You re
member that Bazaine fought ab the battle
OF Gravelotte, near Metz, on the eigh.
tenth Of August"
Olympia nodded. "And he shut him
self up in Metz the same ight!'
"Yes; see you are not ignorant Of
these things. Well, then, he wished tx
send news TO MacMahon, who was some
where 10 the west of us-it might be fifty
miles or it might be a hundred. 1t wa!
really . hundred, as it turned out, for
found him at Rheims, and l lost anothe,
thirty miles by wandering"
You bore the dispatches from Bazain,
10 HacMahon, them
II did, and 1 had an unpleasant tim,
II It My first horse was killed; my sec
ond was drowned; I was myself wounded
slightly in the leg and in the arm witt
n thing and another. I was tire
days On the road. I reached MacMahon'
camp on the twenty-second pretty tired
handed in my dispatches. Napoleon
md the marshal were in the room to
gether. MacMahon questioned me. Tn
dispatch said that Bazaine meant I.
break through the investing armies un
der Prince Frederick and Albert of Sax
sny and gain Chalons by a northern
route. / said that I did not believe h
would succeed. The enemy were to
skrong and were constantly REINFORCED
Napoleon listened and kept his eyes o.
no What should we do, then, Mr.. d
Lasle?' be asked me. march to a
PARIS at onceg7 I said. Napoleon glance
st AseMahon and nodded. But, as
learned later. the minister of war i
farH . sent orders TO move ON Met;
hacMahon hesitated; Napoleon, VIII
was III, would not decide, and in I'll
end, g no doubt you remember, mad,
mofeelle We set out for the Meuse.
WIS when that order vas given tn,
France IVA defeated. Sedan was merel
the eurullary.
And were you at Sedan alsoy'
"Yee; ! saw the end. When MacMahc
gos his wound IL was still early in Il
morning; he gave his command to Du
rot who was in his right senses. an
peRcefved that our only hope was
break through TO the westward and gat
MexieFes. But the French were doome
DeWtmp6en, who had been appoints
MacMahDu's contingent successor by q
defs ffun Paris, was mad enough 10 n
only countermand Ducrot's orders, b,
10 pfepare to pierce the enemy's lines
the eastward and march for Metz. Y,
may imagine, mademoiselle, the CO
fneion. II o became eonsternatio
md with some, panic. Meanwhile d
Germans enctrcled us; from the 50
rounding hills their canno PLAYED
n eonyergine. We could do nothin
What we could we tried. In the NOR
ing I hsd, at Napoieon,s request. head
ON line ct Dsigny, and held It for t.
AOars, and later, when Douay at Il
esve way before the Fifth and Eleven
ecxps ss Flooring and we were all beil
1zfven In upon our center. I Joined
- charger Of our Seventh cavalry. q,
hef1ers Ii was there that Iwon /
Nsk A. any rate. I WIS pretty bad
hur4 there, and late in tho afternoo
~IR inside the fortress, hstenil