Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-01-07
THE FRENCH SENTRY.

AhO CuOihy utu ISbIodbeu III ldBG, l6dV
ing the French masters of the position
The sergeant had gone away, after plac
ing conscrlpt, Claude Latapie, IS sen
try, on an eminence, under shelter of 6
cottage, which had been half demol
ished by the grapeshot.
Night was coming on, and in the deep
ening gloom the young soldier looked
half fearfully at the wintry landscape
Each object was huge, weird silhou.
cite, which his simple peasant fancy
transformed into fantastic specter
and he tremblingly recalled the ghostly
legends heard in his childhood, the won.
en- crossing themselves, the men shud-
dering and all drawing nearer the glow
ing hearth, while the wind howled
mournfully Above him the sky grew
more and more Opaque, not star pierc-
ing its blackness, and the bleak north
wind prolonged the treInulous sighs of
the branches, as they softly rustled
against each other,
The sentry cir ned hin muslSet firmly
and stood nu.osless rs1alyzed with
vague terror amt almost numb with cold
His thoughts We're so busy with the
memory OF his home and of days which
seemed, after all his battling and hard
ship, to be long away, that he half tor
got his duty Of keeping watch.
Suddenly a moaning sound arose in tll.,
darkness near him. Startled from his
reverie, Claude shook himself, cooked his
gun and looked about him anxiously
with eye and ear and every muscle ou
the alert, remembering that his COM
rades were asleep and that they trusted
to him to awaken them in case Of danger
The moans continued with sound Of
strangling like death rattle; then a
faint, hoarse cry of agony arose from the
ruined walls of the house. Claude peered
In at the doorway, struck a match and
saw lying in corner on heap of rub
bish and held down by the fragments Of
the shattered roof the dark outline of a
human form.
A bit Of candle end chanced to be ly-
ing near and Claude lighted this and
crept softly toward the corner; in the
dim lightthe discovered soldier, one of
the enemy, who had evidently been
struck down by the falling joists, for
beam lay across his chest. The young
Frenchman uttered an exclamation ex-
pressing fierce hate, and drew his bayo-
net threateningly; the other man looked
at him with haggard eyes. Claude was
ashamed and drew back; it was indeed
an enemy, but q wounded one, and the
conscript lowered his musket, which
struck the frozen ground with a sharp,
clanking sound.
'Let him die," he muttered; but a
choking voice exclaimed imploringly:
"Drink!"
"You want drinkp Very likely" re-
torted the young trooper, laying his
hand on the canteen, which, before TAX
ing his place as sentry, he had filed with
warm coffee, generously seasoned with
brandy. Every proper for me to warm
an enemy's stomach at the expense of
Frenchman'sp'
He laughed sneeringly, and as if in de-
fiance of the wounded mans entreaty
opened the canteen and put it to his own
lips. But the first drop seemed to choke
him; after all, this wretched German was
a fellow man! Claude leaned his gun
against the wall, stopped over the suf-
ferer, lifted off the heavy beam and then,
kneeling down, held the canteen over
the gasping mouth. The other man
raised his hands eagerly to grasp the
treasure.
"None of that" cried Claude; 'sput
down your paws, OF not drop shall you
have. The creature thinks I would be
willing to drink after his beery lips!''
The wounded man understood, for he |
had lived in France before the war, and |
made a movement as if to turn away |
hom the look of disgust which accom-
panied Claude's words, but his feverish
thirst made him change his mind. He
opened his mouth and the other man
poured into it stream of warm coffee
rom the canteen, then, standing up,
;ossed off bumper as his own share and
rushed out of the cabin in sudden terror
Vt the thought of having deserted his
post.
THAT was a hard tug" said Claude,
between his teeth.
AT the end Of half an hour, partly for
ne purpose Of learning how the wounded
nan was getting on and partly to shield
himself from the cutting wind which
ashed his face, the young sentry again
inferred the cottage
The poor German, still tortured with
ever, stretched out his hand for the can
cen. and filed with pity. Claude Lata-