Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-07

| 6QucdCeQ us. we dgFeeO 10 ledN6 nome Gl
six, so as to have a whole hour of freedom
in which we would be men. For US ''to be
men" meant to smoke cigars, and to 60 and
have drinks at a shabby wine shop which
Louis had discovered in an out-of-the-way
street. The cigars and the drinks made us
frightfully i'll; but then what an emotion it
was to step into the wine shop casting
glances to right and left and in terror of be-
ing observed.
Watching the Soldiers Move.
These fine doings occurred at the close OF
the winter. remember there were morn
ings when rain fell in torrents. We waded
through and arrived drenched. After that
the mornings became mild and fair, and
then mania took hold of us-that of going
TO see off the soldiers. AK is on the road
to Marseilles. Regiments came into the
town by the road from Avignon, slept one
night, and started off on the morrow by the
road to Marseilles. At that time fresh
troops, especially cavalry and artillery,
were being sent to Crimea Not week
elapsed without troops passing. A local
paper even announced these movements be-
forehand for the benefit OF the inhabitants
with whom the men lodged. Only we did
not read the paper, and we we're much con-
cerned to know overnight whether there
would be soldiers leaving in the morning
As the departure occurred at in the morn
ing we were obliged to get up very early
often to no purpose
What happy time it wasi Louis and
Julien would come and call me from the
middle of the street, where not a person
was yet to be seen. 1 hurried down. It
would be chilly, Notwithstanding the SPRING
time and mildness of the days, and we
three would cross the empty town. When
q regiment was leaving, the soldiers would
be assembling on the cours, before a hotel
where the Colonel generally stayed.
Nor were we the only people to enjoy the
scene. Small proprietors appeared one by
one, early town folk and all that part of
the population, which rises betimes Soon
there were crowds. The sun rose The
gold and steel of the uniforms shone in the
clear morning light. We thus beheld,
upon the cours of that peaceful and still,
drowsy town, dragons, cavalry chasseurs,
lancers, and in fact all branches of light
and heavy cavalry.
Glories of the Cuirassiers.
But our favorites, those who aroused our
keenest enthusiasm, were the cuirassiers.
They dazzled us as they sat square on their
stout horses with the glowing star of their
breastplates before them. Their helmets
took fire in the rising sun; their ranks were
neighboring houses. When we knew that
there were cuirassiers going we got up at 4,
so eager were We to fill our eyes with their
glories.
At last, however, the Colonel would ap-
pear The colors which had passed the
night with him were displayed. And all
at once, after two or three words of COM
mand cried aloud, the regiment gave way.
1t went down the cours, and with the first
fall of the hoofs on the drv earth rose a
beat of drums which made our hearts leap
within US. We ran to keep at the head of
the column abreast of the band which was
greeting the town as il went at o double
First, there came three shrill buyle notes
as summons to the players; then the trurn-
pet call broke out and covered everything
with its sounds
Off for the Wiids of Crinea.
Outside the gates the double was ended
in the open where the last notes died away,
Then there was a turn to the left along the
Marseilles road, a fine road planted with
elms hundreds of years old. The horses
went at foot pace, in rather open order on
the wide highway white with dust. We
felt as if we were going, too. The town
was remote, college was forgotten, we ran
and ran, delighted with our outbreak. It
w.s like setting out to war ourselves every
week.
All, these lovely morningsl It was 6
o'clock, the sun, already high, lighted the
country with great sloping rays A milder
warmth breathed through the little chill
breeze of morning. Groups of birds flew I'D
from the hedges Far off the meadows were
bathed in pink mist, and amid the smiling
Landscape these beautiful soldiers, the cui-
rassiers shining like stars, passed with their
glowing breasts. 1t was moving spectacle
The horses slackened their pace yet more,
the men grew smaller with the rhythmic
swaving of their steeds. AT first each
breastplate and each helmet was like sum-
Then the suns dwindled and soon there was
only an army of stars on the march. Finally
the last man disappeared and the road was
bare. Nothing was left Of the beautiful
regiment that had passed BY, except men,
Org.
When the Soldiers Came Home.
We we're only children. but all the same
that spectacle made US grave. AS the regi-
ment slowly mounted the steep, we would
be taken BY great silence, our eyes fixed
upon the troop, in despair at the thought of
losing it, and when it had disappeared some
thing lighted In our throats and tor mo-
ment or two we still watched the distant
rock behind which it just vanished Would
it ever come back? Would it, some day,
come down this hillside again? These ques-
tions. stirring sadly within US, made us sad.
Goodby, beautiful regiment
Julien, in particular, always came home |
very tired. He only came so tar in order |
not to leave his brother. These excursions |
knocked him up, and be had mortal terror |
Of the horses.
And after awhile we had fallen back |
deeper than ever into Homer and Virgil. |
All at once we learned that the French had |
which seemed TO us quite nat
urai. Then regiments again began to pass,
but in the other direction. They no longer
interested US; still we did see two or three.
They did not seem to US so fine, diminished
IS they were by half, and the rest is lost in
! mist. Such was the Crimean Wsr, in
rance, for schoolboys shut up in country
college. EMILE zoLA.