The Opelousas courier., 1893-07-15

SEVERAL brown paper bundles. Stand
ing upon our bench we could reach the
shelf but self respect forbade.
The pleasant feeling oon wore off
It was iAtolerably hot. We were moi
in the least hungry, but we were very
thirsty. I ventured to kick at the
door. A man at once asked what wa
the matter. Our petition was immedi'
ately granted in the form of q pitcher
of leau de vigne.
Two hours afterwards Dupont came
himself to take us out. Our examina-
ton seemed perfectly satisfactory.
Besides, the police at Glen had a clue.
Only We were to be kept till 5 o'clock
In case OF accidents. II no word to the
contrary came before then, we were to
be set free. Meanwhile, we were kept
in a very mild state of bondage. In
fact, our cell was the kitchen. Nine.
Dupont wanted to converse with the
terrible Englishmen.
Dupont had again put on his apron.
and was busy dadling a little girl of
four. Madame vas preparing the
beans for dinner. Bopper Don made
his way into the parental hearts by I'M
doing a bandage round the ears of the
eldest-a boy of about nine-and after
examination prescribed some specific.
His home experience gave him an ina
Gense advantage over me IN the good
graces of the family.
Soon he began to worm out OF the
father the charge upon which we were
detained. 1t was no less than '.Aiding
! Spanish prisoner to escape from the
| State prison OF Glen"
The reasoning was conclusive. He
1ad escaped during the very night we
| lad been at Glen. We were foreign
srs. He was a foreigner. Therefore,
we aided him to escape. The thing
was as plain as a pikestaf. Dupont,
however, put it in a somewhat better
light for the authorities.
We had been making careful in
quiries about the prison. $50 that
miserable chateau we so much admired
was the State prison. Little wonder
Inc gendarmes smiled at u desire to
get into it). We had sat for an hour
Cd the bridge carefully examining it.
In our hotel We continued our investi-
cations so as to rou the suspicious
of Il fandlady. We had started at
an. unearthly hour in the morning.
What would you have?
Put that way we had to admit that
our case did not look quite S we'll.
After iudiciouslf submitting to q
little instruction from madame in the
art of preserving beans, Bopper ven'
tured to pump Dupont again,
"Whas was the Spanish prisoners
brime?"
Mp opinion now is that Dupont did
not know. He asserted that duty for
babe him to tell.
"Only I may let you know'that he
had only been in prison for fortnight
This term was fourteen years., and that
he escaped during the night in his
shirt"
We were getting along splendily.
Bopper and [ were quite sure we were
going to be asked to share the dinner
we were helping to prepare, when hey,
presto! another telegram from the
commandment spoiled everything
That wire must have conve ed q
snub of some kind to Dupont, for he
at once stiffened up in the most dis
agreeable style, and snapped ont to us
he did not even put in the ':Mes.
sieurs-"
"You may put yourself en- route"
We took him at his word, and were
o swinging along the highway. AS
we passed the big stone marking the
boundary between the Loiret and the
Nievre, we heaved a united sigh OF
being out of the Commandments beat.
We began quite to understand the
easy descent into the criminal classes.
For days after our arrest We made
little detours to miss the iron flag and
the signboard ''Gendermerie."
Tknow this sketch is incomplete. As
soon as We got home Bopper and I
tried to get the details filled in. We
wrote to the brigadier, inclosing q
stamped and directed envelope, asking
what was the Spanird's crime, and
whether he was caught again.
No answer ever came. Either the
brigadier never got over that final wire
or police regulations made it danger
GUS to answer such letters as
Cornhill-