Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-11-23

and narrower.
What should they do? Fly, or stant
their ground 10 the death?
A great many of the National Guard
made off
Serizier gathered himself together
for Il final effort.
Burn he gasped; eve must burn
. everything"'
He rushed into wine-shop and drank
glass after glass of brandy. His wolfish
soul, excited by alcohol, by fighting,
| by defeat, by the sight of the blood
which reddened the road and the pave
ment, appeared in all its hdeousness
Il "Ah, has the end come so soon,' he
cried, striking his clenched fist upon
the pewter counter. $50 be it. Every
body must dier'
He ran back to the avenue.
! Come, come" he roared, "men of
1 the right metal, to smash the skulls of
those magpiesr'
A little crowd of Communards an
sWered to his call, and, in advance of
the band, two women presented them
selves
They were both furies-both had
streaming locks of tangled hair, which
We're hideously suggestive Of Medusa's
| Snaky tresses; but one of the furies
was young, and would have been hand
| ONE if her face had not been smeared
and spattered with blood, and black
ened by gunp0Wder. She wore the
costume of a yivandiere, and had once
been smart; but the gold-lace on her
jacket hung in shreds, the blue cloth
was stained with blood and mire. She
carried gun, which, in her exhaustion.
she handed to Serizier, signing to him
to reload it for her. She had hardly
breath enough left for speech.
The priests" she murmured hoarse-
~, as Serizier gave her back the loaded
gun; are they to be finished-at once?"
AT once" he answered; there is no
time for ceremony with those scoun-
dre.s. They have had their day. and
have made fools Of you all long enough.
with their mummeries-men, women.
and children"
They have never fooled me-" an |
swered the woman; 81 am Il Votairi- |
lam"
"Ah, ce bon Voltaire; if he had lasted
till our time we should have shown |
him some pretty farces" said Serizier. |
turning away from her to give his or
derS
While he ranged hsi men along the ,
avenue, and talked apart with Bobeche !
the gao1er, the woman in the VIVIAN
drere dress stood leaning on her gun,
looking along the road, through some
dim SmOke-clOud and dust and fire.
1t was four o'clock in the warm Nav
afternoon-May on the edge of June.
The western horizon of Paris was hid
den behind the smoke of incendiary
fires; the ground trembled with the
force of the cannonade. The woman
wiped the sweat and mire from her
face with the sleeve of her jacket, and
looked across the scene of ruin and
desolation with fiery eyes. She looked
yonder towards the towers of Notre
Dame, towards the Quai des Angus
tines and the labyrinth of little streets
behind those old roofs.
Not much chance of welded bliss
for those two now" she said to herself.
Their honeymoon was short; but her
misery shah be long She and her
sister are shut in their lodgings, ex-
pecting to be burnt alive every hour:
and he is in prisOn-what prison, I
wonder?" |.
The woman was Suzon Michel, and
the man of whom she was thinking
as she stood at ease by her gun, wait
ing to do her part, as Il strong minded
woman and a patriot, in the slaughter
of the priests, was CASTOR Mortemar
Since his arrest she had been able to
learn nothing about him. She had
been told by her friends the Commun-
ards that he had been arrested on
account of something he had written
in his paper. More than this they
would not or could not tell her. There
were so many prisons in Paris, all
teeming with life, like beehives; there
were such innumerable arrests. People
hardly cared to inquire why their
neighbOrs We're carried off, or whittier
Human feelings, friendship, brotherly
love were apt to become deadened in
that pandemonium.
Since the week of fighting and fires
began Suzon had been in the thick
of all the strife. She had carried her
can of petroleum as bravely as any
OF those bearded rutfians who pretend
ed TO make light of her services. She
had helped in the fires, she had helped
in the carnage, like the very spirit
of evil. 1t was not arson, it was not
murder. 1t was justice, an eye for an
eye il
"They are killing our brothers and
friends yonder," said the assassins, as
they shot down new victims. /,
Mercy at such time would be cow
ardice. Only a craven would hold his
hand when there was such grand
chance of avenging the wrongs of no.
body in particular.
Suzon was drunk with blood, half
blinded by fire. Those flashing eyes
of hers, bright as they were, saw all
things dimly, through a fiery haze. /
The priests-yes, she would help to
slaughter them; not because she knew
anything about this particular brood
of calotins, but because she hated
all priests. They had done her no
wrong; but her pious neighbors had
despised her for keeping away from
church.; they had thrown their re-
ligion in her face; they had scorned
her for her infidelity.
Beware of that woman" said an
old man whom she had offended 'sThe