The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-06-11

listen at the door of the chapel. aud. with
out losing minute i said TO the fugitives:
"You see those stepsl They lead 10 the
cornice: / am going up. At the top l shall
open the door OF communication so that
can see inside the chapel. If all seems
quiet and think IL ie q favorable moment,
shall beckon TO you. You must follow
me- all along the cornice TO the hay loft. II
We once get there, and God grant We may,
You can rest. / will let you know when
the soldiers are gone. They are TO leave at
day break. DO you understand me per-
fectly"
said all this hurriedly. in far less time
tnan IL has taken me To tell you. L mount
ed the staircase, cautiously opened the
door and looked In. There lay the soldiers
asleep. stretched out on the floor. their
heads on their knaDsacks. Their black
forms looked like tangled dark braid. In
the corners were stacks of guns. You could
distinctly hear their regular breathing.
Presently one turned over and gave q grunt.
Outside the wind was blowing hurricane.
and 1t shrleked round the corners. A ray
OF moonlight streamed through side
window. lighted up half the nave, leaving
the other half IN deep shadow. FOrtu-
nately, this was the side OF the cornlce that
stretched out long and narrow close to the
wall, barely twenty feet above the Sleep
ing soldiers. At the other end was the
door of the hay loft Ii looked like
vague, dark spot. 1t would take only o few
seconds to get there, but it seemed TO me
that they would be endless. AS paused 1
was oppressed with terrible anguish.
The first excitement WIS over. and now /
stood face 10 face with the dread reality. l
saw clearly she almost hopeless nature OF
the undertaking and wild impulse seized
me To tell the fugitives that 1t was of no
use. that the soldiers were waking I'D and
that they must escape as soon AS they
could But when l turned round and saw
these men standing below with their
anxious eyes fixed on me. gave them a
sign TO come. They obeyed. and the fore
most man soon stood close behind me.
made q gesture to enforce silence. Poor
fellows as If they needed such recon-
mendationl Then l went out on the corn
ice. l shall never forget that journey.
can see myself now advancing on tlproe,
hsttenIng my lett hand along the cold
wall. with my right hand held out to
keep my balance. in constant dread OF
hitting some loose stone. of dislodglng
some piece of plaster, that, falling. would
certainly wake up those soldiers sleeping
quietly below. And behind-behind me. /
felt the silent presence of all these human
beings risking their lives with mine. like
me. hardly daring TO breathe. fearful of
stumbling, their eyes fixed on the person
before them. sustained by the thought of
the goal to which they were drawing near,
that door at the end gradually growing
larger and more distinct we went on.
And l was showing them the way.
At last. after what seemed 10 be an eter-
nifty, reached the end, grasped the key
that had been left In the lock, turned il
and pushed the door open.
And them was sure all was Loaf. 1t
was long time since the loft had been
used. and the rusty hinges cresked loudly
40 that the noise resounded through the
chapel, and my blood curdled in my veins.
What 10 all that going on up thereW'
growled soldier. Our last hour had come.
/ looked back shuddering, and could see
the shadOwy forms of the poor fugi-
tives. motonless standing close TO
the WALL Fortunately. as 1 have said
before. the wind was very high and. just
then came a great gust that shook the
chapel. Another voice answered. go to
sleep. you stupid fellow; it's nothing but
the wind" The first speaker lifted himse II
on his elbow. listened moment and then.
stretching himself out, went to sleep again.
So far We were safe. The door was only
half open, Just enough to pass through.
1ound when / entered. after waiting long
enough to be sure that all was still below.
The men followed me out without diff
entity. If they had been Obliged to stir the
door another creak would have been fatal.
You cannot imagine the JOY and graft
tude of these men gathered about me.
They wept and. kneelIng. kissed the hem
of my garments. as If | had really saved
them. Alas the peril was only temporarily
averted. REST yourselves; 90 to sleep on
the straw" was all could say. Here you
are sOlersbly safe. As soon as they have
gone you will have nothing to fear and you
y. ~,
relv upon me If any new danger threatens
i left them. passed again through the half
opened door, taking great care not 10 touch
1t. 1t would have been better to have shut
it. as it had been before. but this was out
of the question. on account Of the noise il
would make In closing.
Alone. i felt safer and more sure-footed.
lslipped along the corDice like mouse
and got back safely. In a few seconds
wae once moro In the room where the two
loA faH in
one received me in her own way. Nine
Marechal, hard and unfeelinR reproaohec
me bitterly. lit was unheard-of conduct.
had no right to risk their lives as well as
my own. / ought to have left those mer
outside. was an IDIOT" But Nine. Ba.
douillet took my part. 1T was dreadful; bu,
you could not turn away those poor fugi
tlves. It would have been infamous" And
the good creature cried and clasped me in
her arms. mex presstbly glad 70 see me ga Ia
back. There We sat till morning. stalking
over the situation. To think of those dead
ly enemies so close together. Te think oil
what might happen If those unfortunate
men should be discov cred! 1t WAS terri BILE
posed that we should 60 across the fields t.
Coroeil under cover of the night anC
leave the men TO get along as well as thcy
could without u.s." But Nine. Badouille
So we sat there. hoping and pray
ing that this endless night NIGH
soon be over. The dawn was breakin,
and our intolerable suspense seemed
nearly at an end when a sound of horses
hoofs was heard on the road, more an(
more distinct. drawing nearer and nearer
We listened anxiously. The horse
stopped. There was q sound of voices an(
another knocking. AS before. / opened tn,
door. A man was there on horseback sur
rounded by hussars, who had Just alig hted
80 they are here, citoyenne,n said III,
man on horseback. who was not q sold er
| but seemed &c be some official He wa
| corpulent and very much out of breath
probably from hard riding. $50 they
| are here" he repeated. At first
was startled, but soon recovered m,
Here, whof" "You know perfectly vel
| those rascally Girondins." There is no on,
here but the soldiers who were Quarteret
| upon Us yesterday. as you are probably
| aware" I'VE must look little into thu
matter" So saying. reckoning to one of tn
soldiers 30 hold his horse. he msnaged to dis
mount with some difficulty. giving Sigh o
| relief when he found himself again on hi
| feet. Evidently he was not used to eoues
| TRAN exercise. He was dressed i'm black
with heavy boots. and wore q plumed at
| Hi8 full, heavy face looked good-natured u
| first, bat the expression of hls small deep
set eyes was false ana cruel. He came In
! followed by two hussars and went strai oh
TO the chapel, whore his entrance ,cAusel
! quite = cOmmotIon. The dark mass be
stirred itself and there was great chatter
ing Of sabros ard guns on the stone floor
| The men were soon afoot, and their 10 ade
saluted the new conner In a way that showed
| be considered him "a person of Importance
They conferred for fow moments in q Low
voice. We kept near the door as W,
dared TO- straiDlng our ears to listen, bu