Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-07-06
l. Robert did not enjoy tho silence.

them. Robert did not enjoy tho silence.
There was little fun in his torturing I'M
less there were others to enjoy it, so he
led another tack.
Dear me, how hot Of blood we arei
With such a superabundance Of pug
nacity wonder that you do not seek
place in the army. There is plenty of
work to be done-by men who are not
afraid to do it. Why do you not join
the army of England? There is need Of
young men there"
Pierre answered slowly:
81 suppose you were on your way
there when you found your way here.
And yet it is strange that you came from
the north. l suppose that you had to
rest yourself and recover from that
wound in your leg where You carried the
shot. As | can claim no such distinction
and have no such honorable wound to
show, think l shall leave such excellent
company. For you | should advise you
to go home to your wife and for the fu-
ture keep either your mouth shut or youl
leg covered. You can perhaps afford
one luxury, but you cannot afford the
two"
With this he turned on his heel and
left the room.
The rustics were now in a greater
quandary than ever as to what they
should do, for, to their great surprise,
their bully when confronted had not ven
tured word III answer, but had sat
quite still gnawing his lip. They, how
ever. had not confronted him, and they
feared he would have his revenge out Of
them, so they all sat still until Robert
Macaire started to his feet and said:
Heres to the health of Pierre Lamar
He is fine young fellow and will be off
to the army before long, You will find.
Perhaps he will be gone before the week
is over-perhaps even earlier still"
"He can't go tomorrow anyhow" said
Gustave, one of tho usual butts, "be-
cause tomorrow he has to bring a cask OF
wine to the frontier and will not be back
for three days at the earliest"
"Ah, gentlemen, it will be as | say.
You will find that the young man will
| volunteer; he is keen for fighting. You
saw yourselves how he attacked me on
account Of little innocent chatf which
not one of you ever minded"
"Well, he will have time to cool down
/ on the way, for he won't have much com
/ pany to cheer him in the morning"
"How do you mean:' asked Macaire,
turning to him.
He goes by the mountain road, where
not one person travels in the week. And
he starts early, too, for his father said
that he would call him at o'clock, as he
had to start at B."
Robert Macaire said good night to his
comrades, and the last remark he made
was:
on will find that am right. That
young man means soldering, and when
he leaves this we shall probably have
seen the last of him."
When Robert Macaire arrived home
his wife was sleeping. He did not awaken
her, but lay down on the bed in hi:
clothes.
The night wore on. The man still lay
without moving. When the clock struck
.. he arose softly. The house was wrapped
in slumber He stole out, and creeping
from shadow to shadow passed silently
up the mountain road. About half d
mile on there was dangerous place
where the road ran over a shelf of rocl
with precipice beneath. Here he stopped
and busted himself for few minute:
with stake picked up on the way. Their
with an evil smile on his face he drew
IonlY inf 70 thn Cl1u1nU-