The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1893-09-29
THE FRENCH SENTRY,

The enemy had retreated at last, leaV.
ing the French masters OF the position.
The sergeant had gone away, after plac~
ing conscrlpt, Claude Latapie, as sen
try, on an eminence, under shelter Of "a
cottage, which had been half demol-
ished by the grapeshot.
Night was coming on, and in the deep
eping gloom the young SOLDIER looked
half fearfully at the wintry landscape.
Each object was huge, weird silhou-
ette, which his simple peasant fancy
transformed nto fantastic specter,
and he tremblrgly recalled the ghostly
legends heard la his childhood, the wom-
en- crossing themselves, the msn shud-
dering and aE drawing nearer the glow,
ing hearth, while the wind howlsd
mournfully. Above him the sky grew
more and more opSque, mot assar pieSc-
ing its blackness and the bleak north
wind prolonged the tremulous sighs of
the branches. as they soft'y rustled
against each Other.
The sentry clasped his musket firmly
and stood motSonless, parslyzed with
vague terror and almost numb WITHHOLD
His thoughts were so busy with the
memory of his home and of days which
seemed, after all his battling and hard.
ship, to be long away, that he half tor
got his duty'of keeping watch,
Suddenly u moaning sound arose in TIL.
darkness near him. Startled from his
revTie, Claude shook himself, cooked his
gun and locked about him Anxiously
with eye and ear and every muscle ~
the alert, remem bering that his com.
rades were asleep and that they trusted
to him TO awaken them in case of danger,
The moans continued with a sound Of
strangling like u death rattle; then Il
faint, hoarse cry of agony arose from the
ruined walls of thehouse, Claude peered
in ut the doorway, struck match and
saw lying IN u corner on heap Of rub
bisb and held down by the fragments OF
the shattered roof the dark outline of u
human form.
A bit Of candle end chaheed to be ly-
ing near and Claude lighted this and
crept softly toward the corner in the
dim light he discovered soldier, one OF
the enemy, who had evidently been
struck down by the falling joists, for a
beam lay across his chest. The young
Erenchman uttered an exclamation ex-
pressing 6erce hate, and drew his baye.
net threateningly; the other man looked
at him with haggard eyes. Claude was
ashamed and drew back; it was indeed
an enemy, but wounded 0ue, and the
conscript lowered his muaket, which
struck the frozen ground with u sharp.
clanking sound.
LET him die" be muttered; but a
choking voice exclaimed imploringly;
Drink"
you want drink Very LIKELY" re
tcrted che Young trooper, laying his
hand on the canteen which, before tax.
ing his place as sentry, he had filed with
warm coffee, generously seasoned with
brandy. "Very proper for me to warm
an enemy's stomach at the expense of a
Frenchman's!'
He laughed sneeringly, and as il iu de
tiance of the wounded mans entreaty
opened the canteen and put it TO his swI
lips. But the first drop seemed to choke
him; after all, this wretched German was
q fellow man! Claude leaned his gun
against the wall, stopped over the suf.
ferer, lifted off the heavy beam and then,
kneeling down, held the canteen over
the gasping mouth. The other man
raised his hands eagerly to grasp the
treasure.
"None Of that" cried Claude; "put
down your paws, or not drop shall you
have. The creature thinks would be
willing to drink after his beery lips!"
The wounded man understood, for he
had lived in France before the war, and
made a movement rs II to turn away
from the look of disgust which accom-.
panied Claude's words, but his feverish
thirst made him change his mind, He
opened his mouth and the other man
poured intoi stream Of warm coffee
from the canteen, then, standing up,
tossed of q bumper as his own share and
rushed out Of the cabin in sudden terror
at the thought Of having deserted his
post.
"That was hard tug" said Claude,
between his teeth.
at the end Of half an hour, partly for
the purpose Of learning how the wounded
man was getting on and partly to shield
himself from the cutting wind which