Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-15


ever hoped to do. 1t was the same feeling
that / had at Eylau when L lay with my
broken leg and saw the horse artillery
galloping down upon me. OF course, l
knew that ii l were taken l should be shot
instantly as being disguised within the
enemy's lines.
Still, it was a glorious death, in the d.
rect service of the emperor. and L reflected
that there could not be less than five lines,
and perhaps seven, In the Moniteur about
me. Palaret had eight lines, and am sure
that he had not &C fine a career.
When | made my way out into the hail.
with all the nonchalance in my face and
manner that l could assume, the very first
thing l saw was Bouvet's dead body, with
his knees drawn up and broken sword in
his hand L could see by the black smudge
that he had beeA sht at close quarters.
should have wished to salute as | went by,
for he was a gallant man, but l feared
lest should be seen, and so passed on.
The front of the hall was full of Prus-
sian infantry, who were knocking loop
holes in the wall as though they expected
that there might be yet another attack
Their officer, littls rat of man, was
running about, giving directions. They
were all too busy to take much notice of
me, but another officer, who was standing
by the door, with a long pipe in his mouth,
strobe across and clapped me on the Shout
der, pointing to the dead bodies of our
poor hussars, and saying something that
was meant for jest for his big beard
opened and showed every fang in his head.
L laughed heartily also, and said the
only Russian words that 1 know. l learned
them from little Sophy at wilma, and they
meant; IF the night is fine we shall meet
under the oak tree and if it rains we shall
meet in the nyre." 1t was all the same to
this German, however, and 1 have no
doubt that he gave me credit for saying
something very witty, indeed, for he
roared laughing and slapped me on my
shoulder again. l nodded to him and
marched out of the hall door coolly as if
L t1A ,xl,,. ~
There We're 9 hundred horses tethered
about outside most of them belonging to
the Poles and hussars. Good little Niolette
was waiting with The Others and she
whinnied when she saw me coming to-
ward her. But / would not mount her.
No; 1 was too cunning for that. On the
contrary, l chose the most shaggy little
Cossack horse that l could see, and sprang
upon it with as much assurance as though
it had belonged to my father before me. 1t
had a great bag of plumber slung over its
neck, and this laid upon Violette's back
and led her along beside me. Never have
you seen such a picture of the Cossack re-
turning from the foray. 1t was superb.
Well, the town was full of Prussians by
this time. They lined the sidewalks and
pointed me out to each other, saying, as
could judge by their gestures: There goes
one of those devils of Cossacks. They are
the boys for .fOraging and plumber" One
of the two officers spo,-e to me with an air
of authority, but l shook my head and
smiled and said: eff the night is fine we
shall meet under the oak tree, but if ii
rains we shall meet in the byre." At which
they shrugged their shoulders and gave the
matter up. In this way 1 worked along I'M
til / was beyond the northern outskirt of
the town / could see in the roadway two
lancer Vedettes, with their black and white
pennons, and l knew that when was once
past these / should be free man once
more. / made my pony trot, therefore, Vio-
lette rubbing her nose against my knee all
the time and looking up at me to ask how
she had deserved that this doormat of
creature should be preferred to her. / was
Uhlans, when suddenly, you can imagine
my feelings when / saw a real Cossack
coming galloping along the roadway to-
ward me.
All, my friend, you who read this If you
have any heart, you will feel for a man like
me, who had gone through so many dam
gers and trials only at this very last mo-
ment to be confronted with one which APP
peared to put an end to everything. I will
confess that for a moment lost heart and
was inclined to throw myself down in my
despair, and to cry out that had been be-
trayed. But no, was not beaten even now.
I opened two buttons of my tunic, so that
might get easily at the emperor's message,
for it was my fixed determination, when all
hope was gone, to swallow the letter end
then die sword in hand. Then / felt that
my little crooked sword was loose in its
sheath and 1 trotted on to where the We
dettes were waiting. They seemed inclined
to stop me- but 1 pointed to the other Cos
sack, who was still couple of hundred
yards off, and they, understanding that /
merely wished to meet him. let me pass
with a salute.
/ dug my spurs into my pony, then, for
If / were only far enough from the lancers
1 thought l might manage the Cossack
without much difficulty. He was an officer
a large, bearded man, with a gold chevron
In his cap just the same as mine. AS ad-
vanced he unconsciously aided me by pull