Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-12-05
ON GUARD.
oh, how horcd I was that day!

as it had been once upon a time-gay, Goisy, lively, full of travellers, positions and pretty maidservants.
 Louis KY went therc with Mime. de Ponpadour and planted the tree which ss:rvH.l as the inns sign. Since then many other lovcrs had written their names on its hark, while they drank the little wine 0f the country in its shade.
 Then one day silence had suddenly succCcded to noise, travellers and pOstil- Ions had ceased coming. and the pretty IIaidScrvauts themselves had fled away, having the inn empty and deserted. The PrJISsianS were coming.
 These latter had. Of course, burned up the duOrS and the furniture. broken the windows. stolen the old kitchen clock and smashed in the roof. On the day on which We cncampC,I Ih-rc, there remained of La Belle EpinC only some blackcncd walls, behind which one could just find shelter from the shells which the commune was sending out from Nillcjuif and Hautes- BrIIyvrv>.
 Bcfor, Il, the Toad to Italy stretched out indefinitely. white, dusty, flooded with sunlight The orders were to let no one 1 from Paris pass, and they were easy to carry out. Not n cart, not Il man, not a dog. broke the gloom of the landscape. Now and then a little white cloud rose above the paving stones. On looking clos er you saw that it was another prUjectile that had just burst. Only the day before We had wondCrful luck. \ woman selling potatoes had tried tO pass with her cart. | -As she appyIr>L to bc q suspicious charac- | ter. she was u5dcryd Ia turn hack. Shc re l fused. and. iu short. was arrCste'l and sent Ia the ,,nsrII. This important event had certainly occupied h minutes. and it was | anyhow a dl>JraCIiun, but today no wom- | an selling potatoes appeared on tho hOri zOn.
 And ny companions were in dreadful l temper. The captain had just learned that the trousers that had accompanied him l through ;!.V entire campaign Of the army | If Ih,. l.oIry were not eternal and showed their a-y Ly a large opening in the portion | which tuUC.:CS the sIddIr. IL was 1 who had ;;midly pointed this out to him. and greatly feared tlr consequences of my per i -V!cuIjy- The lieutenant, who had Cx- ,trcyti Ia iH' married carly in the spring, l yyl> NVundCriuG whether the powers that | IE. intended tu kCVV him a bachelor much l,ugCr and a!s.I UvCrNyhClIu him with colds | iI Ihc head, due to sleeping in the open air Tu ImusC himself, he was whistling l liltlc air h'twCCn his teeth, very much | cut ,t time. TLCr' Was also a second lieu t.'ulmt. but hc never said a word. He con t.'ut,d himself with smoking and with low III., great clouds from his pipC at even intervals Dld hC think about HnyIhing' l don know, but tLIS mute smoking gave | '.inI an appearance of ErCat prUfundity. If l lou >lukr tu him. he fixed you with rJund impressive eye You thought Ec Was bout TO InswCT-iwU or thrCc pufIs of .n.UAc issued from lis mouth, and that V:as all-hr gravcly continued to smoke. These wCrC the agrScablc persons with srhOIn the commune fUrCCd me to spend ny existence On my way home from | .ivrmany. when. had bs.ln a prisoner for ! i've months, l had all through the journey | manned of Paris as Uuc dreams Uf the | truui>t,d land. and had barely arrived l then Was obliged tO fight against the 1 fly which cpiIumizcd all the memories Ind ali he joys uf my youth My thoughts l .sCru bsCysIuIus gloomy. reflected that | .vaS ridiculous. and to cheer me up went l and tried tu rad the German verses writ l ten on tl.c tombstone of a PrusSian officer | kIllcd at ChIvilly and buried behind the ! nm. 1 hId a!rCady dcciphCrcd the first .inc, '-Ad,r., lirb,' brudcr C'' Farewell, be
 owed bruthCr''D. when I was interrupted !n my task by my thrc" companions cries | 1f a>t"ui~hmCnt-
 | Th'r,' was q black dot on the horizon coward PariS--a large black dot-advanc- l .ng trlnqu:lly through the littlo whito l -luuLs havc mentioned. We got an opera l glass. We P;.>>cd il from eye To eye, and
 .vc >,on unanimously decided that il was n l .chiClc and actually q furniture truck.
 ;Nhu could tl,c individual be who was suf-
 iciCnJly original tO drive out in furni- .urc truck under the rain of bombs and
 shells which inundated the road: The mo
 :nCnt WAS certainly i'll chosen for such a
 .uurnCy Once a pFujcctilc fell sO close tn
 she truck that We expected tO sec il pull
 ID IL did not. however, but continued tO
 approach.
 When it got within n few steps of us,
 the captain. who had always declared that
 nothing could startlc him, was unable to
 suppress a gesture of astOnishmcnt In
 the front of the truck. seated on q rcd satin
 sofa and wrapped in a camel's hair shawl.
 was rcmarkably beautiful woman. She
 Was fair and pink and smiling, and her l large blue eyes showed not the slightest
 emotion Behind hlr were piled together
 pcllmclI silk curtains. buhl cabinets inlaid
 with mother of pearl, rosewood tables,
 looking glasses, brOnzcs and all sorts of
 expansive furnitur'. Japanese vase
 held a great g,rccn plant. which waved its
 leaves over her head to protect her from
 tho su;. and amid this confusion, with
 her calm face. she looked like u princess . in a Chinese palace
 , \ man in a blouse was leading the horses hy the bridIc. He was covered with
 dirt from the shells, and his pallor con = trasted with the placidiry of the woman
 he was CSCurting-
 When she rvachcd uI>, she gave the order
 to stop and then bowed very prettily to thu captain
 } Good marning. captain. I'm very glaC r 10 be among Christians ar last. I'm lik' i the snail. yuu scc. travel with my hous' on my sack-;hruugh the bombs. h And she burst out laughing.
 She WAS really charming. and l should never have guessed that so much plucl
 cOuld bc hidden under such n delicate ex ' teriOr,
 , The Cap:a;E instinctively drew tOgethe
 the divorced portions of his trousers an
 forced them % live together for the tim a being; then, rCassurcd as to his prestige :, he put on his most formidable voice an
 with the pose of q gendarine examining
 legal document asked. Where do 70
 come from: Where arc you going"
 Why. come from Paris It is no flu
 therc any Inurv- If you could see th
 0oulevarls, It's really sad. All my frienC , are gone. and the theltcrs are all closet j, The communist staff officers are the swcl
 just now. and they are so dirty! Sue
 caps. such boards. such faccs-it's ridicl :. lous! If had had to stay among that To to I should have died. have a little box
 a house at Longjumeau, regular lit
 nest, not very big. you know, but vel
 pretty, and am going there to wait f. e. better days"
 - There is only one obstacle to this pla ! madame, which is that I shall not alto you to pass
 She looked at the captain in astonis
 ment Probably no man had ever dar'
 to speak to her in such a tone before, an
 not understanding such a rough injun
 tion, she looked about to see whether he a was possibly to Dc found among the rC = of us
 The lieutenant looked rather indiffI