The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-01-27


way. Here, you stay there awhile, and I'll
60 and see if I can't recover your money.
Which of the betting men was it that you
gave your note to?"
"The gentleman called 'Old Toby from
London, m 'sieur He zat stands near the
refreshments with wonderful hat upon his
head, and long white coat.
''Well, stay there" said l, "and l will
see odd Toby, and try to get your
money; and away | went back to the
crowd. But had no intention of going
near sold Toby from London; and after
had taken a turn through the people, |
returned to the furze bushes with my own
FIVE pound note in my hand. I held it out
to the little Frenchman, who received it
with extravagant expressions of relief and
delight.
"Theres your five pounds, sir L
said; ''and hope you'll never be tempted
to bet again.
''Ah msieur, indeed, no. | promis e
you on my sacred word and beseech you
to accept my" Here he broke off and
looked fxedly from ME to the note, which
he had smoothed out He turned pale
then red, then pale again.
whats the matter, sir" said l. .'Isn't
/
that right?'
IN 'sieurr' He drew his little figure to
its full height. @Zis is not my note, See,
| take re numbaire of heem-it is 20031T.
And see, re numbaire of zis note is 581683.
Ah-ah-m 'sieur, see how it is Your
generous heart weeps for my poor leetle
Jules and for madama, my spouse, and you
give me zis money out Of your own pocket.
All, beautiful sympathy-it makes me
weep" And he began to shed more tears.
l turned to 90, feeling somewhat confused.
''Good day, SIR l said.
The little Frenchman seized my hand.
Il zank you, II sieur," he said simply; II
zank you, from my heart"
"You are very welcome" said [, and
fastened to leave him.
Before | had proceeded many yards, he
ran after me. "Msieur," said he, "take
zis leetle object as a memento. You will
zink of Hector Malan and his gratitude
when you see it. 1t is nothing leetle
medal zat my son Jules win at ze school,
m sieur. | zank you again, and pray re
good God to reward you
l took the little bronze medallion which
he put into my hand, and went on my way
again. That night on my way to town [
looked at the memento of my somewhat
amusing adventure; it was bronze medal
rather larger than crown piece. One side
bore figure of Learning bestowing laurel
wreath on a kneeling child; the other in
formed me that the medal had been pre-
sented to Master Jules Malan for his pro-
6ciency in mathematics put the little
token in my purse and thought no more
of it until some weeks latter, when | hap
pened to be dining with fellow artist at
restaurant, and once more came across it
amid a handful of loose change. l hand
ed it over to my friend and told him the
story as we walked away together.
"If that medal were mine, said he, II
should attach a sort of superstitious rever-
ence to it. | should look on it as a species
of lucky penny, and always carry it about
my person.
laughed at the idea; but [ put the
bronze medallion back into my purse, and
there it stayed. | attached no sort of
value to it; but it seemed somehow to be-
come fixture, and had an inner eompart-
ment of my purse all to itself.
Some years went by. l worked hard at
my profession, and began to be known as
painter of animal life, and especially of
horses. A battle scene of mine, "Horses
in War brought me an invitation from
my old friends the proprietors of the H.
Illustrated Weekly to go out as war artist
during the Franco -Prussian campaign. l
was disposed to go before the invitation
reached me. | was unmarried; | had no
ties; and there seemed no reason why |
should not see something of war at first
band. Accordingly, [ accepted the invita-
ton; and within week | was with the
Prussian forces near Saarbruck. | am
not writing the history of that famous
campaign, and shall therefore pass over
the preliminary events of the war, and 90
on to the time when the Prussians, having
easily recovered from their first reverses,
poured over Alsace and Lorraine and began
to besiege Strasbourg and Metz l, in
company with several other English war
correspondents and artists, was with the
advance corps of the attacking army and
had considerable difficulty in getting on at
all. The Prussian military authorities had
srnall love for special correspondents, and
VIC were indebted solely to ourselves for
whatever information we got To me this
official standofishness did not so much mat
ter as to my companions, the special cor
respondents. My business was to make
pictures, theirs to find news Nevertheless,
| found it hard work sometimes to get
materials for my sketches; and the risks
occasionally ran were greater than those
which | should have incurred had mixed
in the thick of the skirmishes, which went
on continually.
1t was cold, damp afternoon in octo-
her and we we're lvino halfway hatwivt