Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-06-22
THE SMUGGLER.

uOp COuCIaDU DclWGcu lMO plllulSi llcS
Querterac, guarding the entrance to val
ley. On the right and left the noun
tains, broken for a space, resume their
monotonous, unending chain. Querterac
is small old fashioned town that was
once fortified 1t is difficult of access
and has about 6, coo inhabitants.
On the neighboring mountains, re
garded as neutral, has gathered popu-
lation as doubtful III morality as in ma
tionality-a confused mixture of Gas
cons Basques and Catalonians, whose
chief occupations are highway robbery
and smuggling.
About the middle Of Che present cen
tury cholera was devastating Spain, It
ally and France
In the country and in the towns there
was cessation from the activities of
life. The inhabitants barricaded them
selves in vain against the invisible enc
my, which glided treacherc1sly through
half opened doors, locks and unsuspcCt-
ed openings i'll roofs and walls. In
, Jorterac a victim from the first day,
nothing could be seen but deserted
streets and houses closed from top to
bottom. Those who fell i'll the public
squares had no assistance, for pity was
dead through fear The civil authori-
ties were disoboyed and despised as use
less and poworlOss, no regard being PAID
to the official notices that were placard-
ed on the doors and walls
Ii fear was Sreat and selfishnCss hard
in the city, the country was even more
distracted and cruel. If beggar show
ed himself at the door Of some lonely
farmhouse, he was received with stOuCs
and bullets. The dogs We're set on him,
and he was malueated. Perfectly alb
surd stories were circulated among the
country people. They said that cholera
was not so bad as it was reported to be.
Many people who had seemingly died
Of cholera had really been poisoned by
some enemy who had druggCd the
water or kneaded arsenic into the bread.
In short, the people IL the valley were
eternally III DIX I'd Of some hostile ac
ton on the part Of those rascals up
above, - as they called the mixed FACE
that dwelt il the caves and rocesscs u
tho mountains
The opportunity was a good one for
these mount~lueers to plumber the 1ioclls
and property Of those below, but those
rascals up above" never stirred tIol.
their holes Why?
Well, they also were dying The
seemed to die in more astonishing pro-
portions than elsewhere, and one never
could have believed that there were 50
many people 49, those mountains.
At Querterac there was considerable
establishment, for after a few days the
epidemic began to decrease, but the
mountaineers insisted on dying. TIL
townspeople did not understand it, but
they could not help admiring the piety
of those people above. Every evening
three or four jolting vehicles loaded
with cOtfiAs ard followed by men aid
women in mourning descended slowly
through the ravine, entered the village
and passed silently toward the cemetery
The shadows Of the mournful cortege
in the light Of the glowing fires cast
dark, fantastic pictures on the walls
The passershy fed at the sight, seized
with fresh alarm. 1t was over a lonely
route that the procession passed to reach
the cemetery, and those poor wretches
those heather, followed their dead to
their last resting place, when it would
have been so easy to throw the bodies
into the ravines and rivers or to leave
them to the wolves and eagles; but no.
those wanderers, those aliens, scrupu-
lousy regarded the rites of burial
The charge OF the custom house at
Querterac Is one of great importance
and generally falls to competent Off
Ger. From this point inspectors, going
to and fro, carefully watch the narrow
valley which is the only easy entrance
from Spain During the epidemic death
interrupted the routine of duty, for on
some days 20 men fell victims to the
disease, and the survivors, distracted by
the panic, neglected their work.
One man only kept his post, the old
man Valgenod. He always sounded the
final d. He was a born custom house
officer. He belonged to that race He
could smell a smuggler three hours be-
fore he SAW him, and six miles off q
bale of tobacco would make him sneeze.
Night and day he kept on his rounds,
declaring that it would be an absurdity
for an old custom man to die of the col
ic, as he called the cholera. The guard.
were increased, and Valgenod went the
POUNDS Of those who did not answer tC
their names at roll call. He was Away.
watching the mountain, the lair of the
monsters. He knew them every one
those smugglers on whom he had fireC
so often when he had found them prowl
ing around the town ON some dark night
"Ah, ''said Valgenod, mot one of then
shaves. Yes, one perhaps. Those fellows
go against my stomach.
There was one old man, Father Meri
tss, a gray bearded gypsy, with whom
Valgenod had frequently come into con
tact, and each had high opinion of tn,
cleverness of the other.
"Valgenodl" said Meritas. 9Th,