Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-06-19
THE SMUGGLER.

tcy. Va tiso tikas ssss seas soo sssvsss
tains broken for . space. resume their
monotonous uncnding chain. Querterao
n amall old fashioned town that was
oncs fortified 10 10 difiicult of sccss
and has about O. 900 inhabitants
On tho neighboring mountains. ~
gardcd ~ neutral. has gathered popu.
lation ~ doubtful In morality ~ In M.
tiouality-a confused mixture Of Gas.
cons, Dasques and Catalonians who~e
chief occupations arc highway robbery
and smuggling.
About the middle Of tho present cen.
tury cholera was devastating Spain. II.
ally and Franco
I'm tho country and In the towns there
was cessation from tho activities ~
life The inhabitants barricadcd them.
selves In vain against the invisible enc
my, which gli,lcd treachcrously through
half opened doors Locks and unsuspcct.
cd openings In roofs and walls In
Qucrtcrac, u victim frum the hrst day.
nothing could bs -ccn but deserted
streets and houses closed from top 10
bottom. Thoe who fell I'm the public
squares had no assistance. for pity was
dead through fear. The civil authori'
ties wcru di-ols,y-i and de-pissi ~ use
lcss and powerlcsS, no regard bsing paid
to tho Official notices that were placard.
al ON the doors and walls
II fear WA great and selhshnoss hard
in the city. the country was even more
distracted and cruel II q bcggar show.
cd himself at the door of some lonely
| farmhouse. be- was rccivcd with stones
and bullets The dogs were set ON him.
and ho was maltrvaicd Perfectly ab-
surd stories were circulated among the
country roople They said that cholera
was not ~ lad ~ IL was rport,d to Ia
Many pcoplc who had seemingly died
of cholera had rcally issn poisoned by
some enemy. who had druggcd the
water or knoadoi arss nic into the bread
In short. the Isople in the valley wcrc
etcrnally in dread of some hostile nc
ton on the part of "tho~o raScals up
alp,c." as they called the mixed race
that dwelt IN the caves and poosss- "
tho mountains
The opportunity was . god one fcr
thee mouniainccrs to plumber the fiocks
and property of tho-e below. but "tho~e
ra-cals up above" never stirrcd from
their holes whyi
Well. they also were dying They
SEEMED to die In more astonishing pro
portions than elsewhere, and one never
could have believed that there wero %
many pcople =. those mountains
Al Qucrtersc there was considerable
astoni.hment. for after few days the
epidemic l-gan % docrearc, but the
nountainccrs insisted on dying. Tho
townsI-oplc did not understand II, bu,
they could not help admiring tho pioty
of tho~e p,oplo above Every evening
thrce or four jolting vehicles loaded
with cof,ins and followed by men and
women In mourning Descended slowly
through the ravinc. entered tho village
and pas--d silently toward the osnetsry.
The shadows of the mournful oortegc
In the light ~ the glowing firc- cast
dark, fantastic pictures ON the walls
Tho pass,rsby fed at the sight, seiIsd
with fr,sh alarm Il was over lonely
route that the provision passed 30 reach
the cemetery. aud those poor wrtchcs.
tho~o heather. followed their dead Ia
their lat resting plao,. when 10 would
have bcsn - easy to throw the bodies
into the rayines and rivers OF to leave
them To the wolves and cagls-; but NO.
those wandevrs. those aliens, scrupu'
lously regarded the rites of burial.
The charge of the custom house at
Quert,rac l. one Of great Importance
and generally falls 90 u competent OH
o,r. From this point inspcciorS going
Ia and fro. carefully watch the narrow
valley which IL the only easy entrance
from Spain During the epidemic death
interrupted tho routine Of duty. for ON
some days 20 men fell victims 10 the
disease. and the survivors, distracted by
the panic. neglected their work.
One man only kept his post, the old
man valgcnoi Ho always sounded the
final Il He was born custom hous.
officer. He belong,d to that raoe lie
could smell q smugglcr three hours be-
fore he saw him. and six miles on .
bale Of tobacco would make him sneere
Night and day he kept on his rounds,
declaring that IL would be an absurdity
for an old custom man to die Of the col
10, ~ he called the cholera The guards
wtre increased. and valgenod went the
rounds of tho.e who did not answer 20
their names at roll call He was always
watching the mountain. the lair of the
mensters He knew them every one
ths-e smugglers ON whom he had fired
% often when he had found them prowl'
ing around the town on some dark night
"Ah, said valgenod. mot one of them
silaves Yes. one perhaps Those fellows
No against my stomach.
There was one old man. Father Meri'
tas. o gray bearded gypsy. with whom
valgenod had frequently come into con'
tact. and each had high opinion Of the
cleverness Il the other.
"vaigenoif" aid MeritaA "Ths
scoundrell II 10 wcrc not Tor himl II he
were only out Of the wayl'
"Meritasi' said valgenod "The
roguei The day after my death he will
smuggle Madrid into Franco"
Meritas was anu.srler. n valgenod
wss custom house officer. from tern.
permanent and instinct II was his voca.
tion. Numerous were the tricks that he
invented. the schemes that he devised.
and he was never caught In thu caves
Of tho mountains were hidden bales of
bacco. cloths, skins, Spanish laces and
liquors In some way OF another all this
merchandise was gradually smuggled
Into France. but how. no one. not even
valgcnod. knew.
Il was the third day Of the epidemic.
tust about twilight that valgenod,
Scenting the winds and looking around,
saw Q cart, drawn by broken winded
mule entering the valley and going
straight toward tho gates Of the town
Behind came Meritas and . few III clad
fellows of his tribe. who wcre singing
psalms In harsh patoiA The cart was
rallied one. and In spite Of the approach.
Ing darkness tho sergeant made out the
long shape of coffin
"Ah," he moaned There II suffer
Ing up there too Honest people arc not
the only ones 20 die sea-"
Ho drew himsclf up 10 let tho process
sion pas and gave the military salute
"A corpse deserved such salute even
though Il was ono Of those rcprobate<
Before tho walls Of tho custom house
Meritas whose eyes CLEANED like two
| a.. A., III. ,,ala fsCa vnisSsl his lOn0