The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-17

Is yer leetle Tor madame, ana L OIJen
link OF how / can make heem more.
young man say to me, You should
bet. You should put your money on ze
horses. He talk to me. zis young man.
of tens TO one, and seek to one, and I
listen. Zen yesterday comes, and zey
pay ze salary at my school. ley pay
me 1--WE pound. and i put heem in my
pocket and say: Tomorrow I will go to
see re horse race and win much money
So L arrive here at re course, m'sieur,
and 1 walks round and see the makers
of books, and 1 talk with a gentleman
OF sport who knows what he calls a
sure teep.' and he tells me to put my
I'VE pound on Crocodile and takes
TO a man who gives me teecket, and
lays me seexty to one against re horse
Crocodile. Zen 1 say that Crocodile will
win me three hundred pound. and we
will be happy, and my Ieetle Jules
shall have a new coat and madame, my
spouse, will buy herself a new gown.
and | shall have great joy. And zen
zey run. the horses; and when zey have
finished l go TO my maker Of books and
request my money. And he say, 'Croco-
die is no where at ALL and my five
pound is lost; and re man Eat gave me
ze sure teep' is gone. and-Helasl
m'sieur-now L have no salary to take
home"
And here the little man broke down
and wept- Half amused as / was at
his story I felt sorry for him. for 1
could we'll imagine that the loss of his
IS would mean a good deal to him and
to madame, his spouse, and their boy
jules When he had recovered himself
a little L talked further with him and
FOUND that he was political refugee
and that he taught French in a boys
school at Doncaster. Convinced that his
tale was genuine. I determined to help
him. 1 had a five-pOund note in my
pocket for which 1 had no immediate
need and 1 made up my mind that he
should have it. AS 1 did not desire to
pose as a benefactor, however. 1 re
solved to adopt little ruse.
well, sir" said 1. these fellows have
swindled you, of course. To begin with
you should not have talked to the man
who professed to know of a sure tip.
All ne wanted was your money
Helas! m'sieur, L am great fOol-yes."
he interrupted, shifting his forehead. Il
have a head Of wood. But it was the
desire to carry home much money to my
spouse and to cry, Behold fOrtuner
And have you really nothing to go
on with. Sir?" I inquired
He blushed and hung his head. "Ah
mseur," he said, mot one centime. 1t
is hard work TO live on re 70 a month
And now ] have gamble heem away, my
beautiful five-pOund note, and Zere will
be no money for re baker and re butcher;
and madame. my spouse will weep. and
Come. come. sir" said 1: don't give
way. Here, you stay there awhile and
III go 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 Eat stands near
the refreshments with a wonderful hat
upon his head and long white coat.
well. stay there. said I. and I Will
see Old Toby and try TO get your
money!" and away | went back TO the
crowd. But had no intention of going
near Old Toby from London and after
/ had taken a turn through the people
returned to the furze bushes with my
own five-pound note in nv hand.
held il out 10 the little Frenchman. who
received II with extravagant expressions
of relief and delight.
There's your 60, sir I said; and I
hope you'll never be tempted 10 bet
again"
..Ah. m'sieur. indeed. no! I promise
YOU on my sacred word, and l beseech
you to accept my" Here he broke
off and looked fiXedly from me to the
note, which he had smOothed out He
turned pale, then red, then pale again.
What's the matter, SIR" said l.
Isn't that right"
Missouri lie drew his little figure
to it's full hight. ''Zis is not my note
See. 7 take re numbaire of heem-it is
200.Sl7. And see. re numbaire of Zis note
is bSf. 6S3 Ah-ah-m'sieur. see how il
is! Your generous heart weeps for my
poor leetle Jules and for madame my
spouse. and you give me zis money out
Of YOUR own pOckeet- All. beautiful
syTnpathy-it makes me weep" And
he began to shed more tears. / turned
to go. feeling somewhat confused
"GOOd-day. sir ] said.
The little Freedman seized my hand
Il zank you. msieur." he said simply;
Il zanl1 you, from my heart
You are very welcome said I, and
fastened TO leave him.
Before ! had proceeded many Yards
he ran after me. "M'sieur." said he
take zis leetle object as a memento
You will link Of Hector Malan and his
gratitude when you see it. Ii Is nothing
"a leetle medal Eat my son Jules win
at re school, m sieur. | Zank you again.
and I pray Ne good God TO reward you"
7 took the little bronze medallion
which he put into my hand, and went on
my way again. That night on my way
to town I looked at the memento Of my
somewhat amusing adventure: il was a
bronze medal rather larger than A crown
piece. One side bore a figure Of Learn
ing bestowinG A laurel wreath on a
kneeling child: the other informed me
that the medal had been presented TO
Master jules AIalan for his proficiency
in mathematics. / put the little token
in my purse and thought no more of il
until some weeks later when I happened
TO be dining with a fellow-artist at a
restaurant and once more came across
it amid a handful of loose change. I
handed il over TO my friend and told
him the story as we walked away to-
gether.
IF that medal were mine" said he.
Il should attach a sort of superstitious
reverence TO it. should look on II as
species of lucky penny. and always carry
it about my person
| laughed at the idea; but I put the
bronze medallion back into my purse,
and there it stayed. / attached no sort
Of value TO it: but il seemed somehow
to become a fixture, and had an inner
compartment Of my purse all 10 itself.
Some years went by. L worked hard
at my profession, and began to be
known as a 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 pro-
prietors Of the illustrated Weekly, to
go out as war artist during the Franco
Prussian campaign. ! was disposed to
go before the invitation reached me. L
was unmarried; I had no ties; and
there seemed no reason why / should
not see something Of war at first hand
Accordingly L accepted the invitation
and within week L was with
the Prussian forces near Saar-
bruck ] am not writing the his
tory Of that famous campaign. and I
shall therefore pass over the preliminary
events Of the war, and go on to the
time when the Prussians, having easily
recovered from their first reverses
poured over Alsace and Lorraine and