Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-02-05
JEANNE'S BRAVERY.

TO sit and listen 10 ms stories OF the ter
rible time when France lay gasping and
bleeding,
One evening we had been silently
smoking for some time when be said,
did ever tell you monsieur. how
fell into the hands of the Germans aud
out againi'
"No. / said II thought the Ger
mans shot all the guerrillas they
caught.
..They let me go free. monsieur" he
said. with a, grim laugh 1T may seem
incredible, monsieur, but Jeanne yon-
der held the life Of royalty on her finger
tips
81 should like very much to hear the
story, said.
Certainly, monsieur and if mon
sieur thinks what was done was wrong
he must excuse a woman in love-
After Sedan. monsieur. a. meeting
was called in our village. and 80 of us
enrolled ourselves as a. company of
Francs-tireurs We. felt we could do
more for France as irregulars than ssrv-
ing under incompetent generals. We
were we'll armed, and a brave and skill
fui old veteran commanded us. As the
Germans were in force around Metz. we
marched in that direction and made our
headquarters in the hills behind a,vil-
lage called Penoy, about three leagues
from the fortress. 1t was in Penoy
Jeanne lived, and from the first moment
saw her, monsieur, said to myself, If
fortune is kind, Felix, that girl shall be
your wife. Her father was the miller
of Pency, and the accursed. Uhlans had
almost ruined him. They were very Bit
ter against the invaders, and my profess
sion made me find favor in her eyes.
Before weshad been at Penney month
we had plighted our troth, on the under
standing that we should not marry until
France was rid of the enemy.
Small as our band was. we made our
selves a.terrorto the maranding Uhlans,
thanks to the generalship Of old Mont
bon Jeanne was invaluable to us. She
was all eyes and ears, and Montbon
called her the head OF the intelligence
department of our band fused. to meet
her every evening, when it was posi-
Bile, III little cave had discovered.
which, having no outlets, was proof
against SURPRISE
I'VE staid three months at Penney,
and then the place became too hot for
us, and we prepared to leave for viii
lage some leagues to the south. fell
into the hands of the Bavarians the very
evening before we were to leave Penney.
s'Jeanne declares to this day, and
believe rightly, that was betrayed by
a villager, young fellow named Odeau.
who believed the Virgin had intended
Jeanne for his wife, and who was ever
savage when she refused, him. But be
that as it may, monsieur, / was seized
at dusk that evening as / was on my
way to meet Jeanne. and taken so COM
pletely by surprise that l had not the
least chance of defending myself or try,
ing to escape. and, worse than all. was
taken with the rife in my hand.
You are an assassin. said the stout
little officer in command in barbarous
French. You shall be shot. Where are
your companions?'
But professed not to understand. i
was afraid of being shot on the spot.
There was much of the executioner and
little of the judge in those days. mon
sieur
Much to my relief, my arms were
bound behind me, and we set out for
the hamlet where the Crown Prince
Frederick had his headquarters
''As Fortune would have it, Jeanne
met as on the road. Monsieur would
suppose that Jeanne is a quiet little wo-
man, but monsieur has not seen her.
then. monsieur She flung herself ON
me and tried to release me. Then she
seized the bayonet of Bavarian, and
If had not begged her for my sake to
be calm she would have fought the
whole party single handed. Then she
fell to beseeching them, for she could
speak German well. but they only
laughed at her and drove her of with
foul words My heart was like lead
then. monsieur But ! did not know
Jeanne
81 was taken before the princes adj
jutant, who promised me liberty If
wonld betray my cumpatriots But
feigned stupidity, and when he found
that would tell nothing he ordered
me to be shot at 5 the next morning.
We give you till then, he said, to
find your tongue You'll be dumb
enough after And he laughed.
~ was bound like log. monsieur.
and thrown into q hut and brutally
kicked Ny thoughts were not pleasant
all this time lay thinking Of Jeanne,
whom | should never see again. pic
turing that. wosnanlike she would go
home and weep in her helplessness and
despair Bet dill not know her then
She was working FOR me with ali the
energy aud wit Of a woman. Jeanne.
Jeanne. ma petite. come hers
Jeanne came to the door
Come and tell monsious how yon
saved me. ma petite.
A blush uxerspread Jeannn's features
What. that foolish story AGAIN.
Certainly not foolish, Iinterposed