The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-09-10
THE ROANOKE TIMES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1895.

ord. "Sire, this man has belonged to the
Armies of the North, of tho Moselle. Ho
fought ut Toulon. Afterward he Joined
tho troops of Sambre and Mouse. Hc did
three years of Italy and three years in tho
Grand Army. He's II veteran brave
Napoleon palcd. Ho already recalled
his injustice of yesterday.
"And his woundsf'
II can answer thut, your majesty" said
the surgeon.
He seized tho betlclothcs and threw them
back. Watrin was lean man, with mus
Giles strong as hawscrs, and tho scars which
scanned his hairy flesh proclaimed at once
his glory. AIusket balls, lance TRUSTS,
fragments of shclls-ho had made the nc
quaintanco of all of them It seemed that
wounds had raincd upon him like tho
stings of angry hornets. They wero on
tho head, on the neck, on the thighs, i'll
the loins, on the hips, and tho last, which
no had received that very day, splitting
his mouth In both directions, had enlarged
the diameter of his smilo by q foot
THAT will do" said tho emperor.
At that moment Watrin awokc
His eyes wandered to tho ceiling, and,
as If he wero continuing tho dream from
which he had been aroused, ho murmured /:
Tho cross! Tho crossl''
Napoleon took ono stop toward him and
darted upon him his caglc gaze.
II mako you chovalicr of the en-
pire''-
"The cross"-
81 add an endowment of 200 francs a
year.
"Tho cross! want only tho crossr'
But you have it, since tho cross, the
title and the endowment go together. =
What have they against mc?" muir
INJURED tho grcnadicr "I want only tho
cross. 1 ask for tho Cross
lie did not bulge from this idea. Doubt
less titles were meaningless to him. AS
for tho money, those who have never had
any dcspisc il. Warin could sec nothing.
know nothing but tho cross, tho rcd rib
bon, the star.
Tho cross, emperor. I want the cross.
Give mo the cross. -
Tho emperor unfastcncd his own from
his breast.
Here, stubborn fellowl Arc YOU s,lro
now that you have it?'
Watrin seized it with % grip that would
have crushed tho pomrncl of u sabcr, and
Napoleon said to Claparcde: ~ asked this
man yesterday what he had done to merit
this reward, and he answered that no had
presented INC with u watermelon at Yafa.
On my word, command an army of chill
dren!'
All, said the general, "a watermelon
when ono is perhaps almost dying of thirst
has greater importance in his eyes than
thousand wounds from which he will
recover. These men are but simple fell
lows. Often L hear my soldiers say: "a
wound, more or less, what matter? A
bagatcllo pour rAutrc.' Watrin Judges
you somewhat after his own plan and
thinks himself moro honorcd in having
saved your life, by relieving your thirst,
than in having been wounded in your
service. You are their emperor, but, first
of all, you arc tho head of the soldiers
family"
Tho emperor took step toward tho
door, but Claparcdc was right. Watrin,
terrible and appalling, his head smcared
with blood, reared himself in bed MS if "A
bomb had exploded under him, and drunk
with pride, flourishing tho imperial cross
in tho air, rcopcncd his wound by tho VIC
lent effort of his jaws rs he shouted:
Long live tho shorn one father and
mother of the oldier!''-From the French
For Short Stories.