The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-14

with her daughter. Mile Reine-youI
mother. my chldren-who, with her u
summers. was delicious 20 contemplate
in the uniform OF a viVanliere
We were all Of US In love with this youue
girl. who was not bold as might have
been expected, but on the contrary
from the colonel down 10 the youngest
drummer boy. every one was in love with
her. one man alone did not pay her any
attention. the Serst- Ghesquiere. and :,
was precisely this one man who pleased
her! To US only conventional smiles 10
him all the rhetoric Of loving looks.
Ghesquiefe. although so young pos
sessed the decoration Of the Legion of
Honor, IL was this distinction which quail
liled him to be on level with as officers.
He had come from the corps of occupa-
ton In Portugal. where he had been
wounded by an English ball When ne
quilted the ambulance. he was at once
Incorporated and placed in our regiment.
Although but recently arrived, he was
already much beloved. We called him
the pretty sergeant, for he really was a
pretty yOuth-fair, quite beardless. gen
vibration of that of a woman.
The cross on his breast was great con-
trast 10 the fragile appearance Of this
adolescent. However for this You have
but to look back in the pages OF history
for the account Of the famous Sergeant
Ghesquiere, who was at the same time
the RECONCILIATION Of fraternal love. and
OF love of his country
My good friends, said 10 my compan-
ions, .as we are to fight tomorrow
some OF us tomorrow evening viii be alb
sent at the Rappel; II may be that we all
shall be absent. SO I propose that we
should put an end 10 this state of uncer-
tainty, and that Mile. Refine should be
kind enough 10 indicate the one among ms
which she prefers. We must promise not
to tender rancune. for she cannot love all
"oh yes. indeed, lieutenant" said she, q
do love you all.
THAT IS impossible" said I.
well. good gentlemen" said Mere Car.
dot. you had better draw lots. then there
can be no one jealous"
Draw lots! In what way. and with
Then - sergeant said to me: "If the
lieutenant permits have a suggestion 10
make"
Come then. let us have your idea.
We know that all the eggs in the can.
tine have not been boiled hard. for there
are those which are reserved for the fam.
Mere Cardot break these very carefully
and only just at the tip, so that the shells
may remain almost intack."
And afterWardsg'
Afterwards each of us shall write his
name on a separate shell"
And after that%'
AFTER that, every one shall thrust q
thin stick into the opening OF his egg she'll
and hold 1t up above the trenches as
Saying this the Sergeant stuck a stick
=
ball Immediately shattered the shell into
thousand pieces.
You see they have their eyes about
them, these Spaniards, and also precise
aim. They fire under the sound Of music
too, for you must all hear as l do, the 'Sa.
lutaris Hostioe which is chanted in our
cathedral for communicates. We will
range ourselves in line, each one shall
hold up his egg shell exposed to the fire
OF the dragons, and he whose egg re-
mains intact shall be proclaimed the king
n
gracious ViVandiere? ?"
This promised game of chance TEMPTED
the, superstitious nature Of the young girl
ana she consented to the arrangement
While the Mere Carnot was preparing
for her Omelette by breaking carefully
each egg. at its extreme point a soldier
presented himself carrying a small parcel
which he said was sent with compliments
from the colonel. 1t was an Easter egg
IN white sugar-a very ordinary looking
one-nOt worth more than a few sous
Expose this one also to the massacre, -
said Refine, with a disdainful laugh
wait a little, child" cried her mother
perhaps IT contains a surprise! Open il
ana look. So Refine opened the sugared
dainty, removed a small piece of mink
Wadding and exposed TO view the su.
perb pearl earrings.
oh, how lovely they are" said she
Always gallant Mons. the colonel
cried the mother.
A few minutes after this incident seven
were to be seen uplifted ai,oVe The trench
Three Of them We're struck down imfned.
iately-a fourth fifth-and then pause
There were now but two remaining my
own and that of Sergeant Ghesquiere.
My heart beat hard and fast, for / was
desperately in love and very anxious
At length the balls again came whistling
near some were driven into the ground
close by, but one ball carried off the last
but one of the two shells, but the stick
which supported it, and this. alas. was
mine.
1T would have been much better If Il
had carried away my brains at the same
time 1 exclaimed.
The sergeant took back his trophy to tn,
canteen without either evincing Joy or en-
thusiasm / must acknowledge, while The
young girl should not conceal her delight
that luck had favored the object of nor
affections, and she was not too bashfu
to cover her hero with kisses.
We were all surprised az the attitude
OF the sergeant; he seemed quite stupefec
and incomprehensible. Would you believe
that he even laughed at the naive and
sincere manifestations Of Reines love,
ne LOOK her by the chin and with a pa
tronizing air kissed her on her lips in re.
disappeared.
Not very gallant, this young sergeant
SAID one of our party.
You must bear IN mind that he is not
a Frenchman," said /.
In reality this conduct Of Ghesauiere
nlled my heart with hope and 10y, for
seemed to guess-a supposition which waf
confirmed later on-that after the ser.
geant it was / whom Refine looked upon
with the greatest favor.
The poor little thing went big tears
OF wounded vanity. I inveighed against
the sergeant, heaping all sorts Of eyi
names and abuse on his head, and finally
love.
When Ghesquiere came back TO the can.
teen and saw Reine's chagrin. an expros
sion of remorse and regret came over his
features, and taking refine by the hand
he led her gently away some distance
from the group.
We look on in wonder; his back was TO-
wards US. but the young girls face was
turned IN our direction, and we saw that
while he whispered something in her ear
Reine's face became moved by different
emotions. Surprise-stupefactio n-incre
ulity; then a smile. which changed into
a long f1t of ringing laughter, after which
the couple chastely embraced each other
and separated. What could the sergeant
have been communicating to her? Reint
came back amongst US rather piteousIv
her exquisite little mouth rounded itselt
into comical pout: she then placed tht
ear-rings-the colonefs gift-in her ears
and coming straight towards me. said
How do you think look in them? Am
l pretty?"