Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-30

at Fontainebleau. In ten minutes the owner
was Harvesting them into the coach, with
no very good will, however. for he was in
mortal dread of this terrible Cuchillo- 1t
was only by promising him riches in this
world, while the priest threatened him with
damnat9n in the next, that we at last got
him safely upon the box with the reins be-
tween his fingers. Then he was in such a
hurry to get off, out of fear lest we should
find ourselves in the dark in the passes
that he hardly gave me time to renew my
vows to the innkeepers daughter. l can
ret at this moment recall her name. but
we wept together as We parted, and can
woman. You Will understand, my friends
that when man like me, who has fought
the men ana kissed the women in fourteen
separate kingdoms. gives word of praise
to the or the other it has little mean
ing of its own
The little priest had seemed a trifle grave
when We kissed goodbye. but he soon
proved himself the best of companions in
the diligence. All the way he amused me
with tales of his little parish up in the
mountains, and 1 in my turn told him
stories about the camp, but my faith had
TO pick my steps. for when l said word
too much he would fidget in his seat, and
his face would show the pain that I had
given him. And, of course, it is not the
act of a gentleman to talk in anything but
proper manner to a religious man,
though with all the care in the world ones
words may get out of hand sometimes. He
had come from the north of Spain. as he
told me. and was going to see his mother
in village of Estremadura. and as he
spoke about her little peasant home, and
her joy in seeing him, it brought my
mother so wildly to my thoughts that the
tears started to my eyes. In his simplicity
he showed me the little gifts which he was
taking to her. and so kindly was his man
ner that l could readily believe him when
he said that he was loved wherever he
went. He examined my own uniform with
as much curiosity as child, admiring the
through the sable with which my dolman
vas trimmed. He drew my sword. too,
and then. when 1 tod him how many
men l had cut down with it, and set my
fingers on the notch made by the shoulder
bone of the Russian emperor's aid-de-
camp, he shuddered and placed the weapon
u1der the leathern cushion, declaring that
it made him sick to look at it.
Well. We had been rolling and cracking
on our way whilst this talk had been going
forward, and as We reached the base Of
the mountains we could hear the rumbling
OF cannon far away upon the right. This
came from Messena. who was, as 1 knew,
beSeging Cindad Rodrigo. There was
nothing 1 should have wished better than
to have gone straight to him, for he was
the best Jew that l have heard of since
Joshua's time, and If you are in sight of
his beal1y nose and bold, black eyes. you
are not likely to miss much Of what is 60
ing on. Still, a siege is always poor sort
OF pick-and-shovel business, and there
were better prospects with my hussars in
font Of the English. Every mile that
passed my heart grew lighter and lighter,
until found myself shouting and singing
Ike young ensign fresh from Saint Cyr,
just to think of seeing all my fine horses
and my gallant fellows once more.
AS We penetrated the mountains the road
grew rougher and the pass more savage.
At first We met few muleteers, but now
the whole country seemed deserted, which
is not to be wondered at when you think
tfat the French. the English and the
euerrillaS had each in turn had command
over it. So bleak and wild was it, one
great brown wrinkled cliff succeeding an
other. and the pass growing narrower and
narrower, that I ceased to look out, but
sat in silence. thinking of this and that
of women whom 1 had loved and of horses
which I had handled. / was suddenly
brought back from my dreams, however
by observing the difficulties of my COM
panion, who was trying with a sort Of
bredawl, which he had drawn out, to bore
hole through the leathern strap which
reid up his water flask. AS he worked
with twitching fingers the strap escaped
Els grasp and the wooden bottle fell at my
feet l stopped to pick it up, and as I did
so the priest silently leaped upon my
eye.
My friends I am, as you know, a man
steeled to face every danger When one
has served from the siege of Genoa to that
last fatal day of Waterloo, and has had
the special medal, which I keep at home in
leathern pounch, one can afford to con-