The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1896-04-10

IT was speaking in earnest" answer
ed Lomaque, quietly; "but / won't
weary you with any more words about
myself. My story is told"
"All?" asked Trudaine. He looked
searchingly. almost suspiciously, at
Lomaque, as he put the question. "A!l?"
he repeated. "Yours is a short story,
my good friend! Perhaps you have
forgotten some of it?"
Again Lomaque fidgeted and hest
tated.
els it not little hard on an old man
to be always asking questions OF him,
and never answering one Of his inquir-
les in return" he said to Rose, very
gaily as to manner, but rather uneas-
lily as to look.
"He will not speak out till we two ere
alone" thought Trudaine. at Is best to
risk nothing. and to humor him."
Come, come" he said aloud, no
grumbling. I admit that it is your
turn to hear our story now; and will
do my best to crafty you. But be-
fore l begin" he added. turning to his
sister, 'let me suggest, Rose. that II
you have any household matters to
settle upstairs"
Il know what you mean" she in
terrupted, hurriedly taking up the work
which during the last few minutes she
had allowed to drop into her lap; but
am stronger than you think; l can face
the worst Of our recollections compos-
I on I
quite fit to stop and hear YOU"
"You know what we suffered In the
first days Of our suspense. after the sue
cess of your stratagem," said Tru-
dame, turning to Lomaque. Il think
it was on the evening after we hal
seen you for the last time at st. La
zare, that strange confused rumors of IN
impending convulsion in Paris first
penetrated within our prison walls.
During the next few days the faces Of
our gaolers were enough to show us
that those rumors were true. and that
the Reign Of Terror was actually
threatened with overthrow at the
hands of the Moderate Party. We had
hardly time to hope everything from
this blessed change, before the ire
mendous news Of Robespierre's at
tempted suicide, then of his condem-
nation and execution, reached us. The
confusion produced in the prison was
beyond all description. The accused
who had been tried and the accused who
had not been tried got mingled to-
gether. From the day OF Robespierre's
arrest, no orders came to the authori-
ties, no death lists reached the prison.
The gaolers, terrified by rumors that
the lowest accomplices of the tyrant
would be held responsible, and be con-
demned with him, made no attempt to
maintain order. Some of them-that
humpbacked man among the rest
deserted their duties altogether. The
dsorganiZation was so complete, that
when the commissioners from the new
government came to st. LaZare, some of
us were actually half starving from
want of the bare necessaries OF life. To
inquire separately into our cases was
sound to be impossible. Sometimes the
necessary papers we're lost; sometimes
what documents remained were incom-
prehensible to the new commissioners.
They were obliged, at last, to make
short work of it by calling us up be-
fore them in dozens. Tried or not tried,
we had all been arrested by the tyrant,
had all been accused Of conspiracy
against him, and were all ready to hail
the new government as the salvation
Of France. In nine cases out Of ten,
our best claim to be discharged was
derived from these circumstances. We
were. trusted by Tallien and the men
of the ninth Thcrmidor, because we
had been suspected by Robespierre,
Couthon, and st. Just. Arrested in
formally we were now liberated in
formally. When it came to my sisters
turn and mine, we were not under eX-
animation five minutes. No such thing
as a searching question was asked Of
us; believe we might even have given
our own names with perfect impunity.
But I had previously instructed Rose
that we we're to assume our mothers
name-Maurice. AS the citizen and
cheyenne Maurice, accordingly, we
passed out Of prison-under the same
name we have lived ever since in hid
ing here. Our past repose has de-
pended, our future happiness will de-
pend, on our escape from death being
kept the profoundest secret among Iii
three. For one all-sufficient reason.
which you can easily guess at, the
brother and sister Maurice must still
know nothing of Louis Trudaine and
Rose Danville, except that they were
two among the hundreds OF victims
guillotined during the Reign of Ter
ror."
ITO BE coNrINUEp.D