The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-26

girl rrccning herself at her poor mir
cor returned again and again, and
troubled her. She could Contcmplat"
HE fate of the town as Il whole and
say: let it be-" Tut the one face ut
he window. the one ease buucht home
to her, clung To her mind, and prickrd
and panied her strangely.
By and 10y she heard the clock strik-
ing ten, and her daughter, turning
lcvcrishly on her bed, asked her if she
were going tu lie down. "pIescntly,"
she answered. "prcsoutly." And Still
sat and listened. and stili the Gil'S fac"
haunted her. She began t" picture
NOR" in detail the ,hing for which Sh"
was waiting; she fauCicd that she
heard the first alert. followed hy the
ruaI Of alarm, and the wild rush of feet:
then the crashing vullpy. the rattle uf
hu"fs ON the pavement, the WhiIl of the
li@ht through the streets, the shouts of
'Gclmauy: Germany" as tn" troops
swept in triumphant, And thcn--1h,
thcn-she heard the things that would
follow. the crashing in of doors the
sudden iaring of flames, the screams
"i men driven to tn" wall, the ycllS Of
drunken SaNons, the shrirks of tor
turcd women, tho
NJ more! No more, She could not
bear il With Il shuddrr she stood
erect and looked wildly about her. The
lamp burned low, her daughter was
asleep. With a swift movcmcnt the
nuth,r caught up Il shawl that lay h"-
side her ANA twisted it around her head,
and turned to the door.
Alas, too late. She had rcpcntcd, hut
to" late. Her hand already on the
latch. sh" stood arrested by Il low, dis
tant cry that caught her ear. and
SHcllcd, even as she listened to it, into
roar of many voices rouSin% the town.
What was ii, Alas, she knew: she
knew, and covered against the door,
White-faced and shaking. a moment,
ana the alarm, after sinking. rose
again and now there was no doubt of
its meaning. Shod feet clattcrcd
through the street, windows were fuug
up Il wild medley of voices broke out
ana again, in Il few seconds, were lost
III the crashing sound of the very vol
ley she had fOrescen.
from that moment it seemed that
he'll had broken loose in the town and
she had loosed it! She could no longer.
III the din that came up from the street.
distinguish one sound from another,
hut the crash of distant cannon, the
heavy tramp of feet near at hand. the
screams and cries ana shouting. the
bare of trumretS, all rose in a con-
fused babel of sounds that banchod
the cheeks and drove the blood to the
h"art. The woman. covering against
the door. covered her ears and groancd
aloud: her horror at what she had done
so great that she did not heed what
was passing near her. or even give
n thought to the child in the same room
with her. until the lattcr'S voice strucI;
her ear harshly, and sh" turned and
found her Standin. in the middle of
hnp hn, 1,,.,.
her eyes wide. Then the mother awoko
in her again with palld. shaking lius
she cried To her to lie down to lie
dOWn-fOr thcr" was no danger
Eut the Girl raised her hand for ST.
lcncc, and lent her head as ono list
ening. "Hush!" she said. ~ hear n
voice! And it is his! 1t is his. He is
coming to mc,'
The mother imagined that terror had
turned her brain; it was inconceivablo
that in that roar Of sound single
voice could make itself heard or l.,
recognized. And she tried. in a voice
quavering with horror, to repeat he,
meaningless words of comfort. But
they died on her lips-diCd still-hurn
as the door flew onen. and man
rushed in. stood an instant looking
then caught her child in his arms.
II was the BuIGUmaster' son!
The woman from the House on tn,
Wall leaned an instant against th,
doOrpoSt, gazing at them. Little bN
little, as she looked. the expression in
her eyes changed, and they took tn,
cold. fixed, distant look Of sleep.
walker. y moment, and she drew Z
shuddering breath and turned nnt
went out; and, grODlng in the uutsd,
darkness for the balustrade went dowr
the staircase, and passed unfalt"rinl
into the street.
A part of the garrison happened to be
retreating through the street at tn,
time. few still turning tu fire mt in.
ervals. but the greater number hurry
ing along with bent heads. keeping
close to the houses, and intent only on
escaping. One of these ran against
her. as she issued from the doorway
and nearly Knocked her down: but she
recovered herself. and. reaching tn,
middle of the roadway. stood there lk,
rock, her face turned i'm the direction
whence the fugitives We're Fastening
And presently she saw what she
wanted. In the reek of smoke above tn,
burning gate, toward which she looked
and the flame of which filed Tho
street with a smoky glare-a suddei
glitter of steel shone out: and in mo-
ment. rank on rank, a dense column O.
men appeared, coming shoulder t.
shoulder. She watched them tramp
nearer and nearer, filling the stree
the glare of their eyes: then, with
cry that was lost i'm the tumult sh,
rushed on the bayonets.
With eyes shut, with arms open I,