Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-06-25
A FATAL IMPOSITION.
By Alfred r. CaIhoun.

40&0&44 ~
joseph, $50 as to stop the disgrace 70 our
family"
But falling ca hsr knees By tho tsbl>
and giving way 70 her tears tho poor bro
ken hearted mother sobbed:
Franz is my last born and INV love
Let us Judge him by his motives, for the
boy means right
In the brief, bloody war that followed
France fell but not through the weakness
or cowartlice of the citizens Of Alsace and
Lorraine. Not even the men from Brit
tany, Normandy or the Mediterranean
provinces fought more gallantly or suffered
80 severely for Ia belle France as did these
soldiers whose grandfathers adopted the
tricolor at the bidding of the great Corsi-
can conquerur.
Louis and Joseph Neuman took service
Cnder Bazaine, and the old merchants.
their father. stopped at no sacrifice Of
wealth to keep the Saxons and Pomerani.
ans of the Red Prince from entering the
gates of his beloved city.
But incompetency and some say treason
on the part of the French commander.
though history must give the credit to the
skill and number of the Germans, resulted
in the surrender of Metz and the capitu-
ldtlOu III 6Q dafIity ~ kreHC anu so WRll
equipped that people of the English speak.
ing race are amazed as they read the story.
Soon after this peace was proclaimed.
and old Louis Neuman and his two sons
took the oath of allegiance To the newly
created emperor of Germany.
In the meantime Franz, the artist, had
gone ON with Unscr Fritz from the Rhine
to st. Privat, from ST Privat to Sedan and
from Sedan TO faris, where the war and
the Nap0ieonic dynasty ended.
The sublieutenant Franz Neuman had
BECAME a captain. His promotion was due
to Ills conspicuous gallantry, and he would
have been retained in the service Of the
emperor but for severe wound in the
breast received at the close of tho siege.
A pittance of a pension and an iron cross
for the breast were all the empire could do
to heal the wound, and these were more
than the young soldier asked for.
Franz felt thankful that the war had not
brought MIN face TO lace with his brothers,
not that ne feared their skill as niarksmen,
but that nc shrunk from the thought Of
doing them harm.
Pale and with the iron cross on the
breast OF his white blouse, Captain Neu-
man made his way back to his mother and
tho substantial house in which he had
been born.
The mother, as might have been expect
cd, met her youngest son with all the old
love and warmth, but he had not been in
the house half hour when his father en-
tered.
without any saiutation the old man
pointed TO the door and said:
You are no son of mine. My son Franz
| died to me the day he put on German
uniform. 1 have two sons left. Go before
they see you, for they still know how to
shoot"
Tho young captain. kissed his mother,
who chung to him, and turning at the
threshold he said to his father:
"You have done what their rifles NAV
| finish. You have blasted my life One
| day their bullets will end it. +"
Ihese words which, II noticed by the
ehraeeq oiu man, were supposed to be wild
ana rambling, were afterward recalled with
| the agony and bitterness OF death.
And so the crippled captain went away
from Metz, and the merchant and his
sons worked all the harder in their stores
ana vineyards to make up for the losses ol
the war.
-Four years went by, during which time
| the stern old merchant never permitted the
name OF his youngest son to be mentioned
| IN his presence.
Now and then the heart hungry mother
| spoke to the other sons about their Ger
| man Drother, and they tried to comfort
her with theassurance that he had gone tf
| America with many of his old comrades.
Inc years brought much prosperity tc
the Drothers Louis and Joseph. Each mar
] RED q wife as rich as himself, and each
had Kept up his love for rifle practice, and
there were no men in Metz who had wor
covered with the announcement ounce n, Of s me