Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1896-01-03

a-bcch.'
The cannon poured in a broadside.
Simon lifted the little girl o his
shoulders and set her on his knapsack,
and trembling for the first time in his
life, fired his musket, TO the great do
light Of Emmeline, who clappcd her
hands and shouted glcefully. In due
time a company of French troops mr.
rived upon tho sccno, and amid frantic
cheering from the spectators tho corporal
and his companion are borne OF in
safety, but General Roquebort has beon
mcTtally wounded. He is carried in
upon n litter, and in his last agony
blesses Emmcline, who is left in charge
Of tho old corporal after n thousand in.
structions and recommendations neces-
sary 10 tho rest Of the piece.
The little innocent, Growing and
smiling in the middle of this crowd "
soldiory, among al these decorations,
this noise and smoke Of battle, won a
veriteble triumph. The public applaud
cd with frenzy, and when some one
spoke of her rs an "infant prodigy" the
phrase was caught up and echoed round
the house.
Always ''pick a back on the KNAPP
sack Of tho old corporal, she was "caH-
Cd" three times, and on reaching the
wings was Immediately Rugged and
kissed, feted and fondled and crammed
with bonbons and dainties by tho ladies
Of the company.
"That was a capital idea OF mine"
Verniere had said to hims'lf on signing
the engagement Ct his daughter at the
Theatre du Nord, "capitGl."
For a hundred nights 1.-The Old Cor
poral" drew crowds to tho boulevard,
and those unable to got inside remained
outside to cheer tho "infant prodigy"
Lucette Verniero.
All was going meTrily.
At the end Of three months Lucetto
began to show signs that tho strain was
telling on her. Hor slim figure and pale
face wero growing simmer and paler.
Her eyes were heavy, her look jaded.
The Grandmother observed the symp-
toms with alarm. Sho called the atten-
ton Of the parents to the child, but
Verniere would listen to nothing and
contented himself with replying:
Don't make yourself uneasy about
nothing. The Old Corporal's' begin
ming 70 hutter. Weoan't keep him going
much longer, ind after he drops Lucette
will have plenty Of time 10 rest.
shc WA resting now, little Lu-
cette.
Resting, with q face whittier than the
pillow on which her head lay, a victim
to brain fever.
From timo to timo her wasted little
band would grasp convulsively, rs if
seized with sudden fear, the long, bony
hand Of her old grandmother.
Poor old woman, how she suffered TO
see her darling lying i'll. and in c fury
OF anger she would charge Verriere
with sacrificing the child to his vanity.
"You have driven her beyond her
strength. You've exhausted all her
forces. Mauditp'
The father never replied. He knew
that he had done a bad business AM de-
served all the reproaches his mothe-
heaped upon him.
When LUcette opened her big eyes and
fixed them on him, tkey setmed to re-
pSpach him also. They felt like knives
in his heart.
One afternoon, AftcV tho Doctors de-
parture, Lucette was taken deliriouS.
She sat mp in bod, staring about her
wildly and crying "Tho enemy Loci
therel Forward Vivo l'empereurl"
And again:
General R~oquebert Is mortally
wounded. A doctor-quick-hurry-
there's no time to losei'
They were phrases from 1.-THE Old
Corporal" which were passing through
the lowered brain of the poor child. Yer
Micro and his wife stood at the head Oh
tho bed, plunged in an abyss Of grief.
As for tho old grandmother, she coult
scarcely SEQ for weeping. Her heart wa
broken.
For q fow moments the child remain.
cd quiet, and tho watchers thought she
had fallen asleep, but Suddenly starting
up "all Of a EiecO, and with an agony
Of terror lighting up her face:
1.-THE enemyl' she cried, throwing NJ
her arms. "The e1semyI"
And she fell back dead.
Three days later the body Of the Gin
FAINT prodiW"-Lacette Vhrniere-wal
laid in the cemetery at Pantin. On the
coffin was placed a magnificent flora
crown, which bore the inscription, "TC
Lucette Verniere, artistic, from tho The
afro du Nord."
The old grandmother was too pros
trated TO Join the funeral procession, but
after the sun was down, the figure o.
the poor old creature might have beer
seen bending over the still open grave
and her voice board calling softly, 81
softly that sho seemed afraid it nigh
awaken tho little sleeper who lay be
low; "Lucette, my child; my darling
Lueette. It is l. Do you hear mep 1 an
coming to you.
Next morning the gavodiggc-s fount
upon the grave of the ''infant prodigy
the inanimate form OF the old grand
mothor, smiling in death upon her wei
beloved grandchild Lucette From thu
French.
Tho Du~rgbmaster's Ready wit.
The London Standard special CORE