Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-04-08

speaking 10 lily cOInpdniOn dJ the mo-
ment. Where was it?' cried, look
ing behind me.
''Close to us. Near the Louvre he
answered, listening intently. ''Seei
Seei An, heavcns!'' he continued in a
voice of despair, sit was a signal!'
1t was One, two, threei Before /
could count so far, lights sprang into
brightness in the windows of nine out
of ten houses in the short street where
we stood. as if lighted by single hand.
Before too I could count as many
more or ask him what this meant. be-
fore, indeed, We could speak or stir
from the spot. or think what we should
do, with hurried clang and clash, as
if brought into motion by furious, fren-
zied hands, a great bell just above our
heads began to boom and whirr! 1t
hurled its notes into space. 1t suddenly
filled all the silence. 1t dashed its harsh
sounds down upon the trembling city,
till the air heaved and the houses about
US rocked. 1t made in an instant
pandemonium of the quiet night.
We turned and hurried instinctively
from the place, crouching and amazed,
looking upwards with bent shoulders
and scared faces. What is it? What
in terror. It deafened me.
1.-The bell of ST. German l'Auxerrois!"
he shouted in answer. ''The Church
of the Louvre. 1t is as 1 said. We are
| doomed!''
Doomed? No! - I replied fiercely,
| for my courage seemed to rise again
on the wave of sound and excitement
as if rebounding from the momentary
shock. ''Neveri We wear the devils
livery, and he will look after his own.
Draw, man, and let him that stops US
look to himself. You know the way.
Lead oni'' cried, savagely.
He caught the infection and drew his
sword. So we started boldly, and the
result justified my confidence. We
| looked, no doubt, as like murderers as
any who were abroad that night. Nov
| ing in this desperate guise we fastened
up that street and into another-still
pursued by the din and clangor of the
bell-and then q short distance along
q third. We were not stopped or adj
dressed by anyone, though numbers,
| increasing each moment as door after
door opened, and we drew nearer to the
heart of the commotion, were hurrying
in the same direction, side by side with
|
and again lights cleaned on mass of
weapons, or on white eager faces, fill
ing some alley from wall to wall, we
| heard the roar of voices rising and fall
ing like the murmur of an angry sea.
All was blurr, hurry, confusion, tu-
multi. Yet I remember, as we pressed
onwards with the stream and part OF it,
certain sharp outlines. I caught here
| Of Ia n
face at a window, ha1f-clad form at
a door, of the big, wondering eyes of
q child held up to see US pass, of a Christ
at corner ruddy in the smoky glare
of link, of woman armed, and in
| mans clothes, who walked some dis
lance side by side with US, and led off
a ribald song. I retain a memory of
these things; of brief bursts of light
and long intervals of darkness, and al
ways, as we tramped forwards, my hand
On Pavannes' sleeve, of an eyer-growing
tumult in front-an ever-rising flood
| of noise.
At last we came to a standstill where
a side street ran out of ours. Into this
the hurrying throng tried to wheel,
| and, unable to do so, halted, and
| pressed about the head of the street.
| which was already full to overlooking;
and so fought with hungry eyes for
| places whence they might look down
| it. Pavannes and I struggled only to
| get through the crowd to get on: but
the efforts of those behind partly aid
ing and partly thwarting our own.
| presently forced US to a position
| whence we could not avoid seeing what
was afoot.
The street-this side street was
ablaze with light. From end to end
every gable, every hatchment was
glowing, every window was Pickering
in the glare of torches. 1t was paved,
too, with faces-human faces, yet
scarcely human-an looking one way,
all looking upward; and the noise, as
from time to time this immense
crowd groaned or howled in unison.
like wild beast in it's fury, was so APP
palling, that I clutched Pavannes' arm
and chung to him in momentary terror.
1 do not wonder now that I quailed
though sometimes I have heard that
sound since. For there is nothing in
the world so dreadful as that brute
beast we call the canaille, when the
chain is off and its cowardly soul is
reused.