The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-15

gray. he 1s or sturdy DullO, simple anu
open of oountenanoe.
ST am the last of the De Combles," he
says. II had three brothers and sister.
They are dead. My father had two broth.
ers. and they had children, but they are all
dead See, here Is the record" And
with that he produces some parchment
pages, bound with heavy card, that in
grabbed penmanship give much Of the
family history that is not touched by the
great parchment sheet.
"My grandfather, August do Combles,
fought in the war of La Vendee. See, here
1t is. And he was forced to flec when the
royalists were defeated and escaped to
. England in small open boat.
"He won this Order Of St. Louis, too, :"
he adds proudly, as he shows six pointed
star, pendent from silver coronet and
cross, with circle in the midst Of the star
points reading, Henri Nv, Poi de France
ct Denava." And then, as he turns to an.
other page Of the record, he says simply:
my greataunt was victim of the gull
lotine in the Reign of Terror. Here is the
entry" and reads the grimly brief words,
"Antoinette Marie, died 14th January,
1898, after being taken from the prison
boat"
The man picked up beautifully paint
ed miniature Of young officer in green
uniform, with facingsof white and red,
and turned to the entry: Francois Se-
bastien de Kerguz, captain in the Regi-
ment de Bigarre, 1865. Died May 3, 1890. /"
He picked up steel key, with q parch-
ment strip attached, on which is written,
"Cle du tombeau," and said, "That Is the
key Of our family cemetery near Naples"
"Tbe family estates were nine miles
outside of the city of Nantes, and In the
center was our Chateau La Peeze. The
family was wealthy" And he laid upon
that plain table an old sheet of yellowed
paper, on which WINS written, In ink al
most faded to illegibility, an itemized list
Of farms and holdings, with q total OF
515K acres.
1--WE never recovered our property, con-
fiscated after the revolution. Ny father
lived In England, made considerable
money and lost it. went TO France and
Joined cavalry regiment. the Chasseurs
d'Afric, and served for over nine years In
Algiers and the Crimea. could get only
the rank equivalent to that Of sergeant,
instead Of rank such a. my ancestors
held"
De Comblcs shows other medals, insig-
nia and papers and two miniatures Of the
Duchesse du Berri.
He has q small painting of his father
and mother, and he has their wedding
ring. All else he win sell, with the title,
but not these.
The ring Is most curious. 1t is appar-
emily . plain, unmarked gold band, bat
1t may be split In half, and on the inside
Of one section is the name Of the father,
on the other that Of the mother and the
date Of the marriage, June IL, 1921.
To q purchaser, De Combles will turn
over all right to his title and is confident
that he can arrange the transfer In court
of law.
His wife, wistful eyed little woman,
creeps to his side and says, I've want TO
zee France again" And then she takes n
pencil and writes, under the family seal
that she first stamped In wax:
De Combles" les"-"Decomblcs.
Now he Is NOBLE" she says, land has
the right to sign the first. When he sells
his title, he can only use the second"
And this strangely situated aged couple
look at each other and seh.-New York
journal.