Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1897-01-08

1
There must have been about 100 Of them
altogether A young officer was in COM
| mand. tt4 i3t' 49
HE came up to me and asked brutal
~; rR
1T Is you who are Nine. JamheP'
Yes. i am she, answered him.
Your son has just entered this
housea eh6..
My son! He Is far away from here,
always suppoaing that he Is still alive. ;
He il here am sure Of il. Come,
now, where is hep
= You must seek him then.
"He made q aign, and was sur
rounded and prevented from moving my
position. The soldiers ransacked the
house. asking myself meanwhile who
could be the coward who had betrayed
.nyE.S3n
AT last the brutes found him--him
and his friends - and l saw them
dragged out. covered with the hay in
which they had attempted to conceal
themselves And my sonl How brave
and handsome he looked. with his fash
ing eyes, Yes; he was my own flesh
and blood. and felt proud Of him.
They were vigorously searched for the
message they were supposed to bear.
but as 10 was verbal ono they could
and nothing.
'"The officer stamped about the little
room, mad with rage. Glanoing ut the
prisoners, no cried;
is your son among thomg
9 He Ia not. and. II he were, would
not confess IT,
'He drew his sword on me. and then
we were all dragged out into the road
way. the officer shouting:
Where ia the man who gave us the
informationp
+" Ono of his companions has just
killed him. u Prussian sergeant replied,
pointing to corpse which had not
seen, hidden. az 1t was, behind bush.
''The traitor was a franc-tireur, who,
to save his own life. had given up my
son to the enemy. His punishment had
not been long delayed.
" The murderer shall be shot' cried
the officer Then. looking fiercely at q
group Of the villagers who were cover
ing under his mems bayonets, no CON
tinued:
Some ono among you knows the
man Jamie. Point him out to me. or l
will order my men to fire on you.
"Ah, they were brave. my neighborsi
They made no reply
Then we will soon find out. He
gave an order In low voice. His men
and placed rifles In tho hands Of my
aon and his comrades.
"And the officer said:
" On the word Of command you will
fire and kill that woman. II you dis
obey, 1t will be your turn next. He
urged on his men, who arranged tho I'M
fortunates whom he was turning into
aasassins in line in front Of me.
IA cry Of horror ran through tho
crowd, followed by dead silence. l.
we'll, offered my soul to 10 bon Dieu,
telling myself that must try TO show
how Frenohwoman could die IL need
be, and waited. watching my son.
But no did not seem to SEQ mo. His
eyes were turned to his comrades. They
seemed to be making signs to one an
other.
Ready the word of command
Numbered.
"' Present. And they obeyed, cover
ing me with their rifles.
f" 'FireP They turned suddenly to the
right about. An explosion followed, and
four Prussians, the officer among the
number. fell. And. above tho roar Of
the discharge. l heard my boys voice
clearly:
'Firel Yes, but on you, cowardP
"A general volley on the part Of tho
Prussians followed. and I fell. with
bullet In my shoulder. Before lost con-
sciousneas, however. saw that my son
was still unhurt.
II learned afterward that, just at
this moment. the cannon Of the Fort do
Joux began to play. The commandment
had caught the reflection Of the sunlight
from the Prussians' helmets, and, con-
oluding--none too soon--that something
untoward was taking place, had sent IA
/ few shells into the crowd and rapidly
dispersed the enemy. 1t was those guns
which, some hours later, covered the re-
treat Of onr Army Of the East across the
Swiss frontier.
Mime. Jambe died a few years after
these events--whioh have related as
nearly AZ can In her own words-took
place. Her story was recalled to my
mind the other day on hearing that the
son Of this brave woman had Just been
promoted to the command Of his regi
ment Pearson's Weekly.