Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-05-27

so land ] think each of us four
saw the last of Raoul de Mar, vidame de
Beers, in this life.
! He was a man whom we cannot Judge
by to-day's standard; for he was such
| an one in his vices and his virtues as
| the present day does not know; one
who in his time did immense evil
and if his friends be believed, little
good. But the evil is forgotten; the
good lives. And if all that good save
one act were buried with him, that one
act alone, the act of French gentle
| man, would be told of him-ay! and
will be told-as long as the kingdom
of France, and the gracious memory
of the late king, shall endure
see again by the simple process of
shutting my eyes. the little party of
five-for Jean, our servant, had re-
joined usEwho on that summer day
rode over the hills to Caylus, threading
the mazes of the hOlm-oalks, and gall
ioping down the rides, and haIIooing
the hare from her form, but never pur-
suing her; arousing the Nesting farm
houses from their sleepy stiffness by
joyous shout and laugh, and shifting,
as we climbed the hillside again, the
scent of the ferns that died crushed
under our horses hoofs-died only that
they might add one little pleasure more
to the happiness God had given u.s.
Rare and sweet indeed are those few
days in life, when it seems that all
creation lives only that we may have
pleasure in it, and thank God for it.
It is well that we should make the
most of them, we surely did of that
day.
1t was nightfall when we reached the
edge of the uplands, and looked down
on Caylus. The last rays of the sun
fingered with us, but the valley below
was dark! so dark that even the rock
about which our homes clustered
would have been invisible save for the
half-dozen lights that were beginning
to twinkle into being on its summit
A silence fell upon US as we slowly
wendell our way down the well-known
path.
All day VIC had ridden in great Joy;
if thoughtless, yet innocent; if selfish,
yet thankful; and always blitheIy,
with a great eXultation and relief at
heart, a great rejoicing for our, own
sakes and for Kits.
Now with the nightfaH and the dark
iSSo, now " 1lCH VIC WCIC
and on the eve of giving joy to another
we grew silent. There arose other
thoughts thoughts of all that had
happened since we had last assembled
that track; and so our minds, turned
naturally back to him to whom
we owed our happiness-to thu
giant left behind in his pride and
power and his loneliness. The 9th
IL IL FL
yet without shame. But I redeemed.
rejecting how it would have been with
us if I had had my way; if had re-
sorted in my shortsightedness to one
last violent, cowardly deed, and killed
him, as had twice wished to do.
Pavannes would then have been lost
almost certainly. Only the vidame with
his powerful troop-we never knew
whether he had gathered them for that
purpose or merely with an eye to his
government could have saved him.
And few men however powerful-per-
haps Beers only of all men in Paris
would have dared to snatch him from
thes.nob when once it had sighted him.
I dwell on this now that my grandchil
dren may take warning by it, though
never will they see such days as have
seen.
And so we clattered up the steep
street of Cayfus with pleasant melan-
choly upon us, and passed, not without
a more serious thought. the gloomy.
frowning portals, all barred and shut
tered, of the House of the Wolf, and
under the very window, sombre and va
can't, from which Beers had melted the
rabble in their attack on Pavannes'
courier. We had gone by day. and we
came back by night. But we had gone
trembling, and we came back in joy.
We did not need to ring the great bell.
Jeans cry: Hot Gate theret Open
for my lords." had scarcely passed his
lips before we were admitted. And ere
we could mount the ramp, one person
outran those who came forth to see
what the matter was, one outran Nine.
Claude, outran old Gil. outran the hur-
rying servants and the welcome of the
house. / saw a slender figure all in
white break away from the little crowd
and dart towards us, disclosing as it
reached me a face that seemed still
whittier than it's robes. and yet face
that seemed all eyes-eyes that asked
the question the lips could not frame.
/ stood aside with a low bow, my. hat
in my hand; and said simply-it was
the great effect of my life: VOLTA, mon
sieur!"
And then 1 saw the sun rise in
woman's face.
The vidame de Beers died as he had
lived. He was still governor of Cahors
when Henry the Great attacked it on
the night of the 18th of June, 1880.
Taken by surprise and wounded in the
first confusion of the assault, he still