Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-09-09

rough side to my tongue, and there
| was not hard word that l had learned
/ in fourteen campaisns which l did not
! let fv at him, but he sat with the han
| die of his pen tapping against his fore
! head and his eyes squirting up at the
| roof as if he had conceived the idea OF
some new stanza.> 1t was this occupa-
| ton of his which showed me how
might get my point into him. You
spawn" said 1, you think that you are
safe here, but your life may be as short
as that of your absurd verses, and God
knows it could not be shorter than
that"
Oh, you should have seen him bound
from his chair when | had said the
| words. This vile monster, who dis
pensed death and torture as grocer
serves out figs, had one raw nerve
which l could prod at pleasure. His
face ROW grew livid and those little
bourgeois side whislsers quivered and
thrilled with his passion.
Every good, colonel. You have said
enough" he cried, in a choking voice.
"You say that you havo had very dis
tinguished career; promise you also a
very distinguished ending. Col. Ell
enne Gerard, of the Third hussars,
shah have a death of his own"
And only beg" said l, "that you
do not commemorate it in verse" l
had one or two other little ironies 10
utter, but he cut me short with flu.
rious gesture which caused my three
guards to drag me from the cave.
l.. I 41ll
as nearly as | can remember it, must
have lasted some time, for it was quite
dark when we came out, and the moon
was shining very clearly in the heav-
ems. The brigands had lighted great
fire of the dried branches of the fir
trees; not of course for warmth, since
the night was already very sultry, but
to cook their evening meal. A huge
copper pot hung over the blaze, and
the rascals were lying all around in
the yellow glare, SO that the scene
looked like one Of those pictures which
Junot stole out of Madrid. There are
some soldiers who profess to care moth
ing for art and the like, but have al
wavs been drawn toward it myself, in
which respect / show my good taste
and my breeding. l remember for ex-
ample, that when they were selling the
plunder after the fall of Danzig, l
bought very fine picture called
"Nymphs Surprised in a Wood, and |
carried it with mo through two cam
paigns until my charger had the mis-
fortune to put his hoof through it.
only tell you this, however, to show
you that / was never mere rough sol
dier Ike Rapp or Lefebvre. AS | lay
in that brigands' camp | had little time
or inclination to think about such mat
ters. They had thrown me down un-
der tree, the three villains squatting
round and smoking their cigarettes
within hands touch of me. What to
do could not imagine. In my whole
career l do not suppose that have ten
times been in as hopeless a situation.
''But courage" thought l, courage,
my brave boy, you We're not made a
colonel Of hussars at twenty-eight be-
cause you could dance cotillon. You
are a picked man, Etienne, a man who
has come through more than two hun
dred affairs and this little one is surely
not going to be the last" l began
eagerly to glance about for some
chance of escape, and as l did SO l saw
something which filed me with great
astonishment.
1 have already told you that large
fire was burning in the center of the
glade. What with its glare and what
with it's moonlight everything was as
clear as possible. On the other side of
the glade there was a single tall fir tree
which attracted my attention because
its trunk and lower branches were dis
colored, as If large fire had recently
been lit underneath it. A clump Of
bushes grew in front of it which
concealed the base. Well, as /
looked towards 1t l was surprised to see
projecting above the bush, and fastened
apparently to the tree, pair of fine
riding boots with the toes upwards. At
first I thought that they were tied
there, but as | looked harder / saw
that they were secured by great nail
which was hammered through the foot
of each. And then suddenly, with
thrill of horror, understood that they
were not empty boots, and, moving my
head a little to the right, / was able to
see who it was that had been fastened
there and why n fire had been lit be-
meath the tree. 1t is not pleasant to
speak or think of horrors, my friends,
and / do not wish to give any of you
bad dreams tonight, but cannot take
you among the Spanish guerrillas with
out showing you what kind of men
they were and the sort of warfare that
they waged. Twill only say that | un-
derstood why Monsieur Vidal's horse
was waiting masterless in the grove,
and that l hoped that he had met this
terrible fate with sprightliness and
courage, as a good Frenchman ought.
1t was not very cheering sight for
me, as you can imagine. When 1 had
been with their chief in the grotto |
had been so carried away by my rage
at the cruel death OF young Soubiron,
who was one of the brightest lads who
ever threw his thigh over a charger,
that had never given thought TO my
own position. Perhaps it would have
been more polite had I spoken the
ruffian fair, but 1t was too late now
The cork was drawn and | must drain
the wine. Besides, if the harmless
commissariat man was put to such a
death, what hope was there for me,
who had snapped the spine of their
lieutenant? No, was doomed in any
case, SO it was as well, perhaps, that l
should have put TIE best face on the
matter. This beast could bear witness
that Edenne Gerard had died as he
had lived, and that one prisoner at
least had not quailed before him. lay
there thinking of the yarious girls who