The record-union., 1897-08-08
THE SEALED LETTER.

| The great road from Paris to Bel
| gium is both long and dull, stretching
away mile after mile in a perfectly
straight line, through hideous coun-
| try of yellow mud, without trees or
| hedges, and nearly perfectly fiat. Yet
| in this uninteresting country, when /
| was on horseback and alone / met with
| an adventure which / have never since
| forgotten. 1t was as long ago as the
year 1915, when the scarcely unexpect-
ed return of the great Emperor from
Elba had led to a plentiful exodus of
those who had attached themselves to
the fortunes of King Louis XVIII,
more especially those who like myself,
| had been in attendance upon the per-
/ son of the King
My horse had cast shoe, and I had
thus fallen little in the. rear of my
comrades, whose white cloaks and crima
son uniforms We're easily discernible
through the binding rain on the hori-
zon in front; while behind me the
lancers of Bonaparte, with their tri-
| colored pennons, hovered in the rear
! following us step by step, with the
! evident intention of seeing us over the
| frontier. / was but little more than
| a lad, but l had a tolerable horse un-
der me, and a plentiful supply of money
in my pockets; and although the rain
came down without ceasing, and I was
| wet through and covered with mud, I
! kept up my spirits by singing one of
the popular songst of the day, While
| watched the rain trickling over my
new gold epaulets.
The pouring rain, the dismal coun-
try, the endless road, were not likely
| to give the most cheerful tone to my
cogitations, and I was but too glad
| of the break afforded by the appear
ance of a small spring cart over which
a black tarpaulin was stretched. I had
plenty of time to make my observa-
tions, and noticed a tall, athletic man
of some fifty years of age, with thick
white mustache and the slight stoop
in the shoulders which is the unmis-
taxable sign of the old infantry officer,
who has long carried the knapsacks.
At once he reached inside of the cart
and seized a musket. Looking at me
he seemed to understand that / did
not look like an enemy, SO he said:
II took you for one of those fell
lows who are following us behind there.
4 Would you like a drink?"
Il 12ssGladly," said I, approaching him
beagerly, for it's more than ten hours
Ne anything but rain water has
ID my lips"
had very prettily engraved CO.
ut with silver top slung round
beck, and producing this with evil
deM pride he handed it to me filled
with some thin, sour white wine, but
which tasted to me like nectar to the
gods.
The curious little cart he was driving,
the poor, sorry mule in harness, inter
ested me. / was curious as to the ma
ture of his load.
What do you suppose I've got in the
cart there?' he asked.
'I am sure 1 don't know" answered.
TITS woman"
I at once offered him the loan of my
horse, and as he saw 1 had no inten-
ton of sneering at himself or his con-
veyance, he seemed on a sudden at his
ease, and coming alongside my stirrup
he gave me a hearty smack on the
knee
I suppose my manner was kindly. The
old Major soon became friendly and
readily told me his story.
Il was born at Brest," he said. 'and
to avoid troubling you with details you
won't care for, let me say that l ran
away to sea when l was lad, and
was found slowed away in the fore
castle of an Indiaman when she had lost
sight of land. l worked away so hard
that at the end of fifteen years / found
myself in command of a merchant brig
of some 500 tons burden. When the
Revolution commenced l found myself
in command of the corvette Marat, of
twenty-six guns and $50 men, having
just received orders to get ready a re-
enforcement for the garrison, and po-
litical prisoner, whom the frigate De-
cade, which had sailed a week before
had been obliged to leave behind for
want of room. On the 18th of Fructi-
dor, 1897, / received my orders from
the Directory, the first letter inclosing
a second with three broad red seals,
which was directed not to break until
l had reached certain degrees of lati-
tude and longitude, which would bring
me somewhere near the line This let
ter I put for safe keeping inside of the
glass shade which covered a hanging
clock in my cabin.
MY prisoner had been too busy to
look up for the first day, when I heard
a knock at my cabin door, and to my
surprise there entered young man,
bringing with him a pretty young girl.
My prisoner could not have been more
than 49, and the girl maybe II. The
young man introduced himself as the
prisoner. and said the girl was his
wife.
They really were a nice little pair.
'"They were like two children, and it
was no wonder we soon became great
friends together. We were pretty lucky
in our passage, for the weather seemed
made expressly for US, and 1 made my
two little friends come and dine daily
with me- When our frugal dinner was
over they would nod and wink to each
other, and when I laughed at them
they would join in with me. Nothing
came amss to them, and they were
always merry and pleased with every
thing that was done for them. AL
though my orders were to be kind and
attentive TO Them was especially told
to keep them on the ordinary ships ra-
tions. and they had their hammocks like
the rest of the crew. / was like you.
nv friend, and [ didn't bother people
with questions about what did not con-
Germ me; for what were their name or
; their affairs to me, who was only the
Captain of the ship that took them
over TO the other side of the world
At the end of a month I had begun to
look upon them as my children; when
. ever I called them they came and sat
down by me; the young man wrote at
my table Chat is to say, my bed), and
helped me to work out the longitude,
and soon got to do it as we'll as l could