Omaha daily bee., 1898-05-29

Copyright, 1898, by Robert w. Chambers,
CHAPTER y.
The Prophecy.
The Rue d'Ypres was a surging turmoil,
Swarms Of eager, anxious people thronged
the street and the ramparts, where ar ir-
regular cloud OF white smoke hung, hall
concealing the Prophet" a company oil
line soldiers were driving the crowd back
20 the sidewalk, a mounted gendarme
shouted orders and wheeled his horse right
and left, White gloved hand raised, the
grenade on his baldrick glittering like n live
coal, From everywhere came a murmur,
growing louder, deeper, more persistent.
1.-THE Prussians! The Prussians! The
Prussians!' until the monotonous chant
swept from the Porte Rouge to the Prince
Murat barracks like the thrill OF a tense
chord, deep strung, trembling, vibrating in
the arched sky.
THE Uhlans were signalled near rHay,''
cried a boy, raising himself on the point
Of his wooden shoes to catch a glimpse of
the Prophet"
Can one see the Prussians out there?"
asked a woman, looking up anxiously at
Hide, who leaned from the window.
81 see nothing, madame" replied Hide,
family.
They're there" insisted a man in a blue
blouse. THE Prussians are in Meudon
woods, madame"
"Who saw hemp asked a dozen voices
At once.
How do know? Everybody says they're
there"
They're over by that spire-one could
see them with a glass; said an old man,
who Immediately became the center of at
tention.
"Wha spire?" demanded the man in the
blue blouse.
'Can you see them? Are there many?''
asked another.
9Th Uhlansi The Uhlans!" shouted the
crowd.
Hide, leaning from the shattered window,
looked down at the surging throngs below,
and then out across the valley of the Bievre,
sparkling with dimmed brilliancy under its
veil Of haze. She saw nothing except
patches of woods, white spires and checkered
fields necked with misty sunshine.
Yolette spoke calmly beside her. 1--WE
must fill all the window frames with panes
of oiled paper. If they fire again there will
be no use having glass put in"
In the street below an officer with gold
lace on his crimson cap rode slowly through
the center of the crowd, repeating: GO
back, messieurs; there is nothing to see.
The Prussians have not been signalled; the
marines are only practicing to get the
range"
mo Prussians? 90 exclaimed the man in the
blue blouse. A disguised laugh ran through
the crowd.
'Fichtre! Je men vais, %alors," said a
young butcher, tying his apron tighter;
"we'll have plenty of time to see NJ. Bis
marck later"
The crowd slowly dissolved, melting away
little by little, leaving a group of hopelessly
curious gamins at the Porte Rouge, the bar
racks and as near to the prophet" as the
cannoneers would permit.
So, after all, the Prussians were not in
sight. The crowd appeared to be good
humored, but a little disappointed, for they
had come to see something, and now were
obliged to retire unsatisfed. Curiosity pre-
vailed in spite of dread-that Unsuitable
curiosity of the Parisians, so easily satisfied,
so soon changed to ennui.
The shot from the bastions had aroused
the whole city: even Bourke and Hardwood,
lounging on the terrace above the palace
of st. Cloud, heard the distant report and
saw the white smoke curling up along the
battlements behind Issy.
Ihat comes from our quarter, SAID
Hardwood. "Do you see the smoke, Cecil? %
Its nothing replied Bourke. They're
pacticing somewhere on our secteur. prob
ably to find the range. 1t may be the
Prophet that has spoken"
They sat on a bench, lazily discussing
cold chicken and light Bordeaux, looking
off over the valley where the panorama Of
the Seine valley spread out. At their feet
Law Paris white fair 40 "a ipwal Snt in
green velvet, circled by the limpid neck,
lace OF the river. The late sunlight burned
on the gilded dome of the Invalides, the
twin towers Of Notre Dame glimmered be-
yond. Nearer the majestic dome of the
Pantheon and the strange towers of St
Sulplce detached themselves from the level
mass OF green-the gardens of the Luxem-
bours, and further beyond the observatory
glistened, its mosque-like domes SNOWY
white. To the southeast, looking across
the peninsula where Billancourt lay smoth-
cred In verdure, the six forts of the south
stretched away in a single rank to the
river Marine; in the north the vast mass
OF Mont Nalerien cut the sky line-always
mysterious, always menacing, wrapped IL
gloomy majesty. Close to st. Cloud tn,
Montretout redoubt lay, still unfinished, bul
apparently formidable enough.
Hardwood could see the terrassier.
swarming over the glacis, troops marching
and concentrating, gun squads drillinl
on the parapets. At their feet, so close tina
Bourke could have tossed a pebble onto tn,
root, the beautiful palace of st. Cloud mes,
tled amid its ancient forest, stiff ranks o.
hedges and quaint marble terraced pools
A squadron OF cuirassiers had dismountet
at the foot OF the terrace steps. Hundred.
OF officers, municipal magnates, huissIers
gendarmes and holiday s~trollers passed