The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-08-20
A WAGER.

| Goth Of October, 1854, q dozen Of lis were
seated around a fire lighted before tho tent
occupied BY tho first lieutenant and myself.
II wonder if / will SEQ again in this
world poor Boscal, cut in two by a cannon
| ball this afternoon said Captain Dumon
of the Tenth dragons.
~ hope you will not, /" replied q lieuten-
ant Of hussars. "He would brighten tho
life out of you if one of these nights no
came to visit you"
"Hussar, l do not permit you to insinu-
ate that anything supernatural or natural
may frighten mo, Captain Charles Dumon
Of the Tenth dragons, " exclaimed angrily
the brave soldier.
"Pshawl Swoetly, dragon, sweetly I
have seen men just as courageous as you
are and believe yourself to be going into
frances through fright replied the lieu
tenant, with the greatest calmness. II am
ready to bet you O good dinner at SO francs
per capita that within two months I or
somebody else will cause such a fright as
will be remembered By you till your last
hour. Do you accept my wager?"
"Most certainly / do, on the condition
that all of us here present now, or what
will be left Of US after the taking of S1vas-
topol, shall feast at the expense Of the los
er, cost what it may"
"AIl right, Dragon"
The battle of Inkerman was fought on
the 9th of November, 1854, II days after
the battle Of Balaklava. The night follow
ing was exceedingly cold. It was about II
p. M, and every one was asleep in our
camp but the sentries and grand guards.
Alone in his tent Captain Du1non snorcd,
buried to the nose in q layer of fresh
straw, discovered God knows where, by
his faithful but not overscrupulous order
ly. Near by him was his big saber, and
under his pillow, made of his horses sad
die, a pair of pistols showed their brass
work, shining like gold. Suddenly q hui
man form, wrapped in a white mantle
and wearing on the head tho regulation
helmet Of the dragons, under which ap-
peared a face deadly pale, entered the tent.
The apparition seemed to Slide rather than
walk. 1t approached tho captain and
called him by his NAME.
Tho captain awoke, sat up, rubbed his
eyes with his fist and said: Who is there?
What do YOU want?"
Has the grave changed mo SO much
that Charles Durnon, my bosom friend,
cannot recognize in me Prosper Boscal,
killed II days ago at Balaklaya?"
rs that YOUR ironically replied the
captain. well, / thought the Russians to
be better killers. With us French, those
that we deinolish never come back to visit
their former acquaintance. Meanwhile,
Prosper Boscal, my departed friend, you
will greatly favor me by returning whence
you came. You must excuse me, my dear.
You, being dead, have time to sleep, and
/, being alive, have not. Then goodby,
my respects to all in sheol, please, and
take care not to get cold by playing truant
during such a Siberian night"
"Du1non," exclaimed sadly the ghost,
ssyou know how much | did love you
while on this earth. In order to see you
once more to bid you an eternal adieu, to
give you a last shake of the hazd, | have
left the spirit world. Instead of the friend
" reception that / have the right to expect
from you / get only sarcasm n derision.
Take care, Dumon. One never goes I'M
punished that insults the dead"
go to hadesl Let me sleep. If in two
minutes you have not vanished, | viii fin
ish that Russian job, and I win do it
properly, you can bet. Get out, and
mighty quick, too, or else I will accelerate
your departure with the point of my
saber."
II will remain with you ten minutes
more. Your menaces are foolish, your
saber is a play toy and you are powerless,
Dumon."
II am foolish and powerless and my sa-
Der is q play toy! Do you want to get ac-
quainted with it? Leave this tent imme-
diately, you night prowler. Will you go?"
mo, not before ten minutes"
"Then, take that" and the captain,
drawing his saber, made a thrust at the
ghost, who, stretching forth his hand,
seized the blade, which remained in it,
separated from the hilt, held by the cap
tain.
you see, Dumon, there is your blade"
and the apparition threw it on the mantle
spread over the straw.
81 see nothing. Horns of the devili'
yelled the captain, and grabbing his pistol
he fred both shots at the ghost.
"As I nave returned the blade of your
saber to you, now I return the bullets
from your pistols" said the ghost, throw
ing two pistol bullets on the mantel.
Precipitation could be distinctly seen on
the captains brow, and as he painted for
breath he muttered "That is strange, very
strange. Perhaps it is the truth the dead
may leave their graves. How pale he isi'
1.-THE ten minutes have elapsed, Dumon.
I must leave you forever. I forgive you,
and there is my hand. A last handshake,
and / am gone"
Captain Dumon took the hand offered
in his own. 1t was icy and stiff-the very
hand of a dead mainland as he shook it
the whole arm, following the impulsion
given, fell heavily on the straw.
Captain Damon of the Tenth dragons,
one of the bravest officers of the French
army, uttered a terrible cry and fell back
senseless.
ssYou have lostl You have 1osti'' cried
we, entering his tent.
He was speechless and unconscious. We
rubbed his face with snow, and one of the
men ran for a surgeon.
1t was q long time before he revived,
and we were all of us making piteous
faces. For my part, / was ashamed Of my
self.
When be recovered, he admitted frankly
that he had been thoroughly frightened,
and two days after the taking of SeFasto-
pol we Toasted at his expense, but five of
us were missing. They slept their last
sleep far away from the country for which
they had given their lives. May God grant
them eternal reposel Amen.
A little explanation Unnecessary. 1t was
not his saber that Captain Dumon tried to
use against his visitor, but a broken n
picked up on tho battlefield the bullets
L.l 1.no., 4oI-o., o,.+ ~, xho -,fe+0tS an1