Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-25

| WaAihs ABOUT hStlesSiy nibbting bits OF
crust, some sitting cross-legged TN the
stone-slabbed floor. faces vacant, u morsel
| of bread, untasted. in their hands They
came to dip their little tin cups into the
| basin where the wine and water stood;
| ore. fcrgetful, touched the crimson liquid
with his fingers and crossed himself. No
| body laughed,
About { o'clock. without the slightest
warming, violent explosion shook the
! street in front of the church Before Hare
wood could reach the door three shells fell.
| one after another, and exploded in the
street, sending cobblestones and pavement
| into the air.
| Keep backr' shouted an officer "Closa
| the doors: Harewood ran out into the
| street. Far away toward Pont-Ibion the
smoke of the Prussian guns hung heavily
| in the air.
| Are you coming back?" called a soldier.
We're going to close the church DOORS
Hardwood cana back, calling out to an
officer, It's the batteries behind Pont-Ib-
| lon"
Some soldiers piled pews and chairs into
| leaps under the stained glass windows On
each of the heaps an officer climbed, field
| glasses leveled. The men lay down on the
floor Many of them slept.
Inc cannonade now ragged furiously; for
an hour the wretched village was covered
with bursting shells. Suddenly the tumult
ceased and Hardwood, clinging to a shat.
tered window. heard from the plain 70 the
| northward the long roll of volley firing.
| moment later he was in the street running
| the French bugles were ringing; the cobble-
stones echoed with the clatter of artillery
dashing past summoned from Drancy by
rocket signal.
| looked across the plain and saw dark
masses of the Prussian guard advancing
in silence through the rain The French
shells went sailing out over the plain. drop
ping between the Prussian skirmishers and
the line of battle; the Prussian cannon
were silent.
1t seemed to him that after awhile the
| dark lines ceased to advance, but were
swinging obliQuely toward Bianc-Mesnil
Presently he saw that the Germans were
actually retiring, and he wondered. wni.e
/ the troops along the wall muttered their
miSgivingS the PruSSian lines feGed
away in retreat, accompanied by shotted
salutes from the fortress of the East and
the unseen batteries of Aubervfliers.
All day he roamed about the village try
ing to form some idea of its defensive pos
Sibiities, and at night he returned to the
church. The rain had ceased again. hut
through .the fog fine driZzle still de-
scended freezing as 1T fell. until the streets
glistened with greasy slush. There were
| fires lighted along the main street; across
| the red glare siIhouettes passed and re-
Passed.
Hardwood looked up at the gothic portal
of the church, all crImsCned in the fire.
| light. Above it the rose window glittered
| with splendid hues dyed deep in the flames
glow and still above the rose window the
cross of stone, dark and wet, absorbed
| the rudy light till it cleaned like q live
cinder. Somewhere in the village bat
TALON was marching to quarters. He
heard the trample of the men, the short.
koarse commands of the officers, the clat-
ter of a mitrailleuse dragged along by
| hand.
THE carbineers are insubordina.e.
said an officer beside him. Il wish the
general was here
1.-THE carbineers?" repeated Hardwood.
II thought they had run away
Part of them ram said artillery
officer, sulkily. Two companies got lost
near Blanc-Mesnil and had to come back
| when the cannonade began"
They're in the next street." said an
cause there has been no distribution.
On them" he added. the distribution
they deserve is volley from a Calling"
Hardwood listened a moment to the
chorus of denunciation that arose from the
group around the fire. From it he gath
cred that Flourens and his carbineers had
fled at the first attack on LIE Bourget and
on the whole he was rather CAD, for he
had no desire to encounter any of the bat
TALON that the Cndertakers had sent out
He went to the corner of the street and
looked down the short transverse alley
where the camp fires of the two Gardiner
companies blazed fiercely. Curiosity led
him on, and in a moment he had done the
very thing that he intended to avoid-he
was standing in the midst of a group of
carbineers. listening to their angry bicker-
ings.
The two companies were fantastic enough
in their strange uniforms. Hunger had
made them sullen. They cursed their Off
GERS. their generals and LIE Bourget. At
daylight they intended to leave for Paris
they had had enough of this sortie fool
ishness They were freezing they were
tired, they were hungry, and, above all, the
stereotyped phrase was on every carbineer's
lips: Treason! Our generals have betray-
ed uS!''
Disgust succeeded Harewood's curiosity.
ra nd Sfo tod fol
retrace his steps. AS he passed out of the
fire circle he looked back at the mutinous
carbineers. and as he looked he distinctly
saw BuckhurSt and Mortier come out of a
house with their arms full of piunder
Startled, he stepped back into the shadow
OF gate and watched them. And now he
recognized Speyer and Staufrer both in the
iuH uniforms OF Gardiner officers, hold
ing pillow cases. while Buckhurst dumped
MS piunder into the improvised sacks and
Mortier tied them tight
ana now the plundering had become gen.
eraI bands OF the carbineers began smash
ing windows and breaking down doors all
along the street Others came out loaded
with the wretched household articles of
the poorer peasantry. clocks, dishes, pew
ter vessels, clothing, bed linen and even
furniture. The latter they flung onto the
nonnres HARDWOOD saw baby's cradle
tossed into the fire
me miserable savagesr' he muttered.
why uon they turn the cannon on them
The tumult of the orgie was ATTRACTING
attention now An officer galloped up on a
1aded horse, gesticulating furiously but the
carbineers menaced him with their rifles
ana ne Withdrew in time to save his skin.
Consoling himself with the hone that IN
General Dictionaries return from Paris a
court-martial would probably settle Buck
hurst and his carbineers, Hardwood went
back 10 the church, where the camp fires
roared and sent showers of sparks into the
fog, and the rose window glimmered and
giistened, red as blood.
To be continued)