Evening star., 1898-07-30
CHAPTER xxx.
The Song of the Mouse.

: On the 26th of January, few minutes
after in the evening, the artillery officers
| On the Nanterre fort reported signals from
| Paris to cease firing. From Charenton 20
| lssy. from ST. Denis to Vincennes the sig
| nails flew; the cannonade died out al Ivry
at Romainviile, at st. Ouen, the fort CT
/ issy, the Montrouge fort, the fortress of
the East, the battery of the Double Crown
| lay silent under their floating crowns of
cloud. One by one the forts of the east
grew quiet the last bombs scared upward
from Nanves, the last shots doomed along
the Point du Jour. a deathly stiffness fol-
lowed; then, as the bells in the distant city
tinkled midnight. a clap of thunder burst
from Mont Falerien. That was the end
Paris had surrendered.
At dawn, through a cold. gray mist that
sheeted the desolate plain, two Prussian
uhians rode to the foot of the fortresseG
hill. The sad notes of the trumpet sounded
nearer and nearer: the mournful echoes
FELL.
Hide, leaning from the iron door of the
| oomb-proofs, saw a tall, red-bearded
Uhlan officer, blindfolGed, crossing the pa
rade, conducted by four Mobiles, rifles
slung. Behind this Prussian officer marched
an Uhlan trumpeter, escorted by four more
Mobiles The trumpeters eyes were also
bound with a white handkerchief; his
trumpet rested on his right thigh; in his
left hand he bore lance. from which
| dropped white flag. All that day she sat
beside HARDWOOD listening to the heavy
tread of troops, the hushed commands tho
| the ramparts.
At noon the Uhlans left, bIindfoIded. re-
conducted in silence by famine-strcken
soldiers Again the melancholy trumpet
sounded the salute, then stiffness fell over
fampart and glacis, bastion and parapet-
a quiet so profound that Hide lying in a.
| chair by the bedside, heard the flappIng
or the nag on its iron staff above the cit
lycrht ShA
rels standing before the magazine the cor
wee winding down to the frozen reservoir
the rare lanterns dinIy burning as an off,
Ger made his noiseless rounds She leaned
over the bed. listening for a while
Are you awake, my darling?" He stir
red in his sleep and held out one hand SIZE
TOOK II In both her own, There was a
dimly lighted lamp in a steel socket above
her mead Presently she rose, still holding
ms hand in one of hers and turned the
wick higher
The crutches are finished" she said, re-
turning to her seat by the bed: "a BRETON
in the Mobiles sent them for YOU. Yom
must remember to thank him. He took a.
great deal of trouble; there was no wood;
SO he filed off two lance shafts, and made
the arm rests out of wire and leather
After pause she whispered: jim are
you aWake?'
He laid his cheek against her hard in 81
lence.
What is 1t? Are you still unhappy. YOU
foolish boy?'
He tried to answer: his voice failed.
oh. my darling" she said, despairingly.
now can you feel so after all that has
been Said?''
She stopped nearer, touching his hair
with her lips
1 nave forgiven you-there was but one
thing to forgive, for 1t is true that Won
should not have gone away; if death had
come. you were not mt to die--nor l. my
darling"
She kissed his closed eyes; the lasbes
trembed
We were so much in love- she said. so
much in ioye-and l knew nothing-you
can never know. Jim-how 1 love you-and
1t was even ther-from the very ffrst-the
same-the same adorationi And Jim, il
you had died, and although / knew the
dreadful end-I would not have lost the
memory of one hour, one second one look.
or one caress."
He tried to speak: he could not Again
through his closed eyeids he saw her as
she mad come to him, fainting exhausted.
her frozen hands seeking his Again re
lived through the days that followed the
thurder of the guns, the casemates shak-
ing the bitter cold, the darkness and She
was always by his bed-her every touch
Der every breath. telling him of a love so
pure. so infinite. that his dark heart. heavy
with the bitterness of self-accusation. sank
subdued under the strength of such pas
sion.
He thought of the long nights, the pain
the fever, the piercing chill the hunger, al,