Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-04-16

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1 little woman. For an instant she glanced
helplessly around the room. Truly there
were few hiding places in the little cot
/ tage Then her eyes fell on the large
baking oven, and her busy little brain
found way out Of the difficulty She
quickly babe the franc-tireur get inside
the oven, and then she filled it with the
| loose fagots.
Scarcely. was her work finished when
she heard loud knocking at the door,
and Prussian officer entered. He stop
ped abashed when he saw only the little
maid before him Perhaps the thought
of some little girl that he had left be-
hind in the fatherland came to his mind,
for the look in his eyes was quite gen
tie, and his voice trembled in spite of
himself when be spoke.
1--WE saw man enter this house just
now, :" he said TELL me, my little
maid, where he is T"
In the moment, while she was wait
ing for him to speak, Marie had time to
collect her wits and to reflect that the
man did not look like such monster
after all Now she replied readily:
"a man? Oh, yes, soldier just came
in here and left that, pointing to an
old musket Of her fathers which stood
in corner of the room; "but he is gone
now" she added
She carefully related to the Prussians
how the franc tireur had taken the path
that led from the rear of the cottage to
the forest
The girl answered his questions so
readily that it was hard for the officer
to suspect her Of deceiving him, but he
ordered his men to make thorough
search of the cottage They looked in
closets and cupboards and rummaged
the loft One of the men in passing
opened the oven door and glanced in.
Marie's heart almost ceased beating,
but she gave no sign of her alarm. See
ing nothing but the heap of fagots, the
man closed the door. Marie could hard
ly keep from heaving sigh of relief.
1t seemed in her own mind that she
must give a shout of joy. AS they were
preparing to leave one Of the men asked:
"Shall we not fire the cottage?"
1t was the usual rule when a peasant
was suspected of harboring franc-tireur
to burn his cottage as lesson to him
and warning to all others, but Marie S
winsome manner had touched the Off
GERS heart, and the questioner received
curt, almost savage MOP
Marie watched the Prussians ride
away, and when they were all out of
sight she let Captain Charles ont of his
narrow hiding place. He had heard all
that passed in the cottage, and he kissed
Marie and called her brave girl. Then
he departed by the road opposite to that
which the Prussians had taken, to join
his men at their meeting place in the
forest
Marie was the pride Of her parents
and the heroine of the town when her
story was made known. And in the
depths Of the forest, when the franc
tireurs gathered about their campfire and
and the bravery of the little peasant
girl, each man lifted his canteen and
enthusiastically drank to the health and
prosperity of Marie Duret
The landlady of the little vine cover
ed inn at Bois-l e-Duc tells this story to
every stranger who visits the place.
And if one is inquisitive enough to ask
what afterward became of the franc
tireur and the peasant gill she will un-
fold her hands and say:
"Just walk up to yonder brick house
on the hill and ask for M. la Marie ard
his good wife. There you will find Cap
tain Charles and his brave Marie. -
Earl Mayo in Cincinnati Commercial
Tribune.