Evening star., 1898-05-21
| proofs, and the tinkle of chisel and thud of
n,allet came UP half smothered from be.

proofs, and the tinkle OF chisel and thud of
n,allet came UP half smothered, from be.
low.
Down the street drums were rolling So
Dorous1y from the court of the oaserne,
and now, bugles sounding, rifles glttering
in the sun, company of infantry issued
from the sallyport and marched solidly on
to the Porte Rouge. their red trousers
long, Undulating line against the green of
tie glaCis.
Suddenly above the crowd the great der
rick began to move, three chains dangling
from its single rigid arm, the little rusty
engine staggering under the spasms of
steam jets. Slowly tn cannon swung Up
Into the air turning the steel arm turn
ed, further, further, lower and lower.
Then in the stiffness boatswain's whistle
sounded, once, twice; the crowd sWayed
forward. and thousands of voices rose in
laundering cheers:
"Vive la France!'
All that night Harewood lay restlessly
on his bed thinking of the future, which
until he first met Hide had held no terrors
for him. Now 1t was different. The mem
ace of a siege meant something more than
excitement and newspaper dispatches. it
meant danger. perhaps famine, perhaps
humiliation. to a city that had suddenly
tecome important to him-because Hide
lived there. He had never seen siege.
| His ideas the subject were founded on
histories. He could not believe that any
army would be able to absolutely isolate
! such city as Paris-itself nothing but
gigantic citadel, with its double srmor of
| fortresses and ramparts, its suburbs, rail-
ways, forests and rivers. He believed that
| even If German army sat down before
| the walls 1t could never sustain such a
| position against hunger, against the sor-
| ties Of the hundred thousand of troops,
against those new armies that everybody
| said were forming in the south, at Bor-
deaux, at Tours, at Rouen, from the war
| ports to the Loire In common with the
great mass Of the Parisians he never
| doubted that, as soon as the Germans ap-
| peared, the bombardment would begin: but
| he doubted the ability of a Prussian artil-
| leryman to send shells into Paris from a
| gun outside the rangs Of Mont Valerien.
Nevertheless he was not satisfied with the
Rue dYpres as haven OF safety for Hide
at such time. 1t was practically on The
| city ramparts, 1t was close to enc of the
gates, the Porte Rouge, and closer still to
| the barracks. and he knew that If the Ger
man cannon troubled the city at all the fire
would be concentrated on the fortifica-
tions, the gates, the magazines and the
, barracks.
Lying there In the darkness he could
hear from the ramparts the marine SEN
| rounds; the stir and the movement Of
| horses the dull creaking of wheels. He
| thought of the four great forts that COW
secteur. Montrouge. vanves. Ivry and
Vicetre. If the Germans attempted to
! seize Meudon. there was the Fort Of Issy;
| II they advanced toward Creteil, the Fort
/
Could they hold ST. Cloud with Mont
Valerien looming like thunder cloud in
| the north? Could they seize Sevres, under
| the cannon Of Point-du-Jour? No. He
could not see how German battery would
| be able to send its shells into the bastions
| Of Montrouge, and this conclusion COM
| forted him until he fell asleep to dream Of
| a cloudless sky raining shells over a city
where Hide lay white and dead, and he
| awoke. trembling In every limb. He turn
ed over and tried to go to sleep again. but
| he could not, dreading a sleep that might
| bring back such dreams
| He thought Of Bourke, Numbering peace
fully in the next room; he thought of Red
| Riding Hood and of Yolette. also asleep.
but for long time he avoided the path Of
| fore-the path that led to the solution of
| q question. Awake, sometimes asleep the
/ question repeated itself-it was repeating
itself now. more persistently, more monot-
| onously. than ever. The question was
| Hide" and Hide remained an enigma;
not because he could not solve the enigma.
but because he would not As he lay there
| he felt that the time was coming when 1t
| would be impossible to evade an explana-
tion with himself. He shifted his head
| restlessly and opened his eyes in the dark
ness. and before he knew 1t he had faced
l the question at last.
1 What had happened to him? What was
4 going to happen? Why should thoughts of
I, Hide occupy him constantly? Was it be-
cause, in a moment of unselfishness, he had
renounced the idle amusement Of inspiring
/ affection in a young girl? Why had he re-
nounced 1T? Every man. consciously or un-
consciously. seeks the same amusement
and IL conscience tntervenes, ts it not easy
| to pretend that the woman was perfectly
| aware of the game? Or. If the result does
/ turn out grave for the woman, q man can
| always have recourse to those little exer-
cises OF diplomatic hair spAtting with his