The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1899-03-23
sved his gilded helme, gayly. and

waved his gilded helmet gayly. and
! cried:
"'Bravo. zouaves! You are the nrsa
soldiers In the world!'
"Ifouudmyselfs sitting near the wheel.
supporting my poor broken paw. when
suddenly remembered Dry-Jean's aw-
full crime. At that very instant he
stepped out of the ranks toward the
general. He had lost his fez. and from
big cash on his close-shaven head
ran a trickle Of blood. Leaning on his
gun with one hand, with the other be
held out an Austrian flag. tattered and
dyed red-a flag he had taken. The gen.
eral gazed at him admiringly.
"'Hey. there. Bricourt!' turning to
one of his staff; look at that, II you
please. What menl'
"Whereupon Dry-Jean. in his canaille
voice. spoke up:
"'Quite so, my general. But you
know-the First zouaves-there are
only enough left for once more!'
"'I would like to hug you for thati'
cried the general; you'll get the cross,
you know and still repeating. what
men!' he said to his aide-de-camp some
thing I didn't understandable no
scholar, you know. But I remember
it perfectly: Worthy of Plutaroh.
wasn't it. Bricourt?'
AT that very moment the pain was
too much for me and tainted. You
ha sua ~ 81 I,
they sawed of my arm and how I
dragged along in delirium for two
months in the hospital. In my sleep
less hours l used to ask myself If it
was my duty 10 accuse Dry-Jean pub
licly. But could prove it? And then
l said: He's a scoundrel; but he's
brave; he killed Capt. Gentili. but he
took flag from the enemy Finally.
in my convalescence, l learned that as
reward for his courage Dry-Jean had
stepped up into the Zouaves of the
Guard and had been decorated. All! at
first it gave me disgust at my own
cross which the colonel had pinned on
me in the hospital. Yet DryJean de-
served his, too; only his Legion of Hon
or ought to have served as the bulls
eye for the squad detailed to put him
out OF existence.
"It's all far away now. never saw
him again; he remained in'the service
and l became good civilian. But just
now, when saw that uniform with its
-hole-God knows how it got
there-hanging stones throw from
the barracks where the murderer Is, It
seemed to me that the captain. the
crime still unpunished, was clamoring
for justice"
I did my best to quiet Pere Vidal, as
suring him he had acted for the best.
Five days later, on reaching the Office.
Vidal, handing me paper folded at 70
certain paragraph. murmured, gravely:
"What did tell you?" Tread:
Another Victim Of Intemperance.-Yes-
terday afternoon. on the Boulevard de
Grenelle, q certain Jean Mallet, known as
Dry-Jean. sergeant In the zouaves Of the
Imperial guard. who with two companions
had been drinking freely, was seized with
delirium tremens while looking at some
old uniforms hanging in q secondhand
shop. He drew his bayonet and dashed
down the street, to the terror Of all passers-
by. The two privates with him had the
utmost difficulty In securing the madman.
who shouted ceaselessly: I am not mur-
derer, took an Austrian flag at Melegna-
mol! 1t seems that the latter statement 10
true. Mallet was decorated for this feat;
his addiction to drink has alone prevented
him from rising in the ranks. Mallet was
conducted to the military hospital OF Gros-
Gallon. whence he will soon be transferred
to Charenton. for 1t Is doubtful II he can
recover his reason"
AS returned the paper to Vidal. he
looked at me meaningly, and concluded:
"Capt. Gentili was Corsican-he has
avenged himself!"-Translated for the
San Francisco Argonaut from the
French.