The Florence daily tribune., 1899-03-24
INDICATED.

cnnrt in France he was most cOldlY re-
ceived The king refused to see him and
the kings courtiers were quite uncivil
Al his sweethcart's house, in the Rue
des Saints percs. the door was closed in
his face- He was filled with astonish
meni and grief both Of which were in
creased when he went to see his friends
All looked nsiancc Mt him. few degned
even TO speak TO him, and none accorded
him the explanation he sought.
Too proud'to question strangers and
ret sensitive enough to suffer seenly
under the treatment he had received
hr went to his room TO brood alone,
There was mirror here. and in this
h. surveyed himself The hardships Of
war had deprived him of his good looks
His face was drawn and haggurd. his
skin wrinklcd. his eyes were duh and
sad, while across his left cheek IA long.
disfiguring scar told where saber had
cut deep
He left the mirror and sat down de-
jectedly II am grown ugly, he said,
land poor and therefore they shun
ma He thought of his life. offered to
.
campaigns in America and the Indies.
of the lannon's battles in which he had
done his part under Montcalm and
Naudreuil "But all this, he told him
self. has been in vain The king my
love. my friends. they are none Of them
left to me The only faithful one of
than aii my horse. who used to lick
my hand and neigh gladly at my com
ing he too, is gone. for | ,have sold
him. No one nothing is left TO mel
One black Thought was succeeded by
another. aud his gloom and melancholy
increased till life seemed but burden
To be got rid of He was Il man Of
promptitude and decision, and having
come tn this conclusion, he did not pro.
crastinate His pistol lay ready to his
hand shot and the deed was done
AT court they said IN de Bossue
had the fever Weeks and months
passed, and they spoke of him no more
But there remained to Bossue an old
time friend After serving in Spain for
some ten years and growing discomfort
ed with his work NJ. le Comte de Ia
Puysaye returned to France and to the
court He gained prestige at Mines
de Bousess De Chauvelni's, S, De Sur
ceres and Luxembourg :. asked new
service Of the King. and solicited regi
mcni He called himself II friend of
Bo.sue Poor felowr' he said
"Only 30 years old What could have
made him leave us in that wayy
His face clouded when he heard the
story. for he WAS II brave man himself
"A coward he cried "Impossihel'
But, yes, said his inforner I'VE
repeat only what the reports said-re
ports which were sent to the king di-
rect NJ de Bossue. it seems. dislilSed
the enemy too greatly-so much SO. in
iact. that he could never bring himself
to approach him
"Bossue II coward !" cried the count
He must have changed greatly. then
May not these reports have been falseY
well the marshal himself - ind
SO On La Puysaye heard the story re-
peatcd II score of times. and found that
the mention of Bossue's name brought
forth only curses or reproaches He
ended by renouncing him
"Bnt he said to himself one day
IL can forget him loved him we'll
and believe | love him still Very
well, shall allow myself this little &c
eentricity-that Of loving dishonored
wretch BoSsue remains my friend. and
of all the wurld alone shall recall him
with something other than aisdain
He hung the dead man $ portrait on
his wall once more But the portrait
WAS an old one and no longer resem-
hled anyhdy La Puysaye, discomfort
ed wished for some other souvenir
something which Bossue had used He
Thought of the hurse, Where is he
nows They tell me that he sold him
That horse carried poor Bossue for ten
years ! must find him
Once, while mis- friend still served
with him he had seen the horse-a
curious beast of II dark yellowish color
the product of cross between Span.
ish barb and an lndianpony He was
able To furnish descriptions of the ami
mai to certain men whom he sent in
search of it
The men were away three months
One day La Puysaye. received notice
that u horse answering to the descrip-
tion given had been found in "A field in
Artnis He went to the place and
hought the animal at once II was. in
deed, Bossne's extraordinary beast, the
friend Of his friend old and thin, wcrn
by the hard service before the plow and
,he i'll treatment of the farm hands
There We're the white legs, still fine as
those Of n racer the long black tail and
inane and those eyes dark. cold. clear
and fixed, that made one uneasy
"Strange snlnal Thought La Puy.
sage
He had il fed groomed and saddled
and set ont for Paris AT rather halt
ing gaiiop Much tatigued he arrived
nj length But ured as he WAS there
was 10 be little rest for him A note
from the bureau of war awaited him.