Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-11-22
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!; IN UHHELC0HE GUST. ?
a GTORY OF WAR
IN LIZ VEl. DEE.
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made our house his headquarters Those
who had escaped were chased to The
gates of Mort. The AIarseiIlais threw
down their arms in the streets and sur
rendered. The night advanced, stu
they dragged the prisoners into our low
RATED room NJ. Henri cried with vic
torious clcmCucy, Lower your arms
and YOU shall not be hurt" The rcpub-
Iicans were disarmed and let 90 free.
pointed out to the young chief the dan
ger of letting hundreds of rebels wan
der about the outskirts, just when his
men were thinking of nothing but vic
tory and of going each his own way.
"You have some merciless enemies
said. "a Narseillais lieutenant nam
ed Ripard has sworn that he would
kill you in the combat or murder you
afterward on the first opportunity"
On the young chiefs handsome face
there was a look of childlike astonish-
ment at Ripard's hatred. His brow
clouded at my words, but he dismissed
the thought with a shake Of the sHoal-
ders and gave the order to release the
rest of the prisoners.
"Wc must show them that we have
more humanity than they" Ee said.
He had scarce finished speaking
when there was a tunuit outside. ana
three Vendean soldiers dragged a rough
haired man into the roou lie had
cruel. bIoodshot eyes; his face was con
vulscd with rage and hatred.
"This rebel has been arrested, pistol
In hand" said one Of the Vendcans.
"His life and liberty were given him.
He made off, then turned and fired on
his Iiberators. We dragged his pistol
from him. Here it is" And the man
placed the weapon upon the table.
"To the prison." ordered NJ. Henri.
and, turning to the man, he said, Your
name?
The prisoner grinned savagely. "Iahe
care. My name viii alarm You. am
Ripard."
trembled. NJ. EcrH locked at the
Marseillais and SAID c.-.sdT: 'Well,
Ripard, you are free Cor
Nor replied the F.-i su.l2n.J. Il
know that trick. I .rl UEar.-c ed. -
soon as l am outside ! shall be shot
down by your soldiers.
"My word IS my oa,h. You shall not
go unarmed. Take yo@r pistol NJ.
Henri pointed to the pistol On the Ia
BILE
The man jeered. do you know that
it is loaded?"
For answer NJ Henri took the pistol
and held it out to Ripard. The prison
er snatched it from his hand, stuck II
in his belt and, looking at the young
chief with an evil eye, said sullenly:
'Where do you expect me to gof The
houses are full; there is no straw. The
country is unsafe. If YOU are afraid
to keep me, kill me, for 1 am worn out.
l cannot drag another step
'"Soitn' said NJ. Henri 1--WE are no
longer fighting. There is a capitula-
ton. If you do not know where to go,
you may stop here"
l trembled at the thought of harbor
| ing so dangerous a guest and raised a
hundred objections. We had not even
a chair to spare.
AT least" said NJ Henri che shall
share my room. The bed is big enough
for two"
1 was dumb with horror. There was
q painful silence, broken by NJ. Henri
begging me to take the torch and show
Ripard to his room. The man watched
us narrowly. A drop of blood hanging
from the corner of his eyclid rolled
down his cheek, leaving n CHASTITY stain
upon IT. | walked first, showing the
way up the steps, but my heart beat
fast, and the torch trcmblcd in my
| hand, throwing weird shadows as we
went. Inside the corridor | opened the
| sleeping room door and placed the light
upon the chimney. The grin on the
Marseillais' face froze my blood with
horror l fingered, hoping to find a
| chance of whispering to NJ. Henri to
disarm Ripard or, at any rate, to let
one of the men sleep in his room. but
| he had forgotten about the pistol or
was obstinate in his idea, for he cut
! me short, saying:
"Good night! \ demain. | am worn
out with fatigue"
And to hasten my departure, he COM
menced to unfasten his coat
| went away in despair, leaving the
door ajar behind me. but / heard NJ
Henri bid Ripard close It, saying that
! they would sleep more quietly. | trem-
bled at the haste with which the man
obeyed, double locking the door be
| hind him. In the anguish that possessed
! me | had a mind to cross the corridor
upon which their room opened, to get a
! ladder. and climbing up, to watch them
! through the narrow oeil de bocuf win
| dow placed high in the wall but my
courage failed. Still l could not aban-
| don our guest to the mercy of his
enemy. NJ. Henri's Vendean soldiers
shared my fears, but they dared not
| diSobey the command.
"When NJ Henri says n thing, he
| means It," they said, but l persuaded
one of them to place his mattress
across the door, begging him to spend
/ the night there, ready to break In at
| the first alarm. This done, | retired,
| but l was still uneasy. Though |
| threw myself dressed upon my bed,
| could not sleep. An hour passed wear
fly by, then another; the suspense be-
came unbearable. Unable longer to
suppress my fears, / took n ladder
from n lumber room at the end Of the
corridor, placed it noiselessly under
the oeil de boeuf window, climbed up
and looked into the room. The light
was still burning, though the house
was plunged In silence.
NJ. Henri was lying on the side Of the
bed nearest to the wall, and Ripard,
having placed the light upon the table
near to the head Of the bed, was stand
ing motionlcss beside it watching the
sleeper's face.
l could not see his expression, for his
back was toward me. He remained
thus some minutes, debating perhaps,
whether the serenity of those noble
features were not ruse.
The youur chiefs shirt was omen at