Little Falls herald., 1900-09-28
THE LITTLE.
MADEMOlSELLE.
A SAD END TO AN
AFFAIR OF LOVE.

Yves Barnabe de Pelven, whose chum
l had been at st. Cyr and whom had
never seen after we left the college.
1t was in 1871. Our regiment was
then at the village of F., few
miles from the provisional frontier.
The town lay in the midst Of forest
! and had been partly destroyed during
| the war. We lived in wooden barracks
! that had been built by the Germans.
Not far away was the line Of black
| and white posts that marked the pro-
| visional frontier, and it was one of our
pastimes to ride out to them. The
young officers dreamed Of nothing but
the chance Of provoking frontier con-
! fict. Some made targets Of the point
| ed helmets found and brought in by
the peasants, arranging matters so as
to be seen by the German sentinels;
others galloped wildly across the line
! and back again.
One of them, however, Yves de Pei
ven de Kerdec, took no share in these
pleasantries. When he was asked to
join in. he would shrug his shoulders
softly and murmur, "Chi!dishness"
He was left to do as he pleased. No
one cared. Only after awhile we dis
| covered that he was accustomed to
take long solitary rides at night and IN
! direction that did not lead to France!
| We began to watch him more from Gu
| riosity than from suspicion. l my
self, confess, was drawn toward him
! by this original and mysterious mode
of existence.
He was then a slight, blond, pale
! youth, feminine of features, all nerve
and muscle. tireless, fearless, silent.
| He was liked by the men, although
they were a tride jealous of that inde
| inable superiority which marked his
! breeding. Some of the old veterans of
swarthy skin and voice loved him in
spite Of his refinement. They called
him "Mlle. de Pelven,'' or "the little
mademoiselle."
| With five years of service to his cred
! it he had still the air Of young con-
script His voice was gentle. | never
heard him yell or curse the men or
! horses. At 10 he had received a deco
ration for distinguished bravery at Re-
| zonville.
! He had his lodgings outside of town
| in a solitary cottage, surrounded by
rosebushes and cedars - he and his
dogs Finaud and Tigresse, great
Dane and little striped bulldog. His
horses were two long, slender Anglo
| Arabs.
q q
lieutenant, his mode of life and his
character; we discussed his fortune
and the employment Of his time out
side Of the service, for, besides his reg
ular appearance twice a day at mess,
he took part in none of our entertain
mentS. He was often seen alone, gal
looping his horses over the green mead
ows of the Saone He rode in some of
the impromptu races, winning often,
but without pride, without exultation,
taking the things as part Of the trade.
He. never touched cards. His horses
his dogs, seemed his sole distraction.
At times he disappeared for week or
so and on returning would say, MY
father was down to see ME-" 1t was
!
man living in Bretagne. Yves spoke
of him only on those days.
| The self isolation of the boy was
somewhat of mystery to us. Bach
one explained in his own way the sin
gular comrade, 1.-The. little mademOi-
selle." For some Pelvea was the son
of Galician princess and knight of
! fol 70
being the usage since the days of Lou
is XIV to accord that title to French
gentlemen having contracted marital
| alliance in Austria. In fact, Austrian
decorations had been seen in his room.
That, at least, was affirmed by some
of the indiscreet ones who had pene-
trated the great chamber where he was
wont to dig" on his strategy during
the warm hours of day. A singular
room it was-at once salon. library and
saddlery. the refuge of a thinker and
the handy shop Of a soldier, but its in
terror, in spite of the weapons, was
rather feminine, and this struck the in
ferior officers who were accustomed to
visit it with their reports. There We're
| al uJ AACSA AO"CAS Al AAo AOOAi, AAAO
one day, when some inQuisitive spirit
explored the pockets of his "dolman,"
which he had cast off during fencing
bout, they discovered a golden locket
on which sparkled strange little dia-
mond wing. They did not succeed in
opening it.
"He is sentimentalist," Comman-
dant St.. Perle would say, "and the
proof is that when one passes his cot
tage in the evening one hears him
playing the adagio of Beethoven's
sonata in A fiat, the sonata of monks
and priests"
One morning my husband, the cap
tain, came in very much worried. l
questioned him. No answer. He drove
away in his phaeton as soon as break
fast was over with several other Off
GERS. He returned at 8 o'clock alone
having left the others at the club Aft
er dinner he held conference with the
fencing master and the. chief armorer:
then st. Perle, his friend, came and
called him below his window. heart,
him order the landeau with the big