Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1901-08-02

him about the village, and as she had
heard of his brave deeds in aid of the
French she was not in the least fright
ened.
"Where .canst thou hide me, little
one?" the man hurriedly asked. "The
Prussians are on my track.
Marie had heard those stories of the
Prussians, and her heart sank with
fear at the thought of facing such mon
sters. Nevertheless she showed her
self brave little woman. For an in.
slant she glanced helplessly around the
room. Truly there were few hiding
places in the little cottage. Then her
eyes fell on the large baking oven, and
her busy little brain found a way out
of the difficulty. She quickly babe the
franc tireur get inside the oven, and
then she filled it with loose fagots.
Scarcely was her work finished when
she heard n loud knocking on the door.
and Prussian officer entered. He
stopped, abashed, when he saw only
the little maid before him. Perhaps the
| thought of some little girl that he had
left behind in the fatherland came tC
his mind for the look in his eyes was
| quite gentle and his voice trcmbled il
spite of himself when he spoke.
1--WE saw man enter this house just
now" he said. Tell me, my little
maid, where he is"
In the moment while she was waiting
for him to speak Marie had had time
to collect her wits and to reflect that
the man did not look like such n mon
ster after all. Now she replied readily:
"a man? Oh, yes; soldier just
came in here and left that" pointing to
an old musket of her fathers which
stood in the corner of the room. But
he is gone now" she added.
She carefully related to the Prussians
how the franc-tireur had taken the
path that led from the rear of the cot.
tage to the forest.
The girl answered the questions SC
readily that it was hard for the officer
to suspect her of deceiving him, but
he ordered his men to make a thorough
search of the COTTAGE They looked in
closets and cupboards and rummaged
the loft. One of the men in passing
opened the oven door and glanced in.
Marie's heart almost ceased beating,
but she gave no sign of her alarm. See
ing nothing but the heap of fagots
the man closed the door. Marie could
hardly keep from heaving a sigh of re-
lief. 1t seemed in her own mind that
she must give shout of JOY. AS they
were preparing to leave one of the men
asked:
"Shall we not fire the cottage"
1t was the usual rule when peasant
was suspected of harboring n franc
tircur to burn his cottage as a lessor
to him and warning to all others, but
Marie's wnsome manner had touched
the officers heart, and the questionel
received a curt, almost savage NO"
Marie watched the Prussians ride
away, and when they were well out Of
sight she let Captain Charles out of hi:
narrow hiding place. He had heard al
that passed in the cottage, and he kiss
ed Marie and called her a brave girl
Then he departed by the road opposite
to that which the Prussians had takeI
to join his men at their meeting plac,
in the forest.
Marie was the pride of her parents
and the heroine of the town when he
story was made known. And in thu
, depths OF the forest, when the franc
tireur gathered about their campfir
and their leader told of his narrow es
cape and the bravery of the little peas
ant girl, each man lifted his canteel
~ rioc 1ro 20 II
, health and prosperity Of Marie Duret.
The landlady of the little vine GOV
, cred inn at Bots lie Due tells this stor
: to every stranger who visits the place
and if one is inquisitive enough to as