Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1901-10-05

$50
James cbarger-he was in the van
stumble and fall among the crowd and
heard q great shout go up. But
Beers by q mighty effort lifted 1t to
Its legs again. And once. too. a minute
later, those riding on my right swerved
outwards n I saw something / never
afterwards forgot.
1t was the body Of the coadjutor,
lying face upwards, the eyes open and
the teeth barred In a last spasm. Pros
trate on II lay a woman, a u wom-
an, with her hair like red gold falling
about her neck and skin like milk. l
did not know whether she was alive or
dead; but l noticed that one arm stuck
out stifiy, n the crowd flying before
the sudden impact Of the horses must
nave passed over her, even IL she had
escaped the iron hoofs which followed.
as my horse bounded aside, 1 saw no
wound or Disagreement. Her arm
was cast about the priests breast; her
race was hidden in II. But for all that
l knew her-knew her, ~shuddering for
the m whose badge l was even
now wearing, whose gift l bore at my
side; and l remembered the priests
vaunt of a few hours before, made in
her presence: There is no man in
Paris shall thwart me tonight"
1t had been a vain boast, indeed! No
hand In all that host of thousands was
more feeble than his now; for good or
Ill! No brain more d,di, no voice less
needed. A righteous r%etribution indeed
overtaken him. He had died by the
sword he had ~drawn-died, a priest, by
violence! The cross he had renowned
had crushed him. And all his schemes
n thoughts, and no doubt they had
been many, had persisted with him. It
a come to this, only, this, the sum Of
the whole matter, that there was one
wicked man the less in Paris-one
lump of breathless clay the more.
For her-the m on his breast
what man can Judge a know
Ing her? And not knowing her, how
much less? For the present / put her
out or my mind, feeling for the mo-
ment faint n cold.
We were clear of the crowd and clat-
tering unmolested down q paved street
before l fully recovered from the shock
which this sight had caused me. Won
uer whittier we were going took it's
place. To Beers house? MY heart
sank at the prospect IL hat were 80.
BEFORE / thought OF an alternative, n
gateway fanked by huge round towers
appeared before us, and we pulled up
suddenly, a confused jostling mass in
the narrow way; while some words
passed between vidame and the captain
or the guard. A pause of several min
utes Followed; and then the gates rolled
slowly open, and two by two we passed
under the arch. Those gates might
have belonged to a fortress or a prison,
a dungeon or a palace, for all / knew.
They led, however, to none OF these,
out TO an open space, dirty and Uttered
with rubbish. marked by a hundred
ruts and tracks. and fringed with dis
orderly cabins and makeshift booths.
And beyond this-oh. We gods! the JOY
or it-beyond this, which we crossed at
q rapid trot, lay the open countryl
The transition n relief were so won
derful that l shall never forget them.
l gazed on the wide landscape before
me, lying quiet and peaceful In the sun
iight, n could scarce believe In my
happiness. / drew the fresh air Into
my lungs, L threw up my sheathed
sword and caught II again I'm q frenzy
OF delight, while the gloomy men about
me smiled at my enthusiasm. felt
n horse beneath me move once more
like a thing Of life. No enchanter with
his wand. not Merlin nor Virgil, could
have made a greater change In my
world than had the captain of the gate
with his simple key! Or so It seemed
to me in the first moments OF freedom,
and escape-of removal from those
loathsome streets.
I looked back at Paris-at the cloud
OF smoke which hung over the towers
and roofs; and 1t seemed to me the
canopy Of hell itself. l fancied that my
head still rang with the cries and
screams and curses, the sounds OF
death. In very fact, I could hear the
dull report Of firearms near the Louvre,
and the Jangle OF the bells. Country
folk were c~ongregated at the cross
roads, and In the villages, listening and
RA N 4 AtN,1t
g~ood-natured among us, and showing
that the umor OF the dreadful work
doing In the town had somehow spread
ABROAD. And this though l learned af-
forwards that the keys OF the city had
been taken the night before to the king,
and that, except a party with the duke
or Guise, who had left at eight in pur-
suit of Montgomery and some of the
observation-disclosures, happily for them
selves, In the Faubourg ST. Germain-
no n had left the town before our
selves.
While I am speaking OF our depart-
urt from Paris, I may say what I have
to say Of the dreadful excuses of
those days, ay, and OF the following
days; excuses Of which France is now
ashamed, and for which she blushed
even before the accession of his late
majesty. / am sometimes asked, as
one who witnessed them, what / think.
and / answer that 1t was not our coun-
try that was to blame. A something
besides Queen Catherine de Medici had
been brought from Italy forty years be-
fore, a something invisible but very
powerful; a spirit Of cruelty and
treachery. In Italy it had done some
small harm. But grated on French
daring and recklessness, and the
and more soldierly manner OF
the north, this spirit Of intrigue proved
capable of very dreadful things.
For "a time. until It wore itself
out, 1t was the curse of France. Two
dukes Of Guise, Francis and
Henry; a cardinal of Guise, the
prince Of Condo, Admiral C~oligny.
King Henry III.-all of these the fore
most men OF their day-died by assas-
sination within little more than a quar-
ter OF a Gentry, to say nothing of the
prince of Orange and King Henry the
Great.
Then mark-a most curious thing
the extreme youth of those who were
IN the business. France, subject to the
queen-mother, of course, was ruled at
the time by boys scarce out of their
tutors hands. They were mere lads,
hot-blooded, reckless mobiles, ready for
any wild brawl, without forethoupht
or prudence. OF the four Frenchmen
who 1t is thought tool the leading
parts. one. the king, was %; monsieur,
his brother, was only 20; the duke of
Guise was 81. Only Marshal de Tavan-
mes was Of mature age. For the other
c~onspirators, for the queen-mother.
for her advisers Retz and Nevers and
Birague. they were Italians; and Italy
may answer for them If Florence, Man
tua and Milan care to raise the glove.
To return to our journey. A league
from the town we halted at a large inn,
and some of us ~dismounted. Horses
were brought out to All the places OF
those lost or left behind, and Bure had
food served to us. We were famished
and exhausted, and ate ravenously, as
II We could never have enough.
The vidame sat his horse apart, served
by his naRa I stole a nlnnnn Of him