Rocky Ford enterprise., 1903-12-25
BY Anatole France.

oh tHe particular hkut u which
] write. the fever OF an influenza pre-
venting me from sleeping. distinct
ly heard three raps on the glass door
OF cabinet which stood beside my
bed. and in which were jumbled con
| fusediy images In clSon. porcelain
and Seyres. terra Gotta statuettes from
| Tanasra and from Myrina. small
branzes. Japanese worries. Venetian
glasses. Chinese cups. boxes In vernis
Martin. enameled and laequered trays
in short. u thousand trifies. which
adore through fetichism and which
recall to my mind past hours of JOY
or sorrow.
The raps were light but perfectly
clear. AMI by the CLEAN of the night
lamp. ] saw that u little ieaden sol
dier was trying to set himself At lib
! erty. He soon succeeded and the glass
door opened wide.
Hello" exclaimed. Couldn't
you make less noise. La Tulipe. and
let me restf ! am sick"
The little fellow replied srumblins'
iy:
Just as you sec me. bourgeois. !
took the Bastiic hundred years ago.
] do not believe there are many ieaden
soldiers left who are ~ old as ! am.
Goodnight: ! am going TO the re
view
la Tuiipc." replied Sternly.
-your regiment was crushed out OF
existence by Louis XVI. August II.
1883. There Is no longer any review.
Stay In that cabinet"
La Tuiipc curied his moustache and.
looking at me contcmptnously out OF
the corners OF his eyes. replied:
What! do you not know that every
year. on the night Of the 3lst Of De
Gambler. while children arc asleep. the
Grand parade Of icaden soldiers de-
hies over the roofs among chimneys
that smoke Joyously and from which
escape the last embcrs OF Christmas
ioxs? II Ii = mad eavaicade In which
xsiiops mora than one hcadiess cav
alier. The ghosts Of all the leadeu
soldiers who have perishcd In var
rush past In an internal whirlwind.
There are many broken and twisted
bayoncts and the spirits Of dead dolls
looking shsstiy In the moonlikhi. look
st them pass.
This discourse left me perpicxrd
80. La Tuiipc. II is = custom. q
solemn custom. 10 ity ! have an In
nnite respect for usage. customs. ira
ditions. legends. popular beliefs. We
call that folklore and We make q
study OF II that amuscs us very much
I sec with pleasure. La Tu!ipc. that
you are trnditioniste. I do not know
rs I ought TO let you 20 out OF that
cabinet"
BE patient. I could not 20 under
your xazc without contradicting all
the laws OF occultiam. when you are
asleep. II will be easy for mo to cs
CAPE on n ray OF moonlight as ! am
subtle. But there !s no hurry: I have
an hour or two to spare. II you would
like. will tell you n story OF the
oidcn time. ! know more than one
Tell me one"
One hundred AMI four years ago
this very day. ! was on a table with
about n dozen comrades exactly like
myself. Many OF us were without
head or feet: we were the remains
Of q box of soldiers purchased the
year before at the Saint.Germain fair
The apartment In which we were was
hung with palc.blue sIll. A spinet
chairs with iyre.shnped backs, ma
hogany writing.desk. white bed or
namented with roses. all smiled with
tender grace. The lamp burned with
soft light. and the flame in the fire.
place seemed to beat like wings in the
shadows. Seated at the desk. In a
robe de chambre. her slender neck
bent under her heavy golden tresses.
Julie took out the letters that lay in
the drawers tied together with rib.
bons.
Midnight sounded; It was the sig.
nal of the passage from one year to
another. 1893 was ended.
BY turns. Julie looked at the flick.
ering fire and ut the letters, from
which pressed flowers dropped. 1t was
hard for her to burn them. II must
be done. for those letters, II found.
would send to the guillotine both their
writer and the one who had received
them. II she alone were concerned.
she would not destroy them, SO weary
was she of struggling to preserve ner.
self from the cxecutioner. But she
thought OF the writer. prescribed and
hunted. who was now in hiding in
some Earret at the other end OF Paris.
One of those letters would reveal his
hiding place and deliver him up TO
death.
She began at the oldest ones. dated