The sun., 1904-06-26
THE LITTLE RED MAN.
A Story Of the Lonvre Palace, Told
BY a Lady-in- Waiting to the
Queen Marie Antoinette.

, W A~~y .hE W SAoAA8 W tAS
Queen Marie Antoinette.
1t happened on the very evening Of thai
terrible day in October when the Queen
and I, her humble servant, came to the
Louvre that we saw, in one Of the corri.
dors Of the old palace, the frightful figure
whose features, even now, rise up before
me with horrible distinotness.
It was depressing day, wet, cold and
sombre.
When night came, We were forced to
lodge in apartments Of the 1uileries that
had not been heated since the childhood
most gloomy disorder. The poor little
Dauphin, accustomed to his palace OF
Versailles, pressed closely to his mothers
side, frightened by the cold. bare walls.
1T Is very ugly here, mamma he mur-
INJURED.
Louis XIV. slept here, my child Marie
more fastidious than he was
Az soon as her children had fallen asleep
in the hastily prepared beds, the Queen
called me, saying:
Come with me, Countess. The King
] 10 o6lcCps OuG uuxc uOt lAy uOWu Iuy n6au
| upon pillow until have examined these
apartments and know that need not fear
an assassin's steel In the darkness"
I picked up q candlestick and started
ahead Of the Queen to light our nocturnal
wanderings through the dark palace.
The Royal Guard were encamped In
the large gallery in the centre. There
1 was nothing to fear on that side. We
| fn rpod kharoforo ri <orr;Jnr hat
| led to an apartment overlooking the gar
dens and the river.
1t was moonlight. Some OF the windows
still had the little loaded panes Of glass
that belonged to the time OF the Medics,
| greenish light which lit up the Queens
| white garments. I remember that my
tears upon the floor.
Are you afraid9" she asked me. 'You
| will be brave soon."
| And she added, kindly:
Il have seen and appreciated all your
kindness and your loyalty. shall never
forget it-even though have but a short
time In which to remember
"Ohl Madame cried.
But she silenced me with q gentle, COM
manding gesture. Pointing to a doorway
on one side, she said:
| Il do not know what lies on the other
side Of this door. During my rare sojoums
In Paris have never been 90 far"
glanced out Of the heavily barred win
dows. We were overlooking the Seine
and the large trees on the banks trembled
In the wind while their branches doomed
dark through the white moonlight.
.This must be tho door, said the Queen,
shat leads from the palace into the long
galleries Of the Louvre
l shivered nyolmtarily; 1t seemed to
painted and decorated. lay all the tragic
mystery Of the Louvre.
| did not know very much Of the history
Of or Francs but .ssas here ii strange
was supposed to be haunted. Neverthe-
less. the Queen commanded me to open the
door. and with 9 trembling hand turned
the key In its look.
and made the candle flicker deepairingly
! protected It with my hand, raising It aloft
me 90 fun Of frehtful shapes. But the
Queen said in her natural tones:
We may trust. No one Knows whore this
dark corridor may lead toi"
| Fer now we could distinguish . long
gallery which seemed to stretch away into
sCome,. said Marie Antoinette, we
must 70 down this.
And when dared to suggest to my SOW
| ereign that a guard at least should be called
/ to accompany her she made me q sign to
follow, and started herself first.
This part Of the Louvre was Joined to
the Tuileries by the architects Of Louis XIV.
and was at that time, as . result Of work
begun and left unfinished, IN state Of be-
| wilderinR chaos. We wandered through
the maze Of corridors cut into steps and with
q Thousand turns and twists, often encoun-
seemed to descend to the very bottom OF
the earth, and which stopped before the
walled-up openings Of old doors.
The arches beneath which we walked
were low, Gothic and supperted by mon-
sters with uncanny faces. The Queen mur-
INJURED In low voice:
We are In . part Of the, Louvre that
has never been altered. II Is the old palace
that belon ged to Charles TX. and Henry Ill.
II they could but tell us Of them
just then we distinctly heard a slight
sound within Q few steps Of where we were
standing. We were then In the centre OF z
sort Of landing place from which started
several corridors.
The natural feeling Of what was due my
sovereign overcame my fright and threw
| myself In front Of Marie Antoinette, raising
| my candle high in the air. A strange form
cut tn the thiok stones Of the walls.
bourgeois IN times gone by. with balloon
brooches, slashed loose GOAT, and his head
covered with q hood and earlaps, Q taasel
hanging from It. Ny trembling hands d.