Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-03-11


the Importance of her statement. "A
hundred men are killed. and the pow
der is on fire!'
She pounced into Alice's arms, still
talking as fast as her tongue could vi.
brate, changing from subject to sub
ject without rhyme or reason, her pratt.
tie making its way by skips and SHES
until what was really uppermost in her
sweet little heart disclosed itself.
"And, o Alice, Rene has not come
YETI!
She plunged her dusky face between
Alice's cheek and shoulder. Alice hug.
ged her sympathetlcally and said:
but Rene will come, know he will,
dear"
"Oh, but do you know It? Is it true?
Who told you? When will he comet
Where is he? Tell me about him.
Her head popped up from her friends
neck and she smiled brilliantly through
the tears that were still sparkling on
her long black lashes.
81 didn't mean that had heard from
him, and l don't know where he is
But-but they always come back
"You say that because your man-be
cause Lieutenant Beverley has return
ed. 1t is always so. You have every
thing to make you happy, while p
Again her eyes spilled their shower,
and she hid her face in her hands,
which Alice tried in vain to remove.
Don't cry, Adrienne. You didn't see
me crying
mo, of course not; you didn't have a
thing to cry about. Lieutenant Bev-
erley told you just where he was going
and just WHAT
but think, Adrienne, only think OF
the awful story they told-that he was
killed, that Governor Hamilton had
paid Long Hair for killing him and
bringing back his scalp! Oh, dear, just
think! And l thought it was true"
"Well, I'd be willing to think and be-.
lieve anything in the world if Rene
would come back" said Adrienne, her
face, now uncovered, showing pitiful
lines of suffering. "Oh, Alice, Alice,
and he never, never will comet!
Alice exhausted every device to cheer,
encourage and comfort her. Adrienne
had been SO good to her when she lay
recovering from the shock of Hamil.
toms pistol bullet which, although II
came near killing her, made no serious
wound-only a bruise, in fact, 1t was
one of those fortunate accidents OF
providentially ordered interferences
which once in awhile save a life. The
stone disk worn by Alice CHANGED to lie
exactly in the missiles way, and.
while 1t was not broken, the ball, al.
ready somewhat checked by passing
through several folds of Father Beret's
garments, fattened itself upon it with
shock which somehow struck Alice
senseless.
Here, again, history in the form OF
an ancient family document "a letter
written In 1921 by Alice HERSELF gives
us the curious brace Of incidents-tc
wit, the breaking Of the miniature or
Beverley's breast by British musket
ball and the stopping of Hamilton's
bullet over Alice's heart by the Indian
charm stone.
(Which shows the goodness Of God"
the letter goes on, land also seems to
sustain the Indian legend concerning
the stone that whoever might wear it
could not be killed. Unquestionable
(sic) Mr.. Hamilton's shot, which was
aimed at poor, dear old Father Beret,
would have pierced my heart but for
that charm stone. AS for my locket, it
did not, as some have reported, save
Fitzhugh's life when the musket ball
was stopped. The ball was so spent
that the blow was only hard enough to
spoil temporary (sic) the face Of the
miniature, which was afterward re-
stored fairly well by an artist in Paris.
When 1t did actually save Fitzhugh's
life was out on the Illinois plain. The
savage Long Hair, peace to his men,
DRY, worked the miracle Of restoring to
me- Here fold in the paper has de-
stroyed line Of the writing.
The letter In . sacred family paper,
and there Is not tustincat1 ton for going
farther into its faded and, in some
parts, almost obliterated writing. But
30 much may pass into these pages as
4 pleasant authorization Of what 9th
erwise might be Altogether too sweet a
double nut for the critics teeth to
crack.
While Adrienne and Alice were still
discussing the probability Of Rene de
Ronville's return n. Roussillon came to
the door. He was in search of madame,
his wife, whom he had not yet seen.
He gathered the two girls in his
mighty arms, tousling them with rough
tenderness. Alice returned his affec-
Tomato embrace and told him where to
find Nine. Roussillon, who was with
Dame Godere, probably at her house.
Nobody killed." he said, in answer
to Alice's inquiry about the catastro'
phe at the fort "Some Of 'em hurt and
burnt little. Great big scare about
nearly nothing. Ziff! my children, you
should have seen me quiet things.
put out my hands this way-co nme ca
Il