Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1905-06-01
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p A ROSE OF A
| NORMANDY |
By
- WILLIAM r. A. WILSON
- X 80
CHAPTER I.

Sf1At / Elk /.
IN WHICH A PRISONER ESCAPES
AND A SOLILOQUY Is INTER
RUPTED.
The sun shone fair in France one
bright June day in the year of our
Lord 1913, and the thirty-fifth of the
reign of that Louis whom men called
Great" And nowhere was the sun
light fairer than in the capital city,
where the presence of a Conquering and
pleasure-loVing monarch and his be-
wildering court attracted the brayest
and gayest Of all Europe
The streets of Paris resounded on
the self-same day to the prancing and
paving OF war horses, the gay fanfare
of trumpets announcing the return of
a victorious general from the Neither
lands, or the rumbling of the great
coach OF state as the king himself
hurried on to take part in some fam
tastic dance or ballet at the palace.
stopping, DerchanCe, at the cathedral
door to offer thanks with all true
loyal subjects and join in some great
''Te Deum" sung in honor of another
battle won.
Amidst such confusion the ordinary
affairs of iile and state went on as
though naugat but the humdrum
plans of q peaceful nation were afoot
People lived and died a natural death
Occasionally; they ate, drank, and
slept through il all. The dead were
buried and the living blest, much tbs
same as they had been since first the
church spire aud the dark-robed priest
had superseded the old savage faiths.
Even the mIlistones of justice Chat is
to say, the king ground silently and
with their accustomed fneness, while
the ak, the rope. and the wheel did
their Kind work in sending prisoners
OF state TO country where lettres d"
cachet were unknown.
His most christian majesty believed
in the deterrent effect the sight of the
final act in the drama of a criminals
life had upon all good citizens He
likewise wished a t times that his peo--
pie, even those Of the lower classes,
should be amused. Accordingly he
achieved these two ends by frequent
public executions in the Place de la
GreVe. This, being commodious
square hard by the Pont Notre Dame,
was we'll adapted to large audience,
while the balcony of the Hotel de
Willie at its southern end afforded an
excellent pedesta! on which the king
and the beauties and gallants of his
court could show themselves when
ever an execution OF especial impor-
tauce took place
On the day with which this nara
dive opens the morning had worn away
until the sun with vertical rays beat
down upon the heads OF the spectators
There had been three instructive and
successful executions thus far The
1ir5t wretch was broken on the wheel.
the second hanged. and the third torn
TO pieces by horses. The king and
court party in the gallery had departed
after repeated half-suppressed ex-
Fressions Of enuui at the end of this
third act, and there remained but one
poor devil OF = uamcless fellow to be
dispatched by tha knife.
A raised platform occupied the cen
ter of the square About ii was drawn
uD double tine OF soldiers. some
armed with halbards. others with
musi;ets. who kept the people from
'rowding too near. From the scaffold
a narrow lane was kept open by
company Of aTchers to cart. on
which the condemned had ridden to
the scene Of their execution. and on
which they awaited in silence their
turn. Every other available inch wa.
occupied by douse mass of perspiring
jostIng humanity. who good-humor-
ediy enjoyed III" scene. despite the
heat and press
1t was to be noticed by a careful
observer that neither pity nor con-
''ern was anywhere manifested for the
threa already executed, even though