The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-01

Charles Lever was an Irish gentlemen oil fortune whose mind was broadened by tray | el and by associations with all of the most | his bosom friend: and he used to boast that
 wery court open to him, but the. very railway guards and walters from St. Peters sSrE E to Trieste knew him and took off
 That he wrote went without sayinr-sl- most most every gentleman of culture made a wrote well Is more to the point. He had a
 sund of rollching Irish wit and humor
 novel. and strange to say the best known known
 It is his NapoIeon,c saga running through
 story Is thin, and Tom is little lacking in
 common sense. sketches of the NapoIeonic
 France Under the Consulate and the Em-
 pire; Together with a Glimpse of the State
 not se ss sss for Sf sSsh
 h his works Lever leaned too mdeh to-
 ward the British to suit the Irish. and too
 much toward the Irish to suit the British
 But both Irish and English read his stories.
 eno they are well worth reading. A little
 author. s afstl
 When Tom Burke came to hirnself in m oficer's quarters. In the St. Georges Barracks of Dublin. his first realiza- eion was that he felt very sore and bruised; his next wonderment as to now he came to be where he was. Had ne come to himself in Jail he would not have been surprised. Though not yet Is. he was q tall, strapping Irish lad with an iron constitution and a
 stout frame. A wandering life had given him robust health. and the life had been pleasanter to him than the drudgery of a. lawyers clerk to which his fathers agent MT. Bassett. had tried to condemn him after the death fa1 pa sett had had an eye on the five hun- dred pounds that was all Toms father had left him. his elder brother inher- fling the rich estate.
 Lying on the cot in the royal bar racks there. Tom remembered that he had been looking on at the people coming out of Parliament House, when a riot broke out and he was carried away and borne down in the rush. That was all; except that he had been companion of Darby MKeowan, bet ter known as Darby the Blast. on ernment. '.
 Before Tom could marshal his scat tered wits in reasonable order a rosy. rotund officer. dressed fin a frayed and Faded dressing gown, came into the room. And how are we this morning, Tom Burke? How are we?" cried the officer. Alive and kicking again, I see. Been pretty bad. Tom Burke; pretty bad. But all right now. Did nobly in the riots: nobly. The Lord Lieutenant is delighted. All the offi- cers of Ours delighted, too. Call you Tom Burke of Ours now. Glad found you. Son of my old school friend. Burke, of Burke Castle. Always were Q loyal race"
 Toms poor broken head was still further bewildered by this greeting. Feebly but frankly he told his host his true story. how he had been taken by Darby the Blast after the death of his father; how Bassett was still look ing for him; how he had associated with the members of those secret so- cieties which honeycombed Ireland af- ter the disastrous uprising that had recently taken place, and how he hap pened to be caught in the mob. But \ the eccentric Captain Bubbleton would have none of his story. He had in- vented a better one and would not have 1t spoiled by mere facts.
 The truth was that he had found the boy lying bleeding and unconscious after the riot and had taken him into his barracks out of sheer kindness of heart. inventing a tale to so along with his act. Then he had learned Toms name through his rawlings. Youth recovers rapidly. and Tom had both youth and health, so it was not many days before Bubbleton had in-
 
 who had done wonderful things in the royal cause. The officers good natur- edly did not inquire too closely. Bub- bleton was joke, and so was all that pertained to hims Tom Burke of Ours we call him." said Bubbleton. Not more popular young fellow in the mess. His commission is about to be made out. Should not wondef if he got a knighthood out of it." So \ Tom Burke of Ours the Irish lad was called.
 MT. Basset. however, soon ferreted Tom out and threatened him with ar rest. ':Mr. Basset," said Tom, "you have five hundred pounds which my father left me. Give me one hundred of it,and will leave Ireland at once You may keep the rest" The arrange ment was agreeable" the lawyer said and Tom prepared to flee at once to France, then to enroll under the ban ner of the wonderful Napoleon, of whose glory his brain was full. Before coming to Dublin he had spent many months with young French officer, Charles de Meudon. They had been was one of those who had come over to Ireland when the uprising of 179S gave promise of being successful. When ] the attempt had failed and the other l officers had accepted the amnesty" and zone back home, de Meudon had stayed
 
 I might yet be done for Irish independ- ence. He and Tom had been placed in a remote part of the country to walt l And there de Meudon had died. In the months which Tom spent T with he had filled the boys mind full of the splendid vision of Marengo i and Lodi. of Arcola and the Egyptian I campaign. The greatness of Napoleon
 was then just beginning to throw It's I glory across the world, and Tom felt
 his heart throb at the name of Bona = parte.
 Before he died, Charles told Tom oi
 his sister Marie and Legged him if he
 ever got to France to be brother te her as he had been to the exile. "Go to T France when I am no more" said de
 Meudon. Here is letter which will pro- cure you admittance to the Polytech'
 nioue-th emilitary school. And here
 is a French bank note for two thous'
 and uvres--it is all I have, but if IS
 yours" So the Frenchman died In
 Tom's arms. and Tom went to Dubitr
 with his eyes set toward France Wher
 he was caught in the riot on CoIleg' # Green.
 There was one officer of tours" who
 looked coldly on Tom. He knew some # thing and suspected more. This wa' # Captain Montague Crofts. co isln oi hts. though Tom did not know or IL
 and in line to the Burke estates II Ton
 tand his brother were out of the way II
 was well. therefore, to begin on Tom
 With Basset he concoctsd plan tS # have inc lad arrested for treason be-