The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-01
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klnES DOWcQ DtIOTe ulIii. IL Was tilt ohAii- init of his greatness. One day Tom was summoned to the palace at Potsdam. He supposed that it was to receive the Cross of the Legion. Instead Marshal Berthter handed him a letter which had been seized in the mails. The letter was from Duchesne and addressed to him. It was written as if the two had been in fre- quent correspondence and was full of rid icule and contempt for the Emperor.
 Tom realized at once that Duchesne had written 1t to ruin him, knowing that the Prussan mails were closely scrutin- zed. Duchesne had left the army in dis ' grace, his duplicity had been found out and now he wrote to Tom as fellow consprator might write.
 The marshal, after reprimanding Tom severely, said: "I shall return to his majesty tho cross you were to have had; and as to the rest. his orders concerning you are"
 "One moment" said Tom. 'I am foreigner, little versed in the habits and usages of the land for which 1 have shed my blood. I know nothing of this letter, which Is a trick to ruin me. You know the man who wrote 1t and of what he Is capable I have always been true to the Emperor and to his cause. Have I the privilege of resigning the com mission I hold?"
 Certainly" answered the marshall Toms passports were made out for Paris, and thther he went again, after years of faithful service, stranger in Q strange land, without means and without employment. It was a bitter awakening after all his dreams of glory. But he had found that at every stop his path way had been beset by pitfalls and snares. That liberty of which he had dreamed had turned out galling bond age, a government of espionage and despotism.
 General d'Auvernge was with the army; young Tascher was there, too. These were his only friends In all France. or Marie de Meudon he dared not even think. A great longing came over him to see once more his native land. It was not so easy to get out of France in those days, especially when ones des- tinatlon was the British Isles; but after several adventures Tom crossed the chan mel and stepped once more upon Irish soil He could have embraced the very ground at first, but then again came over him the thought, Here also, even here, l have not friend' J1e had left lre- land boy; he came back man war worn and weary, but bringing no sheaves with him.
 l And then fortune gave another turn 1 to her wheel Toms elder brother died l and he became the heir to a large estate "a country squire of the first magni- | tude-and settled down on his estate ss a country gentleman. But soon he felt how dull and stab | the life was after Austerlitz and Jentfl 1 While he hunted by day and brooded by l night there came the news of the Rus l sian campaign, the retreat from Moscow | and the peril of the Emperor. Toms | heart leaped into fire again. He had de- serted Napoleon at the height of his 1 power Now that he was in diversity | It. al att, fha | Hastily crossing over to Belgium he | made his way to the remnants of the grand army and was eagerly welcomed oy
 the general commanding at one Of the
 frontier towns All France was in ayms
 and every step was turned eastward. Inn
 mense crowds of conscripts, many of
 scarce the age of boyhood crowded the
 highways. Every town and village was
 q garrison. The heavy rumbling of the
 ammunition wagons and the tramp Of
 horses sounded through the long nights.
 No longer, however, did Tom witness the
 wild enthusiasm which he so well reinem-
 bered among the soldiers of the army. A
 sad and gloomy silence prevailed; look
 of fierce but hopeless determination was
 over all. They marched like men going
 to death, but with the step and bearing
 of heroes. ,.as s4ss .a++ .s+=,.= ,.+- | Thus Tom found himself following those
 eagles which upon so many stricken fields he had seen sweep with victorious wings.
 Again he saw the pale face of the Elm
 peror, as immobile as of old, but with
 the light of destiny fading from 1t. Again
 he heard dying men shout with their last
 breath: "Vve pEmpereUr as Napoleon
 passed by wrapped in the gloom of his own nnpenetrable thoughts. For a time
 the tide of battle turned in favor of the
 Emperor, and in the battles of the Week
 of Glory Tom won his Cross of the Le- zion, the Emperor plnning 1t on his breast
 with his own hand on field of victory.
 In ono of the battles he saw Tascher gallantly leading a cavalry regiment to
 the charge. "I am q colonel now" cried
 Tascher "but 1t Is too late.' Tom him.
 self was a colonel now, but tho words of
 Tascher echoed in his soul-"Too lateH'
 Badly wounded, 1e was invalided and by
 the Emperor's orders assigned to quarters
 in the ancient palace of Fontalnebleau.
 One evening in the latter part of March. as he sat breeding over his eventful past.
 there came the sound of horses hoofs
 and he caught the clank of dragons as
 their sabres rattled and their saber
 tasches jinged against their horses
 Hanks. Some hurried news from tho
 Emperor he thought. Tor perhaps some
 marshal brought here wounded" And
 then flashed the thought: What if 1t is
 the Emperor himself7' But the idea n ' escort drew up when not at the main
 entrance to the palace but at side door | in remote wing. There was a travelling ! carriage in the midst of the escort. but 1 he could not sec who alighted from it. That night. unable to sleep. he was
 walking in the garden5 when he was att ] tracted by 6 light shining from a room
 on the ground floor. A man In Turkish dress was sleeping across the door which led into the lighted apartment Even by
 the faint light Tom recognized Russian.
 the favorite Mameluke of the Emperor. i Tom attempted to retire noiselessly. but the Turk awakening suddenly. called out
 for the guard and, seIzing Tom by the collar his scimetar flashed above his
 head. A man came from the lighted
 room "TIold," said he. What means J this? Who are your
 In few words--the fewest he could
 fnd-Tom explained hls presence and re- gretted that he should have disturbed his
 majesty. q thought sire" added he. l that your majesty was many leagues | away with the army"
 "There is no army" replied Napoleon,
 land tomorrow there will be no Em-
 peror. Go, sir-go while there Is yet time 1 more exalted than yourself, have done. , This is the day of desertlon-take adyan-
 tage of it..
 Had my name and rank been less hum ble they would have assured your majes- l ty how little merited this reproach," an- | swered Tom.
 T am sorry to have offended you" re-
 piled Napoleon. q remember you. Yes. l .t.<.- I ohd ftaH Ia xrptr