The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-26

pity for the lad and proposed to help him
 escape. He consented and told O'Brien,
 who rushed in at the right moment and
 threatened the people with the wrath of l the government,
 Their distress was so great that at last,
 when O'Bren pretended to feel pity for l them. the mistress gave him a letter to i her sister, who had an inn in Flushing,
 requesting her, by the love she bore the
 writer, to do anything that the bearer might demand, as he had the power of i making the whole family miserable. i Unfortunately, they fell in with gen. 1 darme a few days later, who evidently suspected them This forced them to i hide away as soonNa as they had given i him the slip. Heavy snow had come on
 and they nearly perished in the woods at night. but they did not dare enter an inn, l knowing that the alarm would be out. 1 After about a week of miserable skulk- i ing and semi-starvation they came upon
 the frozen bodies of a man and young
 girl in the thickets. Beside them lay long l stilts, showing that they were peasants i from the Landes, where the people use | stilts on account of the configuration of ] the land. These people often came into | other parts of France to earn money by l displaying their agility
 1 Under O Briens directions Peter Simple
 attired himself in the dress worn by the | girl and the Irishman put on the peas- i ants garments For week they stayed i in the woods, practicing the use of the 1 of many times more readily than landsmen
 could have done. At last OBrien pro-
 posed that it would be safe to venture
 out, and they set forth, mounting their stilts and performing a rude sort of dance
 whenever they entered a village. ! They entered the fortified town of Ma i lines one day and began dancing before i the hotel After it was over Peter stalked ] to the windows with O'Brien's cap to i collect money. He started and almost 1 tumbled headlong, for he looked full in i the face of Colonel O'Brien and Celeste. ! In another moment both disappeared. ] Then Celeste came to the window again. l Peter approached once more and she held ] out something. He thrust forth the cap. : It sank under the weight of what she ! deposited Then she fled again.
 i As soon as the two could escape the
 gaping crowd they hurried to an inn, i where they found that Celeste had given ! them a purse with 50 Napoleons in It. ] They also learned that Colonel O'BIien | was on his way to take command of Q
 fortress in the Dutch territory which the French then occupied
 1 That evening while they were deba ting
 what to do they fell to talking with some 1 conscripts bound for Flushing and o Brien i managed to secure the papers of one of
 them. Armed with these they discarded 1 their suits, put on clothes like those worn ! in that district and entered Flushing
 boldly. They found the inn kept by the woman 1 for whom they bore the letter and they learned to their joy that her husband was
 a Flushing pilot. When the fugitivcs 1 added to the persuasion in the letter the
 inducement of a bribe of 100 Louis he consented to take them to sea that night.
 He brought them pilots clothes, and the
 next morning their little vessel hailed a
 British cutter and they were saved. | Peter took OBrien home with him, ] where he found matters greatly changed. | His fathers two eldest brothers had died, and the third had two daughters but no
 son Thus Peters father stood so much
 nearer the title and estates that Lord
 Privilege had begun to remember him quite graciously.
 ! As for Peter, who never had been hon. | ored with even a sight of the old gentle
 man. now that it looked as if he might
 be Lord Privilege some day, his grand-
 father invited him to visit and gave him | a finger which was great condescen-
 sion. He also was good enough to | write to the admiralty asking the first lord to appoint Lieutenant O'Brien and
 Midshipman Simple to a fine frigate. In 1 addition he increased his sons allowance
 most handsomely and dismissed the two ] with great regard.
 In another month Peter and his friend
 were in the Sanglier frigate bound for the
 West Indies, where they cruised for more ] than a year before they were ordered 10 l England. This time Peter found his home ! in a sad state. His eldest sister had mar
 ried an army officer and gone to India, ana ms SecoHu SlSltT Hau uleu SOOil dlte'- ward, leaving only one at home Ellen,
 who had become 9 very beautiful girl ] of r.
 His mother was quite prostrated by her | double loss, and found little comfort from
 her husband for the Rev. MT Simple had
 trouble that occupied his whole mind l His brother had gone to Ireland suddenly
 with his wife leaving all their servants
 behind, and after a few months he had
 returned with the news that son had l been born to him.
 The Rev. MT. Simple felt sure that there had been fraud in the matter but ne
 could not prove it. Lord Privilege had