Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-13

HA Colonel DunOlS and l, when his
q / ! /: &
mi IN demeanor changed from of
IVA SAAM kindly old age to extreme ndlg-
NANEh nation. We had paused idly in
NSN" N front of a curo dealers shop Win
N4ASA@ dow where beneath struggling
N4H@N gasiets, a tray exposed which
~ 21C contained decorations and medals
and in the heart of it rested a
of the Legion of Honor sold by unapprec1atlve
one l heard the Colonels curse and the hard rap of
his stick on the stones and looked for the
1t apparent. Above the tray was facetious
sign, "A Few Baubles for Sale.
Even as my eyes caught it the veteran had whrled
toward the door, and l followed. He was leaning
the counter and with appraised cane threatening
the curo dealer who with hands protecting his head
from impending blow, covering back against
the wall. The old soldier was exhausting remark
ably complete vocabulary of invective and demand
ing that the of the Legion be taken from the
window forthwith and sold to him.
Give it to me, swivel" he Numbered. Quick!
How much?'
He threw the price demanded the counter,
thrust the decoration into his pocket. scorned the
profered change, and staked to the door He turned
back if to heap final list of objurgatons on the
dealers head his white eyebrows drawn into fierce
scowl and his white mustache and imperial quivering
with and then as recovering self possession,
walked out We got as far as the Rue Beaux Arts
before he said anything to me- and there under the
light at the corner, he faced me.
Baube! Bauble! He called it bauble!'' he
stormed, shaking lean finger in my face You too
should resent it Anyone should resent it 1t
my right to him! He got off light! Leopard
would have killed him for that!
L
of the Captains Three, believed it possible.
He calls it baube, the cross that brave
men have paid for with their lives! Men of all
nationalities-Ah! an American among them
He caught my look of inquiry and abruptly thrust
ing his through mine, started up the street
toward the Cafe du Price.
IN tell you of that gallant soul Strange should
never have told you before how Captain Brownelle
to be one of us.
0NCE in the corner of the cafe beneath the paint
~ ings on the panels where impecunious art stu
dents long gone arrived at fame had, with price
less of the brush paid their bills, he Gained
to a reminiscent vein and told me of the American
wanderer Two angora cats and the fat proprietress
dozed at the little counter in the outer room
alone. The noise of traffic in the narrow old
street had died away and profound quiet with
if he had brought it for the telling of the tale
into which he plunged without preliminary:
1T at the beg inning of that disastrous
with Germany, wherein smarting from the memory
of the i'll fated strife of previous which had cost
Alsace-L Lorraine, we fought to draw. With it's
history you familiar; but not with the story of
Captain Frederic BroWnee.
There was little of the officer in his appearance
the day first met him outside of Poissy, where
the armies of France and Germany massing for
what to be of the most terrific of modern
battles. l had been doing staff duty with General
Merthier and was sent with war automobile to
little hamlet some fifty miles to the carrying
dispatches which of considerable Importance.
l had reached the very outpost of the army when
the machine went wrong, and it took less than five
minutes to convince me that my chauffeur was hope
lessly ignorant of it's mechanism He lifted the hood
and started all sorts of foolish Investigations and
with each failure to get results my impotence grew.
Another five minutes passed, and was beginning to
cast about for to send back to headquar-
tiers for fresh machine when clean cut fellow in
privates uniform joined the little group, hestated
moment, and attracted my attention.
eff Monsieur lie Capitaine will permit he said,
perhaps l can assist him..
TT was not the wording that interested me SO much
as the mans accent and for an instant | studied
him Wondering from what nationality he came He