Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1910-10-15

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Boyer maintained rcsoutriy that he
dare not interfere. From Boyer the
wife went to the concicrgcrc to tell
her husband Of the failure OF her mis-
sion and to bid him goodby. She was
taken from the prison and carried
home in a swoon.
The next morning number of carts
were backed up to the door OF the con
ciergerie, and soldier in the prison
called the names of twenty-one men
who were to go forth to execution
Among them was Henri Chatcaubrun.
They all walked out to the carts. some
Of them dragging themselves. some
erect, all Of them showing In their pale
and haggard features the mark Of
death. Standing in the carts, they were
driven toward the Seine and crossed
1t by a bridge entering the Place de
In Revolution. since called the Place de
Ia Concorde. There stood the guillO-
tine with persons to work 1t ready to
lop Off twenty-one heads. and there
stood n crowd. kept back by soldiers.
to witness the grewSome sight. Tho
carts stopped beside the machine. and
the victims descended from the carts.
And now began a work that even an
implement so we'll adapted to the pur-
pose found 1t difficult to perform. Each
one Of the prisoners, hatless and with
his hands tied behind his back, in turn
stepped up to 1t, was laid upon 1t,
strapped to It; the knife fell, his head
rolled into the basket. and his body
was removed to make room for the
next victim. Fifteen of the twenty
one had been executed when the
guilotine refused to work. Whether
the knife got wedged In the grooves
or whether the machinery that raised
the Ak or that which detached 1t after
1t had been raised got out Of order
doesn't matter. Something had gone
wrong, and those in charge of the exc
cutions were unable to fix 1t.
The proceedings were stopped. and a
messenger was sent for mechanics to
put the guillotine in order. This re-
Quired time Waiting Is not conducive
to discipline. The soldiers who were
there to keep the crowd back grew lax.
and by the time workmen had arrived
people had elbowed their way close
upon the remaining six men standing
In line waiting for the repairs on the
machine that was to make corpses OF
them.
"Get back!" cried the guards. shov-
ing the crowd with the butts Of their
muSkets.
This was repeated so often and was
disobeyed so often that at last very
little attention was paid to 1t. Chateau
brun presently found himself in the
first line Of spectators. Then, instead
of being in the line next the guillotine.
he found himself in the second. In the
pushing that continued he was wedged
back into the third line and at last was
at the back Of the crowd that was there
to see his head cut Off.
There was something radically
wrong with the guillotine. The men
fixing it hammered and pulled and
pushed and screwed and unscrewed.
Meanwhile the day was ended. and 1t
was growing dark. Chateaubrun. con-
sidering the sight of his execution not
worth so long wait. quietly walked
away.
The Place de la Concorde Is at the
beginning Of the Champs d'Elysees.
Chateaubrun, every moment expecting
to be missed. concealing as well as he
could his tied hands, his heart beat
ing wildly. passed into the Champs
u 30 kxyk
himself to walk leisurely. There he
made his way onward In the shadow
Of the trees. Finally, when he had
gone far enough from the scene Of his
intended execution. meeting a man
coming toward him, he said:
M'sieur. friend of mine just now.
who is great wag. tied my hands be-
hind my back and ran away with my
hat. Kindly unloosen me-"
Certainly. m'sieur; 1t will give me
great pleasure to do So"
Thanking the man who had relieved
him of the last mark Of being an in
tended guillotine victim. Chateaubrun
went into a side street and was lost.
The guillotine was fixed. but there
were twenty instead of twenty-one
persons executed.
No word OF Chateaubrun's escape
reached his wife during the day Of ex-
ecution, nor the next, nor the next.
Indeed, 1t is questionable II his abb
sence from the number of the con-
demned was noticed by the authori-
ties. Nine Chateaubrun was In the
condition Of one stunned. Boyer call
ed to see her and found her heart
broken. She told him she wished to
die. he begged her to live for his
sake, confessing the love he had long
felt for her. She was too paralyzed
mentally and physically to even con-
slider what he said. Not till some time
have had her husband put out of his
way.
But within a short time a woman
stopped at Nine. Chateaubrun's home
and told her that her husband was
alive In the Netherlands and desired
her to come TO him. He had not
dared write her. fearing to implicate
her as a correspondent with an emigre.
Without waiting even to announce her
happiness to Boyer she set out for the
place of her husbands exile. and in
few days he who was supposed to have
gone to his long home and the wife
who had mourned him were clasped in
each others arms.
Chateauhrun never had anv evidence