Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1910-02-10

Il l
heart of Paris. l..
He walked on at his usual pace.
completely absorbed by the fixed idea
that he might perhaps snatch the
choice morsels away from his rival.
! To rouse him required the passing
OF a regiment of the line, marching
nurrledly to take position on the
island of the city. This time he in
stantly forgot the lobster and the
guardsman.
my, it's my old One Hundred and
Second" he cried. Where the deuce
can it be going at that rate?" And
approaching young lieutenant he
asked what the regiment was doing
out at that hour
"A few brawlers to correct, mon
siour," replied the officer haughtily.
1T seems that handful of ounces
have amused themselves by building
line of barricades which obstructs
| passing along the left bank of the
river"
Oh, this had very little to do with
Col. Noirot's affairs. Barricades! Th/
passing obstructed! Well, and his
lobster! But the old officer began to
| move briskly by the side of the little
soldiers with anxious brows and trou-
bled faces, shouting: LEFT right!
Left, right" as in the former times,
pleased to hear once more the curt.
military intonations. They stopped at
the Pont du Chatelet, which was en-
tirely closed by a barricade
Leveling their bayonets, two CON-
panies rushed forward to the attack
and Noirot unconsciously fell into the
charge with them. He was Is years
younger. Like the old war horse, he
had rushed into the melee, inspired by
the memory of 80 years fighting on
all the fields of Europe. What delight
to feel once more, even for an hour,
the old battle spirit!
He sprang like mailman into the
midst of the defenders of the barri-
cade, and, weeping for Joy, fell into
the arms of Commander Reinbert
Oh, how they embraced each other
under the silken folds of the tri-col-
ored flag, which Noirot also covered
with Kisses!
"Well, we have them at last" cried
Reinbert. Cali Paris is rising in the
name of liberty. In two hours the
national colors will float over Notre
Dame"
"And l." groaned Noirot, triple
ass, old blockhead, was marching
vii th1
and Second. A little more, and
should have charged with the bay.
0net."
And, tearing the flag from Rein.
bert's hands, he again leaped on the
barricade, yelling in the voice that
had been heard at Austerlitz Most
of the officers of the One Hundred and
Second had served in the Grand Army.
They recognized Noirot and greeted
him with loud cheers. Shouts of VIC
tory ran from front to rear of the col
umn, rising to the windows, whence
handkerchiefs were waving, rolling
like vengeful echo through rebelli-
Gus Paris. And the soldiers in the
ranks, their faces no longer troubled,
waved their shakos on the tops Of
their muskets, as their fathers had
done at Lutzen and Dresden in the
pathway Of the conqueror, Napoleon.
At the square near the Odeon there
was another barricade, but fighting
was over. People were allowed to
pass, and an old grenadier, in his
uniform of 1915, was gallantly assist
ing two pretty grisettes to climb over
the heaps of paving stones where,
here and there, slender streams Of
blood were trickling. The girls did
not seem at all frightened. They
were rosy and smiling. Yet several
corpses, in blue coats, still lay in the
street.
"There has been fighting here?"
Noirot asked the old soldier.
"Very hard fighting, sir. The Royal
Guard did not come off easily, I can
tell you"
The Royal Guardt The words re-
minded the colonel of what he had
been thinking when he met the One
Hundred and Second-his serious
| f,
the COMPOUNDED guardsman. Of course
the scoundrel had encountered fewer
obstacles on his way than he, and
must have finished his meal long ago.
Yet, after all, perhaps the popular. ex-
element might have prevented his
coming that morning. Who could
tell?
With his heart full of this hope, the
brave officer went on toward the
house, when he stumbled over one of
the bodies lying at the foot of the bar
ricade. An unheard Of, unexpected,
/ marvellous, providential sight, indeed
It was the poor guardsman.
In spite of his fierce resentment,
Col. Noirot barred his head. :
$50 all was ended, the humiliations
the affronts, the race for the tid-bits!
But suddenly the shadow of some
anxiety fitted over his face, his fea
lures expressed keen uncertainty, and
l ~ o-t0po IF thu oh q ~.~oo ~, :. -