New-York tribune., 1912-02-04

here I caught him in the act of scaling the convent
The arms Of the shot man hung straight down ana
his blood drippcd from the ncrvccSS hngcrS OF MS rlS
hand He had been shot through the right lung ana
that side of his gray blouse was rghttully soaked ohc
foot wore the mud colorcd boot OF Spahcc reaching to
the knee the other wonderfully clothed IN the
hcarsl;in Of 4 horse grcnadicr Undoubtedly the man
WAS frccshootcr franc-tircur who had assumed
such raimcnt rs the chance Of war afforded.
His eyes were wide open, and they glarcd as tiger
into the immobc faces OF his bearers They were spcn-
did eyes, and Lcpaul was struck by them
"Nav ne come into the rctcctory; nc asked, turning
TO where ne had left the nun. But she was gone.
Take him into the chapel" he ordered curtly.
He went first and pushed open the archcd door, Wh'ch
swung inward with protesting groan. .
Nothing could bc palmer than this chapel Wmch nd
stone floor and double OF pillars, and wooden
benches for the OF the chapter At one end was 'nc
altar at the other gilt figure OF the VIRGIN IN Il h,'
in the wall Below this figure one OF the sisters was
kncclinp II was her voice that the COmmdnddn' ''d
family heard in the rcfcctory. The remains OF lew
frcscos fingered the walls, hdcous and incongru"uS
oblitcratcd in patches 10y damp. m
They laid the wounded man on the coId H'S'; ii'
blood iricklcd across the stones and disappeared III
large crcvicc between two Of them.
"Mofhcy Of pity, the nqniics Of The 'rord bledd per
Thy compassion" n
fixed idea was that her pleading should not become
mechanical Thcctcrnal PRAYER" OF her order G'"'n
less flame Of pravcr-burncl with unccaSng S'cdin',>'
did so a packet Of letters fell out The wounded man
made a movement 10 seize them; but the Commandanj
quietly appropriated them. He examined lhc s'nlI
hole with blue edge IN the irdncurcuT TEh, b''''
and called for an instrument for = mattrc>, Tor some
linen TO make lint His troopers shrugged Their shouI
dcrs Why should he care for rat Of a iranciircur;
Lcpaul himself could not have answered the question.
"Nmborc'" muttcrcd the Frcnchman. y on can
do ANYTHING But there Is onc-thcrc there
\ horrible rattle ended his sentence for him. lie
closed his wildly beautiful eyes.
A T the end Of sccplcs period Of three hours Prime
~ otto Lcpaul spHug with angry po'uIansr nom me
low rrlcklr bed against the wall Of his bedroom, upon
which me- had flung himself without undressing. \ small
lamp with brass reservoir burned on tiny OAK ''n'
The badly trimmed wick was smoking abommabIy, and
one siI. Of the glass was backcncl. With a muucrci
curse Of ANNOYANCE hc opened the shutters before hr
window and flung up 'hc pane.
"I' +. certainly my destiny he said aloud. staring
into the, cold void "Th,s, things 10 not happen ny
chance II was not that which sent me 10 occupy TINS
place And the sooner leave il the better before do
something for which | shall hc sorry.
He was silent for five minutes and then added, !
believed rba, She WAS dead: and SO she is. It is her
corpsc have seen What a horror, Only dead people
tenant scpulchcrs. And this place Is a scpulchcr. She
has died. The smiles have died from her eyes; the
brightness from her heart; the life from her expression
Even her flesh dead. pale and boodIcSS And al
emotion, all feeling AL affection, have pcrlshcd. IhS
terrible tragedy.
moon, in It's last quarter. hdi TNcn inSShapCll T'S
OF itself exhausted with its long journey. Telegraph
posts marked the hghroad, and the wind whlncd dis
consolatc song TO the wires
lie drew back grinding his teeth. "f it is true tha,
General Bourbald has been smashed, then shall soon
pet nv orders. We shall soon break up their army IN
the east and be- moving on Paris. All, il could but
be in the fighting should have chance to forget
LIE turned away and then he noticed the packet he
had taken from the irancrcur which ne had tossed
upon the table Il had fallen off and was hall concealed
bv the trcklc bed He snachcd up, wrcnchcd away
--..-,,.- L-,L Ll11. -ik rlhLnn and rcmnNIng hc