The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1913-09-05

oppOe them.
What happened thereafter the girl
was but vaguely cognizant Of; reports
Of guns, flashing Of steel surrounded
her; the Gathering of hoofs mingled
with the loud shouts of men.
THE Bastile of the North! Down
with I'll"
This was their battle-cry; on every
side she heard it. though hardly real
izing the purport Of the words; con
fused, she listened to her fathers name
her own-bandied about. She won
dered why those on the wall, the sol
diers within, did not fire and repel all
these people.
swer. The troopers comrades were
mixed in the melee without; she and
they, too-so adroitly had the moment
for striking been planned-mfght be
swept down in the volleys from the
ramparts. A cannon doomed above;
but its deafening reverberations were
answered only with laughter and jeers
Mon Dieul Did his Excellency
think to brighten them with sound, as
If they were timid children fleeing
from thunder? Was his Excellency
aiming at stars?"
And again that cry: "The Bastile Of
the North! We, too, will take our
Bastile!"-dominated the clashing Of
arms and the tumult of strife.
For what seemed an interminable
period, the Governors daughter saw.
through flashes of light, men strug-
Cling, striking; then launched sudden
ly forward, by an Irresistible move
ment of the horses, found herself with
In the gates. The Marquis who had
early been separated from her in the
strife, was nowhere in sight. Behind
now sounded the fray; a short dis
lance from the wall, and she looked
back; fiercer than ever, soldiers and
people contended within the entrance;
beneath the portals. AS she strove to
restrain her horse she heard the voice
of her father.
Mon pere! Mon pere!" she cried
eagerly, divining his face In the light
Of lamps on that side Of the wall He
answered only with laconic command
to go at once to the palace; and. re-
garding his features, tragically appeal
ing to her at the moment-so strange
and different they seemed!-she pre-
pared to obey. But ere turning: "You
think the soldiers can hold the gate?"
she asked.
Eyes; yes!" he replied sharply. as
If annoyed at the question.
But if"
There is no. 1f'i' said the Cover
nor, and as the girl rode away, his
look, hard, steely, shifting to the SOL
diers, made quick mental note; they
were holding the gates. Satisfied with
the front his men presented, and, de-
livering a few brief orders to the
commandant whose valor In rallying
his forces had been commendable, his
Excellency walked toward the great
stairway leading up to the open space
near the church. Arrived at this high
point from which the town unfolded
itself in the starlight and flicker of
lamps, he sought, as best he might,
to acquaint himself further with the
situation; to judge the numbers of the
dboolldilts the 6AlOul VI AAiGll prep
arations.
The scene that met his eyes was not
so reassuring as he had expected; that
which until now he had considered but.
spasmodic outbreak of compare
lively few townspeople, excited by the
news of the Bastile and bent on any
petty mischief, resolved itself into
more than an orderless, desultory up
rising. To his startled gaze the rock,
lika an ant-hill disturbed, seemed
swarming with life. Even as he peered
down, new relays of men poured up
ward from the dark byways to the re-
Enforcement of those already gathered
at the portals. and, for the first time,
his confidence, bred of contempt for
the commonalty, BECAME slightly shak-
en-. Fate, which had struck him
sharply in the capture of his daugh-
ter and the enforced negotiations lead
ing to the release OF one he would
have dealt with after his own fashion,
now !ripped him closer. What did
1t poitend? Whence came all these
people?
Not III Of them from the immediate
l,eighbt rhood! Voices, among the as
sltilants, had called out in what was
surely tive Partisan dialect of the
rabble; h\re to propagate the revolu.
lion; extern the circle of flame! And