Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-10-01
THE AT LAST
XII

. 80
being human, canno see all sides of a
question; that a decision right in one
light may bring disaster in another. If
events had stayed where he left them,
Francois Beaupre and Colonel Couard
and his regiment would have won hon
or and eternal gratitude from Louis
Bonaparte for the quarter of ar hours
work which made the arsenal theirs.
Events, instead of standing still, or go
ing forward, took an unexpected sinis-
ter turn, not long after Francois go
Ing.
The happy Prince, smiling the shad-
owy smile which made his face win
ming, stood in the center of triumph
ant turmoil. his new followers, the men
Of the Forty sixth, crowded about him
shouting, cheering, kissing his hands,
and the loyal fourth a~rtillerymen fra
ternized. embraced, congratulated the
men OF the line regiment. The narrow
courtyard was a hubbub Of %rapturous
excitement, n the Princes officers
Montholon, Vaudrey, Voisin. Parquin,
D'Hunin, Querelles-these n others
whose names Frenchmen knew. sur
rounded the small figure which yet
had so much of royalty, and laughed
and chatted light-heartedly. In a few
moments, when Colonel Laity's engin-
GERS n the third artillery should have
arrived, the Prince would have 5000
men under his command. The great
game was practically won-Prince
Louis was all but Emperor.
Suddenly, above the sea Of sound, q
commotion was heard at the farther
END of the ba1rack yard. The colonel Of
the Forty-sixth, Colonel Talandier, had
arrived. Very loyal to Loui PHILIPPE,
very angry at the scene. before him, he
would not believe the news. He called
excitedly, and the mems voices died
Orty o, &lOry ~o-y I3Nn ~
Soldiers" he cried, you are de-
ceived! This man for whom you are
shouting Is an adyenturer, an impos-
tori"
In the shock of silence which fol-
lowed his words, another voice rang
out, clear and indignant. the voice Of
a staff officer whom they all knew.
1T is not the nephew of the Emperor!
1t is the nephew of Colonel Vaudrey! 1
recognize him!" the officer cried in a
strong ~staccato, and a gasp as if
ice water had been scattered vent
through the crowded place.
There is nothing more absurd in his
tory than the instant effect of this
quick witted lie. Only with a mer-
curial French mob. perhaps, could it
have succeeded. but it succeeded here
with hopeless swiftness. 1t lev from
mouth to mouth-they We're cheated,
tricked; the emperor's newphew, their
prince. had not come; this young mar
was a e-believe. a substitute, the
nephew of an officer; some of the SOL
diers who had show most enthusiasm
lmost lost their minds now in rage.
Colonel T%alandier began to form his
men,; the prince, composed as ever,
yet earnest. swift. tried to rally his,
but it vas impossible to start any
where, in this confusion, for line and
artillery had become mixed in an un-
m9napa1 HE n1nh a word from pithof.
prince or colonel n BLOOD would have
flowed. De Querelles begged leave to
force a way through the infantry for
the prince. But Louis Bonaparte, con-
siderate and self-controlled, would not
shed a drop of blood Of these men who
a hailed him emperor a moment be-
fore-he would not believe them his
enemies. He threw himself into the
midst of them and they received him
with bayonets fixed, ever forcing him
to parry a blow or two; he tried to
seize a troopers horse that SO he might
be a rallying point for his column, but
that failed. too.
Yet the steadfast mind kept it's
hope; he glanced every moment to-
ward the ramparts. The Third must
appear there shortly; it could no be
many minutes. They would turn the
tide. One glimpse of that solid swing
ing regiment and the day would be
SdSOu-dl1Q SdlNdllOi was CtTldl1. L ne
Third was coming, would be here n
second-Francois' faithfulness could
be trusted.
Slowly, with his officers crowding
about him. he was driven toward the
barrack wall. and. in a flash, from
somewhere, a man was before him,
thrusting a bit Of paper at him. With
q swift movement he had it open and
read:
Destiny throws arsenal into our
hands. Have taken Third artillery to
hold it. I wait to bring the news-a
jewel for your crown. Vive L EN-
pereur! Beaupre."
Few men ever heard Louis Napoleon
sob, yet the officers who stood about
him at that moment caught a sound
that wrung them. 1t meant the end,
and they knew it. ~Passionately he
crushed the paper and threw it into
the seething mass.
Fool! He has thrown away the en-
pre-" he Missed through set teeth. IF
1 could run him through"
Then, quickly, he was himself again.
Serenely while the maddened soldiers
pressed on him, he turned and spoke
q quiet word to his friends, and then,
serenity, too, with a gaze that was half
contemptuous, half friendly, he let
himself be made prisoner.
now. On the ramparts, where the
prince and his column should have
been, had gathered from the Faubourg
Pierre a formidable crowd, who adj
vanced angrily to his rescue, and pelted
the line regiment with stones, and
cried again and again. "Vive IEmper-
curl" Colonel Talandier had to reckon
with a many-sided trouble. But the
heart of it was in his hands, and
slowly order and the old rule were
coming back.
The tumult of the struggle had
quieted, the volatile Forty-sixth regi-
ment. returned to its allegiance, stood
formed in ranks, in appearance as firm
for the king as the everlasting hills,
and at the end Of the court was a sad
and silent. yet a stately group of men,
the prince who had almost been em-
peror ana those who had watched
slipping with his hope, their hopes of
grandeaur.
Suddenly a horses hoofs rang down
the lane from the Faubourg; a rider
clattered at gallop into the yard and
across the front of the soldiers, and
every one in he agitated company saw
that the man reeling in his saddle was
wounded. With blind gaze he stared
about as he refined in, and then he
caught sight of the sorry group, the
prince and his officers. To Francois
Beaupre, clutching to this world by
one thread OF duty, this was the VIC
torious emperor and his triumphant