The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1915-04-08

III e0nes IL was LnaL way WuEn6 a N 80 A&1 & O.
emperor In the play. was IN act u
then. They said that no one cost p
have read the lines, acted the part,
carnated the majesty and the soul
him. as did I. And why? Becausd
was the emperor; his soul was mini
, his voice"
1--WE often heard people sayy evsx 4
nowadays, that you look like himu ],
said Latour-Michel
"The passion OF my life! Why, !,
In my quarters, sometimes, still pV III
on the bicorne hat, the boots. the loIH !.
cloak; and then his spirit
Jacques" said Latour- Michel, ca HI.
ing his comrade by his first name,
he did occasionally, what do tho !.
other fellows out there know abo} :
Napoleon? They're brave They IL
good Frenchmen, good patriots; but m
devolves on us to make Napoleonf Is
!. spirit live again-to evoke, as yd Il,
have said, the immortal shade. And i
j die, here
Their was pause, an instant OF In
describable silence, and then, throuI 81
the overpowering stiffness OF I'll .;s
: place where Napoleon slept, ,gra a
came reverberation of distant tbrn.
II der.
Grenadfer Mere cried.
The thunder was repeatedly
"Adjutant! Adjutant! It's +ha a.,
non!" the grenadier criesd az ha
stepped in front of his an Gent friends
chair.
u 1t seemed as if a buS|, et or niece If
snrapnei, OF s2nell from those very
cannon tnal were roaring now, had
stricAen ne grenadier where he stood.
FOR stricken and petrifed. he was
! | ioSosSKing at this old, old friend of his
e.1Gnd the friend was sitting there dead.
rs Adjutant Latour-Michel more than
nit a hundred years old, the man who had
Is. seen Napoleon, had died there at the
very side OF the place where the en-
ne peror slept.
rs After that first moment or two of
al stupefaction the grenadier did very
cd peculiar thing.
ad He was still looking at the dead cen
is tenarian, and he spoke to him as IL he
could hear: spoke softly, but seriously,
ne as though he expected an answer;
NJ spoke smilingly and coaxingly.
art thou-art thou, perchance," he
asked, gone to summon him ?"
ut To summon whom? The temerity of
e. what he had said frightened Grenadier
Mere.
In Then. as he stood there In the
oil hot - kbo3~ - -
lie to him, no longer nebulous, but vivid
LII and wild.
It. Just now Latour-Michel had spoken
lg Of the emperors spirit as being awake
IS and near. Just now Latour-Michel had
to spoken of death; and here he was,
he dead. Were there not many things In
Up the world that ordinary people did not
r understand?
ID Mere tore open the greatcoat of his
friend. tore open the shirt. put his
at hand on the heart. The. heart was
still.
a. He heard step in the corridor be- |
d. yond the crypt There entered care
If taker. very old, who held his lantern |
aloft and saw Mere standing there.
Good evening, M. Mere" he said |
They still advanced"
The caretaker saw the rolling chair |
and the still form In 1t. It was snoEsa |
all surprising to find these two COM
rades here at any hour of the day or |
night.
And M. Latour- Michel, how is hep |
the caretaker asked, addressing the |
form In the chair.
Said Mere softly:
He sleeps"
cursory tour. Mere turned to his friend |
and whispered
Thou sleepest? Not so, my COM
rade! And thou, thou-oh, Napoleon!"
Then there occurred very strange
and beautiful thing. His old brain was
shaky. perhaps, and his old nerves un-
strung; but he had vision.
1t was as Ii from the great sarcopha-
gus of Finland granite there had come
wrath. scarcely perceptib1e at first in
the dim light, then clearer and clearer
as it mounted and took form, until he
was looking at Napoleon himself.
Mere was stricken with awe and
nameless rapture.
The emperor was gazing with in
domitable eyes out over far-fung
battlefield, where flags tossed in the
van of charging regiments. where can
non roared and filed the air with
smoke, and cavalry Numbered with
sabers drawn.
"Vive La France!" cried the Grena-
t der Mere In strangled voice.
: AT the cry, the enemy broke and
fed.
'Vive la France!"
] The grenadier heard the echo OF his
| oxv,, fa1f v.<,,v, H. - his