Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1915-04-09

tant; 1t was that way When l was the
emperor in the play. ! was an actor
then. They said that no one could
have read the lines. acted the part. in
carnated the majesty and the soul Of
him, as did L And why? Because
vas the emperor; his soul was mine,
his voice"
I've often heard people say, even
nowadays, that you look like him."
said Latour-Michel.
THE passion Of my life! Why, up
in my quarters, sometimes. still put
on the bicorne hat, the boots, the long
cloak; and then his spirit"
Jacques" said Latour- Michel, call
ing his comraae' BY his first name, as
he did occasionally, what do those
other fellows out there know about
Napoleon? They're brave. They're
good Frenchmen, good patriots; but 1t
devolves on us to make Napoleon's
spirit live again-to evoke, as you
have said, the immortal shade. And II
die, here"
Their was pause. an instant Of In.
describable silence, and then, through
the overpowering stiffness of this
place where Napoleon slept, there
came q reverberation of distant thun.
der.
THE cannon! hear the cannon!"
Grenadier Mere cried.
The thunder was repeated.
"Adjutant!. Adjutant! It's the can.
nom" the grenadier cried as he
stepped in front OF his ancient friends
chair.
1t seemed as II bullet, or a piece Of
shrapnel, or shell from those very
| cannon that were roaring now, had
stricken the grenadier where he stood.
For, stricken and petrifed, he was
looking at this old, old friend of his
| and the friend was sitting there dead.
Adjutant Latour-Michel. more than
a hundred years old, the man who had
seen Napoleon, had died there at the
l very side Of the place where the en-
peror slept.
After that first moment or two of
] stupefaction the grenadier did a very
! peculiar thing.
He was still looking at the dead CEN
tenarian, and he spoke to him as il he
could hear; spoke softly, but seriously,
as though he expected an answer;
spoke smilingly and coaxingly.
art thou-art thou, perchance," he
asked, gone to summon him."
To summon whom? The temerity of
what he had said frightened Grenadier
Mere.
Then, as he stood there in the
gloom, that hope of theirs came back
to him. no longer nebulous, but vivid
and wild.
Just now Latour-Michel had spoken
Of the emperor's spirit as being awake
and near. Just now Latour-Michel had
spoken Of death; and here he was,
dead. Were there not many things in
the world that ordinary people did not
understand? i'd,
Mere tore open the greatcoat of his
friend, tore open the shirt, put his
hand on the heart. The heart was
still.
He heard a step in the corridor be.
yond the crypt. There entered a care
taker, very old, who held his lantern
aloft and saw Mere standing there.
Good evening, NJ. Mere" he said.
''They still advanced"
The caretaker saw the rolling chair
and the still form in it. 1t was not at
all surprising to find these two com.
rades here at any hour of the day or
night.
"And NJ. Latour-Michel, how is he?
the caretaker asked, addressing the
form in the chair
Said Mere softly:
HE sleeps"
The caretaker went away after a
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 I'm.
strung; but he had a vision.
It was as If from the great sarcopha.
L QUO VI \ AAAoAu IdAll0 there udU come
q wrath, scarcely perceptible at first in
the dim light, then clearer and clearer
as 1t 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 a far-flung
battlefield, where flags tossed in the
van of charging regiments, where can
non roared and filled the air with
smoke, and cavalry Numbered with
sabers drawn.
'Vive la France!" cried the Grena-
der Mere in strangled voice.
At the cry. the enemy broke and
fed.
"Vive la France!"
The grenadier heard the echo of his
own voice. felt the pounding Of his
heart. Sheer emotion made him weak.
Excitement overwhelmed him: but his
arteries were liquid, fire.
Napoleon lives!" he stammered.
u