The Press., 1915-08-18
Saved From the GuillOtine A Story of the French
 Revolution.
By F. A. MITCHELL

with two children, a boy and girl
 old. Jean, the boy was of an adven- turous spirit and listened with great interest to those of his countrymen | who had fought in the American Rev | olutionary war under the Marquis de | la Fayette. When he became eight
 cen years old despite his fathers wish es he embarked for the new world. | Jean de Vaudeville had cousin,
 Gaston Renaud, who had been the in
 innate companion of himself and his sister. After Jean's departure the child companionship between Gaston and Estelle de Vaudeville ripened into love | For time letters came from Jean | from America, but after the receipt of | one in which he announced his inten- ton to visit the great falls of Niagara, which were on the American frontier, | nothing was heard from him.
 l America was then so far distant
 from France that the marquis, his fa- ther, could get no news of his son. | After writing to different persons con- cerning Jean with no satisfactory re- | suit he was in despair. Then Gaston Renaud volunteered to go to America | and institute search for his lost l cousin. Estelle, though much relieved in one way by the offer, was much troubled in another. Having experi- enced the disappearance of her brother in that remote country she dreaded to send her lover there lest he, too, should
 not return. At the parting between
 the two she clung to him, with difficult
 ty bringing herself to let him go.
 On reaching Philadelphia, the port
 for which he had sailed, Gaston wrote that he was going to leave for Fort Duquesne, which was beginning to be transformed into the future city of Pittsburgh. From there he expected to proceed northward to Niagara. An other letter came, stating that he had traced his cousin to Cincinnati, a vil- lage on the Ohio river, and he was go- ing there to look for him.
 When Gaston left France the rum blings of that great convulsion, the French revolution, were just beginning. A great deal took place in France with in a few months after his departure, but since at that time thirty to forty days were required for a vessel to make the trip from the French to the American coast, and news travelled very slowly to the United States terri tories in what was then the far west, Gaston knew nothing of the terrible events that were developing in his na- tive country. On reaching Cincinnati he learned that Gaston had been there, but had left for a French settlement still farther west called St. Louis. Thither Gaston departed in company
 with party of emigrants, who trav- eled much as the gold seekers half a century later crossed the plains" to the Rocky mountains.
 All this took great deal of time. At St. Louis after diligent inquiry Gaston learned that his cousin had gone into the buffalo country to the northwest and had never returned. One of the party with whom he had started re- ported that he had been captured by Indians and had doubtless been put to death after torture.
 Gaston was preparing for an expedi- tion to go into the Indian country to satisfy himself as to whether Jean was alive or dead when he received news of the opening of the reign of terror In France. He also received a letter from Estelle announcing the arrest of her father by Robespierre and his ad- herents, and she had no hope that his life would be spared, since the radicals were getting rid of the nobles as fast as the guillotine would do the work GastOn abandoned the search for one who was probably dead and started eastward on his way back to France.
 It was a sad day for him when he arrived at Bordeaux and learned that the marquis had been executed under the charge of being an enemy of France and Estelle was in prison, like ly to suffer the same fate. Not only did the revolutionists wish to stamp out the Vaudeville family, but to con- fiscate the Vaudeville estate. If Jean were dead and Estelle should be exc cuted Gaston would be heir to the title and properties of the Hautevilles. He therefore realized that should he be known as one of the family he would undoubtedly die on the guillo-
 tine. He therefore concealed his iden- tity until he could form some plan for future action.
 There was strong resemblance be- tween the cousins, Jean and Gaston. Gaston was two years younger than Jean, and, since the latter had not been seen in France for two years, 1t was not impossible for Gaston to per
 .snate him. Gaston proceeded north ward to the province now called the department of Haute, where the Cha teau Vaudeville was located. He found no one there except the old steward, Francois Maran, and his wife, Marguerite. These he took into his confidence and informed them of his plan.
 This was to save Mile. de Vaudeville by claiming that she was not of that family aud to personate his cousin Jean, who was heir to the title and estates. Gaston persuaded Marguerite Maran to sign a statement that when daughter was born to the late Mar quise de Vaudeville it was dead. The marquis had longed for a daughter, and his wife, disliking to disappoint him, had employed Marguerite to in- troduce in the dead childs stead the babe of one of the tenants just born. This babe had since passed as Estelle de Vaudeville.
 Marguerite consented to sign this false statement to save the life of her young mistress, whom she devotedly loved. Armed with it Gaston went to Paris and one day sent in to Robes pierre a card on which was engraved the name of the Marquis de Haute- vile. Robespierre, astonished that a man should thus give himself up to death and yet delighted to have the marquis in his power, ordered that he be admitted.
 "MOnsieI1rr- hogan tha supposod