The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1915-04-16

then. They said that no one coult
have read the lines, acted the part. in
carnated the majesty and the soul O.
him, as did L And why? Because
was the emperor; his soul was mine
his voice"
I've often heard people say, ever
nowadays, that you look like him.
said atour-Michel.
THE passion of my life! Why, VI
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 comrade by his first name, az
he did occasionally, what do those
other fellows out there know about
Napoleon? They're brave. They're
good Frenchmen, good patriots; but ii
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 a pause, an instant of In
describable silence, and then, through
the overpowering stiffness of this
place where Napoleon slept, there
came a reverberation of distant thun-
der.
1.-THE cannoni / hear the cannon!"
Grenadier Mere cried
The thunder was repeated.
"Adjutant! Adjutant! It's the can
non!" the grenadier cried as he
stepped in front of his ancient friends
chair
1t seemed as if bullet, OF a piece Of
shrapnel or she'll 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
very side of the place where the en-
peror slept.
After that first moment or two of
stupefaction the grenadier did very
peculiar thing.
He was still looking at the dead Gen.
tenarian, and he spoke to him as if he
could hear; spoke softly, but seriously,
as though he expected an answer;
spoke smilingly and ceaIingly.
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
:,
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 M. Latour-Michel, how is he?"
he caretaker asked, addressing the |
'orm In the chair.
Said Mere softly:
He sleeps"
The caretaker went away after a |
tour Mere turned to his friend |
md whispered:
Thou sleepest? Not SO, my COM
ade! And thou, thou-oh, Napoleon!"
Then there occurred a very strange |
Ind beautiful thing. His old brain was
haky. perhaps, and his old nerves un-
trung; but he had vision.
1t was as if from the great sarcopha-
JUS of Finland granite there had come
wrath. scarcely perceptible at first in
he dim light, then clearer and clearer
IS it mounted and took form, until he
vas looking at Napoleon himself.
Mere was stricken with awe and |
ameless rapture.
The emperor was gazing with in
omitable eyes out over a far-fung
attlefield, where flags tossed in the
an of charging regiments, where can
on roared and filed the air with
moke, and cavalry thendered with
abers drawn.
"Vive la France!" cried the Grena-
Ter Mere in q strangled voice.
At the cry, the enemy broke and
ed.
'4Vive la France!"
The grenadier heard the echo of his
wn voice, felt the pounding of his
cart. Sheer emotion made him weak.
excitement overwhelmed him; but his
rteries were liquid fire.
Napoleon Eyes!" he stammered.
He saves the country. Grenadier
ERE! Present, my emperor! Go
arry the word to General Joffre! Oui
vi! K
ooh, God!" cried the grenadier, who !
i'd dropped his monologue for sup
ication "Your helm and our army q