The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1916-01-14
Under the
Second Empire
By JOHN TURNLEE

By John TURNLEE
Henry Hitchcock after being gradu-
| ated from a medical college In Ameri-
ca went to Paris, which was then the
center Of medical science of the world.
to complete his education. That was
in the days Of the second empire. and
Paris was a gay city. An acquaintance
with one of the American branch of
the Bonaparte family who had been
summoned by Napoleon III. to join
him on his accession to the throne OF
France gained Hitchcock an introduce
ton to the court circle.
One evening during a ball at the
Tuileries the American was sauntering
through the apartments, crowded with
the new a%ristocracy of France. A
couple, an elderly man, highly dec
Grated, and a young girl. approached
him.
The. man was coarse looking; the
girl was comely and refined. They
seemed i'll matched, and, while the
man appeared from his expression to
court the girls favor, she was plainly
Ill at ease in his company. In advance
Of Hitchcock walked a young man.
who on meeting the couple bowed cere-
moniously. His salute was returned
by a glance from the girl that clearly
bespoke love. Her companion return
ed the salute with a malignant scowl.
Since the young mans back was to-
ward Hitchcock, his face was not visi-
BILE to him.
The doctor drew his inference, which
was by nomeans doubtful. The older
man had come between the young low
ers.
This was the theme of the story; the
story itself was not manifest.
The next day Hitchcock's Bonaparte
friend called upon him and asked him
to act as attendant surgeon at a duel.
The principals were Of high rank, one
of them being an intimate friend of the
emperor. The affair was to be kept
secret, and Hitchcock was summoned
because he was a foreigner and there
was less danger of its leaking out
through him than q Frenchman. He
agreed to serve, promising to be pres.
ent at a spot in the Bots de Boulogne
the next morning at dawn.
On reaching the ground he found the
principals masked. They fought with
,foils, and one was severely wounded.
After binding up the wound the doctor
got into a carriage with his patient and
drove to his apartments.
Unmasked, the wounded man reveal
ed the face Of a person of twenty-one
or twenty-five years of age. Hitchcock
watched over him during the morning.
when, believing him to be out Of dan
ger, he left him. Returning at night
fall, he surprised two women. n of
whom was kneeling by his patients
bedside.
Her figure was very youthful, while
her companion, who stood apart, ap-
peared to be an elderly person. The
latter wore a mask on her face. the
former had taken one of, but hearing
the doctors footsteps hastily replaced
It. Then. rising, she turned, hesitated,
put out her hand to the patient as II
for an adieu, when, noticing a sudden
pallor come over his face, she started.
Hitchcock saw It, too, and sprang to
the bed, pulled down the covers and
discovered a fresh hemorrhage.
"a cloth!" he cried.
Whether through excitement at re-
ceiving his visitor or from other cause
the wound had begun to bleed afresh.
The doctor stopped the flow, then turn
ed. A young girl whose mask lay on
the floor stood before him.
She was the girl he had noticed at
the Tuileries ball.
She gave no sign Of having e him
before. and he controlled an impulse
Of recognition.
tits all right, DOCTOR" said the pa
tient. "Since you have come to know
me and now have seen the face Of this
young lady I suppose we shall have
to take you into confidence. When
possesses half q secret 1t ia unsafe
to keep from him the other half"
mot now," interrupted the doctor:
wait lAA yVu 0AS cuLlECly Jul VI udu'
ger. Your secret is safe enough as
It is."
The young man vas Count Victor
Detoile, a scion Of the old French no.
bility, and was the person who had
saluted the couple Mt the Tuileries ball.
He was in love with Louise, the grand
niece Of Napoleon I. The man with
whom the count had fought was the
Duke de -. a Bonaparte title. The
emperor had arranged a marriage be-
tween the duke and Louise, his grace
having been Of great use to him in exc.
cutting the coup d'etat by which he had
seized the crown. Napoleon was not
averse to marriages between the mem.
bers Of his family and the old nobility
Of France, but the duke had set his
heart on Louise and would not be gain.
said. The count and the duke had
naturally become a~ntagonistic, and the
antagonism had ended In the duel.
Both principals feared the emper-
or's resentment that would result II
he should hear of the encounter. and
arrangements were made to keep 1t q
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