The Tupelo journal., 1917-02-09
The Defender
Of the
Barricade
A Story Of the Paris
Commune
By WILLARD BRAKEMAN

-
the chasm OF war. All modern wars,
civilized people having now reached a
stage where war is dreaded, may be
referred to as stupidity. One of the
half century was the uprising of the
Paris M at the close Of the
Franco-Prussian war in 1871. If ever
a country needed peace in which to re-
cover from its wounds France did at
that time. And yet a number of inn
practicable ~idealists, led by villains,
for a time paralyzed the government
by fire and sword. And when they had
succeeded in acquiring the power to
carry out their ideas their whole struc-
ture fell to the ground because these
Ideas We're utopian.
The singular feature of all this is the
sincerity and devotion to a caNse under
which there was no foundation. That
the leaders were INSCRIPTIONS, as well
as idealists, e without saying. But
many of the revolutionists undoubtedly
fought and died. actuated by pure mo
tives.
During the period when the COM
munistss held Paris by means of barri-
cades erected upon the streets through
which the national troops were attack
ing them, Captain Pierre lie Moyne
was ordered to take his company into
a narrow street and demolish a barri-
cade, behind which a party Of ON
munists were entrenched. There vas
but little room in which an attacking
force could operate, the street being
not over thirty feet wide. Captain lie
Moyne was obliged to march his men
down the narrow lane, the houses Of
which rose on either side to a height
greater than the width of the street.
The distance from the beginning Of the
street to the barricade was about 1000
feet. From the windows and the roofs
OF the houses it was to be expected
that the advancing troops would be
picked off by the communists
Many a soldier. when he received the
order to march into the death trap or
heard the reverberation between the
houses of the first tap Of the drum
which announced it, felt that there
was little chance of his ever getting
out alive. Each stroke on the drum
head sounded sharp and loud and om-
nous. AS the little column moved on
ward there was a crack from a win
dow, a faint cloud of smoke, and one
OF the men fell on the pavement. An
other crack from a roof on the oppO-
site side Of the street. and another
man plunged forward on his face.
"At this rate" thought Captain lie
Moyne, .by the time we reach the bar
ricade there will be not enough of us
left to take it."
'Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap." came the
drumbeats, while at short intervals a
crack of u weapon here and there add
ed to their v%iciOusness.
But as the men advanced the shots
came fewer. When one-half the dis
lance had been covered. where there
had been a dozen shots a minute there
was now only Il struggling fire, and the
craftsmanship was wild.
Either they are breaking down."
said the captain, .'or they have concen-
trated all their force at the barricade."
On marched the troops. reduced by a
fifth of their number, till, turning a
bend in the street, they anne in sight
Of the barricade. The firing from the
windows ceased entirely. The silence.
broken only by the sharply reverberat-
ing drum taps, was more ominous than
if the drums had been deadened by Il
fusillade. The pile of cobblestOnes
which ioated the blood red flag of the
commune looked ugly-more ugly be-
cause the weapons behind 1t, aimed
down the narrow street, were invisible.
Captain LIE Moyne halted his men for
the purpose of taking in the situation.
He cast quick glances at the upper
stories and roofs Of the houses on each
side. No one was in sight, nor was a
single shot fred.
'They are reserving their fire." said
the captain. "We shall get it from the
windows when we charge the works"
He strained his eyes in an endeavor
to get sight of something stirring with
in. Not even the flag moved. for there
was no wind.
Silence before the storm is more de-
pressing than after it breaks. Men
standing waiting for a fight to open
are more unreliable than in the heat of
battle. lie Moyne's soldiers seemed
restless. There was no reason for
them to move till they received an or
der to advance, yet they changed posi-
tion constantly, casting the while
glances at the houses above them and
the barricade.
Though they expected a hailstorm Of
bullets. when the order Forward" was
given they felt relieved. Suspense at
least was ended. Again came the
sharp tap Of the drum IS the little col
umn moved on without opposition. Ev-
identity the communists were reserving
their fire till the last minute. When
within a hundred yards of the barri-