The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1921-08-06
HAVE new GLORY
Incident Typical Of The Fine
Spirit Of France.
How Madame Ie Bsraquss Views Her
squalid Quarters In the Once
Splendid City Of Scissors.

al. and Nine, le Banquet live In the
shadow of Solssons cathedral. They arc
very partlnl to Americans. Particular.
!, Nine. IL Barnquci. dear old arlsto
crnt, eonfesses that she adores them
for, rs she explains, III the Amcri.
cans had not come. We could not have
returned home" And she shakes her
white curls In testimony Of her great
eHrnes1~s, remarks n writer Ia the
American Legion Weekly.
Living amid tlielr old scenes Is very
difficult for the Baraquels, II you
knew Scissors under shell fre, you
viii wonder why IN heavens name
any one would cnrf TO come bnck IL
this town OF underground dugouts.
You viii remember that all the houses
around the cathedral We're lcyelcd by
the b0mbnrimenl once upon a time
the home OF the Baraqucts. with ils
carved ufters In the dining hall and
Its oakpnneled library. was u thing
Of rare Seventecnlh-century beauty.
But there Is not one stone Of Il laid
upon another nowadays, aud the Bara.
qucts live In what was once their
wine cellar. Monsieur Is So years old.
Madame Is 10.
Today the couple sleep In bed
which the old man has fashioned out
Of n packing box. A decreplt French
army stove stands ut the foot OF the
bed. Just beyond. Monsieur Gin spite
Of his rheumatlsm) has built little
table against the wall Their cooking
utensils have been picked up from the
debris. Their plates are American
issue mess kits. Once their table was
graced with rare Limoges china and
antique silverware. Gone are the
ancestral paintings. In their place
there are three crude Autographs. one
OF Marshal Foch. one OF Prince Bona.
parte and one Of Gen. Pershng.
Yet when they Invite you into their
>ugout II Is with oil the grace OF pre-
war days. II is dIngy down there.
Their little room is filed with smoke
and the walls are covered with mil
dew and slime. The hacking cough
OF Madame tells It's own pathetic tale.
Sitting In these squald quarters. your
mind wanders back 10 the days when
a great house stood above those ruins.
You see the wonderful tapestries. the
old lamps. the marble statues, the |
llveried servants, the library rich In |
treasure Of forgotten age.
We fell TO talking OF other times.
'When was lad" explained NJ. |
lie Baraquet, Il watched Empress Eu-
genie, herself, ride up to this house.
! mean OF course, our house |
as II WAS In elegant coach
and four. ! watched her as she
stepped out on the carriage stone that
you will still find In front of our dug
out. She was great friend Of my
mothers. When / brought Madame,
as my bride, to this home, Eugenie
attended the ball my father gave to
honor us. Little did he know that we
were destined TO be the last of our
line. = Our son, Pierre, died in the
first battle Of the Marne."
Monsieur turned suddenly to stir up
the wood FIRE in the French army
stove. The embers were 1eecy white,
growing gray. / turned dscreetly to
where Madame sat on the edge of the
packing box bed. Madame Is deaf, so
she had not heard the name Of her
son. which Monsieur had spoken In
a lowered voice. Her eyes peered far
into the gloom, dreaming of the fair
ladies' Of old France that once had
crowded her salon.
Suddenly her face changed and her
eyes sparked brightly with new fire.
"The old house knew many famous
guest, Pierre, to be sure! ~ she cried
"But this new home of ours, this dug
out. 1t has sheltered many brave
soldier. We have reason to live here
In greater prlde-a new glory for the
old"