The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1938-04-08

! up tight" mamma answered
promptly.
Hands and needle flew again.
But eyes were constantly turned to
the windows which looked out
upon the vine-latticed path, and
the dusty tan road.
Mon Dieu! Chautemps comes
again." Roy exclaimed. Who is
that with him?"
The dumpy woman, and her
tall, broad shouldered m n
watched two approach the house.
ChautempS, portly, military in his
bearing; his companion, tall,
spare, shuffling, bent under the
weight of leather bag.
It's Jolie! The locksmith!
Mamma, would they be breaking
in?"
They would mott"
Deliberately the Widow Corneuil
rustled to the wide fire place.
Carefully she appraised the weap-
oaS hung above and along the
side wallS-the muskets of the
Revolution; the heavy, numbering
guns of the Franco-PruSSian war;
the neat little hand weapon of the
World War.
That one" she said, pointing.
Jean took the shining weapon
from its hanging, and handed it to
her.
Mother! Be careful! Think Of
the wedding"
SHOOTS LOCKSMITH
Back taxes! Humph!" was her
answer.
The sound of the locksmith
working at the door fell on their
ears. Carefully Widow Corneuil
slid open the window. She could
see the lockSmith at his work.
Carefully she nudged the O-mouth
of the gun over the sill. Slowly
she pulled the trigger.
Almost simultaneously with the
deafening roar the tall spare man
sprawled across the doorsill.
Mamma! You've killed him!"
Roy was breathing hard. Jean
seemed not to be breathing at all.
ChautempS, face gray with rage
and horror, dragged his limp COM
rade down the uncovered lattice
path-walking backward so that
he might keep his face toward his
unseen enemy within the house.
No dramatist or horror could
well describe the next half hour
in Widow Corneuil's home. Roy
begging his mother to go to the
village police! Jean arguing with
her to flee to safety! MANN a
adamant that she would fight it
out if it took forever!
But the wedding, mamma, the
wedding :"
There was a crash, tinkling
glass at the window, and then a
stencil which closed eyes an d.
Threats. The boys knew it was a
tear-gaS bomb. Mamma did not.
GaSping, but indomitable, she
stood at the window, firing shot
after shot. 1t was as though she
had gone mad.
THE LAW REPLIES
Eyes trimming with tears, she
could see neither the khaki-clad
police and soldiers who were
swarming in the neat front yard,
nor the gathering of gesticulating
citizens running from all direc-
tons.
Mother! Mother"
A well aimed bullet smashed
into the fat old woman, threw her
backward into a corner. Within
a few minutes she was dead.
The day before the wedding
was her funeral day.
For almost an hour the bell in |
the village church tolled out the
years of her life. All morning the
villagers, who had looked forward
to the finest wedding party that |
the countryside had ever seen,
filed by her bier muttering to each
other that she was a martyr to
taxation-but a fool.
Poor Emelie! Poor Emelle!"
ran the refrain of their words.
Poor Emelie, indeed! The bride
to-be CARRIED in deepest black, was
held upright by a stalWart brother.
She heard neither the tolling bell,
nor the sermon, nor the wailing
of the crowd. A Voice of Con-
science loud within her dinned:
you thought mamma would go
to jail rather than pay! You
wanted to prevent a farm we'd
ding! You warned the tax depart
ment about those 200 francs in
back taxes. Now look what you
have donen
THE END