The Washington times., 1938-02-16
Spartan Mother" .
Pierre, a French cripple &C
cused Of espionage by
Madama de Fourval, his own
mother.
A Secret Service Agent.

1 | "A 0GCT6G OSTNlC6 ABGL1G.
Ilapsed made matters easier to SCI
our stage.
There were several days of awfu
suspense and drudgery for me. MI
patient" was comatose and Sullen
then ve1-excited and incoherent
in turn. encouraged her to tall
and egged her on to condolences
She knew who I was and that ]
was nursing her only because hav
ing a stranger take care of her was
deemed inexpedient. She realized
that whatever happened to Pierre
I would be one of the first in
formed.
A day came when I whispered
to her: 1T is finished. He has beer
found guilty. The sentence will be
carried out tomorrow morning, al
Vincennes.
Madness shone in her eyes; she
heaved a great sigh: Finished
she breathed. II have given al
that I had to give for France
DRAMAS LAST ACT
Neither of us slept that night
Unknown to her, the chief him
self was watching within earshot
I sat by the bed and talked, mo
notonously. throughout the weary
hours. I droned on; Of dim mem
cries of the past, when Pierre was
a puny, ailing baby; then Grip
pied, undersized youngster; then q
delicate, but-oh, SO charming and
clever young man I played
fiendishly on her emotions, on heI
incipient hysteria The hour;
dragged on, endless, but she held
her own, undefeated.
The fist rays of dawn painted
the sky with delicate tints and q
slight breeze stirred the half
drawn curtains. There was eau
tious movement behind the heavy
draperies encircling the bed; the
chief had taken up his position
there for the last act of the drama
I looked at my watch anc
caught my breath sobbingly
Madame" I said heavily, sit il
the end. The execution will take
place in little over an hour. >
Relentlessly, described, in al
its gruesome details, the terrible
ceremony.
Now" I said slowly, "they have
taken him out to the waiting cal
The car is speeding smoothly
through the deserted streets to
ward Vincennes For the las
time, Pierre is looking up at thu
Paris sky-for the last time, he Il
feeling the warm rays of the shin
ing sun
They've arrived now >. The!
are walking slowly across tn
'polygone to the execution pos
The firing squad is standing
at ease In a few minutes, tn.
sentence will be read out to hin
=. The officer will give shor
command" I broke off, pant
ing.
The woman in the bed raisec
herself and stared at me, her eye.
dilated, her lips twisted into
grimace of agony.
Suddenly she threw UP her arm
and Shrieked, "Stop! For pity
sake, stop! He is innocent!
; made it all up! I sent the none!
and the letter myself, from SPAN
-" she fell back, in a fit.
Later, when I had finally re
stored the wretched woman to 1
Semblance at least Of conference
the chief took down her deposition
and made her sign it.
WANTED GLAMOUR
It was a sordid story: shamet
: in her vanity and fanatical patri
otism by the fact that, alone ou
Of all the ladies composing th'
various committees she belongeC
to she had no men-folk at tn
front and consequently could no
} hope for any reflected glory,
Madame de Fourval had con
. ceived a morbid hatred Of tn
. crippled stepson who, she felt, hat
cheated her out Of the share o
glamour to which she was en-
titled.
It was then that the who'll
| fiendiSh scheme had come to he
: distorted mind. She could still be
come a war-heroine, by making o
hersQG the Spartan Mother.
The G.stailS- she went for
Short holiday to the Pyrenees
crossed secretly into Spain ant
: made certain that the fatal pack
age of money should be sent so a
to arrive almost Immediately afte
the denunciatory letter, which sh
wrote herself-Inatter little. Sh
told us everything.
Shortly after that dramati
: hour, she developed acute brail
fever and died without regainin
consciousness. Pierre was neve
told the truth about that Hines
and mourned her sincerely.
! (The End)