| Show inthe an the 1601 16 py 01 y t of 1 poor PO PL 6 T 1 IRVING ty BACHELLER BAC 1 MA CHAPTER continued 22 there Is IB no morning to their day he a went on their dawn Is noontime our kind ot of people have ha tui bonger days and have used th thin ahrn in wisely so we have pushed on ahead abend of this european caravan our fathers in ney new england made a great discovery what wits it I 1 asked ached that righteousness was not a joke j that christianity was not a solemn plaything for one an day in the week but a real practical working proposition for or every day in the year that the main support of the structure Is industry that III it most vital common dment Is this six days daya shall thou labor that no amount of wealth can excuse a man from this duty everyone worked there was no idleness and therefore little poverty The days were all for labor and the nights for rest the wheels of progress were greased rula and moving and our lovo love of learning to push them along I 1 suggested true our people have been mostly like Y you ou and me he went on we long for knowledge of the truth we ve build schools and libraries and colleges we have pushed on out of the eighteenth q century into a new time there you were born now nm v you have stepped a hundred years benit backward into europe yo you are astonished and this brings roe me to my here I 1 am with a great task on my hands it Is to enlist tile the sympathy and help of F france rance I 1 must take things not as I 1 could wish them to be but as I 1 find them at this court women are all powerful it has long been a maxim here that a diplomatist must stand well with the ladles ladies even though he Is venerable he be must be gallant sn llant and I 1 do not use the word in ft a shady sense the ladles ladies are not so BO bad as you would think them they are playthings to them life Is in not as we know it filled with realities it Is a beautiful drama of rich costumes and pointed scenes and ingenious words all set in the atmosphere mo sphere of romance the players only pretend to believe each other in the salon I 1 am one of these players I 1 have to be mirabeau Ml Alf seemed to mean what he said eald was my answer yes lie he Is one of thase who often speak from the heart all these players love the note of sincerity when they hear it in the salon it Is out of key but away from the ladles ladies the men are ara often living and not playing alara beau Con dorcet hurgot and others have heard the call of human liberty often they come to this house and speak out with a strong candor 1 I suppose that this great drama of despotism in france will end in a tragedy whose climax will consume the stage and halt half the players I 1 ventured to flay aay that Tb atla t Is a theme stick jack on which you and I 1 must be silent franklin answered we must hold our mouths as with a bridle for a moment he sat looking sadly into the glowing conla coals on the grate franklin loved to tb talk but no one could better keep his awn counsel at heart I 1 am no revolutionist he be said bald presently 11 1 I believe in purifying not in breaking down I 1 would to god that I 1 could have convinced the british of their error Ala mainly tilly I 1 am with the prophet who says aya stand in the old ways view the ancient paths consider them well and bo be not among those who are given to change I 1 1 I sat tor for a moment thinking of the cruelties cruel ties I 1 had witnessed and asking myself it if it had been really worth while fran franklin klin interrupted my thoughts 1 11 I wish we could di discover scoter a plan which would induce and compel nations to settle their diffene differences aces without cutting each others throats when will human wisdom be to see the advantage of this lie ile told roe me the thrilling details of ills his success in france how he had won the kini kingdom dorn for an ally and secured ion loans ris and thy the help of a fleet and army thew then on the sea 11 anti and you will not he ba surprised to learn that the british ariti h have been sounding sou ad me ins to see if we would be base enough to abandon our ally lie laughed in a moment lie he addeo added 1 come it Is late and you must write writ a letter to the heart of england before you lie ile down to rest often thereafter ho he spoke poke of margartt marcaret as agthe the heart of ct england id CHAPTER the pageant jack bagan to assist franklin in ills his correspondence and in tile the many imse ness details connected filth his bis loa 1 I lve never seen a roan man with a like capacity tor for work the young writes every day pe he Is conferring nerring co iab or asther her thes fives of the he king or with the ministers in of spain holland and great britain the greatest intellect in the kingdom Is naturally in gr great eat request today after many hours of negotiation with tile spanish minister in came INI dubourg the most distinguished physician in europe ISa rope sion chere daltre he said 1 I havo have a most difficult case and as you know more about the human body th i i any man of my acquaintance I 1 wish to confer with you yesterday doctor physician to the emperor of austria came to consult him film regarding the vaccination of the tha royal family ot ol france in tile evening st a slim dark skinned studious young attorney from arras arms wearing gold rimmed spectacles came for or information regarding lightning rods lie he having doubts of their legality while they were talking bf joseph ignace another ao other physician arrived ile he was looking for advice regarding a proposed new method of capital punishment and wished to know it if in the doctors opinion a painless dent could be produced by quickly severing the head from doai the body next morn ing as al jourden Jour dnn with hair and beard as red as tile the flank of my bay mare and a loud voice came soon after breakfast to sell us mules by the shipload so you see that even eren 1 living in his home and seeing him almost every hour of the day have little chance to talk with him last night we met M voltaire dramatist and historian now in the evening of ills his days we were at the academy where we had gone to hear an essay by dalembert franklin and Volt voltaire alre a very thin old gentleman of eighty four with piercing black eyes sat side by side on the platform tile the audience demanded that the two great men should come forward and salute each other they arose and advanced and shook hands A la Fran calsel the crowd demanded so the two white haired men embraced and kissed each other amidst loud applause As we were leaving the me table one day lie said jack I 1 haye have an idea worthy of demosthenes my friend david hartley of london who still has hopes of peace by negotiation wishes to come over and confer with me I 1 shall tell him that he may come coine if he will bring with him the lady hare and tier her daughter more alore thrilling words were never never spoken by demosthenes I 1 in answered but how about jones and his bonne homme richard lie he Is now a terror to the british coasts they would fear destruction 1 I r hall ask jones to let them alone lie ho said they can come under a special flag commodore jones did not appear again in paris until october when he came to passy to report upon a famous battle 1 I was eager to meet this terror of tile roasts coasts ills his impudent courage and sheer audacity had astonished the world the wonder was that men were willing to join him in such dare devil enterprises 1 I had imagined that jones would be a tall gaunt swarthy rawboned raw boned swearing man of the sea ile he was a sleek silent allent modest little man with delicate hands and features he wished to be alone with the doctor and so I 1 did not hear their talk I 1 know that he needed money and that franklin having no funds provided the sea fighter from his own purse one evening our near neighbors le compte de chaumont and II BI LeVil leard came to announce that a dinner and ball in honor of franklin would occur at the palace of compte comple tie de chaumont less akan a week later my bly good friends said tile the philosopher it 1 I value these honora which fire are so an graciously offered me but I 1 am old and have much work to do I 1 need rest more than I 1 need the honors it Is one of the penalties of being a great savant that people wish to tee ree and know him said the count the rhe most distinguished people in france will be broom among those who do YOU iou honor I 1 think it 1 you can recall a talk we had some weeks ago you ou wa will 11 wish to be present fre sent oh then you have heard from the hornet 1 I have a letter here which you may read at your conTen convenience lence 1 sly my dear friend be pleased to receive my apologies and my hearty bearty thanks sold said franklin wot ot even the gout could keep me away next day I 1 received a formal int ri to the dinner and ball ibold I 1 told the doctor that in vie view of the work to be done I 1 would decline the invitation ile he begged roe me not to do it and insisted that he was counting upon roe me to represent the valor and chivalry of tto new world that RR as I 1 bad grown into the exact stature of washington and was so familiar familar with his bis manners J stud able aba to imitate them in convenes con vena tion he wished me to assume tm tume ot of our commander in hw he H did we me the tha honor to sav eay there Is no other man whom it would be ba safe to trust in such an exalted role I 1 wish as ag a favor to me you would see what can be done at the cos costumers turners and let we me have a k look at you 1 I did as lie he the result was wa an astonishing likeness I 1 dressed as 1 I had seen the great man in the field 1 I wore a wig slightly tinged with grayo tray a blue coat buff waistcoat and sash mh and sword and the top boots tod spurs when I 1 strode across the in the masterly niM terly fashion of our amat commander the doctor clapped his ill hands you are as like him its as one po p is I 1 like ilka an another otherl ia he exclaimed nothing would so please our good frienda friend the ilia french who have on an immense url osley regarding le grand Va and it will give me an opportunity to instruct them as to our spirit he went to his desk and took from a drawer adraner a cross of jeweled gold on along a long necklace of silver a gift from the king and put it over my head so be that tile the cross cro shone upon ray my breut that Is for the ills faith of our peo pie he declared the guests will assem assemble blo on en the grounds of the count late in the afternoon you will ride among them on a white lierse A beautiful maiden in a white robe held at tile the waist with a golden girdle will receive you she will be human liberty you will dismount and kneel and kiss tier her hand then tile the prime min ister of france will give to each a blessing and to you a sword and a purse you will hold them up and say for these things I 1 promise you the of ray my people and their prosperity you will kiss the sword and hang it beside your own and pass the purse to me slid and then I 1 shall have something to ray bay so it was nil all done dome but with thrill ing details ot of which no suspicion had come to me I 1 had not dreamon drea amod md for instance li at the king and queen would be present and that the enthusiasm would be so great you will be ba able to judge of my surprise when riding my white horse through the cheering crowd throwing flowers in my way I 1 came suddenly upon margaret here in tile the white robe of human liberty now facine mo me after these years of trial her spirit was equal to tier her part she was like ilka unto the angel I 1 had seen in my dreams the noble look of her face thrilled me it was not so easy to maintain the calm dignity of washington la in that moment I 1 wanted to lift her in my arms and hold bold her there as you may well believe but alas I 1 was washington 1 I 1 dismounted and tell fell upon one knee before her and klisey her hand not cot too fervently I 1 would have you know in spite of my temptation she stood erect although tears were streaming down her cheeks and her dear hand trembled when it rested on my brow and she could only whisper the words may the god of your fathers aid and ke keep p you the undercurrent of restrained emotion la in tills this little scene went out jo to that crowd which represented the wealth beauty and chivalry of france 1 I 1 suppose that some of them thought it a bit of glod acting but we ire were to find in this little drama a climax wholly unexpected by either of us and of in an importance to our country which I 1 tty try in to estimate when the prime ml minister nister handed the purse to franklin he bade him open it this the latter did finding therein loiters of credit for three million livres granted of which we were in sore need with it wa wag I 1 t the he news that a ship would be le leaving ng boulogne in the morning and that relays on the way had ad been provided for his messenger the invention of our beloved diplomat was equal to the tha demand of the moment and so he h announced washington Is like his people lie turns from all the loves lovell of this world to obey the call of duty my young friend who has so will well pre presented ent ed the look and manner of washington will now show you his hl spirit 1 ile he looked at his watch and added within forty minutes he be will be ba riding post to boulogne there to take ship tor for america TO BE CONTINUED |
