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Show In the wm rf m MiAJ or ( a- CHAPTER XXI! Continued. .! 21 " "There are many here who have nothing to wear hut blankets with . arniholes, belted by a length of rope. There are hundreds who have no g. blankets to cover them at night. They nd have to take turns sitting by the (Ire or while others are asleep. For them a ns night's rest Is Impossible. Let this let- ter be read to the people of Albany ta and may they not lie down to sleep n- untjl tiiey have stirred themselves In our behalf, and If any man dares to lt pray to God to help us until he has ai given o his abundance to that end nt nn( besought his neighbors to do the al same, I could -wish that his praying would choke him. Ar we worthy to be saved that Is the question, i; we expect God to furnish the tlannel . and the shoe leather, we are not. That Is our part of the great task. Are we 3t going to shirk It and fail? le "We are making a real army. The - men who are able to work are being z'j carefully trained by the crusty old e. Baron Steuben and a number of m French officers." f- That they did not fail was probably :a , due to the fact that there were men in the army like this one who seemed n, to have some little understanding of the will of God and the duty of man. 18 This letter and others like It, traveled far and wide and more than a million i hands began to work for the army. i- The Schuylkill was on one side of the camp and wooded ridges, protected t by entrenchments, on the other. Trees were felled and log huts constructed. ,e 16 by 14 feet In size. Twelve privates were quartered in each hut. - The Gates propaganda was again be ing pushed. Anonymous letters complaining com-plaining that Washington was not pro- tecting the people of Pennsylvania and :l, New Jersey from depredations were l appearing in sundry newspapers. By and by a committee of investigation arrived from congress. They left sat-t( sat-t( i3fled that Washington bad done well 13 to keep his army alive, and that he r" must have help or a large part of it would die of cold and hunger, r. It was on a severe day in March ' that Washington sent for Jack Irons. f The scout found the general sitting alone by the fireside In his office which was part of a small- farmhouse. Fie was eating a cold luncheon of baked beans and bread without butter. Jack had just returned from Philadelphia where he had risked his life as a spy, of which adventure no details are re- " corded. The general arose and went to his d desk and returned with sealed letters in bis hand and said: "Colonel, I have a task for you. I ie could give it to no man in whom I had '" not the utmost confidence. You have ,! earned a respite from the hardships and perils of this army. Here is a J purse and two letters. With them I ls wish .vou to make your way to France , as soon as possible and turn over the - lotters to Franklin. The doctor is y much is need of help. Put your serv- j ices at his disposal. A ship will be leaving Boston on the 14th. A good m horse has been provided; your route Is mapped. You will need to start after the boon mess. For the first time in ten days there will be fresh t beef on the tables. Two hundred , blankets have arrived and more are is coming. After they have eaten, give " the men a farewell talk and put them d In good heart, if you can. We are go- it lnS to celebrate the winter's end which .a ennnnt be long delayed. When you J; ,Klve 'eft the table, Hamilton will tall; to the boys in his witty and inspiring it fashion." B So"n after one o'clock on the 7th of March, 177S, Colonel Irons bade Solo-o Solo-o mon good-by and set out on his long Journey. n . CHAPTER XXIII In France With Franklin. Jack shipped in the packet Mercurv, "f 70 tons, under Capt. Simeon Samp- son, one of America's ablest naval e commanders. She had been built for s rapid sailing and when, the second 'lay out, they saw a British frigate Hearing down upon her tliey wore ship :, nd easily ran away from their enemy. Their first landing was at St. Martin m the Isle de lihe. They crossed the island on mules, being greeted with the cry : "Voila ies braves Bostones !" In France the word Bostone meant ' American revolutionist. At the ferry 'hey embarked on a long gabbone for La Eochelle. There the young man j,'yetl llis fli-st repose on a French t built up of sundry layers of feath-J- er beds. fn the morning be set out in a heavy a vehicle of two wheels, drawn by three - 'orses. Its postillion m frizzed and 0 Pdered hair, under a cocked hat. 9 "n a long queue on his back and in s, fcieat boots, hooped with iron, rode a t p'eV"le bidet. Such was the rcn stagecoach of those days, its s, aiming gear having been planned with " 't,Teje tH economy, since vehicles were e- -uecl according to J,e number of '9 tl, WhSels- Tlle informs one 10 f" whefl the traveler stopped for fu fl nn lnn. he was expected to r' w hls own knife. The highways arm, "k tr'led' nislU nnrt tl:,y' by iim "'""semen and robberies were win ,Wn- The vineyards were not : Mm, r feI,ced- All travelers had a fruit 6 t0 llelp themselves to as much ", 83 they mlRllt wisl1 W eat when it ' as n the vines. rain arrived at Chanr.er.ay on a cold "f evening. They were settled In By IRVING BACHELLER Copyright by Irving Bachellor their rooms, happy that they had pro-eetion pro-eetion from the weather, when their and lord went from room to room in ro-niing them that they would have "Why?" Jack ventured to inquire. Because a seigneur has arrived" A seigneur!" Jack exclaimed. mnOu.. Monsieur. He ,3 a very greaf Jack!'' Sl,P1,0Se WC refuse t0 g0'" said "Then Monsieur, I shall detain your I :t is f There was no dodging it. The coach ;'ml horses came hack to the inn door the passengers went out into the dark mniy night to plod along in the mud' another six miles or so, that the seigneur seig-neur and his suite could en'oy that comfort the weary travelers had been forced to leave. Such was the power pow-er of privilege with which the great Louis had saddled his kingdom. They proceeded to Ancenis, Angers and Breux. The last stage from Versailles Ver-sailles to Paris was called the post royale. There the postillion bad to be dressed like a gentleman. It was a magnificent avenue, crowded every afternoon by the wealth and beauty of the kingdom, in gorgeously painted coaches, and lighted at night by great lamps, with double reflectors, over its center. They came upon it in the morning on their way ro the capital j-oeie were lew people traveling at that hour. Suddenly ahead they saw a band of horsemen riding at a wild gallop. They were the king's couriers. "Clear the way," they shouted. "The king's hunt is coming." All travelers, hearing this command, made quickly for the sidings, there to draw rein and dismount. The deer came in sight, running for Its life, the king close behind with all his train, the hounds in full cry. Near Jack the deer bounded over a hedge and took a . new direction. His majesty a short, stout man with blue eyes and aquiline nose, wearing a lace-cocked hat and brown velvet coatee and high boots with spurs dismounted not twenty feet from the stagecoach, saying say-ing with great animation : "Vite ! Donnez moi un cheval frais." Instantly remounting, he bounded over the hedge, followed by his train. A letter from Jack presents all this color of the iournev and nvprs tlmt ho reached the house of Franklin in Passy Urn Hi: iff rji n " OOI , MONSIEUR,, flf fydmrp 1 he,s aver-t. i GREAT ftM AN,. about two o'clock in the afternoon of a pleasant May day. The savant greeted his young friend with an affectionate affec-tionate embrace. "Sturdy son of my beloved country, you bring me joy and a new problem," he said. "What is the problem?" Jack inquired. in-quired. "That of moving Margaret across the channel. I have a double task now. I must secure the happiness of America Amer-ica and of Jack Irons." He read the dispatches and then the doctor and the young man set out in a coach for the palace of Vergennes. the prime minister. Colonel Irons was filled with Astonishment at the tokens of veneration for the white-haired white-haired 'man which he witnessed in the streets of Paris. "The person of the king could not have attracted more respectful attention," atten-tion," he writes. "A crowd gathered about the coach when we were leaving it and every man stood with uncovered uncov-ered head as we passed on our way to the palace door. In the crowd there was much whispered praise of "Le grand savant.' I did not understand this until I met. in the office of the Conipte de Vergennes, the eloquent Senator Gabriel Honore Kiqnetti de Mirabeau. What an impressive name! Yet I think be deserves It. lie has the eye of Mars and the hair of Samson and the tongue of an angel, I am told. In our tall;, I assured him that in Philadelphia Franklin came and went and was less observed than the town crier. " 'But your people seem to adore him,' I said. " 'As if he were a god.' Mirabeau answered. an-swered. 'Yes, it is true and it is right. Has he not, like Jove, hurled the lightning of Heaven In his right hand? is he not an unpunished Prometheus? I Is he not breaking the scepter of a tyrant?' "Going back to his home where in the kindness of his heart he had asked me to live, he endeavored, modestly to explain the evidences of high regard which were being showered upon him It happens that my understanding and small control of a mysterious and violent force of nature has appealed to the imaginations of these people' lie said. 'I am the only man who has used thunderbolts for his playthings, then, too, I am speaking for a new world to an old one. Just at present 1 am the voice of Human Liberty I represent the hunger of the spirit of num. It is very strong here. You have not traveled so far in France without seeing thousands of beggars. Thev are everywhere. But you do not know that when a child comes in a poor family, the father and mother go to prison pour mois de nourrice. It is a pity that the poor cannot keep their children chil-dren at home. This old kingdom is a muttering , Vesuvius, growing hotter year by year, with discontent. You will presently hear Its voices.' " There was a dinner that evening nt Franklin's house, at which the Marquis de Mirabeau, M. Turgot, the Madame de Brillon, the Abbe Raynal and the Compte and Comptesse d' Haudetot, Colonel Irons and three other American Ameri-can gentlemen were present. The Madame de Brillon was first to arrive. ar-rive. She entered with a careless, jaunty air and ran to meet Franklin and caught his hand and gave him a double kiss on each choet m,i o v,r, bis forehead and called him "papa." "At table she sat between me and Doctor Franklin," Jack writes. "She frequently locked her hand in the doctor's doc-tor's and smiled sweetly as she looked into his eyes. I wonder what the poor, simple, hard-working Deborah Franklin Frank-lin would have thought of these familiarities. fa-miliarities. Yet here, I am told, no one thinks ill of that kind of thing. The best women of France seem to treat their favorites with like tokens of regard. Now and then she spread her arms across the backs of our chairs, as if she would have us feel that her affection was wide enough for both. "She assured me that all the women of France were in love with le grand savant. "Franklin, hearing the compliment, remarked: 'It is because they pity my age and infirmities. First wa pity, then embrace, "as the great Mr. Pope has written.' " 'We think it a compliment that the greatest intellect in the world la willing to allow itself to be, in a way, captured by the charms of women,' Madame Brillon declared. "As the dinner proceeded the Abbe Raynal asked the doctor if it was true that there were signs of degeneracy in the average male American. "'Let the facts before us be my answer,' an-swer,' said Franklin. 'There are at this table four Frenchmen and four Americans. Let these gentlemen stand up.' "The Frenchmen, wert undersized, tiie Abbe himself being a mere shrimp of a man. The Americans, Carmichael, Harmer, Humphries and myself, were big men, the shortest being six feet tall. The contrast raised a laugh among the ladies. Then said Franklin in his kindliest tones : " 'My dear Abbe, I am aware that manhood is not a matter of feet and inches. . I only assure you that these are 'average Americans and that they are pretty well filled with brain and spirit.' "The Abbe spoke of a certain printed print-ed story on which be bad based bis indrMiienf. "Franklin laughed and answered: 'I know that is a fable, because I wrote it myself one day, long ago, when we were short of news.' " The guests having departed. Franklin Frank-lin asked the young man to sit down for a talk by the fireside. The doctor spoke of the women of France, saying: '"You will not understand them or me unless you remind yourself that we are in Europe and that it- is the Eighteenth century. Here the clocks are lagging. Time moves slowly. With the poor it stands still. They know not the thing we call progress.' " 'Those who have money seem to be very busy having fun.' T said. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |