Show r Ht e Immortal Shade Shaded l JJ J. J d wf J By Br Perley Sheehan Copyright The Frank A. A Munsey Co J As the sun came up over Paris one of the first things to emerge from the blue gray blue gray mist was the gilded glIded dome of the Hotel des Not even C the sky kissing uplift of the Eiffel t tower which had been exchanging news and views all night long between the armies of the east and west by byI I wireless ireless like some supernatural interpreter Interpreter interpreter inter Inter- preter not even the white basilica on 1 lop of the Butte Dutte Montmartre nor the thelow low towers ers of Notre Dame were visible for fora 7 a good ten minutes afterward And in the meantime the dome bec became became be be- c came me a sort of counterpart of the sun shimmering itself itself shimmering golden afloat In Inthe the opaque air It hung like an aureole aureole au au- t. t reole of glory over the great man whose tomb was there there Napoleon Napoleon his la last t wish fu fulfilled filled I desire that my ashes may rest reston on the banks of the Seine in the midst i of this French people I t so greatly loved r Then as the sun mounted still higher the rest of the Hotel des In In- came into view view view- a great mass massof Y of buildings as gray blue-gray as the dawn had bael been After a while when the thet thew w t 1 place was flooded with genial i light and P h i warmth out came the invalids themselves them them- G selves the selves the veterans who made this rc combination of barracks museum y k 1 church and tomb their home Zt First to appear was Corporal Pictou Plc Pic- i tou ton who lost part of one leg and all of one a arm m at Solferino in 1859 yet was was still the fi fine e military semblance of f a man pink man pink face choleric eye a white mustache waxed and white Im im- Imperial penal trimmed trimmed the breast of his long 5 blue coat coat adorned with half half-a half a dozen dezen medals A second or two afterward came camei i- i Marine Fremy a a. a famous beau in his day but but but- now slow of foot much stooped and very deaf never quite recovered recovered recovered re re- re- re c covered from the wound in his head 2 received In in 1862 Y f They sat down side by side on the bench tench that ran along the warmed sun-warmed t wall and the corporal glared at the marine The latter put up his earr ear ear- r trumpet and the corporal roared int into o it t t The Prussians st still ll advance The marine looked dreamily into space and whispered We lack Napoleon l J Tr Trumpeter Martin had come out out out- I r truculent spry and barely eighty eighty- walking on two wooden pegs pegs neatly turned and painted black In re response to the the corporals corporal's words he ripped out an oath an-oath oath and shook his cane in the air t. t The army's led by a lot of cubs he declared Theres Joffre for example example- Other comrades joined the group group- Quartermaster decorated on the field of battle at Montebello Sergeants Sergeants Sergeants Ser Ser- Motte and inseparable now now- as they were in the Crimea Farrier Farrier Far Far- rier Tier Saint Lambert who helped put putdown putdown down the of North Africa in 1858 A desperate group they were too F In In- Ina a measure they felt themselves alI almost althe al al- al- al I j most the last hope of France Something had to be done Well form a brigade said Fari Farrier Farrier Far Far- Far Far- i rier Saint-Lambert Saint and name and name of a Orr cannon cannon It if they do come into Paris Pans well we'll drown rown ourselves In their blood Last night quavered Quartermaster ter I slept with this under unde J my pillow He drew from under his c teat coat t an enormous pistol horse-pistol of antique antique an an- tique pattern It kept me from slee sleep sleeping c. c ing lag it hurt my ear but by the the the- I Sergeants Motte Motto and exchanged exchanged ex ex- changed a look of mutual understandIng understand understand- I lug Ing and the former unbuttoned hi his coat at his comrade aiding him Look panted Motte Motto B Ho Bo held his coat open with arms arm I A. A I that trembled from age and 4 The group stared In amazement i some of them saluting others uncovering ering their bald or frosty heads Around the breast of the sergeant where it had been concealed was a faded flag thin and torn tom A dozen voices whispered 1 The colors of the emperor J We took it yesterday said Se Sergeant Sergeant Ser Ser- geant in stifled tones as h he stood at the side of his friend with wit that mingled air of and reverence pe per per- i i. i pride with which a sacristan exhibits e exhibits ex- ex hibits the bones of a saint The commandant commandant commandant com com- mandant was having the o othe of the nations taken down in there s so that they could not fall into the hands of f the enemy should he enter Paris as he did in 1870 Motte and I J watching watching watch watch- ing log our chance took this this this-llis his flag flag flag- I our flag flag- flag the flag that floated over his sacred tent the tent the flag of Napoleon began to choke with emotion emotion emo emo- tion or age or both While this was going on two other othe r comrades had bad arrived arrived arrived-a a strange pair st angely linked one linked one of them pushing ui other in an invalid chair They w re the theo two o extremes the extremes the eldest and th the ihs youngest ot of that little band ot of vet vet- Bran erT r sill pill s m sheltered lu iu the Hotel de deIn des s Ill In Iu i tai Ml Vs- Vs j sl s. s l V moo man in the was ws Adjutant t llao r Wll who bad been d r- r fy rack eack in t the tha e revolution of 1848 tt B ai al ays Js s. s said d ho had d e elc f Uie tle a. a accident ar ar- lo Y r I 4 S rived Those eyes of his now his now wl wide open open gazing mystically on space space had had once looked Into the eyes of Napoleon Napoleo himself The adjutant was very old old old- more than a hundred He was a mere white shadow of a man in a rolling chair but he still carried with him an aroma of power He was the man who had seen Napoleon As for the man who pushed Latour- Latour M Michel ichel along with touching care he also was bound up in the Napoleonic tradition This was Grenadier Mere the Mere the baby of at the company a man of seventy-five seventy or so with a shaven expressive face kindling eyes a readiness to smile They called him Cou dArgent Cou dArgent or Sil- Sil from the way that cunning surgeons had made him presentable after Gravelotte and they say that he had smiled while the surgeons were doing it He was that kind kind to to smile for hatred or pain or grief But the grenadier had been an actor in his day down near Marseilles and once just before the outbreak of the Prussian Franco war he had been been cast for the role of Napoleon In a certain tats tain military drama which had failed as the greater drama unrolled That was his claim to Napoleonic glory glary The man who had seen Napoleon and the man who had impersonated him joined the group What Is this what this what Is this I feel the blind man wanted to know The emperors emperor's flag they told him Motte and came up to th the e chair and MIchel Latour-MIchel put out a hand to touch the thing Motto Motte had wrapped about him Oh the adjutant cried His mouth opened he turned his sightless eyes aloft while he still touched the faded silk with his superfine hands it comrades Well We'll make his spirit live again They march on Paris They're already on the Marne 1 Marne- Marne The Grenadier Gren-adier Mere became th the e mouthpiece for the old adjutant as he often did Although there were tears in his eyes there was that eternal smile on his lips and his voice rolled out surprisingly r rich ch and full He had d never lost his bis Gascon Gaston accent nor hi his his' s Gascon choice of words wards auf Oui Let us recall the spirit of th the e great emperor Let us evoke the Immortal immortal Im- Im mortal shade II Quartermaster went about uneasily nursing his murderous horse horse- pistol and thoughts to match f Corporal Pictou who had been i ithe Inthe In Inthe the artillery made secret tours of th the e obsolete cannon that decorated th the e little park Those cannon were still sound There was plenty of ball about Trumpeter Martin testy but got gotas going as quietly as his two wooden legs leg s would let him made repeated trips t to o the far end of the great gallery of th the e military museum After his last tri trip P there was still a placard in the particular par par- titular showcase he had visited an and d nothing else The placard read Unexploded hand grenades hand grenades found a at t Sebastopol Do you mean to say asked Grenadier Grena Grena- die dier Mere as he pushed the chair o of of f Adjutant Latour Michel Latour-Michel Michel toward their r D DI I J d It Kept Me From Sleeping destination do you mean to say th that at you have talked with the emperor emper or lately i Just that the blind man answered d. d Hold The entrance of the tomb is just in front of us Is it not Yes Yes the the lofty pillars the pillars the hig high h gable gable alt all soaked in golden sunshine And over It it it- The words words I words I T desire that my mv ashes ashes- ashes The man who had played the part of Napoleon was vas playing the part agar again n. n May rest on the banks of t the h o Seine Seine- thus he spoke in life sal said id d Latour In the he midst of this French pe peo- peo o so BO greatly loved Not only his ashes but his spirit said Michel Latour-Michel softly as th they ey came into the grotto under the gild gilded ed dome They paused at the parapet s surrounding surrounding sur sur- ur- ur rounding the tomb There Grenadier Grenad er Mere looked down at the gre great t sto stone n e coffin while Michel Latour looked up seeing doubtless with his sightless ss eyes what he had seen in hi the days of his nis youth And do you doubt that his spit spirit ut still lives the i man asked No the grenadier answered Ju Just st now when I was repeating his words wore s it was as if he lived And listen ad d ju tant it was that way when I IlAs was was lAs the I emperor In inthe the play I was an actor then They said that no one could have read the lines acted the part incarnated In in- Incarnated the majesty and the soul of him as did L And why Because I Iwas Iwas Iwas was the emperor his soul was mine his voice voice- voice voice- Ive often heard people say even nowadays that look like Uke you him said Latour The passion of my life Ufe Why up In my quarters sometimes I still p pon put pt t on the hat the boots the long cloak and then his spirit spirit 4 Jacques said Michel Latour-Michel callIng calling calling call call- ing his comrade by his first name ashe as ashe ashe he did occasionally what do those other fellows out there know about Napoleon They're brave They're good Frenchmen good patriots but it devolves on us to make Napoleons Napoleon's spirit live again again to to evoke as you have said the immortal shade And if I die here here here- Ther was as a pause an instant of ot indescribable Indescribable indescribable in In- describable silence and then through the overpowering stillness of of this place lace where Napoleon slept there came a reverberation of distant thun thun- der The cannon I hear the cannon Grenadier Mere cried The thunder was repeated Adjutant Adjutant Its It's the cannon cannon cannon can can- non the grenadier cried as he stepped In front of or of his ancient friends friend's chair It seemed as if a bullet or a piece of shrapnel or a shell from those very cannon that were roaring now had stricken the grenadier where he stood For stricken and petrified he was looking at this old old friend of his and the friend was was sitting th there re dead Adjutant Michel Latour-Michel more than thana a hundred years old the man who had aad seen Napoleon had died there at the very side of of the place where the emperor emperor em em- slept III After that first moment or two of of stupefaction the grenadier did a very peculiar thing He was still stUl looking at the dead centenarian centenarian cen cen- and he spoke to him as If he could hear spoke softly but seriously as though he expected an answer answer spoke smilingly and and coaxingly Art tl thou thou art o oart art art thou perchance e he asked gone to summon him To summon whom The temerity of what he had said frightened Grenadier M Mere Then as he stood there in the gloom that hope of theirs came back bac k to him u no o longer nebulous but vivid and wild Just now Michel Latour-Michel had spoken spoke n of the emperors emperor's spirit as being awak awake e and near Just now Michel Latour-Michel had spoken of death and here he was dead Were there not many things i ithe In Inthe Inthe n the world that ordinary people did no not t understand Mere tore open the greatcoat of his friend tore open the shirt put hi his his' s hand on the heart The heart was wa s still He heard a astep step in the corridor beyond beyond be be- yond the crypt There entered a caretaker caretaker care care- care care- taker very old who held his lantern lamer n aloft and saw saw Mere standing there Good evening M M. M Mere he said They still advance advance- The caretaker saw the rolling chair chai r and the still form in it It was I not a aall at atall atall t all surprising to find these two comrades corn como rades here at any hour of the day o or r night i s sAnd And M. M Michel Latour-Michel how is he the caretaker t asked addressing th the o form in the chair Said Mere softly He sleeps The caretaker went away after a u cursory tour Mere turned to his friend and whispered Thou Not so my comrade comrade com corn rade And thou thou thou oh oh Napoleon Then there occurred a very strange and beautiful thing His old brain wa was s shaky perhaps and hi his old nerves un unstrung unstrung unstrung un- un strung but he had a a. a vision It was as if It from the as great sarcophagus gus of Finland granite there had com coma come e a wraith scarcely perceptible at first Inthe in inthe i ithe n the dim light then clearer and cleareas clearer cleare r as it mounted and took form until h he e was looking at Napoleon himself Mere was stricken with awe awe an and d nameless rapture re The emperor was gazing with indomitable Indomitable indomitable in In- ey eyes s out over a flung far battlefield where flags tossed in th the thevan thevan e van of charging regiments where ca canon cannon cannon can can- non roared and filled the air with wit smoke and cavalry thundered with wit h k sabers drawn Vive Vine la France cried the Gren Grenadier Grena- Grena a dier die Mere in a strangled voice At the cry the enemy broke an and d fled Vive la France The grenadier heard the echo of hi his s own voice felt the pounding of hl hi his heart lean Sheer emotion made him weak s Excitement overwhelmed him but hi his arteries were liquid fire Napoleon lives he stammered d He He saves the country Grenadier dr r Mere Present my emperor G Go o carry the word to General Joffre 0 Ou ui ii Oui Oh God cried the gren grenadier wh who o had dropped his monologue for a su sup E. E Your help and our arm army sup sup-I y moves forward this night nigh to victory t to o deliverance following the immortal aj shade of Napoleon IV Joseph Dubois was gas was doing courier course r duty that night in a powerful automobile automo automo- o c bile bUe that sped between Paris and th the e harried left wing ving of the allies the then n back again then over the road once one ne e more He tells how on one of hi his s trips while nursing his machine machin e around a a a. abad bad place he almost ra ran n over an old invalid a veteran of 1870 p with a silver plate on an his neck and a abig abig big package under his arm Take me ma to the front front the veteran voters n demanded I 1 cant can't Joseph says he responded responds d. d Take me for me-for for the love of God Joseph still hesitated Take me Its It's for victory |