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Show Ane;oiiUt. m how invuiury. perhart mill linyre'iJ llu- romlly trlierislieJ rw-(illeciKni rw-(illeciKni !( ifntte niiuantic t-pistKle of her yitiiililitl tiays lisU'tii'd with interest t ill.' Ii;ititl-.,nii' hrt'Iun while- ho v la I it I In lifi in- Iiiih-s iintl fia rj. Htid hid ;iU:ii lniit'iil It. hi i tiusiii l)iii.M'. Itf-in' iiHluntllv kiittl liiMili-tl mul 4vuii:itht.-Mv. hIic Hi;ri-tit MithmiL nint h j)t-iuaMuri to his nithvr itn iiiiiUDiir. reiUcrtt, so that Pvrc I'itrui. rrlifVt'd from his ilisagree-iilik' ilisagree-iilik' rfsniiljility. went on his way rejoicing re-joicing A (Miarti-r of uo'tionr later the lit-utiMi-ant luirsi into the in I in nary in a paroxysm of fury "So. yontiter!" he cried, "it neonis you are bent on hniring mel Well, we Bhail Bt Vou cannot stay shamming hffp fort vcr. and. mark my words when you do come out, I'll have that head of yours tin tmiooth oh u billiard ball!' With tli ie parting threat he bounced out of the room, and next day every one of the future cavalry otlioers the prisoner priso-ner alone excepted underwent the summary sum-mary operation of "cropping" at (he hands of the lonsor, Pitroi. Meanwhile. Gaston's position was by do means un enviable one. Through the prated windowsof the infirmary be could see his companions mounting their horses in the courtyard, and caracoling pay ly b they passed, and on Sundays most painful pain-ful trial of all could hear with 11 pang of envy the joyous Bhuutof his more fortunate fortu-nate colleagues, emancipated for a few hours from duty, anil on their way to catch the first train to Paris. The day of deliverance, however, was at hand liarly on the Mill of July a date never to be forgotten by De Lan geais the oceup.nts of the infirmary were suddenly startled by a tremendous uproar immediately under their windows, win-dows, and, on looking out, imagined for a moment that andemoniuni had broken loose. Such a spectacle had assuredly never been witnessed at St. Cyr. The entire quadrangle was thronged by an excited multitude, rushing toand fro in tumultuous tumultu-ous disorder, Hinging their caps high in the air, and bursting every now and then into a loud and prolonged hurrah! Was it u revolt, marveled the sisters and their patient;, or what could it possibly mean? A few minutes sulliced to explain the mystery A hasty step was heard outside out-side the door, immediately followed by the entrance into the sick room of an adjutant, ad-jutant, bearing in his hand an official document, t lie contents of which, recited by him in ti sonorous voice, were greeted with an enthusiasm bordering on frenzy. ' and his speedy promotion to tlie rank of j lieuiftiant wiw generally regarded as a ; certainty ! At this juncture the unexpected capit-; capit-; ulation of Metz was a tn-vere blow in : him. ami. utovillin m accept .onipura-; .onipura-; live liliertv on parole, hi- eomvi -d a ' project which, although exlreuit-lv haz-I haz-I ardoiis. mi-lit enable him to i.i the I Army - f the Loire. His design being ap-I ap-I proved of bv the general commanding mi-I mi-I der liazaine. who iiitnisted him uiili a ! letter to his colleague, Aurellede Pala-: Pala-: dines, informing him that the army ol i Prince l Yedencl. Charles would shortly 1 i march toward the Loire, tiiiston ti- i changed his uniform for a blouse and a peasant's straw hat, and, carrying a bas- ket of egs. pursued his way coolly in i the direction of the enemy' lines I "It is u terrible risk." he thought. , "but better be shot at once than rot in a ' German prison." Challenged by the first man he uiet. und arrested on suspicion, he was laken i before the colonel of the regiment, who j surrounded by his officers in council , scrutinized the prisoner attentively. 1 "Where do you come fromr'"' he in- . quired in tolerable French "Front Undone ham ps, on my way with these eggs to Grigy," was the young i man's reply "Are you aware that you run the risk j of lieing treated as a Bpy'r" pursued hit ! interrogator 1 "Necessity bus no choice." retorted De Uangeais. with a perfectly indifferentair , During tins brief colloquy the ollicers j glanced curiously at the stalwart indi- ; , vidual before them, whose uppearance ! contrasted so strangely with the homely dress he wore, and were almost unanimously unani-mously of the colonel's openly expressed ; opinion that he was no peasant,, but an I oliicer in disguise, and consequentlY a ' Bpy. A pause boding no good to the ac- j cusod ensued, and in another moment ; his fate would have been sealed, when a ! gray haired major who had been intent-j intent-j ly gazing at De Uangeais suddenly rose '. from his seat. j "Stay," he exclaimed; "with all sul-j sul-j mission, I think you are mistaken. This i man, whoever he may he, is no oflicer j ! All those we have taken prisoners have been close cropped, and no one ever j j heard of a French soldier on active service ser-vice with such a head of hair as that.' j "True, the major is right." assented several of those present, i "It may In so," said the colonel, only ' half convinced, "and in tltat case he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Give . him a pass and let him go and be hanged ! somewhere else." I a hair breadth escape.! i In 1870, a month or two before the i outbreak of the Franco-German war, one of the most promising cadets, or. as they they nre commonly styled, "pupils" of i the military college of St Cyr was Gaston Gas-ton tie Langeais He was the last re(j-resenlative re(j-resenlative of an ancient family in Brittany, Brit-tany, whose traditional obstinacy and impatience of control he had inherited , loan extent which rendered him more ' (Mipnlar witti his comrades than with the J presiding authorities Not that he was esMclally remarkable for tu rl hi lei ire or insubordination, or that j bin iulraeiixn.t of rules were more fre- I queni than those of the majority of his I fellows Gn one mint alone he was in- I tradable, and exercised all his ingenuity j in repeated attempts to escape a regula- ! tion hu h was inexpressibly repugnant to him Gifted by Mat lire with an abundance abun-dance of luxuriantly curling hair, of which he was inordinately vain, the prescribed pre-scribed necessity of having it cropped short was a perpetual grievance to htm. and he looked anxiously forward to his second yeat ul St Cyr. anil to bis i;onse-I'uem i;onse-I'uem eniaiieipalion Trom the loo close! scrutiny lo which he had hitherto been periodically subjected 'In two months," tie said exultingly to one of his intimates, "my time here will be up, and once named oflicer I shall ; A narrow escape, muttered Uaston , to himself as he left the camp. "I won- der what Bouchard would say if he knew ' it." ! A week later our hero reached liisdeB-tination, liisdeB-tination, and delivered bis credentials to j the general in command, by -hom the , grade of lieutenant was immediately con- ' ferred on liiin At the conclusion of the j campaign he wad promoted to a captain-1 captain-1 cy, anil in 1871. after the final rout of tlie Ounmune. married his cousin Louise In the following year, while on leave in Paris, he came across his old enemy Bouchard, on the Boulevard des Italiena. "How goes it with yotb'" asked the latter, lat-ter, as they were sipping their absinthe together. "Admirably," replied Gaston. 'Here ! am 1. a ca tain at Chevalier of the . Legion of Honor, and the husband of u ! charming wife; and all this no thanks 'x you. by the way, Bouchard because I saved my hail-." Charles Hervey in I Vhe Argosy. be free a.s air. and no longer ashamed to show myself lo my cousin Louise. For you see." he added, lifting his cap. and displaying a thick growth of shorl curls carelully flattened down. "I still have some hail lei t. ' Castles in the air, however, are apt lo collapse; and tiastou's visionary projects were, to stty the least, premature. A few mornings later, at the usual hour of parade, the corps of youngsters were unexpectedly summoned to undergo under-go the inspection of the infantry lieutenant. lieuten-ant. Bouchard, a lynx eyed martinet, by no means favorably disposed toward pupils pu-pils destined for cavalry regiments, whom be contemptuously designated as "coxcombs.' De Lingeuis, as the recognized recog-nized leader of the band, was particularly obnoxious lo him, and his keen eyea twinkled maliciously as he stopped short before the young man. and examined him curiously Take otf your cap," he said. Gaston obeyed with an inward shiver of apprehension. 'I thought as m'ueh. " grow led the lieutenant. 'If that superfluous hair has not disappeared by this time tomorrow to-morrow you will pass the next four days in the "salle de police. ' " 'Vou are in for it now," whispered his sympathizing comrade when the terrible Bouchard had passed on "Not a bit of it." replied De l-angeuis shrugging bis shoulders unconcernedly 'Why. what on earth can you do?" "I don't exactly know, but 1 intend to pui ofl the evil day as long as 1 possibly can. " Next morning, with the aid of a couple of brushes, well soaked in water, he succeeded suc-ceeded in leveling the rehollious locks so as lo deceive even a practiced eye, and appeared on parade with his wonted jaunty air, allhough not a little nervous as to the result of the coming ordeal. Presently the lieutenant arrived with an ominously .slow step, and pausing as be fore exactly in front of Uaston, repeated tlie order of the previous day. "Take oil your cap:" For a moment Bouchard appeared puzzled puz-zled by the apparently smooth surface of the "pupil s'' head, but, bent on ascer tabling the real state of the case, he un ceremoniously lifted a portion of the flattened flat-tened hair with his forefinger, thereby disclosing it substratum of tiny curls Then, turning to the adjutant who accompanied ac-companied him, he briefly consigned the ofleu.lei foi four (lays to tho "salle de police," ami continued his round of inspection in-spection with u self satisfied grin During the last day of his seclusion Gaston practically employed bin leisure in decorating his knee, by a judicious mixture ol blue and gr.-en paint, with a tolerably exact imitation of a bruise, which he showed to the regimental doctor, doc-tor, preloading that the continjiou had been caused by his coming in contact with a post in t he riding school. Whether he implicitly believed tho statement or not, the good nat tired medico put him ou the sick list, and thus twenty-four hours were gained 1 1 is reappearance on parade, however, became at length a mailer of necessity, and this time his continued disi ihedience entailed on hi;u a week a further conlineinent. at the ex pirattotiol wliich lie was again consigned lo ilui-aiH'e vile foi an entire fortnight. 'This will never do," thought De Langeais Lan-geais 'The eart hen ware pot must in the long run In smashed by the iron one, and I shall have to give in at last I had belter try old (irison once more." Whereupon having previously by way of precaution added a lew touches to the jueloiial enibelh-'hiiienl of his knee, he limpi'd into the consulting room of Dr (irison who wan fortunately loo much engaged "Hh other patients to bestow more than a very cursory glance ai the bruise, und tnd knowing precisely what to make ol the case, gave the newcomer an ortli'i ol n luision to the inliruiary then under the ,'hare of half a dozen Sisters ol Charity presided uver by o ludy siiH'rini t.nston tnd hardly chiwirvd lus ordinary ordi-nary aitire for the renlation limse giay coal am I col tun uiLrh' rap wt n I 'it ml the tonsoi of die i'-i.-i! i.3t-Tnal, as an noiineed Umiim- an nurun p. r ol i wisson. and a laoii. a -vUtnil nv nr-follow nr-follow Tlie pupil tv bi: hea ui Br ut oft & -Uftllllll'l) kfMf.lUNI The p. M-i -oitIi-ui tMrsra!lait In ktaMi xeelleiil a cu-dunn-i Ltr ptmi iwid jther capillary ungu.-m vmJ a unpolled un-polled tu obey the ima.-ali'-e !iriu was in despair. "Would il not be possible, mwicur, he suggested, "to obtain from the ivlj superior a certificate that tbo effeci ol the operation might be injurious loan invalid?' (iaston could not help smiling at the Idea "1 don't quite see," he said "what a eropied head has to do with a bruise on lhokneo, but there can be no j harm in trying." As good luck would have it, Sister "War is declared with Prussia, by I imperial decree, the seniors are hence-i hence-i forth sublieutenants." j Before the sisters, deafened by the ; clamor, bad recovered from their stupe-i stupe-i faction, they found themselves alone in the infirmary, the invalids, one and all. having mustered strength enough to throw aside their wraps and make the I best of the-ir way down stairs, j Gaston, whose instantaneous cure Sister Sis-ter Angelique after described as little short of miraculous, was the first to re-J re-J join his comrades; and, descrying bis per-j per-j secutor, Bouchard, standing apart from j the rest, und apparently in no very good humor, went up to him with outstretched hand and a frank, cheery smile. "Well, lieutenant," he said, "you won't have me cropped now!" "So it !m us," grimly replied the other, i returning somewhat reluctantly the prof-I prof-I fe red grasp " You have more luck than you deserve; for, depend upon it, I should I have shown you tin mercy!" Each of the seniors entitled to promo-' promo-' tiou having notified to the adjutant on duty the regiment to which he was de-', de-', sirousof lieing attached, the preparations for departure were speedily completed Alan early hour in the afternoon the J band of exulting youngsters started for! Paris, intent ou making the most of the1 three days allowed them before joining their respective corps. Gaston's regiment being stationed at Lilie, he bad ample leisure, after partaking of a farewell re- ' past ut Brebant's with his old companions, compan-ions, to carry into execution ids long cherished project of paying a flying visit to his cousin Louise at Trouville; and. , repairing on the third day to headquar-; headquar-; ters. reported himself to the colonel of 1 the Forty-second dragoons, who received , him most cordially. i "You are dispensed from duty," Baid ; his chief, "until you have got your kit ; iu order. Ma foi, young man, you have I arrived iu tho very nick of time, for be-! be-! fore the week is out we Bhall be on our 1 way to the front." On his first appearance at mess, De Langeais discovered to his astonishment , that every one of his new companions, ! , without exception, was closely cropped. j 'A very necessary precaution," Baid the president, "hi war time; the less encum- i , brance we carry about us the better. A : long beard and us little hair as possible; . no comb or razor wanted, nothing but a simple "brush up.' ! "Not to mention." chimed in an old i i Jftinpaigner (d proverbial Iwldness, "thai a heavy helmet plays the very deuce I I with one's hair." j j Gaston listened with due respect to I I these well meant exhortations, but with- I out the slightest intention of lieing inllu- 1 enced by thein; and. mi ihe arrival of j I his division at Metz some days latei . had ! already, more than once, declined lo , avail himself of the ervicenof the regi I mental harlter j Nevertheless, he Instinctively felt that a continued refusal to conform to the ; general cin-toni must inevitably endan ger his popularity, anil that the only way j "j atone for this obnoxi-nis singularity Was lo distinguish himself by some ex-, ex-, ploit which might obtain for him an ' ! honorable mention in the order of the ! : day ' An opportunity soon came. On live ! ; 18th of August his regiment, posted near I St. l'rivat. behind an avenue of poplars bordering the road lo Saarbruck, had ; been exposed for several hours to a gall-I gall-I ing lire of the German artillery, and had suffered severely from an incessant storm ! of shells, which were beginning to set j the tree on liru The position of the French corps Ucame untenable, and the j ! colonel, deciding that the eneniy'sguns , must at any cost he silenced, ordered a ; small detachment of dragoons command- i ed by De lingeais u charge, and cut j them olT from the main body The Ger J 1 mans, taken by surprise nnd imagining i ; they were alioiit to be attacked by the I entire regiment, ceased firing and hasti j I ly retreated, leaving one ol their guns on the field, which Gaston, at the head i of fifteen men. I a ire down ujxni. nnd, ! i saliering the gunners, carried it triumph j , antly into the French lines j "Kravo'" cried the colonel, warmly ' grasping the oimo sub-lieutenant V 1 i hand, 'you luw ., s. rv.-. the cross for . j this, and I iil take t are i mt vou gel it.' Stimul.ilerl In (his litM su.'(vs. and I en-el b ,:-n;v l.y luilhei m t of , da riii- tin- -.i-l opinion id n ehict. De Ui nrai- e--.J- itt 1 1 no oipori unity of pro vini; liim-i-ll m orthy uf it Dispatched Dis-patched on ii i.ni;mi; rxndiiiiin and attacked at-tacked by an utnist uf infantry, he completely muted llieiu and brought ten prisoners into the camp, ami a few daye later held his ground for half an hour unsupported save by his own men against un entire corps of the enemy His gallantry did not pass unrewarded. Not only w as the Cross of the Legion of Honor conferred on him, but his name was three times mentioned for exceptional excep-tional bravery in the order of the day, |