The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 17, 1904, Page 8

By 7 (Copyright by A T was in the days when the Ger- man had broken their across F e, and when the st tered had beer the Aiene they onor slashed acroi of Frenchmen wher they were Colonel of the Twenty- fourth Posen Infantry had suffered se- verely du his new He commanded in the town of Les Andelys, ar stretched amid the } houses of the district force was within fifty mi yet morning after listen to a found dead at their ing parties which had r Then the col g t st mal tale t t Dx he could not shake off k mies. And yet, it should n #0 hard, for from certain sig mon, in the plan and was certain that 1l these ages came from a single source. Colonel von Gramm had tried vio- lence and it had failled. Gold might be more successful. He published it abroad over the countryside that francs would be paid for informati There was no response. Then §00. The peasants were incorruptible. Then, goaded on by a murdered corporal, he Tose to & thousand, and so bought the soul of Francois Rejane, farm laborer, whose Norman avarice was a stronger passion than his French hatred “You say that you know who did these crimes?” asked the Prussian col- onel, eving with loathing the blue- bloused, rat-faced creature before him. “Yes, colonel.” “And it was—" “Those thousand france, colonel—" “Not a sou v your story has been tested. Com Who is it who has murdered my men? “It 18 Count Eustace of Chateau Noit.” “Yo e cried the colonel “A gentleman andé nob mnot have done ch crimes. The peasant sh ugged his shoul “It is evident to me that you do mot know the unt. It is this way, col- onel. What I tell you is the truth, and I am not affaid that you should tes it. The Count of Chateau Noir is a hard man: ever the t time he was 2 hard man. But of late he has been terrible. It was his son’s death, you know. His son was under Douay, and he was taken, and then in- escap- ing Germany met his death It was the Count’s child, and, in- deed, we all think it has driven him mad. With his peasants he fol- lows the German arm I do mot know how many he has killed; but it is he who cuts the cross upon the fore- heads, for it is the badge of his house.” It was true. The murdered sentr had each had a saltire cross slashed across their br.ws, as by a_ hunting knife. The colonel bent his stiff back and ren his forefinger over the map which lay upon the table *The Chateau Noir is not more than four leagues,” he sald. “Three and a kilometer, colonel.” “You know the place?” “I used to work there.” Colonel von Gramm rang the bell. “Give this man focd and detain him,” id he to the sergeant. “Why detain me, colonel? you no more.” *We shall need you as guide.” “As guide! But the Count? If I were I can tell AN ELDERLY 1IAN 1N THE WAS FEFOING A THT T2 1GHT KED FRFLR OF A GUTTERING CRNOLE to fall Into his hands? Ah, Colonel—* ’ Prussian commander waved him Send Captain Baumgarten to me at once,” said he. The officer who answered the sum- ns was a man of middle age, heavy jawed, blue eyed, with a curving yel- w mustache and a brick-red face which turned to an ivory white where his helmet had sheltered it. As a sol- was slow, but reliable and colomel could trust him e. ‘The flicer might be ceed to Chateau Noir to- said he. “A guide has arrest the If there him rescue, shoot at men shall 1 take, colo- we are surrounded by spies, chance is to pounce upon Y ws that we are on A large force will attract at- On the other hand, you must ing cut off.” only arch north, colonel, as if in General Goeben. Then I could wn this road which T see upon , and get to Chateau Noir be- re they could hear of us. In that th twenty men—"" good ith ¥ captain. I hope to see prisoner to-morrow n marched out of twenty Poseners » road to the morth- out he turned suden- narrow, deeply rutted track, swiftly for his man. A thin, falling, swishing among 1 poplar trees and rustling in the either side. The captain Iked first with Moser, a veteran ser- geant, was faste n was him. The sergeant’s wrist ed to that of -the French it had been whispered in his ear that in case of an ambush the first bullet ed would be through his head. Behind them the twenty infan- trymen ploded along through the dark- with their faces sunk to the rain their boots squeaking in the soft, peasant ness an( wet ¢ It was nea Andelys. 8 when they left Les At 11:30 their guide stopped a place.where two - high : pillars, with heraldic stone flanked a‘ huge iron gate. The black chateau lay in front of them. crowned some The moon had shone out between two rainclouds, and threw the old house into silver and shadow.. It was shaped like an L, with a low arched door in front, and lines of small' windows like the open ports of a man of war. Above was a dark roof breaking at the cor- ners into littie round overhanging tur- rets, the whole lying silent in_ the moonshine, with a drift of ragged clouds blackening the heavens behind it. A single light gleamed in one of the lower windows. The captain whispered his orders to his men. - Some were to creep to the front door, some to .the back. Some were to watch the east and some the west. He and the sergeant stole on tiptoe to the lighted window. It was a small room into which they looked, very meanly furnished. = An el- derly man in the dress of a menial was reading a tattered paper by the light of a guttering candle. He leaned back in his wooden chair with his feet upon a box, while a bottle of white wine stood with a half-filled tumbler upon a stool beside him. . The sergeant thrust- his needle gun through the glass, and the man sprang to his feet with a shriek. . “Silence, for your life! The house is surrounded and you cannot escape. Come around and open the door or we will show you no mercy when we come in” “For God’s sake, don't shoot! I wil open it! I will open # He rushed from the room with his paper still crumpled up in his hand. An instant WESS OF A MENAL FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. later, with a groaning of old locks and a rasping of bars, the low door swung open, and the Prussians poured into the stone-flagged passage. “Where is Count Eustace de teau Noir?” “My master! He is out, sir.” “Out at this time of night? Your life for ‘a lie!” “It is true, sir. . “Where?"” “I do not know.” “Doing what?” “I cannot tell. No, it is.no use your cocking your pistol, sir. You may kill me, but you canfnot make me tell you that which I do not know.” “Is he offen out at this hour?” “Frequently.” “And when does he come home?” “Before daybreak.” Captain Baumgarten rasped out a German oath. He hdd had his journey for nothing, then. The man’s answers were only too likely to be true. "It was what he might have expected. But at least he would search the house and make *sure. It was long, however, before Captain Baumgarten had satisfied himself upon the point. It was a difticuit house to sfarch. Thin ‘stairs which only one man could ascend at a time connected lines of tortucus corridors. The walls Cha- He is out.” were so thick that each.room. was.cut off from its neighbor. Huge fireplaces wned in each, while the windows were six feet deep in the wall. Captain Baumgarten stamped with his feet and tore down curtains ena swuck with the pommel of his swerd. - If there were sechet hiding places, he ias not fortunate enough to find them. “I have an idea,” said he at last, speaking in German to the sergeant. “You will place a guard over this fel- low and make sure that he communi- cates to no one.” “Yes, captain.” “And you will place four men in am- bush at the front and at the back. It is likely enough that about daybreak our bird may return to the nest.” “And the others, captain?” “Let them have their suppers in the kitchen. This “fellow will serve you with meat and wine. It is a wild night, and we shall be better here than on the country road.” “And yourself, captain?” “I will take*my supper up here in the dining hall. The logs are laid and we can light the fire. You will call me if there is any alarm. What can you give me for supper—you?” “Alas, monsieur, there was a time when I might havé answered, ‘What you wish!” but now it is all that we can do to ?-ul a bottle of new claret and a cold pallet,” G e : = “That will do very well. Let a guard g0 about with him, sergeant, and let him feel the end of the bayonet if he plays us any tricks.” Captain Baumgarten was an old sampaigner. In the Eastern provinces, and before that in Bohemia, he had learned the art of quartering himself upon the enemy. While the butler brought his supper he occupied him- self in making his preparations for a comfortable night. He lit the cande- labrum 6f ten candles upon the center table. The fire was already burning up, crackling merrily, ‘and sehding spurts of blue, pungent smoke into the room. He was tired and hungry after his long tramp, so he threw his sword, his helmet and his revolver belt down upon a chair, and fell to eagerly upon his supper. Then, with his glass of wine before him and his cigar between his lips, he tilted his chair back. pondering over the strange <hance which had sent him, a man from the Baltic coast, to eat his sup- per in the ancestral hall of. these proud Norman chieftains. But the fire was hot, and the captain's eyes were heavy. His chin sank slowly upon his chest, and the ten cadndles gleamed upon the broad white scalp. Suddenly a slight noise brought him to his feet. For an-instant it seemed to his dazed senses that one of the'pic- tures opposite had walked from the frame. There, beside the table, and al- most within arm’s length of him, ‘was standing a huge man, silent, motion- less, with no signs of life save his flerce, glinting eyes. He was black- haired, olive skinned, with a pointed tuft of black beard, and a great, flerce nose, toward wiich all his features seemed to run. His cheeks were wrin- sweep of shoulder and bony, corded hands told of a strength which was un- sapped by age. His arms were folded across his arching chest and his mouth was set in a fixed smile. “Pray do not trouble yourself to look for your weapons,” he sald, as the Prus- sian -cast a swift glance at the empty chair in which they had been laid. “You have been, if you will allow me to say so, a little indiscrcet to make your- self so much at home in a house every wall of which is honeycorabed with se- cret passages. You will be amused to hear that forty men were watching you at your supper. Ah! what then?” Captain Baumgarten had taken a step forward with clenched fists. The Frenchman héld up the revolver which he grasped in his right hand, while with the left he hurled the German back into his chair. “Pray Kkeep your seat,” sald he. ‘“You have no cause to trouble about your men. They have alfeady been provided for. It is astonishing with these stone floors How little one can hear what goes on beneath. You have been relleved of your command, and have now only to think of yourself. May I ask what your name is?” “I am Captain Baumgarten of the Twenty-fourth Posen Regiment.” “You know, doubtless, who it is who addresses you.” “The Count of Chateau Noir.” “Precisely. It would have been & misfortune if you had visited my cha- teau and I had been unable to have a word with you. I have had to do with many German soldiers, but never with an officer before. I have much to talk to you about.” Captain Baumgarten sat still in his chair. Brave as he was, there was something in this man’s manner which made his skin creep with apprehen- sion. His eyes glanced to right and to left, but his weapons were gone, and in a struggle he saw that he was but a child to this gigantic adversary. The Count had picked up the claret bottle and held it to the light. “Tut! tut!” said he. “And was this the best that Pierre tould do for you? I am ashamed to look you in the face, Captain Baumgarten. We must im- prove upon this. He blew a call upon a whistle which hung from his shooting jacket. A The old man servant was in the room in an instant. “Chambertin, from bin 15!” he cried, and a minute later a gray bottle, streaked with cobwebs, was carried in as a nurse bears an infant. The Count filled two glasses to the brim. “Drink!” said he. “It is the best in my cellars, and not to be matched be- tween Rouen and Paris. Drink, sir, and be happy! There are cold joints below. There are two lobsters fresh from Honfleur. Will you not venture upon a second and more savory sup- per?” The German officer shock his head. He drained the glass, however, and his host filled 1t once more, pressing him to give an order for this or that dainty. “There is nothing in my house which is not at your disposal. You have but to say the werd. Well, then, you will allow me to tell you a story while you drink your wine. I have so longed to tell it to some German officer. It is about my son, my only child, Eustance, who was taken and died in escaping. It is a curious littlé story, and I think that I can promise you that you will never forget it. “You must know, then, that my boy was in the artillery, a fine young fellow, Captain Baumgarten, and the pride of his mother. She died within a week of the news of his death reaching us. It was_brought by a brother officer, who was at his side throughout, and who es- caped while my lad died. I want to tell you all that he told me. "Eustace was taken at Weissenburg on the 4th of August. ~The prisoners were broken up into parties and sent back into Germany by different routes. Eustace was taken upon the 5th to a village called Lauterburg, where he met with kindness from the German officer in command. This good colonel had the hungry lad to supper, offered him the best he had, opened a bottle of, good wine, as I have tried to do for you, and gave him a cigar from his own case. Might I entreat you to take one from mine?” The German again shook his head. His horror of his companion had in- creased as he sat watching the lips that smiled and the eyes that glared. “The colonel, as I say, was good to my boy. But, unluckily, the prisoners were moved next day across the Rhine to Ettlinger. They were not equally fortunate there. The officer who guarded them was a ruffian and a villain, Captain Baumgarten. He took a pleasure in humiliating and ill-treat- ing the brave men who had fallen into his power. That night, upon my son answering flercely back to some taunt of his, he struck him in the eye, like this!” The crash of the blow rang through the hall. The German's face fell for- ward, his hand up and blood oozing through his fingers. The Count set- tled down in his chair once more. “My boy was disfigured by the blow, kled ltke a last year's apple, but his’ and this villain made his appearance the object of his jeers. By the way. you look a little comical yourseif at the present moment, captain, and your colonel would certainly say that you had been getting Into mischief. To con- tinue, however, my boy’s youth and his destitution—for his pockets were empty—moved the pity of a kind-heart~ ed major and he advanced him ten na- poleons from his own pocket withous security of any kind. Into your hands, Captain Baumgarten, I return these ten gold pleces, since I cannot learn the name of the lender. I am grateful from my heart for this kindness shown to my boy. “The vile tyrant who commanded the escort accompanied the prisoners to Durlach and from there to Carlsruhe. He heaped every outrage upon my lad, because the spirit of the Chateau Nofir would not stoop to turn away his wrath by feigned submission. Ay, this cow- ardly villain, whose heart’s blood shall et clot upon this hand, dared to strike my son with his open hand, to kick him, to tear hair from hfs mustache— to use them thus—and thus—and thus!™ The German writhed and struggled. He was helpless in the hands of this huge giant whose blows were ralning upon him, When at last, blinded and half senseless, he staggered to his feet it was only to be hurled back again into the great oaken chair. He sobbed in his impotent anger and shame. “My boy was frequently moved to tears by the humiliation of his posi- tion,” continued the Count. “You will understand me when I say that it is a bitter thing to be helpless in the hands of an insolent and remorseless enemy. On arriving at Carlsruhe, however, his face, which had been wounded by the brutality of his guard, was bound up by a young Bavarian subaltern, who was touched by his appearance. I re- gret to see that your eye is bleeding so. Will you permit me to Bind it with my silk bandkerchidf?"' " |, He leaned forward, but the German dashed his hand “I am in your power, yoil monster!” he cried; can_endurs your brutali- . ties, but not your hypocrisy.” The Count shrugged his shoulders. 1 am taking things in their order, just as they occurred,” said he. “I was un- der vow to tell it to the first German officer with whom I eolld talk tete-a- tete. Let me see, I had got as far as the young Bavarian at Carlsruhe. I regret extremely that'you will not per- mit me to use such slight skill in sur- gery as I possess.. At Carlsruhe my lad was shut up in an old caserne, where he remained for a fortnight. The worst pang of his captivity was that some unmannerly curs In the garrison would taunt him ‘with his position as he sat by his window in the evening. That reminds me, captain, that you are not quite situated upon a bed of roses yourself, are you, now? You came to trap a wolf, my man, and now the beast has you down with his fangs in your throat. A family -m: too, I ehould judge, by that well ed tunic. ‘Well, a widow the more will make Iit- tle matter, and they do not usually remain widows long. Get back into the chair, you dog! “Well, to continue my story—at the end of a fortnight my son and his friend escaped. I need not trouble you with the dangers which they ran or with the privations which they en- dured. Suffice it that to disguise them- selves they had to take the clothes of two peasants, whom they waylaid in a wood. Hiding by day and traveling by night, they had got as far into France as Remilly, and were within a mile—a single mile, captain—of crossing the German lines when a patrol of Uhlans came right upon them. Ah! it was hard, was it not, when they had come so far and were so mnear to safety?” The Count blew a double call upon his whistle and three hard-faced peas- ants entered the room. “These must represent my Uhlans,” said he. ‘“Well, then, the captain in comand, findnig these men were French soldiers in civilian dress with- in the German lines, proceeded to hang them without trialor ceremomy. I think, Jean, that the center beam is the strongest.” The unfortunate soldier was dragged from his chair to where a noosed rope had been flung over one of the huge oaken rafters which spanned the room. The cord was slipped over his head and he feltits harsh grip round his threat. The three peasants seized the other end and looked to the Count for his orders. The officer, - pale but firm, folded his arms and stared defiantly at the man who tortured him. “You are now face to face with death, and I perceive from your lips that you are praying. My son was also face to face with death, and he prayed also. It happened that a gen- eral officer came up, and he heard the lad praying for his mother, and it moved him so—he being himself a father—that he ordered his Uhlans away, and he remained with his aid- de-camp only beside the condemned men. And when he heard all the lad had to tell, that he was the only child of an old family, and that his mother was in falling health, he threw off the rope ag I throw off this, and he kissed him on either cheek, as I kiss you, and he bade him go, as I bid you go, and may every kind wish of that noble general, though it could not stave off the fever which slew my son, descend now upon your head.” And so it was that Captain Baum- garten, disfigured, blinded and bleed- ing, staggered out into the wind and the rain of that wild December dawn. = 4 L4 A 1 Y