189S. 



TIJE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



25 



out of tlae pkiutatiou of hop viues be- 

 hind which they lay couctaled. 



" 'Ah, this is work formeu,' gruutad 

 Camhert, as he looked to the left, cm 

 which feida rode Leou, with myself next 

 in line. 



" 'Look to your heard, Cambert,' an- 

 swered Leon, laughing scornfully. ' You 

 •will never carry it into another fight. ' 



"The word was given, and off we 

 went. Tell you about it? What shall I 

 say? Only that the air was thick with 

 a mist which smelled of sulphur and 

 that a swarm of bees from hell itself 

 seemed buzzing round our ears. 



"Ping! We were not half way across 

 the space which intervened between 

 our st-.rting point and those green rows 

 of hop vines, each one masking a blue 

 coated Prussian, when I got it! My 

 right arm was stung by one of those 

 bees and tlie bone shattered. I trau.'-fer- 

 red my saber to my left hand and let 

 my reins fall on the neck of my gray 

 mare. On she went, her head down, her 

 neck stretched out, her nose to the 

 ground. 



"'Godofwar!' I said to myself. 'Had 

 it only bren my It ft arm some Prus.siau 

 should pay for this!' I was thinking ol 

 myself, of course, for it is not good or 

 agreeable to charge Prussians with one 

 arm useless, out I saw what passed near 

 me — I saw very well, though the gray 

 mist seemed turning red. 



"Young Leon was the next. A bullet 

 struck him below the breast just abov^^ 

 the belt, a little to the side — a disa- 

 greeable spot that! Strike yourstlf with 

 your fist, luousieur, i^:o — just there. nnJ 

 YOU will know what I mean. I heard 



him groau 'O Jef^n!' and saw him 



throw out both his hands into the air, 

 Then I knew what had happened. 



"In another instant he would fall 

 backward over his horse's haunches 

 and lie on the ground with a Prussian 

 bullet in his internals and his com- 

 rades' horses trampling the beauty in 

 his young face. On I went, the blood 

 trickling down on to my saddle, my 

 teeth gritting together and a pretty 

 strong resolvH in my soul to see some 

 Prussian fluid very soon. 



" 'Holy \irgin !' Jean Joseph Cam- 

 bert's voice reached me through the 

 screaming and the hissing of the bul- 

 lets. He was speakiuj? grimly. 'Cour- 



age, comrade,' he said; 'you win your 

 wager, for you ride before me toward 

 the enemy's line.' And, monsieur, it 

 was so ! Leon St. Paul had been caught 

 as he fell, and lay across the saddle of 

 his rival, supported by his left arm. 



" What followed then? You must pic- 

 ture it for yourself, for I cannot. Some 

 of us never reached the hop vines, some 

 never returned, but those who left us had 

 Prussian comrades on their journey to 

 the other world, be sure of that. Ah, ha, 

 on that journey a good soldier of France 

 is comforted by the presence of a detest- 

 ed Prussian, though in life no road is 

 broad enough for them to travel amica- 

 bly. 



"When it was over we returned, and 

 we three, Cambert, St. Paul and I, were 

 still together. 



"Cambert bore St. Paul to the place 

 where M. Vendome aud Marie Emman- 

 uel were at work. They were both cov- 

 ered with bl( od and sweat. The surgeon 

 groaned as we brought the youth in, for, 

 as I have said, he loved St. Paul, but 

 Marie uttered a cry which was hard on 

 Cambert and made him look more grim 

 than ever. 



"I was in very great haste to part 

 company withmy rii;hr arm, but I stood 

 aside to give young Limiu his chance. A 

 right arm is a good friend and sticketh 

 closer than p brother. Eut even the best 

 friend is soir^times do trop. 



"The sur.":ei;iu ripped the garments up 

 with his i-ci.-.-' rs aud tore them from the 

 wound, (li.'-cl i^iiig the white fiesh of the 

 patients b:j\v, but just then Leon 

 roused and tried to drag himself on. to 

 his side, away from the healer's hand, 

 muttering something that seemed to im- 

 ply that, exclusive to the last, he would 

 not be touched or handled in our pres- 

 ence. 



"The surgeon drew back irresolute, 

 which was indeed strange with mo- 

 ments so precious and gaping wounds 

 waitiug for him on every side. 



"Then it was that the vivandiere 

 spoke, turning to those who stood with- 

 in the door of the hut, moved by such 

 curiosity as men can feel who are used 

 to scenes of blood. 



"'Go, go, my friends,' she said; 

 'monsieur must find that bullet, and 

 this is no place for you. You all have 

 had mothers, women of France, sisters, 

 some of you wives or sweethearts. 



