Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser

G AT LAST; OR, THE FELON'S BRAND. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. J CHAPTER IX.-(Continued.) The man who had just appled to Monsieur Pith for employment was seated at a table in the only ah&ir the room contained. Before him lay his cross, |iie medals and a pistol. The soldier's head wae leaning upon his hands, and he was earnestly regard- tog the object upon the table. Owing to his position, I be was unable to perceive the watcher at the door of I lais room. 41 It is hard it is hard!" Monsieur Pith at last beard him say, with a bitter sigh. For a fortnight I I have striven for an opportunity to gain a living by honest toil. I have been repulsed by my country- men I have been humiliated by the foreigner. They Will not let me live. Well! I have looked Death too I )ften in the face to fear him now and I will die The listener had stolen gradually into the room as Parlandet spake, and stood now behind his chair. Unconscious of the presence of any living soul, the ax-grenadier raised his head from his hands, took up the pistol, cocked it, deliberately placed the muzzle against his temple, and was in the act of pressing the trigger, when the weapon was struck up from behind. Another half second would have been too late. As it was, a tongue of flame swept harmlessly over Parlandet's head, singeing his hair and scorching his forehead with its fiery breath. The charge lodged With a crash in the ceiling. Turning in amazement to see whose was the hand that still grasped his I pistol, for the second time within half an hour, the p-grenadier gazed full into the eyes of Monsieur Pith. The two men stood face to face, each holding the discharged, skill smoking arm. Man man I" exclaimed the startled printer. How can you dure commit this cowardly sine What! ft sold it-r, and afruid "I owardly! ah-ciid!' panted Jean. "Englishman, eware I repeat my wopds," reiterated dauntless Mon- sieur Pith. "Kune but a coward attempts to fly from the ills of life, however hard to bear, and rush onsuminoned into the presence of his Maker. None but a man who is afraid to tace his troubles courts a Wanton death." This was a view of the subject so entirely new to Jean, that he positively si\g»ered. He had never regarded the question in this light before. To his benighted mind it had iipjJMJ (1 that the choice lay pnly between ckath arm die-Honour, and he had thought it an act ot virtue to profer the first. The prejudices of a life were not tht's easily to be over- oome. Though shaken by the words of Monsieur Pith, he would not yield without a struggle. J Ah, monMeur responded Jean. It is an easy thing for you to reason .-0— 3 011 whose life is probably scene of ease and comfort, at aiiv ratt) of hope. Jiut for me, why should X ll\e:- I cannot obvttin employ- j lpent. I will neither beg nor exist upon m Da. Honour forbids me to subsist, by fraud. There is nothing left for me 1.1.1, to die. Give me the pistol, monsieur; and leave me to my fate. "If I uo," said sturdy Monsieur Pith, "may I be hanged!" Monsieur Pith's sincerity must plead his excuse for )1is ill-breeding. That iu. was in earnest was very joon shown. He slipped the pistol into his pocket, ipoke a few hearty sentences to Jean, which etIecttd p, marvellous change 1'1' the better in the reckless fellow's physiognomy, and carried him away upon the pletant to his office in the Street of Peace. Arrived there, Monsieur Pith delivered over the captive to the pharge,of his overseer, who provided the ex-grenadier with the Jong-sought occupation. It was hard for Jean to tend his horny fingers- Itiffened to iron by long years of cairying the musket -to the 111"k of picking up those tiny leaden im-ssen- (prs, which, arranged in words, are more effectual in spreading peace *nd goodwill between the nations than tons of t ho-e, other leaden missiles Jean had t C, 1, been employed in sending among his fellows. Yet he was not le, zi, I-i- ii(jav tliati tti(-ri; ai:id Nvitli all due deference to the profession of arms, I venture to Relieve a Cur more useful one. Unlisted in the ranks pf that great armv of the Press, which wages con- stant war against the grand mischief-maker— Ignornnee, with her noisesome brood of Bigotry, Intolerance, Superstition, and tiionsands of their 5 wicked kin, his labours were directed now to the enlightenment of human minds, which is surely better service to the common cause than the ferocious jnutilation of human bodies. Difriciilt, as tile tisk m-as, at his time Of life, to turn to another mode of gaining bread, honest Jean persevered manfully, until he had ac- ?[Hired at least a decent proficiency in his art. For ull two years he laboured on untiringly in the work- fhop of Monsieur Pith. Then came a change. r pan the same landing of the house as that upon which Jean resided there lived 9. widow and her daughter. Madame Dumont Waar ithe relict, of a captain siain at Water- too, In;¡]n whom he had served. The grenadier knew tll,if these poor ladies were sorely put to it to earn their bread. A little casual embroidery work Wes almost their only resource. Honest Jean was in the habit of rendering them such trifling service and assistance as they would accept. But the pride of gentle nurture is very great.—especially when attended by the bitter consciousness of grinding want-and Jean's good ofOces were principally confined to fetch- ing water and fuel, or executing small commissions for Mademoiselle Louise. Once, indeed, he bad ven- tured to hint that better food and warmer raiment Irould not be undesirable for both, but the quiet assent of Madame Dumont, and the mournful and decided air with which site instantly changed the fubject, had warned him this was dangerous ground. Strange to say, however, with all this humility of spirit, with all this knowledge of the immeasurable gulf between himself, the humble, unlettered, private, and the daughter of his dead officer, Jean Parlandet yet dared to nourish in his heart of hearts a secret passion for Mademoiselle Louise. He scarcely ventured to confess it even to himself as he lay upon bis hard, narrow couch at night, and in the dark, with no eye to read his countenance. In vain he Called himself in spirit all the uncomplimentary jwmes yet in his recollection from the not over-choice fegimental vocabulary. In vain he recalled to mind aIaat he was old enough ty be Louise's father, In yajn 0,

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1 he reasoned upon tlTe utterly hopeless nature of the sentiment he felt. Passion and nature dominated j over reason, and left him powerless to resist the desire to call Louise his ow n. Madame Dumont was ill—sc. ill as to be unable to leave her bed. For weeks nothing but a little broth had passed her lips. She refused all medical aid, upon the plea that no doctor upon earth could do her good. She felt herself slowly fading—fading out of existence, and her only sorrow was for the unprotected girl she must leave behind. Morning and night Jean Parlandet knocked at his neighbour's door, to ask if he could be of any service, and to inquire after Madame Dumont's health. On the particular evening to which I now refer he was startled by a message from Louise that her mother wishes to speak with him. His faint remonstrances upon the unfitness of his appearance-he was in his working dress—were promptly overruled, and he was soon standing at the sick woman's bedside. In obedience to a sign from her mother, Louise hastily quitted the room. k Jean," said the widow Dumont, look in my .'ac# and tell me what you see." She was lying back in the bed, half supported by pillows. A flickering oil-lamp gave out scanty light, rendered more dubious by the draughts from door and window which waved the flame. Wondering what the invalid could mean, Parlandet gazed upon her features. Large gloomy eyes, giittermg with a feverish radiance from out the yellow skin, drawn tightly over the skeleton of the face as parchment on a drum, looked eagerly, hungrily into his. The lips of Madame Dumont were parted; her strong, even teeth, set firm and close together in a massive jaw, shone as the fitful gleam of the lamp fell on her figure. The close, white cap around her ghastly face, framed in her countenance as if she lay already in her shroud. Parlandet gazed at the visage, and, soldier as he was, he shuddered. To his practised eye, that had seen the Destroyer in a hundred different forms upon a hundred different plains, the expression written there was as clearly legible as if upon the pages of a book. "Tell me, Jean," repeated the widow "what you see in my face ?" "Madame," said the soldier, I see- Death. Good returned the widow. You save me ex- planations, for which the time is short.. You see De&th, Jean I feel his icy touch. For me, 8t8 my own self, he has no terrors. Death is rest. Save for my girl, atence the care and blessing of my life, I sbouklbave rejojeed'to meet it when I lost Eugene. But it is baxa, Jean Parlandet, it is very hard, to quit thi» earth knowing that I leave her to battle with the world without a friend." Painfully raising herself upon the piUowr she laid her wasted hand upon the soldier's large and horny fingers. Her eyes seemed to dart vivid rays of fire into his soul. If ever human being strove with all the power of a resolute, though failing sense, to read another's heart, that being was here. I leave my girl without a friend." she repeated. Say, Jean Parlandet, as you will one day have to answer God, do I, or do I not ?" Madame, no returned Parlandet, sturdily. So long as it is in my power to raise but one finger to Frotect, to succour, to work for Mademoiselle Louise, will not falter in the trust. I swear it by all that men hold sacred or holy! I swear it by him whom I have served with fidelity and honour! I swear it by my mother's grave I" He raised his hand solemnly as he spoke, then lifted to his lips the fingers of the frail human relic before him, fast returning to its pristine dust, and kissed them respectfully. It is well," murmured the widow. So far I am satisfied. But it is not enough, Jean, that you should do this. It is not enough that my girl should always have an honourable man to watch over her footsteps. The world is evil and censorious, and attributes bad motives to the purest deeds. I would have my girl respected and happy. She is young, she will soon recover from my loss. You are a man of honour, and have been a soldier of Napoleon. Nobler title none can have. My Eugene rose from the ranks to be an officer. The fortune of war be- friended him, though it has not done the same for you. No matter; you are our equal in all that makes truly great. Honest man to honest woman. If you will have Louise to wife, she will be yours. I have said." Upon his knees by the death-bed's side, large tears of grateful emotion streaming down his rugged visage, the workings of his simple soul were shown in tbe heavings of his breast. 11 It is enough," faintly muttered the widow. My prayers are answered, and I can die in peace. Call in Louise; my hour is near at hand/' Six,inonths later Louise Dumont, the captain's orphan-daughter, was the wife of ex-grenadier Jean, Parlandet, humble compositor in the printing office of Monsieur Pith.

centred an the "Section her smSIT beut was capable of feeling for anything Desiae nerseif, upen her son. The result might have been foreseen. The boy grew up headstrong, passionate, wilful, selfish. Naturally possessed of strong passions, inheriting a taste for refinement from his mother, he bad all the wish for luxury, dissipation, and pleasure, without the means to gratify his desires. These, as he grew older, he soon discovered for himself. It was useless for his father to advise, to remonstrate, to threaten- finally, to chastise. The foolish, ill-advised caresses and pity of his mother, the moment Jean's back was turned, undid in a moment such good as fear, if not awakened conscience, might have brought about. Napoleon-Victoire Parlandet, at the age of fourteen, was as experienced, as wicked, and as old in vice as a Parisian street-boy well could be. At this time he was brought by his father into the printing-office of Monsieur Pith, and, after a short trial, bound apprentice as compositor to that worth Anglo-Gaul. The effects of his domestic training soon appeared. Clever and able when he pleased, Napoleon Victoire speedily mastered the rudiments of his art, learnt just enough to make his labour profitable to his master, if he chose to labour, and there stopped. He was the last to appear at the workshop in the morn- ing, the first to rush away to meals or for the night—the laziest and least industrious being about the place. Here he partly acquired that knowledge of English which we have seen that he possessed. Finding that the lad had a talent for languages-a faculty, by the way, as much a gift of Nature as poetry—his employer took some trouble to teach his apprentice his own native tongue. In this pursuit the boy acted as in all others: learnt with avidity to a certain point, then stopped short, and went no further. He had the foundation, which was sufficient for present uses it it were worth while subsequently to raise a super- structure, that could easily, he thought, be done. Monsieur Pith, feeling an interest in the lad for his father's sake, expended much valuable breath-of which his available stock became smaller as he grew in girth-in good advice to the young prodigal, and vainly exhorted him to tread in the footsteps of honest Jean. Nap, as his fellow-apprentices called the boy, even then eloquent and plausible, would endeavour to wriggle adroitly out of the scrape of the moment, and cast the blame upon other shoulders or, finding that impossible, would assure Monsieur Pith that he took especially to heart his gracious and paternal words, and would set a pattern of propriety in future to his comrades. Whereat Monsieur Pith would shake his head with warning gravity, while Nap marched triumphantly out of the counting-house with all the honours'of war. Thus things progressed until the close of Nap's apprenticeship was nigh at hand. He was by this time nearly nineteen. So greatly had his inattention and laziness latterly increased, that Monsieur Pith had declared he would not keep him in his employ one hour after the legal time for his discharge had arrived. As this had been said openly in the general work-room, before all the men, Nap felt his honour aggrieved. He cared nothing for the discharge, which indeed rather suited his own future plans; but the insult must be avenged. Avenged it therefore was, according to the peculiar code of honour set up by gentlemen of Monsieur Napoleon-Victoire Parlandet's turn of mind. Upon hi&arrival at the office one morning, M. Pith, looked intcPthe desk in his counting-house for a cer* tain black leather pocket-book which he required. It was missing. Believing he must have left it by mistake at home, he dispatched a messenger with a note to his daughter, to send him the pocket-book which he thought would be found in his dressing- case. The messenger brought back in answer that the pocket-book was not there. As it contained papers of which he had urgent need, Monsieur Pith, with sundry ejaculations as to the shiftlessness of his woman-kind, hurried back to his home, and searched everywhere, but without success. Returning to the office, it occurred to him to examine the lock of the desk. In one of the wards he found a little piece of wax. The mystery was cleared up. His desk bad been opened with a false key, and he had been robbed. Next came the reflection, who could have been the culprit? Monsieur Pith called his overseer into. council, and the two, after mature deliberation, arrived at the following conclusions:- I First. Motives of revenge, not of profit-for the papers were of value only to Monsieur Pith-had prompted the robbery. Second. The evil-doer had easy access to the office; consequently, was somebody in Monsieur Pith's employ. Third. The person most likely to have perpetrated, the deed from the motive presumed, was Napoleon- Victoire Parlandet. The theit must have been committed during the past night, or early that morning, for Monsieur Pith had been the last to quit the counting-house on the foregoing evening. Having letters to write, he bad remained after the men had left, and was certain he had locked up the pocket-book in his desk before going away. Could the thief have obtained access in the night? Certainly not by violent means. No locks were broken, not a fastening was displaced. Save that the pocket-book had unquestionably dis- appeared, which could hardly have happened with- out hands, everything was in precisely the same- order as when Monsieur Pith had departed the night before. chap 10 Then came the consideration, where was the sus- pected boy ? M. Roliertiyi reported that he had come late to his work that morning; but that, added the overseer grimly, was the rule, not the exception. With some latent hope that ithe boy might be innocent, Monsieur Pith summoned him to the count- ing house, ostensibly to rebuke his late arrival- Employer and overseer both narrowly scrutinised every feature on Nap's countenance, as he replied, with every appearance of truth, that lie had overslept himself M. Pith was struck, however, by the total absence of the boy's usual bravado. Ordinarily, when reproved. Nap's manner might be described as ."bumptious now it was humble^almost respectful; still, wit hout ttw elightestsign of an uneasy conscience. Nap dismissed. Monsieur Pith looked at his overseer,. .and the overseer looked at M. Pith, each with a vague .impression that they were no nearer the solution of the mystery. As a last, resource, Monsieur Pith called Jean, •recounted his loss, and lrankly ,told him of the suspicion entertained.against his son. So far as it is suspicion entertained.against his son. So far as it is in the power of man t,) be, Jean was petrified. He ■jcuew that Nap was loose and profligate, but had never dreamed it possible- that a ,Qoy with, Parlandet blood in his veins could Have descended to this despicable depth. Still as he points out, and as Monsieur Pith at once honestly admitted, the ground for suspici-ow