A FRENCH FRONTIER STORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8082, 24 September 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

A FRENCH FRONTIER STORY.

A day or two ago the adventures were related of a Prussian soldier who, having deserted frost the Kaiser's army, made his appearance in full uniform in the streets of Nancy for the purpose of enrolling himself in the Foreign Legion. A sergeant belonging to the sth Battallion of Hides, which is stationed on the French frontier, has just returned the compliment. Having got into a scrape, and having the fear of the look-up before his eyes, this eon of Mars tripped lightly across the boundary iine when he thought nobody was looking, and after walking a good mile, turned into a farmhouse to rest and refresh himself. Now, it so happened that he had been perceived by a party of French youths, who, moreover, noticed that he had carried his rifle away with him. Convinced that this was one of the new weapons, and that the soldier intended to present it . to Germany, the young men formed the project of recovering possession of it. They therefore stepped boldly across the frontier, and, keeping the deserter well in view, followed him into the farmhouse. They got into conversation with the chasseur, and after a time succeeded in persuading h:m to bring down his rifle from a bedroom upstairs, in which it had been plaoed. Then the youths, pretending that they were going to drill for fun, made their way into the farmyard, and as soon as they had secured a good start bolted. The deserter and the people of the farm rushed after them, raising a hue and cry, and soon a regular hunt was organised, in which the peasantry, the customs officials, and some German officers who were passing by, joined. But the young men maintained their advantage and got safely back into France with the rifle in their possession. They modestly sent it (the weapon) in a case with an explanatory note to the local gendarmes, who were astounded when they found what a narrow escape one of the new rifles had had of finding its way into German hands.