CHAPTER I. THE CLOCK PAVILION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume 02, Issue 49, 2 April 1886, Page 5

CHAPTER I. THE CLOCK PAVILION.

In 1792, there stood in Paris, facing the Clock Pavilion (recently destroyed), in the centre of the wall that separates the palace of the Tuileries from the place dv Carrousel, and consequently almost in the place afterwards occupied by the Arc de Triomphe, a house which was known as the Logia dv Suisse. On the fatal 10th of August this house was partially burned ; it subsequently underwent some rough repair, and in 1792 was used as a guard-house by the grenadiergendarmes of the Convention. Usually twelve men, commanded by a quartermaster, occupied the house at night ; but on the 30th Prairial, Year 11. (June 18, 1794), came an unexpected order, that the post was to be doubled, and the command given to a lieutenant. Lieutenant Crassus proved very hard to find. At last he was unearthed at the Lycee-des-Arts, Jardin Egalite (the Palais Royal), where he was slumbering sweetly while pretending to listen to the new opera, La Triomphe des Arts Utiles. It was impossible, even for a spoiled child of the Republic like Paul Crassus, to evade compliance with an order issued by the Comite dv Salut Public ; but he might obey it slowly, and murmur inwardly. The lieutenant appeared at length, a little before midnight, and learning that there was no apparent cause for all this Btir, he left the guard-room in a hurry that he might swear at his ease. He was striding up and down in front of the Logis dv Suisse, and each time that he approached the Clock Pavilion he objurgated a very tall grenadier who had followed him. The grenadier hid himBelf more deeply in the shadow of the wall in proportion as the shower of abuse increased, Before long the sweet freshness of the starlit night, the impassive calm of the face of nature, appeased the ire of Lieutenant Paul Crassus. He forgot the tall grenadier, and began to hum the ribald popular song, La Papesse Jeanne (Pope Joan). Presently he betook himself to muttering scraps of verse. The grenadier coughed, and Paul turned round quickly . " Come here, Domingo, you ci-devant nigger. What did I say to you when you had the audacity to come and wake me up at the Lycee-des-Arts ?" The grenadier turned on the speaker the wide, flat face of a negro, which broadened itself out still farther in a good-humoured laugb. " First you say nothing at all, Massa Citizen Paul ; you give me two kicks in the back, pif paf ! then after you speak, and say Domingo a bad watch-dog, because he tell Lieutenant Crassus not sick at all, but gone to the theatre. After, you begin again, pif, paf I in the back, and promise to make great sorcerer, La Bussiere, bito off poor Domingo's nope, and then come more pif, paf, hi, hi 1 " " And afterwards ? " " You tell Domingo to slip a note under the door of the pretty citizeness, Dubois Joli, very clever, to-morrow morning." '• That'ri all right. Don't forget to ask for the note to-morrow morning ; you understand f But mind, I tell you tbat La Bnniire will turn your ears into those of an ass, if ever citizeness Lise Dubois Joli rinds out that the letter comeß from me." The negro again withdrew into the shade, and planted himself upright against the wall, while the Lieutenant resumed bis walk, repeating half aloud : " Quand les Bis et les Jeux, fatigue's de Cytbore et de Venus, leur mire " Bah I am I never to find a rhyme except in ' Ore ! Sorci<ire ?' ' cried he, turning towards the negro, who started violently. Paul burst out laughing, and called him to his side. " You [don't know what a rhyme ia, do you, Domingo 1 No 1 Well, then, you are just the companion that suits me. See here, Domingo, tbeßubjectof the ' posy ' which I am going to send to the lovely Lise is simple, but I consider it very tasteful. Laughter and Play, having played truant from Heaven, come down to earth to discover whether the modern Republican era has destroyed the Empire of their brother, Love." With this the lieutenant began to dance, much to the amazement of Domingo, who had not (he remotest Dotion of what he was talking about. " Laughter and Play alight in Paris, Rue de Sevrep, at the bouse of the worthy magistrate, Dubois Joli. Enraptured at the eight of his daughter Lise ' the Wood Nightingale,' as she is called, they declare tbat from henceforth they will desert the Empyrean, acd that for the Loves and Graces the true Olympus is the Republic, This is ingenious and original." " Officers' round 1 " cried the sentinel. "What is this," growled the officer, approaching Lieutenant Paul Crassus ; " walking about in the open, Citizen Lieutenant ? Eh, what ? it's you, is it ray young ' muscadin.' The order is as stiict as it can be. No one is to be permitted to go outside of the National Palace tonight. The gate of the Convention is absolutely shut. The gate of the Pavilion of Equality id open to members of the Comite de 6uret6 Generate only ; that of tne Pavilion of Liberty is open to members of the Comite de Salut Public. Go at once, Bhut the doors of the Great Vestibule under the Clock Pavilion— l mean to say the Pavilion of Unity. You will leave the wicket-gate in the railing on this side, which faces the Place dv Carrousel, ajar. A sentinel will be placed there, with orders to allow no one wh<-msoeverto pass through, without an express order from one of the two Government Committees. This under pain of death. All right ; you may go." "All right, Commandant Dumesnil. You have beard, Domingo; and it is you wbo shall mount guard at midnight ; that is to say, in five minutes. You have heard ; under pain of death I But may the ci decant devil fly away with the guoners, Commandant, if I understand the meaning of this order,"

" Why should you want to understand it when your own commandant is supposed to know nothing at all about it. However, you are my young friend, ' muscadin ' as you are, and if you will listen you shall learn the mystery. Enow, then, that the four hundred and ninty-seventh conspiracy of the aristocrats has just been discovered. Yes, and this is the ingenious device of those rascals : some one comes each night and carries away the denunciations recorded in the books that are kept in the bureaux of the Comitt de Saint Public, in the Pavilion of Flora, I mean to say, of Liberty. So that thingi are goiag to the devil, and Fouquier Tinville's accounts do not add up correctly." " Hush, Commandant ! mind what you are about. You might be taken for a ' compassionator.' But do you know the daughter of the citizen-magistrate of the Bonnet-rouge section 1 " " The beauty of the Rue de Sevres ? I should so, indeed I " " And Laughter, and Play, and the Loves and Graces. Commandant 1 " " You puppy ! May the genius of Liberty at least snip off your tail I Yet, yon are my young friend, eh ? And besides, what is to be expected from a man who keeps company with La Bussiere, the joker ? " With this, Commandant Dumesnil walked off, satisfied that everything was all right. Midnight struck ; the brigadier, after haying received bis orders from the lieutenant, posted Domingo at the railed gate of the Vestibule, He shut this gate, but Bet ajar a small door in the railings, and gave orders that this was to be kept open, while no one whatever should be allowed to go out or come in. " Under pain of death, 1 " he repeated, as he left the spot. 1 The brigadier re-entered the guard-house, whither the lieutenant had preceded him. All was now profoundly quiet. From this moment the brain of the good negro, who was an ardent patriot, as strong as an ox, but as stupid as an owl, began to be disturbed. Why was a door to be left open if nobody was to be allowed to pass in or out. He shook his head violently, in a desperate effort to master this bewildering mystery, and then, being, no doubt, under the impression that his heavy grenadier cap militated against the customary lucidity of hia ideas, he pulled it off, and flung it angrily upon the ground. Domingo had been for some time one of the hundred and forty-four grenadier-gendarmes of the Convention. He was indebted for this position to Citizen Nicholas, also a negro, who was a friend of Robespierre and his partner in a printing business, and to Citizen Crassus, deputy for 11 -de Vert, and Lieutenant Paul's uncle. Domingo bad been brought from Martinique by Citizen Crassus, and after he had been made to represent various oppressed peoples at the republican fetes, he was promoted to the picked corps of grenadier* gendarmes. The genius of Liberty had not yet had time to illumine the negro's biain with its divine light. The good Domingo began to suspect that it was not the hairy cap only which obscured his intelligence, for he flung his vest wide open, and undid the top button of his long gaiters. Then, taking bis gun by the barrel, and carrying it with the stock straight up, he marched up and down between the two lamps which lighted the entrance of the Vestibule. Suddenly he started back. A man, so imperfectly visible in the semi-daikness that it could only be ascertained that he was of tall stature, presented himself at the wicket with the intention of leaving the palace. The insolence of such an intention when he, Domingo, had orders to the contrary, was the only idea that occurred to the negro. " Under pain of death I " he growled, and brought the stock of his gun down upon the stranger. Happily for himself, the latter was quick and active ; he sprang back, and said, in a tone of raillery, and in a jolly, sonorous voice : " Upon my word, citizen negro, no one would take you to belong to the tribe of one-armed Tartars. Fortunately, lam a sorcerer, and saw by the shape of your shoulders tbat you were going to deal me a blow like a man." Domingo thought he recognised this cool personage ; nevertheless he resumed his weapon, and this time presenting the bayonet, he cried : " You no pass. All doors shut ; this one open, but not for pass." " I know very well that they are shut. Do you mean to insult me, blacky ? I tell you I will pass.' 1 " No pass," answered the negro, " under pain of death," " I will pass, I tell you. Do you see this card ? It is a pan for an employe in the service of the Comitee de Salut Pablic. I hare just created tbat card by the sole power of my art, and it gives me the right to go in and to come out, You do not know how to read. eh ? " Domingo did not, in fact, know how to read, but he recognised the card shown to him as the " pass " of a clerk in the bureaux of the Government. This was a permanent permit for entry and exit at the Tuileries. How, then, was Domingo to reconcile the right of exit which the bearer of this card possessed, with his own absolute right to prevent bis using it 7 The problem was impossible for Domingo to solve. Nevertheless, because the idea of the command be had received was the last in bis mind, and he reflected tbat the card was older than the orders of the brigadier, he answered : "No pass. Order to shut everywhere, stop everyone, kill every* one. Somebody has stolen papers from the Committees to save aristocrats. Committees want to catch thief. Shut doors to take the helper of the tyrants like a rat — traitor to the country." The stranger was unable to repress a start, and although his voice still preserved its tone of laughing raillery, it trembled slightly. "Ah " said he, "it has been discovered that papers compromising the aribtoorats have disappeared, and you have the audacity to accuse me of the theft I I know you, Domingo, for I know everything, and I will get the citizeness Emilie Crassus, your master's daughter, to box your ears." And then, counting upon what he knew of the negro, and taking it for granted that he would offer no futher opposition, the bold

speaker advanced, and was about to pass through the gate, but Domingo, although the whites of bis eyes were extended to their utmost dimensions, and his complexion had changed from a fine shiny black to a dull gray, continued to point his bayonet straight at him. " Poor nig die for the country like white Scaevola," said Domingo, resignedly. " You know everything ; you know Domingo hate the helpers of tyrants." " But, you fool," replied the stranger, now decidedly anxioue, •' why do you suppose I would come in the night to steal papers which I have at my disposal all day long, as a clerk in the bureaux ? " •' You are right, Citizen Sorcerer." The man advance 1 again, thinking that he had now effectually disposed of Domingo's objections ; but the more unanswerable the argument appeared to the negro, the more it troubled him ; for the less he could comprehend the order he had received to refuse passage to all without exception, and under pain of death. Thus, unable to make anything of the contradictory arguments which beset his brain, he shook his big woolly head frantically, like a dog with a swarm of wasps about his ears, and in the midst of the stillness of the starry night, he began to shout in a stentorian voice : " Help I help I Ho 1 Here are the friends of the tyrants of Pitt and Coburg, of the Aristocrats, and the Royalists, the Federalists, the Moderates, the Brissotists, the Fayettists, the Indulgents, the Compassionates, the Hebertists, the Dantonists." And so he continued to run through the long list of enemies, whom the revolutionists had denounced to the populace since 1789. The discharge of this volley of abusive epithets was unspeakably delightful to Domingo. All the time, however, that he was uttering them one after the other with the utmost volubility, and swinging himself about on his herculean legs as though he were listening to dance music, he kept the point of his bayonet turned upon the stranger. The latter retreated, and darted into the semi-darkness, which was easily done, for only two lamps lighted the centre of the Great Vestibule. Then he hurriedly drew from one of the wide and swollen pockets of his old square-tailed coat a lar?e clasp knife, which he passed behind his back. He opened the knife and returned to the wicket, where the negro was making wild passes with his bayonet. Domingo, engrossed by his patriotic eloquence, was not likely, notwithstanding his strength, to offer any very formidable resistances. But the man paused abruptly, closed his knife, and replaced it in his pocket. " No, 1 ' he thought, " I will not commit this crime, I who risk my life daily to diminish the mass of crimes that are committed here. They have nicked-naraed me the fool, the buffoon, the practical joker, but they shall not say L% Bus9icre the assassin. Who knows whether, after my death, and when all this is finished and done with, they may not chant the praises of La Bussiere the hero I " So versatile was the humor of La Bussidre that he actually laughed aloud. The astonished Domingo stopped suddenly in the midst of his howling, and regarded the sorcerer with alarm. Then, seeing that the latter had crossed his arms and was leaning against the wall in an easy attitude, and with an air of indifference, ho took the laugb for applause, and began to shout more loudly than ever. The first person to appear in response to Domingo's bellowings came, sword in hand, from the interior of the palace. He approached from the light, on which side the halls and bureaux of the Comite de Suret6 Generate were situated, in the Pavilion Mars-in. Nearer to the Vestibule were the former theatre, the amphitheatre, and the chapel, now become the hall and dependencies of the Convention and the Committees. The new comer, whose costume, although its details were indistinct, was evidently military, asked, in a sonorous and manly voice, with some sternness in its tone of command : "Now, then, what is the matter 7 Have the imprisoned aristocrats and suspects put the plans that are talked of into execution ? Have they forced the doors ? Are they coming to besiege the Convention and the Committees ! " " To assassinate the members, and to trail and eat their livers," said La Bussiere, with ironical gravity, which made the new-comer regard him with great surprise. " No, no, not at all, Massa Citizen. I had my orders, no one to pass under pain of death. He had a pass from the Committee, obedience to that is under pain of death too, and he wanted to go out. I wanted to kill him to get rid of the trouble ; but I know him well ; he is a real devil. You, Massa Citizen, look at this paper, and tell poor nig whether he ought to let him pass." He held out the card to the officer, but at the same time he kept his bayonet fixed in the direction of La Bussiere, as he said : "You hold paper tight, for the sorcerer be change paper as easily as I change my breeches." " This concerns the officer commanding the post," saitl the newcomer, with haughty coldness, " but I don't mind giving you my opinion, grenadier, especially," here his voice softened, and grew sad, " as it is not your fault, but that of the persecution that has pursued your wretched race, that your intelligence " Delicacy, no doubt, restrained him from finishing his sentence aloud. He took a few steps towards the interior of the Vestibule, and drew near one of the lamp-posts, to read what was written upon the card. La Bussiere, after a moment's hesitation, and having again glanced despairingly at the sentinel, shrugged his shoulders carelessly, and as he approached the stranger burst into a laugh that made Domingo shudder. The stranger was trying to read the card, by stretching his arm up as high as possible towards the smoky lamp : " Comite de Salut Public. Fifth division. Prisoners' bureaux. Section of Correspondence. Citizen Charles Delabussiere, clerk." On reading this name the officer turned sharply round. " Citizen La Bussidre," said he, " the jeßter, the practical joker, the buffoon ? " "You mean the madman, the giddy-pate, the impetuous featherbeaded fellow, who can never refrain from a joke, catch a glimpse of

a felly without plunging into it, or imagine a mystification, or a piece of mischief without carrying it out. I know this negro. I have beard a great deal about him, and wanted to practice upon his credulity, which is extreme." " Once more, excuse me citizen. I did not mean to Bay anything of this kind. I am aware that the citizen La Bussidre is as kind as he is honest, as trustworthy as he is brave. It was strange that La Bussiere could not refrain from trembling while these compliments were glibly uttered. "We are lost," he thought, " Brutus has been unmasked." Nevertheless, he carelessly tossed his hair off his forehead, repeated the characteristic shrug of his shoulders, and said, with his arch smile : " I see that I am perfectly well known. A hero and an enchanter ; that is myself to the life. Let us ascend to the Capitol and thank the gods. I am off there immediately. Be bo good, as to induce this darkey not to offer any impediment to my civic piety." The stranger tried hard to get a good look at La Busriere's face ; but the lamp gave only a feeble and flickering light, and the incessant restlessness of the object of his observation defeated his purpose. " I wanted to ask you whether I was mistaken, or whether yon really are the nephew of Citizen Dubois Joli, Judge of the Bonnetrouge Section, who lives at the far end of the Rue da Sevres 1 " " The ' virtuous ' Duboip ? It is he ; it is If " " The cousin of Citizeness Lise ? " " The little Nightingale of the fair wood ? It is she ; it is 1 1 " "And not only the- cousin, but the betrothed of that lovely lady ? " continued the stranger, still trying to get a good look at the other's face. "Ha ! by the goddess, it is my tarn now. To whom have I the honour of speaking ? " " To Commandant La Raison." La Bussiere started. "To the devil with etiquette and diplomacy 1 1 My prestige in the eyes of this negro will be hopelessly lost, but I canuot refrain from embracing you." So saying, he flung his arms around the young officer, who was about his own age, i.e., twenty-four and pressed him to his breast ■• " Commandant La liaison, who was so good to my little Nightingale, and to my dear aunt, whom I love almost as well, at the Siege of Landrtcies. Ah, ha, did not I say the right thing, just this minute, a hero and an enchanter I That is the true description of you, if we are to believe our aunt, of whom you have made a complete conquest. As for Cousin Lisette, she is an ungrateful little puss, and never talks of you now." All this had been said in a very short space of time ; bnt the shouts of the negro had already attracted several persons to the spot. Several grenadiers of the Convention, gunners, and guards of the section arrived on the scene ; but as Domingo was quite as determined that no one should go in as that no one should come out, he kept off the soldiers who came too close to the railing with hearty blows of the stock of his gun, while he watched the two persons inside the barrier with distended eyes. This spectacle seemed to arouse the Commandant to a sense of reality, and to dispel the shadow of reserve that had fallen upon him since he had uttered the name of <( Lise." •' But," he said, suddenly, and speaking in a still lower tone, " you wanted to get out of the National Palace at this undue hour. That must be because ycu have no right to be here. No doubt you are incurring some danger ? " " Yes," replied La Bussiire, after a momentary pause. " A great danger — the danger of death ? " "Yes," the danger of death." " Will you swear to me that what you have come here to do does not concern the safety of the Republic 1 " " Not in the least, unless the Republic cannot live without taking off the heads of the virtuous Dubois and the pretty little Nightingale." " What 1 is she in danger ? But no ; that is impossible 1 Who are the monsters that could think of harming so charming a creature t Besides, I observe by your tone, citizen, that you have not that veneration for the Republic which ought to animate the breast of every citizen. " Parbleu 1 " cried La Bussiere, gaily, " and I a clerk in the bureaux of the Comite de Salut Public I Reared in the seraglio, citizen 1 " The Commandant made a gesture of impatience, bat he said nothing. " Adieu, then 1 " said La Bussiere. " The Supreme Being, and I believe He must exist, will forgive me for not having Veen able to triumph over Robespierre, the conqueror of Cbaumette. He will pardon poor Charles de la Bussiere for having failed to save bis little friend. No man can give more than his life for those whom be loves. Adieu, Commandant La Raison." He advanced towards the group of soldiers, which was getting numerous. But the Commandant took a sudden resolution. He held back La Bussiere by the arm. "No I She shall save you. I cannot leave Am* in danger. Pat your hand behind your back. Here is safety for you." He rapidly slipped into La Bassiere'tf hand a card of another shape and colour. La Buss>ere'a advanced to the negro and held up this card. What was it that occurred in the poor fellow's African brain ? Domingo opened his eyes in a terrified stare, let his gun fall, and was briskly running away, when Paul Crassus came up, took him by one of his immense ears, and led him back to the railing. " How now I What are you about ? Don't you see that you are leaving your post, you wretched nigger I Beware of the whip, Domingo." " Don't be angry, Massa Lieutenant, my good little master, Massa Paul. Sorcerer he take red paper — pstt— change it into yellow paper as I change my hat." (7b be Continued.