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My Sword's My Fortune A Story of Old France By: Herbert Hayens |
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A STORY OF OLD FRANCE
BY HERBERT HAYENS
LONDON AND GLASGOW COLLINS' CLEAR TYPE PRESS 1904
Contents.
Chapter I. I Go to Paris
II. La Boule d'Or
III. I Enter the Astrologer's House
IV. I Meet the Cardinal
V. The Reception at the Luxembourg
VI. Was I Mistaken?
VII. The Cardinal takes an Evening Walk
VIII. The Plot is Discovered
IX. I Meet with an Exciting Adventure
X. Pillot to the Rescue
XI. A Scheme that Went Amiss
XII. I have a Narrow Escape
XIII. I again Encounter Maubranne
XIV. I Fall into a Trap
XV. Under Watch and Ward
XVI. I become a Prisoner of the Bastille
XVII. Free!
XVIII. The Fight on the Staircase
XIX. I Lose all Trace of Henri
XX. News at Last
XXI. The Death of Henri
XXII. The Mob Rises
XXIII. The Ladies Leave Paris
XXIV. Captain Courcy Outwitted
XXV. I Miss a Grand Opportunity
XXVI. "Vive le Roi!"
XXVII. The King Visits Raoul
XXVIII. "Remember the Porte St. Antoine"
XXIX. Mazarin Triumphant Illustrations
"The air was filled with the clatter of steel." "The nobleman caught and fixed him." "Keep this in remembrance of this day."
[Transcriber's notes: Gaps in the source book's page numbering indicate that four
illustrations were missing. Physical damage seems to indicate that the
frontispiece may also have been missing. Since there was no list of
illustrations in the book, it is not known what their captions were.
Short transcriber's notes indicate the locations of the missing
illustrations.]
CHAPTER I. I Go to Paris. "Let the boy go to Paris," exclaimed our guest, Roland Belloc. "I
warrant he'll find a path that will lead him to fortune." "He is young," said my father doubtfully. "He will be killed," cried my mother, while I stood upright against the
wall and looked at Roland gratefully. It was in 1650, in the days of the Regency, and all France was in an
uproar. Our most gracious monarch, Louis XIV., was then a boy of
twelve, and his Queen Mother, Anne of Austria, ruled the country. She
had a host of enemies, and only one friend, Cardinal Mazarin, a wily
Italian priest, who was perhaps the actual master of France. Roland Belloc, who was the Cardinal's man, had been staying for a day
or two in my father's company. He was a real soldier of fortune,
strong as a bull, a fine swordsman, and afraid of no man living. He
told us many startling tales of Paris. According to him, everything in the city, from the throne to the
gutter, was in a state of unrest: no man knew what an hour would bring
forth. One day people feasted and sang and danced in feverish
merriment: the next the barricades were up, and the denizens of the
filthy courts and alleys, eager for pillage, swarmed into the light. "Mazarin is like a wild boar," said he, "with a pack of hounds baying
round him. There is the Duke of Orleans, the king's uncle, who snaps
and runs away; Condé is waiting to get a good bite; while the priest,
De Retz, is the most mischievous of all." "It is almost as bad as war," said my father. "It is war, and nothing else. But," with a laugh, "the green scarf of
Mazarin will be uppermost at the finish. What do you say, Albert? Are
you willing to don the Cardinal's colours?" "I know little of these things, monsieur, but my sympathies are for the
Queen Mother." "Of course they are!" cried he, giving me a resounding slap on the
back; "so are mine, but Anne of Austria would never hold her own
without the Cardinal. Come, De Lalande, let the youngster go. You
will not regret it, I promise. He may not get Vançey back, but there
are other estates to be won by a strong arm. Shake yourself, boy, and
come out into the daylight. You are moping here like a barn owl." "The simile is good, Roland, for he lives in a barn. If I thought " "If you thought! Why, man, there is no thinking in it; the thing is as
plain as the Castle yonder from the bridge over the river... Continue reading book >>
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