Some moments passed; the deadly rain
Fell thickly through the air;
The smoke arose, and, lo! again
The boy stood calmly there.
The muskets ceased, the smoke-wreath passed
O’er sunlit dome and spire,—
“Here, captain, I have come at last,
And I am ready. Fire!”
As marble grew the captain’s cheek,
He could not speak the word.
The shout of Vive la République!
Adown the ranks was heard.
The bugle blew a note of joy,
“Advance!” the captain cried,—
They marched, and left the happy boy
The colonnade beside.
We sing Vialla’s sweet romance,
Of Barra’s death we read,
But few among the boys of France
E’er did a nobler deed.
The palace burns, the columns fall,
The works of art decay,
But deeds like these the good recall
When empires pass away.
CHAPTER XVI.
BRITTANY.
Avranches.—Riding on Diligences.—Mont St. Michel.—Chateaubriand.—Madame de Sévigné.—Brittany.—Breton Stories.—Story of the Old Woman’s Cow.—Story of the Wonderful Sack.—Nantes.—Scenes of the Revolution at Nantes.—Fénelon and Louis XV.