When a Cobbler Ruled the KingSeaman, Augusta Huiell
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When a Cobbler Ruled the King
Seaman, Augusta Huiell
Louis XVII, of France, 1785-1795 -- Fiction
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Decorative Title Page
The King and his Family driven through the pitiless crowd 76
Sing that song about the Austrian wolf or I'll throttle you 160
He stood before the former child of the Tower--Louis XVII 342
IN THE DAUPHIN'S GARDEN
CHAPTER I
IN THE DAUPHIN'S GARDEN
"Hurry along, Yvonne! Why do you lag behind so!"
"Oh, Jean! I am doing my best, but your legs are so long, and you take
such great strides that I can scarcely keep up!"
Two children, a well-grown, long-limbed boy of twelve, and a little girl
of scarcely more than seven, were hurrying hand-in-hand along the Rue
St. Honoré, on a brilliant May morning in the year 1792. Paris on that
day resembled, more than anything else, a great bee-hive whose swarming
population buzzed hither and thither under the influence of angry
excitement and general unrest. The two youngsters were bubbling over
with the same eager restlessness that agitated their elders. They pushed
their way through throngs of men in red liberty-caps, soldiers in
uniforms of the National Guard, and women in tri-coloured skirts and
bodices. Poor little Yvonne, panting and tired, struggled to keep up
with the striding gait of her larger companion.
"If you don't hurry," said Jean, "we shall not see the little 'Wolf-Cub'
out for his walk, and I want a look at him!"
"Is he very dreadful to look at?" queried Yvonne, innocently.
"I don't know,--I've never seen him," answered Jean, "but he must be
pretty ugly if he's the son of a monster,--and that's what they call our
Citizen King!"
They turned into a narrow lane with but few houses on either side. At
one end stood the church of St. Roch, and at the other lay the park of
the Tuileries, in the centre of which rose the royal palace.
"This is called the Rue du Dauphin because the little monster comes
through it when he goes to church," remarked Jean.
"Well, I think he can't be so very dreadful if he goes to church,"
protested Yvonne.
"Oh, he only pretends to be good to deceive us!" answered Jean,
carelessly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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