The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, 11 March 1915, Page 3

The Storyteller

DEVOTION OF A WILD BEAST s One chilly October evening as we were all grouped about the fireplace we entreated an old :friend of the family, a retired colonel, Emanuel Laraux, to tell us a story of his life in the army. After a few moments’ reflection he began thus: How time flies. It is just fifty years ago since I arrived in Africa. A volunteer of twenty, I had been passing a year of mortal ennui in a southern garrison, when there came a call for men to fill up the gaps caused by. the war, in the grenadier regiments, those that had been down there ever since the beginning of the campaign, and as you may readily imagine I was one of the first to enlist. A last I was going to escape from the monotonous existence of a provincial garrison, and see this wonderful new country, about which one had heard so many strange stories, fight those fierce Bedouins, and rush to the conquest of glory! A flood of ambitious dreams overwhelmed my ardent and inexperienced imagination, as I set out upon my journey. The battalion to which I had been assigned was quartered at Tlemcen, so on my arrival I found myself in the very midst of the famous insurrection. The town was in a state of siege, and every day parties of Arabs made incursions, even up to the very gates of the barracks, so we had to be continually on our guard. The old African soldiers, tanned by the sun, and inured to every sort of fatigue, regarded us with smiles which seemed to us of a somewhat contemptuous nature, but it was only because that, in comparison with them, we who had come from France, with our white skins and beardless chins, gave the appearance of callow youths, who had only just left college; owing to this fact it was decided that we should not be permitted to face the enemy immediately, but should at first be employed in servile household tasks, and a gruff old captain then proceeded to question me as to my capabilities. _ _ < What were you in the habit of doing as a citizen, my friend?’ he inquired. < Why, I lived in my father’s house, I replied. < And what was your father’s business?’ ‘ He kept a restaurant in the Rue St. Martin.’^ ‘Ah, very well! Then you shall be a cook, he exclaimed; and in spite of my vigorously protesting that I was absolutely ignorant of all culinary matters, the order was not to be repealed, and so I was forced to submit to my fate. T Ah! mused I, it was not surely for this that i came to Tlemcen; all I asked for was to be .put under fire, but assuredly not that of the kitchen! I haa been dreaming of battles, brilliant engagements, epaulets of gold, crosses of honor, and now, behold all my beautifu warlike visions swamped in the regimental soup kettle . But I saw, after many painful reflections, that it was best to resign myself to my fate, so I proceeded to tie the coarse cloth of the scullions around my body, and while awaiting the time to slay masses of Bedouins, i began philosophically to sort out potatoes I bad been devoting myself to this martial task about half an hour, when the door suddenly opened, yielding to a vigorous push. I raised my head and saw enter, well what do you suppose? why, a lion, a superb ..lion, with an enormous mane! _ « , Certainly I Was no coward, and had I found my self alone, surrounded by a dozen Arabs, I should nave sold my life dearly. But, frankly, to behold a wild beast enter thus, when one was only expecting to see the corporal, was really rather disconcerting. _ ■ With a sudden bound I arose, causing the potatoes that I was holding in my apron to roll over the ..floor and in one leap I gained the next room where the socalled cooks were preparing the rations for the men, m front of the fire.

‘A. lion I exclaimed, ‘a lion - But instead of sharing my terrors, lo and behold, my comrades all began to laugh and make fun of me. ‘Eh • bien ! you idiot,’ said the head cook, ‘has the lion gobbled you up? No, of course,, he hasn’t, so pray do me the favor to go back and finish your bag of potatoes, and the quicker the better.’ Then as I remained there, nailed to the floor, failing to understand this, indifference, he cried out: ‘ Now just look at him, will you; just look at this fine soldier who wants to fight the Arabs, and who is afraid of a big animal! Come now,’ he went on, ‘ thou shalt see how fierce he is, thy lion.’ / So saying, he drew me to the door-sill, and showed me the wild beast calmly seated on his haunches, in the middle of the room. ‘ Toto,’ said he, ‘ come here, it is time for your “patee.” ’ The animal arose, and approached with a slow and majestic gait ; when he was near us the chief presented mo ceremoniously. ‘ Monsieur Toto,’ said he, ‘this is the Grenadier Laraux, a second-class cook, who is most anxious to make your acquaintance. From this day forward he will attend to your food, and if you are not satisfied with your portions, he is the person whom you will have to deal with.’ Toto, for sole reply, gazed at me with his great deep eyes, and began to smile so bravely that I could see his double row of shady white teeth : and after that, beat his formidable flank with his tail, as a sign of approval; then, in compliance with the chief’s command, as I took up the bowl that was reserved for him and began to prepare his portion, he seated himself beside me, without ceremony, and watched mo at work. The soup, and such soup, was steamed, served, and eaten, while the chief in a few words gave me the history of Toto. He had been discovered by the troop one day, in the desert, when but a mere cub, his father and mother lying slain at a short distance ; the regiment had adopted him, and he usually took his meals in the room with the officers, but there having been some mistake in the preparation of his food, he had grown impatient at. a delay his stomach had not foreseen, and tired of waiting had come to get his soup in the kitchen, and this was the reason that I had been thus frightened by his visit that morning. As soon as I understood what sort of a creature I had to deal with, my terror gave place to sympathy, and never did Toto have cause to complain of me; on the contrary, I taxed my ingenuity to the utmost to procure some delicate dish for him, or some fine bone for him to gnaw, so we soon became the best friends in the world, and whether he paced beside me or came and crouched at my feet, the lion was ever my companion by day, and in the long home-sick hours at night, when we were both dreaming; ho, doubtless, of his great silent desert, and I of the old corner of noisy and populous Paris, where I had passed the merry days of my childhood. One fine morning we received an order that filled my heart with joy. Gen. Casaignac, having learned that some hostile armaments were forming a few -leagues from Tlemcen, now selected our battalion to go and disperse them ; our colonel was to command the expedition, and this time, old Africans or newcomers, every one was alike included. The food required for the day was piled up in the commissary cart, and we set out at daybreak, in order to avoid the great heat during our journey ; Toto, a volunteer grenadier, was constituted a member of the battalion, and marched proudly in the rear with the trumpeters. About 10 o’clock in the morning we debouched into a large plain, covered with groups of trees, and bounded in front of us by a series of small hills, where we could distinctly perceive the motions of huge white shadows. The Bedouins were preparing for battle. Upon the order of the colonel,- a certain number of men ;were

detached-Tijom the battalion,: and distributed- aj’sharp-' detached fnom the battalion, and distributed sharpshooters. ■" ’T was one of- 5 them/hand went - and concealed myself behind fsome' shrubbery-, : while ; the .rest ; Jvanced in : serried ranks, with a slowpnd solemn treadf ■i? p. .p rl can- still hear the wild, supernatural that resounded throughout the ' still air, as : ' th tv mass i.bf Bedouin cavalry dashed swiftly down upon uf;i They went like the wind, guiding their agile little hm-ses>ith, one hand, and holding in the other the handl| of their l° n & guns inlaid with ‘gold- and silver. when they thought they were within range, they began aj| irregular fire, and a crackling sound was heard all siiong their line. . v Our troops had now come to a standstill; motionless, ready to fire, they awaited the or'def. Suddenly I saw the colonel make a quick gesture with his sword, and a blast from a trumpet rent the air.’* 1 i, i 'pTA But, at the same moment, 1.-felt ; ; a shock in my head succeeded by an acute, pain ; the blood flowing over my face blinded me, and I fell, losing consciousness, whilst a terrific racket caused the earth to tremble around me. . . ■ Long afterwards, when I came to myself,;! felt a strong warm breath upon my face. Toto was there, panting, watching for my return to life., I' made an effort to raise myself a little, and could then obtain a glimpse of the surroundings. Over the plain, whereon snowy bournous were scattered, brooded a heavy silence. The battalion had dispersed, and from afar, the faint sound of drums and trumpets which marked its return to Tlemcen, was borne to my ear. All at once the frightful truth was revealed to me, Tim officers did not know me at all ; the soldiers were not accustomed to include me in their ranks, and my absence had not been remarked. The lion alone, more" mindful and more generous than men, not seeing me at the moment of departure, had remembered, and guided by his attachment to me had searched the field of battle, until he had succeeded in discovering me. And now what was going to become of me ? Weakened by the loss of blood, incapable of the slightest movement, I should inevitably fall into the Arabs’ hands, when they" returned to take away their dead, and already timid groups of them could be seen beyond on the summit of the hills. The lion would doubtless defend me, but what could he do against an avalanche of enemies, and I bitterly thought that I had survived my terrible wound, only to fall more surely beneath the yataghan of the Arab. And now as with the brain benumbed, and all the hallucination of a frightful nightmare, I thus dwelt upon the horror of my situation, suddenly the lion arose with a supple movement, and, his head turned in the direction of the town, he uttered a resounding roar of despair, then left me, bounding in the direction of the road to Tlemcen. I strained my ear ; all at once the distant sound of the drums and clarions suddenly ceased. But again there arose the hoarse roar of the lion; and it continued to resound at intervals, gradually diminishing, until silence once more reigned over the desolate plain. Hope, however, now imparted new strength. I managed to get up on my feet, and, supported by the branches of a bush, I there awaited my fate. Fortunately, the Arabs, warned by the cry of the lion that our troops were still there, did not venture to show themselves. Minutes passed by, which seemed to me hours, then an hour, which appeared to me a century—l was beginning to lose all hope, when suddenly a roar resounded near me, this time a roar of joy and triumph, and at the same instant Toto appeared upon the field of battle, and behind him a squadron of grenadiers was seen approaching at double quick., I was saved ! ' On the morrow, the lion and myself were mentioned under-the same head in the regimental record of the day. . .. h . ■ pi.

The old soldier was silent for several moments, and under . the influence of scarce-contained emotion,’ his eyelids trembled, his thin cheeks contracted, and with his ' right Hand he thrice nervously stroked his white imperial. ■ r So, you see, my young friends,’ said he at length, ■ * animals are sometimes even better than ourselves.’ Then in a stifled tone he resumed : * Poor Toto ! Three months later, he, in his turn, fell into an ambush of the insurgents, and no one arrived in time to save him. ‘ On that day the entire garrison went into mourning. As to myself, I wept bitterly for the loss of my preserver, and of my best friend. “Eh bien ! messieurs,”’ concluded Colonel Laraux, ‘ here am I, now nearly seventy-five years of age ; many a battle have I seen, and many deeds of valor and devotion have I witnessed ; but never, during my long career, have I experienced for one of my fellow-beings the gratitude that I have preserved, and that I shall ever preserve, even to the day of my death, for my brave, my faithful Toto.’ —Translated from the French.