The Hanged Of Piroche

Aro you acquainted with Piroche '( - Jío ! Ñeither am I, so I will uot misuse my privilege by giving a desoription of the place ; for, ' entre nous,' desoriptions are tiresome. ín general they serve no great things except to be omitted by the reader. Literatura has the opportunity of over painting, statuury and music ; the threefold advantages oí being able to paint an entire pioturo with an epithet, a statue with a phrase, a rnelody with a sentence. It is not necessary that we misuso the privilege, and we Bhould leave in some degree to the special arts tha right of their specialty. Thus, having apologized for any laok of general description, I would commence my story by saying that Piroche is a villago in Brittany, of which I know nothing, but which resembles all villages built in thp lóth century, and that ona day, many years ago, ruight havo been seen two inen, one older than the other, and apparently bis father, both of them peasants, following the road to this village of Piroche, mounted on two sorry steeds, who were traveling at a pace equally agreeable to the horses and their respective marters. ' Shall we arrive in time,' said the son. ■ Yes, it will not take place until two o'clock,' answered the father, ' and it is now, by the sun, a quarter past rnidday.' ' I am very curious to see this thing.' ' I know it,' answered the eider. ' Will he be hung wearing the armor he had stolen ?' asked the son. ' Yes,' was the response. ' Was the suit of armor verv beautiful.' ' It was magnificent, being encrusted with gold. And moreover it could not bo carried away without raaking a terrible Jioise, so that the thief was captured, as he carried it on his back from the castle, the servant having heard the noise,' returned the other. 'But why should he bo hung, onoased in the armor K' ' Because the Seigneur of Piroche is not only a brave captain, but a man of knowledge, who has learned that arything raotallic that has touched a person who has been hanged, becomes"a talisman or charm to the possessor. So that he will have in this suit of armor a talisman that will shield him from danger in battle,' said the father. Thus conversing they continued their journey, and in a short time arrived safely at Piroche. An immense crowd of people had assembled in the large square before the castle, where a scaffold had been erected. Hnving with some difficulty penetrated the crowd, tho two awaited the time for execution. At two o'clock the gates were thrown open, and the condomned, preceded by a guard of soldiers, was led forth to executiou. He was clothed in the suit of armor, and seated on an ass, without any saddle, wearing the vizor, of the heimet closed, carrying his head down. His hands were tied behind his back, and ono would not hesitate to say, judging from his outward appearance, he was tremulously ill at ease, and was given to sorrowful reflections. The executioner placed his steps against the scaffold, and the chaplain commenced to read the sentence. The condemned did not stir ; aad one might have supposed he was feigning death to the spectators bofore being hung. They cried out him to descend from the ass and mount the scaffold, but he did not move, at which the executioner took him by the elbows, lifted him from the ass, and placed him upright on the earth. By this time the chaplain had finished reading the sentence. ' Have you anything to ask for ?' questioned he of the malefactor. ' Yes,' answered the unhappy man. ' I would ask formy pardon.' The Seigneur shrugged his shoulders, and ordered the executionor to go on with his duty. A brief inockory of a praycr was hastily muttered by tho chaplain, and in a few brief mome,nts the condemned was launched into eternity. The crowd gazed for somo moments at the beautiful armor as it glittored in tho sun, and then withdrew, slowly taking their different roads to their homes. ' Well, the rascal is dead,' said the younger of tho peasants, with whom wo have alroady made acquaintanco, as they turned away. ' Yes, there is an end to that job,' and 1 as they ascended a hill, the two turned to take a last look at the swinging body of the criminal. T wenty minutes later they had enterod the town of Piroche, whore they had to roceive some money duo them. On the following day two soldiers from the castlo went to take the body down, m ordei that they might take it to the ownor, the Seigneur, but they found that somo one had been beforehand with them - that is to say, the gallows and oord were there, but the body was missing, and what seemed somewhat surprising, the oord was neither broken nor cut. The two soldiers hastened to aunounce to the Seigneur the singular information. He was at ürst unwilling to believo itr but finally, forced to acknowledge the truth of their statement, and was almost inconsolable. That some one had taken away the body lor the sake of the valuable armor, was very plain, and tho chance of recovering what he had lost was more uneertain. They oonsulted the wise man of Hennes, and put this question to him. 'How can a man that has boen hung clear himself from the rope by which he has been suspended?' Tho wise man demanded eight hours for reflectiou, at the end of which lio answered. ' He can't do it.' Tlien they put him a second question. A robber not haring been able to steal successfully while alive, and condemued to death for thoft, could ho stoal after he wasdeadr' The wise man answered, 'yes.' A month passed, but their search was fruitlesa. But one morning, after the Seigneur had arisen ho hoard a great outcry in tho square where tho execution had taken place. Ho was getting ready to seek out the cause of the clamor, when his chaplain entered his room. ' Monseigneur, do you know what has j happened r" said he. ' Ño,' answered tho Seigneur, ' but I was about going to sec', ' It is a miracle - tho man who was oxocuted is now hanging on the gallows clothed in your armor, and perfectly dead - only ' Only what Y 'Hadhe spurs on his hoels when ho was hung T 'No.' ' Woll, he has them on now, and in place of wearing the helinot on his head, he has placed it at tho foot of the gallows.' Full of amazsmentthe Seignouraccompanied the chaplain to the foot of the gallows, which they found surrounded by a wondering crowd, where in truth, was suspended the body of the thief. ' He has repented,' said one, ' and has rehung himself. But why has he on this pair of spurs f asked a second. And so they wonderod and conjectured, but it remains for us to know whero the body had been during its absenco and how it returned to tho gallows. They teil the story thus : Tho two peasants, of whom we have spoken in the first part of our story, were returning home in tho evening of the day of the execution, when in passing the gallows, they heard moans of distress, at which they crossed themselves devoutly and demanded to know who was there, to which no answar was returned ? but the inoans were repeated, and they seemed to come from tho gallows. They mustered up courage to approach and the sou said : ' Is that you who complains, my poor man ?' ' Yes,' was the stifled answer. ' Do you repent of your crime Y ' Yes,' replied the hanging man. ' Then we will tako you down,' replied the younger. So the two lowered the half-strangled man to the ground, when they saw that the noose, instead of stopping the breathof the robber, had only compressed the neck of tho heimet, so that he was suspended, but not strangled, being able to draw his breath with some diffieulty, and at the moment while the peasants wero passing by managed to give vent to the groans which had arrested their attention. So they carried him home with them, where he was placed in tho care of the mother and daughter. But he who has stolen will steal, and there were two things to steal at the house of his benefactor, and they were the peasant's daughter and his horse. So the criminal resolved to steal both, for helonged for a horse, and had fallen in love with the pretty blonde. And one evening, the coast being clear, he saddled the horse, affixed a pair of spurs to his heels, in order to hasten the flight of the horse, and had just taken the young girl, by gentío forcé, from the room where she was sleeping, and attompted to place her on tho horse, but she tore the bandage from her mouth and screamed loudly for assistance, which cry speedily brought tho sturdy peasant and his son to the rescue. The robber attempted to escape, but was too late. After hearing the story of the damsel, the peasants thought there was no hope of the repentance of such an ungrateful wretch, so thoy resolved to take justice in their own hands, and rnake a surer tbing of it than did tho Signeur of Piroche. So they bound tho rogue, and fastoned him on the back of the horse he had atteinpted to steal, and the samo night brought him again to tho gallows and rehung him ; but they took care to take the heimet from his head and placed it on tho ground. When properly satisfied that there was no hope of his resuscitation, they returned tranquilly home, and slept the sleep of thejust. Asforthe Seigneur, after regaining his talismanic armor, he sat out for the wars, whore he was killed in tho very first battle in which ho was engaged, and so ends my storj'.