the pursuers, while the main body
escaped through the gate at the other end of the town. He was himself
the very last man to retire. Snatching a pistol from one of his men, he
fired the last shot in the faces of the Russians, flung the weapon into
the river Niemen, plunged in after it, and amid a storm of bullets swam
the stream, and gained the neighboring forest, successfully eluded his
pursuers, and joined his comrades, who had mourned him as dead, in the
Prussian territory.

Ney's end was as unfortunate as it was unworthy so brave a soldier. When
Napoleon was banished to Elba, Ney, who had previously incurred his
displeasure, gave his allegiance to the restored Bourbons, and when the
great Emperor re-appeared in France, Ney was placed in command of the
army sent to oppose him, promising his new superiors to bring back
Napoleon "like a wild beast in a cage."

There is no reason to doubt Ney's sincerity in this unhappy episode of
his career. He was of a brave, impulsive disposition, one accustomed to
act on the spur of the moment; so, when he drew near to the Emperor, and
found that the men he commanded, nearly all of whom had fought at some
time or other under the Emperor, were fixed in a resolve not to fight
against Napoleon, it is not so much to be wondered at that Ney became
Napoleonist with as much ardor as ever. And when Napoleon called on him
by his old title, "the bravest of the brave," to once more rally under
his standard, Ney responded with alacrity, as though the name possessed
a magic spell he could not resist.

After Waterloo, when all that pertained to the cause of the dethroned
Emperor was irretrievably lost, Ney was brought to trial by the
re-restored Bourbons on the charge of treason, and was condemned to be
shot on December 7, 1815. He met death with that same unflinching
bravery which he so many times displayed, during his eventful career,
on most of the great battle-fields of Europe.

On December 7, 1853, exactly thirty-eight years after his death, a
statue was raised to the memory of the intrepid Marshal on the precise
spot on which his execution occurred.

[Begun in No. 11 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, January 13.]

LADY PRIMROSE.

BY FLETCHER READE.

CHAPTER III.

"A primrose by the river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more."

"Princess Bebe! Princess Bebe! Princess Bebe!"

It was the little gate-keeper, running at the top of his speed, and
sho