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[Illustration: LA FAYETTE AND THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR.]




ST. NICHOLAS.

Vol. XIII.      JULY, 1886.      No. 9.

[Copyright, 1886, by THE CENTURY CO.]

LA FAYETTE.

By Mrs. Eugenia M. Hodge.


One hundred and nine years ago, in the month of February, 1777, a young
French guardsman ran away to sea.

And a most singular running away it was. He did not wish to be a sailor,
but he was so anxious to go that he bought a ship to run away in,--for he
was a very wealthy young man; and though he was only nineteen, he held a
commission as major-general in the armies of a land three thousand miles
away--a land he had never seen and the language of which he could not
speak. The King of France commanded him to remain at home; his friends and
relatives tried to restrain him; and even the representatives, or agents,
of the country in defense of which he desired to fight would not encourage
his purpose. And when the young man, while dining at the house of the
British Ambassador to France, openly avowed his sympathy with a downtrodden
people, and his determination to help them gain their freedom, the
Ambassador acted quickly. At his request, the rash young enthusiast was
arrested by the French Government, and orders were given to seize his ship,
which was awaiting him at Bordeaux. But ship and owner both slipped away,
and sailing from the port of Pasajes in Spain, the runaway, with eleven
chosen companions, was soon on the sea, bound for America, and beyond the
reach of both friends and foes.

On April 25