All France is in a tumult; the fall of the great Empire is accomplished, and the reaction ensues, parties of rebels lay waste the whole nation, committing all manner of violence on their way. It is at this period that our story opens. A body of rebels are seeking the life of General Daugn, an officer of the fallen Emperor. The officer being pursued, takes refuge in a castle, a side door of which he finds open. He hurriedly explains the situation to the owner of the Castle, the Marquis La Roche, who immediately offers him his hospitality and protection. The rebels make their way to the castle and demand that the Marquis deliver up to them the General, for whose life they are thirsting. Their clamorings are in vain; the Marquis dismisses them with scorn. The mob retires, baffled, but immediately they begin to plot to unhouse their victim. A short time later, therefore, the rebel leader hides himself in a wood near the castle and intercepts one of the maid-servants of the castle, whom he bribes to place a letter on a private desk of her mistress a letter purporting to have been written by the young officer whom the Marquis is protecting. The maid is instructed to say, if questioned, that the General gave her the letter to be delivered to the lady of the castle. This letter, when discovered, bears the forged signature of the officer, and makes him appear a traitor to the good Marquis who has so graciously entertained him. The lady fervently acclaims her utter innocence, and that of the young officer, but the enraged Marquis will not be convinced. He sends word to the leader of the rebels that he has discovered that his guest is a traitor, and that he will be delivered to them at once. Then the Marquis seeks out the young officer and violently accuses him of that of which, of course, he knows nothing, ordering him at once from his premises. The young General immediately perceives the net in which he is entangled, and bravely faces his host: “Sir,” says he, “I am innocent, as you will learn too late, of that with which you charge me. I am no craven. It is to death that you send me forth, and you shall see how a French officer can die!” The Marchioness weepingly pleads that the young officer shall not be sacrificed, but regardless of her entreaties, the brave man goes out to his death. At that moment the maid rushes into the room, and hastily confesses the deception she has perpetrated. Upon hearing this, the Marquis flees with the wild hope of still saving the general, but, alas! he is too late. Even as he comes upon the scene, the former officer of the French Emperor’s great army is borne down by a volley of shots from the rebel mob. The old Marquis rushes to raise the fallen body, but the life has fled, and as the truth of the great tragedy flashes upon him, the old Marquis is broken down with grief, and we leave him yearning tenderly, remorsefully over the prostrate remains of the man he might have saved!