The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-05-15
FABLE THE FoURTH.-Cosrrsurp

FABLE THE FoURTH.-ConTrNuED.
ITS all right, said he. And. as he
seemed to see her great eyes glow in
the dark, the last two hours seemed to
have become odiously coarse, and to
have been robbed from life because
taken from her. He felt like brute
and a boor.
"Yes?" asked she.
The Spaniards are two miles down
the river, with earthworks, bitches,
felled trees, and all that sort OF thing to
cover them. We shall have to pass the
Germans and the Guards. This is an
outpost of the English infantry on the
left of the line; it goes to a hill on the
far left of the line-but that's not our
way, your Spaniards being the right
wing, as said before There's Span
ish division and all the cavalry in the
rear
''Let me see. Then these lines are
two miles long-from hill to where
Alperche joins Tagus; that is so? The
English Infantry on the left, so far as
the Hill. The English Guards and
the Germans in the center; see. The
.Spaniards behind defenses on the right
Yes; that would be so. And the cav
airy and the Spanish division-ah, that
would be of Bassecour, no doubt-on
the rear. Bien; l thank you, mon ami :"
A very little liquor on an empty stom-
=ach tells, or Dick Blackthorn might
have thought her ready appreciation of
military details somewhat strange
''Can your horse stand another two
mile ride?" asked he I'm game for
anything nov. Ah-Tve not guided
You so badly, after all
You have guided me, excellently,
my friend. was not wrong in coming
for advice TO you. And so will give
you one piece OF advice in return
When duty says heads, and a woman
says tails, take You the heads, what
ever much she may cry. / must have
my brag. you good Englishman. 1t
will not hurt now. But GOMEZ like
YOU, just because you are a big, good
natured, impulSive fool, who thinks of
a woman before himself, just because
she pretends to cry. Choose then;
shall you starve on thistles till YOU
choke, or shall You make your fortune
and follow me?n
Poor Dicks brain began to reel.
-'You are French spy-Good GOD.
what have done! Here goes for ySnr
horse, aOsC."
MADAME Krasinska, aus Poland, at
yoer service" laughed she; THAT is
my name. Inquire at headquarters;
they will tell you more. You will.
them not be wise? 1t is pity, for |
like you, Mr.. Richard; i like you very
much indeed. Aha-you will not shoot
a woman, not even now. Ere la
France! mon ami; al rec0ir!"
No; he could not fire. even at a
French spy, who had made him an En-
glish one. Off she cantered on that IN
wcariable mare; and he let her go. ours
ing himself for a fool. And off she
went in the night: and what, in the
name of his own folly, was he to do
now?
Its a woman and a horse, this
timer groaned he.
He felt for once uncomfortable like a
fool. To fancy himself the protector of
a beautiful and charming widow of
high rank, and then TO find himself only
the tool and victim of French spy. He
could see her game clearly enough now.
She had just made him a cats paw, to
pick all the chestnuts of intelligence
she wanted out of the campfire. And
the worst of it was she must have seen
from the first moment that he was made
to be her dupe and her tool. Never
would he trust bright eyes and soft
voices again. He would be woman
hater from that hour; for his vanity
had received horrible wound.
But woman-hating would not draw
him out of the mess into which he had
ridden. He could not go back to the
outpost for very shame He could not
bring himself to report his adventures
to anybody in command - wounded
vanity will know why, out of sympathy
and the mischief was done now,
whatever it might be. So he must even
make the best, or rather least worst, of
the hour, after his own manner, and
trust to the rising of luck with the sun.
He led his stumbling horse some little
way up the water-course, covered him
loosely tethered, to crop and lie down.
With his saddle for pillow, he next
laid himself down for a good sleep, such
as he needed in every limb, and which
had never yet failed to come. Tonight,
however, weary as he was, it would not
come. 1t may be that he was over
weary; and then the strangeness of the
situation oppressed him, and, do what
he would, his adventure worried him.
And then he could not help thinking of
home, as a worried man will. 1t was
queer to think that the same stars were
looking down upon him, out there in
Spain, and ON the quiet farmhouse in
quiet England where his father and Pa
tience lay sleeping. He could see every
brick in the house, well-nigh every
straw in the yard. Well, it was no use
There the house would stand, while he
must 60 rolling on.
So the hours of darkness passed. No
doubt he had slept a little, though he
would have sworn he had not been able
to close his eyes After all, he thought
as the darkness changed into a cold
gray, and a clear thin light stole over
the hills, the best thing he could do
would be to make for the Spanish lines.
He did not care to make for the British,
where he might tumble into his old reg
iment-an adventure which might give
trouble. IL would be no great achieve
ment in living TO say that he had lost his
way. He would probably nave to trans
fer his allegiance from Portugal to
Spain. but that would be no matter at al.
SO he arose and looked around. He
was still close by the right bank of the
Alpcrche. But, well within SIGHT, he