The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-02-21

cross the street rather than meet the mysterious stranger and when the men met him they assumed airs of indiffer- encc which they did not feel. Gossip's nine days were nearly spent Fons mothers had begun to frighten their naughty otfspring with threats of {" the wizard" when, one evening in the dusk, another horseman spured up the dusty road from the south.
 He was man whose age would not exceed 6fty-6ye. In fact, not being oi medium stature, erect and hrm in the saddle, he seemed much larger. Dressed in the home-spun garb ofa pioneer, with a slouch hat, pulled low over his face, wear ing coarse woolen gloves, there still re- mained about him peculiar grace which indicated refinement. Whether that air arose from the sparkling black eyes, deep ;n the massive hEc~; the classic chin, the small polished boot or the splendid animal on which he sat, does not matter.
 He paused in front of the little store and inquired the way to the residence of Father Beufo. A loiterer directed him and he rode hurriedly on.
 That night, in Father Beufo's lighted room, sat three men conversing in low tone earnestly examining maps, charts and papers, some traced over in curious hieroglyphics.
 "It is all arranged along the line." said the youngest man, "I have purchased the land on the Washita, and the indica- tions in the east are favorable. If the church will aid us, we can but succeed"
 The fathers little gray eyes twinkled. "The church is our ally! That which is not already done, can be accomplished by Colonel Justine on the next trip. Of course, you know that the sisters of Ur- suline are teaching our cause as a new religion. Colonel reports several con- vents and monasteries in Mexico esPous. ing our design with the same fervor With the letters which shall give him the others will so0n join us, and each will bring a power"
 The old man had been examining a chart. Tossing it aside, he said: "We must unite the border troops under our colors. find two forts of which did not know. On my return shall feel their pulse, and it they oppose our plan. can at least find their stren th. If it were possible to dispense with this journey to Mexico, should attend to the construc- ton and manning of the boats. Will you do that, colonel1" he asked, addressing the younger man.
 "l have not time enough" " the younger man replied. Blennerhassett must do that though" he added, "he is better fitted for feeding swine." The old man smiled.
 That night the trio slept but little, and next morning, at sunrise, two horsemen separated at the priests door. "l shall meet you at the island," said the younger man, and spurred up the road northward. As he passed through the village, the young lawyer remarked to the doctor, "At Baltimore once saw Colonel Burr, and do you know, that man reminds me of him?"
 And indeed it was Aaron Burr, skurry- rying back and forth, across the conti- nent, thickening the meshes of the great conspiracy.
 The other horseman rode toward the south. This withered old man was Mar GUS Justine, in former times we'll known in the Madrid court. He was confed- crate, brave, cunning, skilled in court schools in arts of diplomacy-a fit per son to bear the dark lantern of Burr's conspiracy across the nation; or lay a train, that exploding, would ruin an em- pire or blast thousand hopes. Onward he rode, his wrinkled face wearing to the senseless forest trees that same, mean ingless, bland smile, he wore in court-a smile that cloaked his heart, if such shell could hold human heart9
 He had ridden five days and almost five nights. The lights of little cottage upon the banks of the Ohio greeted him across the fields. "Home," he half artic- ulated with his thin lips, and as the word sounded the rigid smile left his face. It was no longer the hard, misanthropic face of cunning diplomat. A softness had crept into its outlines. A flew light beamed in his eye.
 The cottage door opened; a fair, slen- der girl looked out and glanced up to the star-lit sky, then down the road. She has spied the coming horseman, and with a glad cry she hew to meet him.
 Dn~o IW