San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-19

IN ner lie, telt as guilty as though she were
about to commit murder when she stole
out of the little side door to keep the rem
devious, but nevertheless her heart beat
high with hope at the thought of meeting
Theodore once more, and when at last she
saw through the darkness a form rise
| above the wall, stand on it a moment, and
proceed to ascend by means of rope which
was fastened on the other side, she with
dihcu!ty refrained from screaming aloud
''Theodorel" she whispered; "oh, Theo-
dore! my Theodore! That it should be
| wrong for me to meet thee; that we, who
were once betrothed lovers, should come to
| thisr'
But the next moment he had caught her
hands and kissed them, and she forgot all
but that they were together
This was the first meeting, but it was
not the last. Night after night, when the
old people were asleep, and in his own
chamber a mile or two away, NJ. Thibault
snored peacefully, Theodore and Rosine
sat side by side more Familiarity than they
ever had before, in the garden under the
pear trees, while Nannette, the maid, kept
watch without the little side door,
Al! this had been going on for some
time, when one night Rosine took her
usual place to wait for Theodore. She
heard the stealthy step as usual. She saw
the 1.-THE form mount the wall and stand
in full relief against the golden moon, just
| at that moment rising Then faint cry
of horror fell upon her ear and it vanished
| from her sight. There was dull thud upon
the earth without, groan, and silence.
Theodore had slipped and fallen to the
| ground. For some moments he remained
| insensible; Rosine, nearly mad with ter
| ror, stood ringing her hands within the
| garden.
Her maid, wao had seen all, hurried down
| the path. Neither of the girls knew what
was best to do. At last Nannette, a stout
young peasant girl, clambered up into the
| largest pear tree, and managed to get her
| chin on a level with the wall She could
| not see anything below, but she heard
| movement.
IN. Theodore" she whispered, speak if
you can. My mistress is nearly frightened
| to death,
A faint voice replied to her;
"Give my love to your mistress. I am
not much hurt, but it will be the best for
me to go home now. l think there has
been some noise"
And then the two girls ran indoors, Ro-
| knew that Theodore had been more injured
than he would confess. And this indeed
| was true. He had broken his arm, and
felt deathly faintness creeping over him.
| His one hope was to manage to get far
| enough from the house of old Michaud to
prevent any suspicion Of the manner in
which he had met with his accident; and at
| the first turning h. lett the street and hur-
! ried on, hoping to procure some assistance
| before he lost the power of speech and mo-
| ton. 1
At last, amid the darkened windows,
he saw one in which a light burned.
Drawing nearer, he saw that the door
stood open and heard some noises within.
His strength was nearly gone. He made
use of what remained to stagger under
the doorway, and fell prone at the foot of
the stairs just as an old man in night
| gown, with candle in one hand and
poker in the other, rushed down them,
shouting at the top of his voice, "Thievesl
raurder Help! Police! policel" .
This old man was Pierre Blanc, re-
| puted miser, who had just before Weakened
| to find two masked men in the room, one
| of whom held him while the other plum
dered his cash box. After much strug-
Cling he had succeeded in dealing one of
the rascals heavy blow with a cudgel
which he always kept under his pillow,
! and had been knocked senseless in return.
| When he came to himself he was in per-
| feet darkness, and it had taken him some
| time to strike light; but, to his great
| joy, when he had done so he found, as he
| supposed, one of the robbers lying wound
| ed on the floor of his house.
| The old mans ShOutS soon hroupht as
sistance and he told his story, as people
| usually do, in a manner which reflected
| most credit upon himself
He declared he had defended himself
| against both robbers, and wounded one,
"And there he lay, the rascal before them"
But this is Theodore Thibault, the son
of old NJ. Thibault," cried one of the as
| sembled group. He is no robber mon
sieur." J
Nevertheless, it is all as I said," de-
clared Pierre Blanc
And on his word the poor wounded The
odore was carried to prison.
II was some time before he understood
the charge that had been made against
him, but when he did he at once formed
a noble resolution. Suffer what he might,
shame, Imprisonment, whatever it might
be, he would guard Rosines honor. No
one should ever know that it was in en-
deavoring to meet her alone at midnight
in the garden of her fathers house that he
had met with this accident. ..
The day of his trial came at last. The
court was crowded. Pierre Blanc was
ready to swear to his story. The police
men and neighbors were witnesses to the
fact that Theodore had been found lying
insensible at the foot of the miser's stair
case on the night of the robbery.
The prisoner himself had only his posi-
ton and GOOD character in his favor. Not