The Opelousas courier., 1892-04-09
after ALL Fate is kinder to me than

"Well,n he said, sit wasI !, itappears
though I never knew it, nor suspecte,
it. And" he added simply, ut ha
been no ones fault"
"No ones fault?o
aNo, no ones. Mary Seldom liked
you, but she did not love you, and when
we met she found out her mistake.
You frightened her with your mad
humors. Without mentioning your
name she ted me the whole story. You
could not make her happy, aud / could;
that's the whole case. Do you blame
her2"
NO." said Quixarvyn, ~tia6sting the
| portrait back into his breast, 81 DON'T
But / have sworn to be equal with the
man who turned her mind against me
| will never believe he acted by fair
means-and am going to do it. De-
fend yourself; l give you warming"
Both men sprang to their feet at the
same instant. and stood glazing at each
other. At that moment there was
heard outside the church the rattle of a
drum.
Only the rattle Of a drum. But the
sound struck them motlonless as figures
turned to stone. Nor was the effect on
their companions less remarkable. There
vas a moments silence in the church,
deep as.sthe silence of the dead; then a
movement long Thrill of horror. That
ummon meant that day was breaking,
and that their hour was come.
The guards set instantly to work to
prepare the first batch of prisoners to be
led out of the church. Dare and Quix-
arvyn were among the first seized. With
about a dozen others they were marched
into the open air. The gray dawn was
scarcely giving way to the first streaks
of sunrise as they passed out of the
churehyard gates; but the whole village
was wide awake and in a tumult of ex-
element indeed, there had been little
sleep that night. Every window was
alive with terror-stricken gazers as the
party of doomed men, surrounded by a
band Of soldiers, were hurried through
the narrow stgeets and out upon the
open moo
At the border Of the moor sat an
officer on horseback, surrounded by a
troop of soldiers. Here the party
halted and the guards saluted. The
officer was a maa of about forty, whose
dandifed appearance, which was as trim
as that of a toy soldier newly painted,
showed eddy in the midst of soldiers
stained with battle. This was Lord
F~eyersham-a man in whose nature
vanity, callousness and love of pleasure
were about equally combined. His face
was gay with pleasant expectation as the
we're drawn up before him.
"Good!" he remarked. "These were
all rinsleaders, were theya Sergeant
Join, draw up your firing party and
shoot down every mar of them"
The order vas instantly obeyed. The
iring party was draw up; the prisoners
we're ranged is line at q few PAGES dis
At n extremity of the line
David Dare and John Quixarvyn found
once more side by side.
An officer who sat on horseback OF
9eyersham's right hand observed them.
II know those two" he said, point
Dg to them with his finger. stPity two
UGH fellows should be done for. One
# them is the best runner Ia the couu-
ry side, and the other the best RIDER
ssEh2 What2" said Feversnam, stand
ne up IN his stirrups. "Hold there a
Moment, Sergeant: / spy a chance of
sport. What say you, Major7-
race between these two across the
aoor, the one on foot, the other mount
d. Will you back the ~runner2a
The Major was a man of some human
". He reflected for a moment.
"Agreed he said. aAud to insure
nat both shall do their best let the win
haYe the promise Of his Iife.n
Feversham received this proposal with
y no means a good grace, for to spare a
hurt him TO the soul. But the
elightful prospect of seeing two men
icing for their lives and Of being able,
fter all, to shoot the looser, at length
.,conciled him to the scheme. He gave
is orders and the two prisoners were
ID out oil Che line.
Olt upon the moor, about q quarter
{ a mile away, stood a solitary tree.
his was selected as the starting point.
double line Of troopers was drawn up
retciled from the tree to the spot where
le General was stationed, leaving a
,ace between them like O r~acecourse
me yards wide. At the end of the
,urse FeVersham aud The Major sat OPP.
osite each other. Whichever of the
70 competitors should pass between
en- first would be rewarded with his
fe and liberty.
And what were the sensations of the
lir while these preparations were il ]
!
David Dare, standing before the mus.
ITS OF the firing PARTY, had heard the
proposal with a sudden thrill Of
,pe, 50 keen that it was almost like a
lin. Then for a.modnent his heart fell O
ain. He knew his own speed of foot, 2
It he knew also that against d fleet &
urged by d skiltful rider squirting Z
rdear life his chance was likely to be 4
lail. Still there was hope again aud he 4
illd do his best. More he could not u
J, though success meant life-and life !,
tl Mary Seldom. G
~ the meantime q trooper had dis 8
and Quixarvyn, armed with q
Up and spurs, having taken his place g
the saddle, the horse was led By a g
iple OF soldiers TO the starting point. q
like bis rival. Quixarvyn' ) face showed q
citation. For one moment, on hear. 8
the proposal, q gleam had come into =
eyes, but now lie rode with down s
head as # lost ID thought. a sen 2 g