The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-06-04
QuAsTANA.

M% E5~040VU1S04o1f WEEK. ~ ! Wsko ~ ~
a<Gs w pses6ssion ] could mako . pretty
1T book - tho administrative mishaps
VAtoh bolsls NO during the three years !
6Deotin CoEstsa a. thslegal adviser to the
ySo11h~pgvxsCtare Here ia'ons which will
psobahay annss you:
haA Just entered upon my duties At
Atsnetn ono morning ! was at the club
reading ths papers which had just arrived
3rona parts whom the protests man servant
btounht me i note, hastily written In pen
Oil: ..Ccme - once; I want you. We have
ect ~ btseand Quastana." uttered an
exclamation OF iov, and went on ~ fast a.
/ could ID ths prefecture. / must tell you
than undsr tho empire, the arrest OF a
CSsslcar bandit was looked upon al y
brilliant exploit. and meant promotion.
especially n you throw . certain dash OK
romance about it in your official report.
U~nfortunately, . briRands had become
ssasce. The people were getting moro civil
iusd and the vendetta was dying oua II BY
chance I man did kill another In q row, Or
do something which made IL advisable for
hin Is keep clear Of the police. he Rensr-
ally bolted for Sardinia instead Of turning
brirana. This Was mot to our liking. for
"a htiQsud NO promotion. However, our
prefe6t mad succeeded in finding one. He
~ - old rascal, Quastana by name. who,
e avenRe tho murder OF his brother. had
klllad. rcodpsss knows, how many people.
IA had been pursued with yieor, but had
esoaned. and after . time had hoen for
cnAnsn. Fifteen years had pasted and the
rnant had lived in eeclusion; but u pre-
fect having heard OF the Nfair and OBJ
tainsd : clew to his Whereabouts. endeav-
ored 10 capture him. with no more success
than IN rrsdecessor. We were beginning
"a despair Of our promotion. You can
tharefnra Imagine how pleased I was TO re-
ceiye the note from my chief. u
i found him In his study talking very
confdentlially TO q man of the true Corsi-
can peasant type.
"This 10 Q~uastana's cousin" said the
rrafsot 10 mo, in . low tone. HE lives IN
ths little village of Solenzara, just above
perAo Yecchie, aud the briRand pays him
= visit every Sunday evsnsng to have a
rane Of scopa. Now. II seems that these
~ had some words the other Sunday and
NM follow hts determined to have revenge.
~ he proposes to hand his cousin over to
iustics. and, between you and me, ! believe
~ means Ii. But ~ I want to make the
cepturs myself and in a. brilliant = manner
n poasible, il 10 advisable to take preoau-
tions In order mot to expose the government
Sh Yl0lGUI8S AO0B0 We gnAv ySS AOAs
You are quite a stranger in the county and
nobody knows you; I want you to 40 and see
for certain If IL really 10 Qusstaan who goes
10 this mans house."
.'But / have never seen this Quastsna,"
began.
drew forth . photograph much the worse
for wear. 1900
..Here You srev' he exclaimed. 1.-THE
rascnl had the cheek TO have his portrait
taken last year At Porto Vecchio!'
Whils we were looking At the photo the
reasant drew near. and l saw his eyes fash
venpefully; but the look quickly vanished
care you mot afraid that the presence of
4 stranger will frighten your cousin and
make him stay awaylon the following Sun
day? ~ was asked.
s.No.' replied the man. "He is too fond
Of cards Besides. there are many new
faces about here now ON account of the
shooting. I'll say that this gentleman has
come for me TO show him whore the game
10 to DO found"
Thersupon We made an appointment for
the next Sunday. and the fellow walked off
without the least o%ompunosion for his dirty
trick. When he was gone the project i'm
pressed upon me The necessity for keeping
the matter very quiet, because he intended
that nobody else should share the credit OF
the capture. l assured him that l would
mot breathe = word. thanked him for his
kindness in asking me to assist him, and
We separated to go to q work and dream
Of promotion.
The next morning ] set out in a full
shooting costume and took the coach
which does the journey from Ajaccio TO
Bastia. For those who love nature there is
no better ride in the world, but / was too
busy with my castles In the air to notice
800 ~ Ahn hoartio0 nf khA IanHcCana
At Bonifncio we stopped for dinner.
Whom I got on tho coach again. just q llttis
elevated by the contents of Il good-sized
bottle. / found that ! had a fresh travelling
companion who had taken q seat next to
me-. He Was an official at Bastia. n l
had already moi him; q man about my own
age, and q native of Paris like myself. A
decent sort of fellow.
You are probably aware that the admin
ietration, as Represented by the project,
&C., and the maRistrature never get on
we'll together; in Corsica 1t worse than else
where. Thu seat of the administration 10
at AjAccio. that of the maRlstrasure at
Bastia; we two. therefore. belonged to hos
tile parties. But when you are n long way
from home and meet some one from your
native place, you forget all else and talk
Of the old country.
We were fast friends in less than no time.
and We were consolinR each other for being
~ ga M W. 49, ~
wine had loosened my tongue. and ! soon
told him in strict confidence that I vas
looking forward to going back to France to
take up some good post as a reward for my
share in the capture of Quastana, whom We
hoped to arrest at his cousins house one
sunday evening. When my companion got
OF the coach at Porto Vecehio, We felt as
though we had known each other for years.
II.
/ arrived ut So!enZara between four and
i've o'clock. The place 10 populated in
winter by workmen. fishermen n customs
officials. but in summer every ono who can
shifts his quarters up in the mountains on
account of fever. The village was. there
fore. nearly deserted when I reached il that
Sunday afternoon.
/ entered q small inn and had something
to eat. while waiting for Matteo. Time
went on, and the fellow did not put in an
ap. earance: the innkeeper began to look at
me susI iciousIy, and I felt rather uncom-
Portable. At last there came a knock and
iMatteo entered.
HE has come to my house." he said,
raising his hand to his hat. will you fol-
low me there?"
We went outside. It was very dark and
windy; we stumbled along a stony path for
about three miles-a narrow path full of
small stones and Overg own with luxu'iant
vegetation, which prevented US from going
quickly.
THAT'S my house" said Ma.teo, pointing
among tho bushes to a light which WAS
Pickering at q short distance from US.
A minute later we were confronted by a