The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-04

dulged Il few moments Delore were az
| last years snow.
| crouched and shivered. In st. An
| tome, at the mouth of the alley, u man
was publishing a notice. and presently
| his voice caught my attention in the
middle of my lamentations l listened
at first idly. then with my mind. "oyeZ.
OyeZ." he cried. Whereas. some evil
person, having no fear OF God or the
| law before his eyes. has impudently,
| feloniously and treasonably stolen
| from the Palais Royal Il spaniel. the
property of the queen regents most
excellent majesty--that is to say. that
any -rumble-rumble-
sentences. and then | causht-hEe
hundred crowns, the same to be paia
here a passing coach drowned some
by monseigneur. the bishop of Beau
vais, president of the council!
And glad to pay it," Snarled Il voice
quite. close, to me. | started and looked
up. Two men We're talking At II window
! above my head.
Yet it is high price for dog" the
other sneered.
But low for II queen. Still. it buys
her. And this is Richelieus France!
"Was!" the other said, pithly. Well
you know the proverb: A living uog
is better than IL dead lion.'
AYE" his companion rejoined. put
I have q fancy that that dogs name is
spelled neither with an F. for Flore-
which was the whelps name, was II
not nor b for Beauvais: nor Il C
for Corde; but with an NJ
For Mazarin," the other answered,
sharply. Yes. if he find the dog. But
Beauvais is in possession"
"Rocroy shook him
'Still he is in possession
80 is my shoe in possession of my
foot. And see-l take ii off. BeauNais
is tottering. l tell you. 1t wants but
| heard no more. for they moved away
from the window, but they left me Il
different man. Urged. less by the nope
of reward than by the desire for VEN
geance, my clerks wits awoke once
more. while the very desperation of my
affairs gave me the courage / some
times lacked. | recognized that hau
to do, not with a king, but dog; and
that none the less that way lay re-
venge. And | rose up and SUNK again
into st. Antoine, and through the
crowd and up the Rue de st. Martin
and by St. Merri. u dirty, ragged, bare
foot rascal from whom people drew
their skirts-yes, all that, and the light
of the sun on it-all that, and yet VEN
geance itself the hand hat should yet
drag my thankless, cruel master =
fauteuil from under him.
Once halted, weighing the risks and
whether ! should not take my knoWl-
edge to the cardinal. But | knew moth
ing definite, and hardening my heart
| went on. until l reached the alley
between the blind walls. 1t was noon;
the alley was empty, the neiGhboring
lane empty. ! looked this way and that
and then went slowly down to the door
at which the man had halted. but to
which as soon as he knew that the
game was not lost he had been heed
full not to return.
There, seeing all SO quiet, with the
green of Il tree showing here and there
above the wall, | began to blench and
wonder how l was to take the next
step; and for half an ..our, ] dare say,
/ Sneaked to and fro. now in sight of
the door and now with my back to- it,
afraid to advance and ashamed to re-
treat. At length L went through the
alley, and seeing how quiet and re-
spectacle it lay with the upper part of
the house visible at intervals above the
wall. took, at last, heart of grace and
tried the door.
1t stood so firm that | despaired, and,
after listening and looking to assure
myself that the attempt had not been
observed. | was about to move away.
when ! espied the edge of the ring of
a key projecting from under the door.
Still all was quiet: a stealthy look
round, and | had the key out. To draw
back now was to write myself craven
all my life, and with a shaking hand l
thrust the wards into the lock, turned
them, and in another moment stood on
the other side of the door i'm neat gar
den, speckled with sunshine and shade,
and all silent.
/ remained a full minute, fattened
against the door, staring fearfully at
the high fronted mansion that beyond
the garden looked down on me with
twelve great eyes. But all remained
silent. and observing presently that the
windows We're suffered. ] took cour-
age to move. and slid aside under a tree
and breathed again.
Still looked and listened, fearfully,
for the silence seemed to watch me; but
nothing happened and everything /
saw tended to prove the house empty.
| grew bolder. and sneaking from bush
to bush reached the door at last. and
with backward glance between cour-
age and desperation tried it.
1t was locked, but that | hardly no.
ticed, for as my hand left the latch.
from some remote part of the house
came the long drawn whine of a dog!
I stood listening and turning hot
and cold in the sunshine. and dared
not touch the latch again lest others
out of the doorway and crept round
the house and round the house again.
hunting for a back entrance ! found
none; but at last, goaded by the re-
Election that fortune would never be
so nearly within my grasp, l marked
a window on the first floor, and in the
side of the house by which it seemed
to me ! might enter. A mulberry tree
stood by it. and it lacked shutter;
and other trees veiled the spot. To be
brief, in two minutes I had my knee on
the sill. and sweating with terror
forced the easement in and dropped on
the floor.
Then stood an instant, listening, i'm
a bare room, the door of which stood
ajar. Somewhere in the bowels of the
house the dog whined again; otherwise
all was still-deadly still. At length,
emboldened by the silence I crept out
and stole along passage seeking the
way down.
The passage was dark, and every
board on which l stepped shrieked the
alarm. But ] felt my way to the land
ing at the head of the stairs and was
about to descend, when some impulse,
know not what-perhaps a shrinking
from the dark parts below to which
/ was about to entrust myself-moyed
me to open one of the shutters and
peer out.
did so. cautiously and but a little.
and found myself looking, not into the
garden through which / had passed.
but into the one beyond the alley; and
there on scene so strange and yet
-apropos to my thoughts that paused,
gaping.
, On plat of grass four men were
standing, two and two; between them,