Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-10-08

| one uCt we're Durleu Wltn nlU, LnHt one
act alone, the act Of French gentle
man, would be told Of him-ay! and
will be told-as long as the kingdom
Of France, and the gracious memory
Of the late king, shall endure.
see again by the simple process Of
shutting my eyes, the little party Of
five-for Jean, our servant, had re-
Joined us--who on that summer day
rode over the hills to Caylus, threading
the mazes Of the holm-oaks, and gal
;oping down the rides, and hall0oing
the hare from her form, but never pur-
suing her; arousing the Nesting farm
houses from their sleepy stiffness by
joyous shout and laugh, and shifting,
as we climbed the hillside again, the
scent Of the ferns that died crushed
under our horses hoofs--died only that
they might add one little pleasure more
to the happiness God had given us.
Rare and sweet indeed are those few
days in life, when it seems that all
creation lives only that we may have
pleasure in it. and thank God for it.
1t is well that we should make the
most Of them, as we surely did Of that
day.
1t was nightfall when we reached the
edge Of the uplands, and looked down
on Caylus. The last rays Of the sun
fingered with us, but the valley below
was dark! SO dark that even the rock
about which our homes clustered
would have been invisible save for the
half-dozen lights that were beginning
to twinkle into being on its summit.
A silence fell upon us as we slowly
wended our way down the well-known
path.
All day we had ridden in great joy;
II thoughtless, yet innocent; if selfish,
yet thankful; and always blithely,
with great exultation and relief at
heart, a great rejoicing for our own
sakes and for Kits.
Now with the nightfall and the dark
ness. now when we were near our home.
and on the eve Of giving joy to another.
we grew silent. There arose Other
thong ts-thoughts of all that had
happened since we had last assembled
that track; and so our minds turned
naturally back to him to whom
we owed our happness--to the
giant left behind in his pride and
power and his loneliness. The 9TH
ers could think Of him with full hearts,
yet without shame. But Redeemed.
rejecting how it would have been With
us if | had had my way; if had re.
sorted in my shortsightedness to one
last violent, cowardly deed, and killed
him. as | had twice wished to do.
Pavannes would then have been lost
almost certainly. Only the vidame with
his powerful troop-we never knew
whether he had gathered them for that
purpose or merely with an eye to his
government-could have saved him,
And few men however powerful-per-
haps Beers only of all men in Paris
would have dared to snatch him from
the mob when once it had sighted him.
| dwell on this now that my grandchil-
dren may take warning by it, though
never will they see such days as | have
seen.
And so we clattered up the steep
street of Caylus with pleasant melan-
choly upon us, and passed, not without
a more serious thought, the gloomy.
frowning portals, all barred and shut
tered, of the House of the Wolf, and
under the very window. sombre and va
cant, from which Beers had melted the
rabble in their attack on payannes
courier We had gone BY day, and we
came back by night But we had gone
trembling, and we came back in joy.
We did not need to ring the great bell
Jeans cry: "Ho. Gate there! Open
for my lords!" had scarcely passed his
lips before we were admitted. And ere
we could mount the ramp, one person
outran those who came forth to see
what the matter was; one outran Nine.
Claude, outran old Gil, outran the hur-
rying servants and the welcome of the
house. | saw slender figure all in
white break away from the little crowd
md dart towards us, disclosing as it
reached me face that seemed still
whittier than its robes, and yet a face
that seemed all eyes-eyes that asked
the question the lips could not frame.
| stood aside with low bow, my hat
in my hand; and said simply--it was
the great effect ofmy life: "Voila, mon
sieur!"
And then | saw the sun rise in a
woman's face.
The vidame de Beers died as he had
lived. He was still governor of Cahors