Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-10-21

y say she SHALL" the priest shriebed
losing AZ control over himself. Fool.
Mailman. You know not what vou
do" As the words passed his lips. ii,
made nm adrpit forward movment, sur
prised the other, clutched him by tn,
arms. and with strength l shoul,
never have thought lay in his meagel
frame, flung him some PAGES into tn,
room "Fool." he Kissed. shaking his
crooked fingers at him in malignant
triumph. There rs no man in Paris
10 you hecr- or woman either-shal
thwart rnc tonight"
rs that so? Indeed?"
The words. and the cold. cynical
voice, were not those of MirepoiN; they
came from behind. The priest wheeled
round, as if he had been stabbed in the
back. l clutched Croisette, and
arrested the cramped limb was NOV
ing under cover of the noise The
speaker was BeZersl He stood ia the
open doorway, his great form filing il
from post TO post, the OLD gliding smile
on his face. We had been so taken up
actors and audience alike, with the
alteration, that no one had heard him
ascend the stairs. He still wore the
black and silver suit, but it was half
hidden now under dark riding cloak
which just disclosed the glitter of his
weapons. He was booted, spurred and
gloved as for a journey.
rs that SOP" he repeated mockingly
as his gaze rested in turn on each of the
four, and then travelled sharply round
the room $50 you win not be thwarted
by any man in Paris, tonight, eh
Have you considered, my dear coad-
jutor, what large number of people
there are in Paris? Itwould amuse me
very greatly now-and I'm sure it would
the ladies too, who must pardon my
abrupt entrance-to see you put to the
test; pitted against-shall we say the
duke of Anjou? Or NJ. de Guise, our
great man? Or the admiral2 Say the
admiral foot to foot?"
Rage and fear-rage at the intrusion,
fear of the intruder-struggled in the
priests face, "How do you come here,
and what do you want?" he inquired,
hoarsely. If looks and tones could kill,
we three, trembling behind our tlimsy
screen, had been freed that moment
from our enemy
II have come in search of the young
birds whose necks you were for stretch
ing, my friend" was Beers answer
'-They have vanished. Birds they must
he for unless they have come into this
house by that window, they have flown
away with wings"
'They have not passed this way" the
priest declared stoutly, eager only to
get rid of the other-and blessed him
Tor the words 81 have been here since
! left you"
But the vidame was not one TO &C.
cept any mans statement. Thank
you; l think 1 will see for myself" he
answered, coolly. Madame" he con-
tinued, speaking to Nine de Pavan-
hes as he passed her, permit me"
He did not look at her. or see her
emotion. or l think he must have di-
vined our presence. And happily the
others did not suspect her of knowing
more than they did. He crossed the
floor at his leisure, and sauntered to the
window watched by them with impa-
thence. lie drew aside the curtain, and
tried each of the bars, and peered
through the opening both up ana down.
An oath and an expression of wonder
escaped him. The bars were standing,
and firm and strong; and it did not oc-
cur to him that we could have passed
between them. I am afraid to say how
few inches they were apart.
AS he turned he cast casual glance
ut the bed-at us; and hesitated- He
had the candle in his hand, having
taken it to the window the better to
examine the bars1 and it obscured his
sight. He did not see us. The three
crouchfng forms, the strained white
fnces, the starting eyes, that lurked in
the shadow of the curtain escaped him.
The wild beating of our hearts did not
reach his ears. And it was well for him
that it was SO. If he had come up to the
bed think we should have killed him,
l know that we should have tried. All
the blood in me had gone TO my head,
and / saw him through haze-larger
than life. The exact spot near the
buckle of his cloak where | would
strike him, doHVuwards and inwnrds, an
inch above the collar-bone-this only
saw clearly. / could not have missed
it. But he turned away, his face dark
ening, and went back to the group
rear the door, and never knew the risk
he had run.
TO BE CONTINUED.