Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-11-18

of Mirepoix' house; and l hastily
asked Pavannes at what time he had
been arrested.
about an hour before midnight" he
, answered.
'Then you know nothing of what is
happenings" replied quickly. why.
even while we are lettering here-but
listen!"
And with all speed, stammering in
deed in my haste and anxiety, told
him what / had noticed in the streets.
and the hints had heard, and l showed
him the badges with which madame
had furnished me.
His manner when he had heard me
out frightened me still more. He drew
me on in kind Of fury to house in the
windows of which some lighted candles
had appeared not minute before.
THE ring!" he cried. ''let me see the
ring, Whose is it?''
He held up my hand to this chance
light and we looked at the ring. II
was heavy gold signet, with one curl
Gus characteristic: it had two faces. On
one of these was engraved the letter
other was an eagle with outstretched
wings.
Pavannes let my hand drop and leaned
against the wall in sudden despair. "It
is the duke of Guise's," he muttered.
at is the eagle of Lorraine"
"Hal" said softly. seeing light. The
duke was the idol then, as later, of the
Partisan populace. and understood
now why the citizen soldiers had shown
Lie such respect. They had taken me
for the dukes envoy and con1idant.
But saw no farther. Pavannes did.
and murmured bitterly: 1--WE may say
our prayers, we Huguenots. That is
our death warrant. To-mor1 ow night
there win not be one left in Paris, lad.
Guise has his fathers death to avenge,
end these cursed Parisians will do his
bidding like the wolves they are! The
Paron de Rosny warned us of this, word
] for word. 1 would to Heaven we had
taken his advice!"
"Stay!" / cried-he was going too
fast for me-"stay!" His monstrous
conception, though it marched some
way with my own suspicious, outran
them far! l saw no sufficient grounds
! for it. THE king-the king would not
permit such a thing, NJ. de Pavannes,"
l argued
boy, you are blindl" he reioined,
impatiently, for he now saw all and l
nothing. "Yonder was the duke of
J the follower of Frances brother, mark
YOU! And he-he obeyed the dukes
ring! The duke has a free hand to-
night, and he hates us. And the river
! Why are we not to cross the river? The
king indeed! The king has undone us.
He has sold us to his brother and the
! Guises. Va chaser l. Idole''-for the
second time / heard the quaint phrase,
which l learned afterwards was an an
agram of the kings name, Charles de
/ Nalois, used by Protestants as pass
word-"Va chaser L Idole has be-
/ trayed us! / remember the very words
1 he used TO the admiral: Now we have
! got you here we shall not let you go so
casilyp Oh, the traitor! The wretched
/ traitor!"
He leaned against the wall overcome
/ by the horror of the conviction which
/ had burst upon him, and unnerved by
i the imminence of the peril. At all
times he was an unready man, fancy,
more fit, courage apart, for the college
than the field; and now he gave way to
despair. Perhaps the thought of his
wife unnamed him. Perhaps the ex-
element through which he had already
gone tended to stupefy him, or the sud
0enness of the discovery.
At any rate was the first to gather
my wits together, and my earliest i'm
pulse was TO tear into two parts a white
handkerchief l had in my pouch, and
fasten one to his sleeve, the other in
his hat, in rough imitation of the
badges 1 wore myself.
1t will appear from this that no
| longer trusted Mime. do. / was not
convinced, it is true, of her conscious
guilt, still l did not trust her entirely.
DO not wear them on your return"
she had said and that was odd: al
though l could not yet believe that she
was such siren as Father Pierre had
warned us of, telling tales from old
poets. Yet l doubted, shuddering as
did so. Her companionship with that
vile priest, the strange eagerness to Sc
cure Pavannes' return, her mysterious
directions to me, her anxiety to take
her sister Monochrome, where she would
be exposed TO danger, as being in a
known Huguenot's house-these things
pointed to but one conclusion; still that
one was so horrible that 1 would not,
even while l doubted and distrusted
her, l would not, l could not accept it.
put it from me, and refused to believe
it, although during the rest of that
night it kept coming to me and knock
ing for admission at my brain.
All this flashed through my mind
while was fixing on Pavannes' badges.
Not that lost time about it, for from
the moment l grasped the position as
he conceived it, every minute we had
wasted on explanation seemed to me an
hour. l reproached myself for having