Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-12-23

patiently. / knew from the tone Of his
voice that he had something to tell me
about Nine. do. and was not anxious
to hear it. ] shranlI. as wounded man
shrinks from the cautery, from hearing
anything about that woman; herself so
beautiful, yet moving in an atmosphere
OF suspicion and horror. Was it shame,
or fear, or some chivalrous feeling hav-
ing its origin in that moment when
had fancied myself her knight? / am
not sure, for had not made up nv mini
even now whether l ought 10 pity or
detest her; whether she had made n
tool of me, or had been false to her.
"She came up TO the bed. you remem-
Der, Anne?" Croisette went on. "You
were next to her. She saw you indis-
tinctly, and took you for her sister
And then / sprang from the bed"
Il know you did," Iexclaimed sharp
~. All this time l had forgotten that
grievance. You nearly frightened
her out of her wits, st. Croix. / cannot
think what possessed you-why you did
it?'
ITO save your life, Anne" he an
sWered solemnly, land her from a
crime-an unutterable and unnatural
crime. She had come back to- can
hardly tell it you-to murder her sister.
You start. You do not believe me. i
sounds too horrible. But l could see
better than you could. She was eX-
actly between you and the light.
saw the knife raised. 1 saw her wicked
face! If l had not startled her as dill,
she would have stabbed you. She
dropped the knife on the floor. and
picked it up and have it. See!"
] looked furtively, and turned away
again, shivering. Why" / muttered,
why did she do it?"
'She had failed, you know, to get her
sister back to Pavannes' house, where
she would have fallen an easy victim.
Beers, who knew Nine. do. prevented
that. Then that fiend slipped back
with her knife; thinking that in the
common butchery the crime would be
overlooked, and never investigated, and
that Mirepoix would be silent!'
/ said nothing / was stunned. Yet
] believed the story. Y hen / went over
the facts in my mind / found that a
dozen things, overlooked at the time.
and almost forgotten in the hurry of
events, sprang up to confirm it. NJ. de
Pavannes'-the other NJ. de Pavannes'
suspicious had been we'll founded.
Worse than Beers was she? Ay! worse
hundred times. As much worse as
trcachery ever is than violence; as the
pitiless fraud of the serpent is baser
than the rage of the wolf.
II thought" Croisette added, softly,
not looking at me, when ! discovered
that you had gone off with her, that l
should never see you again, Anne.
gave you up for lost. The happiest mo-
ment of my life think was when saw
you come back"
"Crosette," / = 1ispered, piteously,
OF her again"
And we never did-for years. But
| how strange is life. She and the wicked
man with whom her fate seemed bound
! up had just crossed our lives when their
Own were at the darkest. They FLASHED
/ with us, and, strangers and boys as we
We're, we ruined them. / have often
asked myself what would have hap
/ pened to me had met her at some ear
lier and less stormy period-in the
brilliance of her beauty. And find but
one answer. / should bitterly have rued
| the day. Providence was good to me.
Such men and such women. 1ve NAV be-
leye, have ceased to exist now. They
flourished in those miserable days of
war and divisions. and passed away
with them like the foul night-birds
of the battlefield.
To return to oGr journey. In the
morning sunshine one could not but be
cheerful, and think good things possi-
Bile. The worst trial 1 had came with
each sunset. For then-we generally
rode late into the evening = Louis
sought my side to talk to me of his
sweetheart. And how he would talk
of herl How many thousand messages
he gave me for her! How often he re-
called old days among the hills, with
each laugh and jest and incident. when
we five had been as children! Until l
would wonder passionately, the tears
running down my face in TIE darkness,
how he could-how he conld talk of her
III that quiet voice which betrayed no
rebellion against fate, no cursing of
providence! How he could plan for her
and think of her when she should be
alone!
Now 1 understand it. lie was still
laboring under the shock OF his friends
murder. lie was still partially stunned.
Death seemed natural and famil-
lar to him, as to one who had
seen his allies and companions
perish without warning or prep
aration. Death had come to be normal
to him, life the exceptions; as / have
known it seem to a child brought face
TO face with a corpse for the first time
One afternoon a strange thing hap
pened. We could see the Auyergne
hills AT no great distance on our left
the Puy de Dome above them-and
we four were riding together. We
had fallen-an unusual thing-to the
rear of the party. Our road at the mo-
Il