Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-02-25

sciously thrown herself into my arms.
Her warm breath famed my cheek. Her
little hand held fast to mine. No matter
what threatened us, it was something,
at least, to have gained this happiness;
we would die together, her last sigh on
my lips.
For these men-we were sure of it
were accomplices Of the first two, and
by a previous arrangement they had
been engaged for the carrying off and
~concealing of the dead body. Deceived
by our joint weight, they believed they
had it, and we, instead of the murdered
victim, were hurrying away through
the shadowy gloom.
"True, so we were, but where were
we hurrying? Where were we heading,
as the men trotted on with swift, untir.
ing steps, at times almost a run? What
were they going to do with us-their
sinister burden?
Presently We saw that we were
passing IL Of the city gates leading
into the distant country. Again I was
tempted to cry out, to call to the senti-
mel, but fear for Victoire deferred me,
Victoire, whose mother believed her
slumbering sweetly under her little
| white curtains.
"What should I do? What could I
do? I was nearly distracted.
"By this time we were clear Of the
suburbs, but still swept onward. An.
other tightening Of TIE sky, and I saw
ahead Of us a g%listening sheet of water,
the river Deule. I knew it well-a
deep, rapid stream, the running of
whose current we even could hear.
Undoubtedly the wretches were go.
ing to fling us into this seethiug vortex.
"This time I would have cried out,
but Victoire, mad with fright, chung SO
tightly to my neck, clasping me with
such force that my voice died in my
throat, my eyes closed and the cry was
strangled. y
"How long a time elapsed l never
knew. I was brought back to conscious
ness by the chair striking the ground.
They had set it down preparatory to
yes, but where, where? Decidedly not
In the river. It vas q room, OH the con-
trary, the dirty, grimy chamber of a
low country wineshop, where a crowd
Of rough, coarse men were drinking,
swearing and rolling about a lot Of
boxes, barrels and packages, like mer.
chandise.
chime. Jervaise, Nine. Jervaise!'
| they shouted in chorus, as our bearers
set us down. Have You brought us
Nine. Jervaise?'
"tShe is here, +" the bearers replied.
"'To work, to work, then! We have
no time to lose.'
"And the chair door was thrown open.
"But scarcely had they caught sight
Of Victoire and me, crouching half dead
in the bottom of the chair, when a wild
stampede took place, a heller SHELTER
rush for the outside. The lights were
extinguished, the thud'of feet was heard
pounding away into the night, and then
a deep, b~loodcurdling stiffness.
"We were alone in black darkness.
Luckily I had noticed the direction
Of the door. To leap from the chair,
seize Victories hand and make my way
to it was the work Of q second. The
clouds had not d%eepened, the rain had
ceased, and by the purest miracle we
found the road back to the city. By
daylight we were safe at home.
IA fortnight later perhaps an article
in a morning paper gave me the key to
the mystery Of hat hideous night in
which we (Viotoire and y had been Sc
strangely involved. The article an
nounoed the capture by the police Of a
band Of smugglers who had installed
themselves in an old, abandoned wine
shop in the outskirts Of Lille-a regular
magazine, as it turned out, Of contra
band goods, which they had struggled
in and out Of the city by mean of a
manikin representing a sick old woman,
partly paralyzed. and which, muffled in
wraps and placed in a sedan chair, they
carried back and forth under the very
nose of the gendarmes without the
slightest fear of detection.
"'An invalid ordered by the doctor
to take the steam baths they told the
officers Of the law, by name Mime. Jer-
vaise.'
"'Mme. Jervaisev The name told
me all and explained everything that
hitherto had seemed mysterious and in
applicable in our midnight adventure.
Happily for us our nocturnal escapade
had never been suspected, and Victoire
and I escaped a summons to appear az
witnesses before the court Of a~ssizes.
All the same from that day to this the
thought Of a sedan chair gives me goose
flesh down the spine. From the
French in Cincinnati Enquirer.