Evening star., 1898-07-30
CHAPTER xxvuI-ContImued.


AT first she wept. leaning on the icy para
pet; for the justice of God is a fearful
thing. and she was young. But her tears
froze on her cheeks. and she went down
through the house and out. and far into the
city to the gates. They would not let her
pass. She came back through the blind,
dead avenues, seeing nothing, hearing moth
ing. until at her own door she paused. her
hand on the vail, her lstless eyes closed.
1t was dawn. Red Riding Hood came cut
with covered basket to take her place in
the line at the butchers.
Hide smiled when she saw her. and,
STOPPING, kissed the child. Tell them l
have gone to the Nanterre Fort" she said.
So she went away into the city. to the
gates again, where cavalry were passing.
And she passed out among the horses and
the troopers. Nobody told her the road.
At a crOssway. in the center of dis
n1antled hamlet, the stupid, freezing troop
ers wheeled 10 the west. Hide kept on, her
white face fixed on the road. The gray
dawn came up behind the fortress of the
east. the bombardment ceased as the sun
appeared, but from the forts the smoke
riffs fled away and the guns flashed stead
lily. pounding The heights Of Chatilion and
the parapets of st. Cloud where the sullen
Prussian artillery lay breathless, waiting
for the night again TO strike. The frozen
road seemed endless The devastated, tree
less fields stretched fiat on either hand. To
Hide they seemed burning with the glitter
Of the sun, kindling each ice crystal to a
living coal. Her tired, hot eyes dropped.
her feet dragged. but the fever in her
breast gave her no rest, and she moved on
unconscious OF her exhaustion
There were men who called to her at
times; she saw they were soldiers, but she
neither heard nor answered their hoarse
halls. Perhaps the pickets thought she was
some craZed, starved young thing whose
Suff-TinU hpr ha ai
city; perhaps they took her for nurse, for
she still wore the gray wool and the red
crossband above her elbow
A squad of Franc-tireurs outside the out
posts called her to go back. She did not
even raise her head. a peasant crouched
before fire in a ditch by the roadside
warned her that uhlans had been there the
night before She looked at him and passed
on
There was a shell of a blackened village
beyond her-a mere hamlet charred crumb-
ling. half hidden in the snow She entered
the main street, dragging her tired little
feet over burned tfmbars and piles of brio k
and stone Twice she stumbled to her knees,
but she rose and went on. her gray skirt
powdered with snow. There was q man in
the street, walking ahead-a soldier He
heard her and waited for her. 1t was some
minutes after he hal dropped alongside
that she heard him talking, but even then
she did not look at him until he took hold
OF her arm, still talking and grfmacing.
The man was Stauffer. He sun had her
arm; she wrenched il away and moved
faster. but he follow ed and held her back
from sheer weakness she fell 10 her knees;
then she hid her face in her hands, crying
as though her heart would break She
could scarcely rise again: her head SWAN
al the glare on the snow dazzled her.
she noticed there were TWO men beside
her now; how the other came she did not
Know, but she saw, with no surprise that
one of them was the Mouse He had the
other man by the arm and was leading
him back toward Paris. .'Tiens"'
said the Mouse; Capt. Stauffer-here,
little rough with ladies-come now. admit
you are little srdent-eh. captain?"
Staufrer turned frightened face to the
Mouse; What are you doing?' he cried.
struggling, ''let gor'
Come on said the Mouse amfabIy. s1et
US get around this hoUse-so-where the
lacy cent see u.s. 1t might frighten her."
What do you mean?' stammered Stauf-
y ard the road again.
Wait! said the Mouse. barring his way
4 want to tell you something amusing
Do you remember giving me German gold
Eeers on the Hotel de Vile? Bon, You
said II was for plunder. You lied; it was
for VI. Bismarck"
Stauffer took a step backward and drew
a revolver; the Mouse cleared the space be-
tween them at siT gle bound; there was a
Shrek. furry of snow.
The Mouse stepped back, wiping his red
knife on his trousers
Now go and sell the Nanterre fort he
sneered.
Stauffer, stabbed through and through,
rolled In the snow. trying to rise.
Go and sell Paris. Hurry or you'll be
late. said the Mouse, moving off The
miserable wounded wretch dragged himself
after him, calling for mercy meaning and
sObDing. praying he might not be left 10
freeze IN the snow He followed the Mouse
on mis- nands and knees. his agonized face
rais9d The Mouse hesitated. watching the
Writhins creature askance. Then he went
back and destroyed him.
when he came Up with Hide again he
safd nothing She neither looked at him
nor spoke to him, for already over the
snowy plain. her strained eyes were fixed
on low hill that rose black and solitary
from the spotless level, the Nanterre fort.
The Mouse saw it, too.
tringing smoke draped the battIements
where, from an angle hidden on the hill
Side. mortar fired slowly. Other guns
concealed by the rccks in the rear of the
Iort, sent the smoke whiriing UP over the
citadel, obscuring the flag flying there until
current Of wind revealed il again
Oh tney went, on, on. and still on. The
iort seemed no nearer. They crossed a
dismantled railroad track covered with
81 ow. The Mouse slipped on the twisted
rails and rose swearing
The sun beat down on the expanse of ice
and snow; the reflection was intoIerahIe
appeared The Mouse knew what II was
and he halted. shaking from head to foot
But the squad OF Uhlans either did not see
them. or else feared shot from the gath
erings on the glacis OF the fort for thew
disappeared after a while, followed by the
hearty curses OF the Mouse
About noon. when the fort seemed within
stones throw. a picket hailed them from a
niilock to the left.
Volunteer nurse and atteudautr' bawlad
the Mouse in answer 10 the summons
twenty minutes later they We're climbing
On icy road that wound up the hillside
Dehse thickets screened 1T: squads of ar
ulIerymen in armless sheepskin coats pass
ed them. scarcely noticing. TIE road took
abrupt angles; each angle was covered by
3 cannon Ga1itngs and n1itrailIausss gIim-
mered behind parapets tuttiug from the
rock long field pieces peered through
ahatis work on every side. Two great iron
gates "ere passed, the sentries falling hack
and ssluting the red cross on Hides sleeve
1hen t5ey truned into level street pavad
decorated with lamps, running between
solid walls of masonry. Another iron gate
admitted them to square. also paved and
FACED IN with barracks of gray stone bad
ly shattered.
You can cross the parade" said the ar
ihieryHan on guard, pointing with his
saber The Prussians only lombard us an
night"
'FCiln-y." said the Mouse briefly. and
htde followed across the parade. where
souaGs OF soldiers were repairing the har-