Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-03
Ashes of Empire.

BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS.

could hear him in the water; now he was
climbing the bank; the bushes cracked;
a footstep fell on the gravel.
HARDWOOD waited. peering through the
gloom. He could see nothing; the silence
was absolute. Whoever was following him
had stopped out there somewhere in the
darkness.
a little unnerved, Hardwood turned again
and FASTENED through the meadow TO the
highway. When he reached the road he
could scarcely see It, but he felt the mud
and gravel beneath his feet, and started
on. In a moment he heard the footsteps of
his follower, not behind, now, but in front
between him and Paris. He stopped
abruptly and drew his revolver. A minute
passed in utter silence. Then there came
a softs football close in front, a whining
voice:
Monsieur"
who are your" said Hardwood sharply.
"The Mouse, monsieur"
In his establishment the revolver almost
fell from Harowood's hand. "What the devil
are you doing hcre?" he demanded, land
why the devil are you sneaking about like
this? Answer, you fool! l nearly shot you
just now!'
The Mouse crept up to Hardwood as a
sulky, vicious cur comes to his punish
ment.
Answer repeated Hardwood, why are
you following me?"
81 wasn't sure it was you" muttered the
Mouse.
What? Why did you come to lie
Bourget?"
4 don't know" said the Mouse sullenly.
Harewood's amazement turned to impa-
thence.
You'd better answer me" he said; you
certainly didn't come here for love of my
company"
But that was exactly the reason why the
Mouse had come. The instinct of a savage
cur for it's master, the strange attraction
that decency and courage have for the bru-
tally vicious, the necessity that dwarfed in
tolligence feels for the Companionship and
guidance and protection of healthy mentality
all these started the Mouse out Of Paris
as an abandoned mongrel starts to find its
missing master.
Hardwood understood this at last, and it
touched him-not that the Mouse explained
1t. He could not have explained it, even II
he had himself comprehended the reason of
his seeking Hardwood. All he knew was
this-that he missed Hardwood, that he was
used to him, that he felt uncomfortable
without him. So he came. Even a gutter
cat, lOTClDly transported lnlO uiSJdul parts,
turns up again in it's old haunts. Hare
woods company had become the haunt of
the Mouse. So he came back to it.
The wretched creature was nearly starved.
Hardwood drew him into the thicket beside
the road and gave him his last morsel of
bread and meat.
"Imbecile!" he whispered while the
Mouse gnawed the crust, sqpatting on his
muddy haunches; there may be Prussian
!, pickets anywhere along the fields. Djdn't
you know it?"
Yes" said the Mouse TRANQUILITY, there's
a picket of Uhlans just ahead"
This was startling news for Hardwood.
, "Where?' he demanded under his breath
3 About a kilometer over that way" re-
. piled the Mouse, jerking his thumb toward
) the southeast. He was going to add some
? thing more when the sudden tinkle of g
horses shod foot striking stones broke out
8 in the night. They cruched low in the
/ thicket listening. The road was lighter
5 now; a gray shadow passed. a horsemar
. trailing a lance. Others rode up mounted
on wiry little horses, all carrying tall lance:
Y that ratified in their saddle boots.
AS Hardwood strained his eyes the moor
= broke out overhead-a battered, deformet
t moon, across whose pale disk the flying scut
5 whirled like shredded smoke.
A cultural voice began in German:
where are the scouts-eh?"
k Then in the moonlight Hardwood saw
Speyer and Stauffer, clad in the uniform o
the carbineers, salute the Uhlan officer anC
hand him a thin packet of papers. TIL
Mouse beside him trembled like a terrier a
e a rat hole; Hardwood clutched his arm ant
t stared at the group in the road.
t There was a brief parley, a word of eau
ton, then the Uhlans wheeled their horse
e and galloped back toward Paris, and the twI
e traitorous carbineers struck off across tn
+ meadow toward LIE Bourget, then made
demi-tour, and followed the bank of tn
h river. Very cautiously Hardwood crept on
to the road when the gallop of the Uhlan
: had died away.
is The Mouse stood beside him, an ope
J. clasp-knife in his fist, nostrils quivering /
: the freshening wind.
Hardwood glanced at the knife and saiC
: What are you going to do? Cut your wa
to Paris? Come back to LIE Bourget, 20
II fool"
q Half way back across the wet meadow tn
&C Mouse asked: And if we oyertake Speyer?
10 Are you the public executioner?" sal
IS Hardwood sharply. Put up that knife.
ID tell you"
Ia The Mouse closed his knife and plodde
= on In silence.
ID After a while Hardwood asked him abol
m Bourke and Hide and Yolette. But he kne
" little more than Hardwood did, for he ha
q left the house on the ramparts the mornin
ID after Harewood's departure, and since the
had been following him up.
ID Morning was breaking as they forded IL
,e Molletter and answered the sentry's cha
n lenge from the ruined highway. 1t WI
NJ Sunday. the 30th of October-a desolate Sur
day in a desolate land, They hurrie
through the main street, where sleepy relie'
: were marching to replace the pickets alon
the river, and at last they reached III
church, where a group OF officers stood O
the steps in attitudes of detection.
"Cnlnnel Martin - crind Harawnoh Liam