Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24

' here. a silk handkerchief there-nothing
much, but still a modest little heap Of plum
der, which he had concealed in the cellar
of the house on the ramparts. Therefore
his first instinct led him back to the Rue
d'Ypres, where, If the cachette in the cell
lar remained undisturbed. he could further
avail himself of it by depositing the forks
with the rest Of the loot.
Thrift" muttered the Mouse, 'cannot
be too early acquired. S~apristiI One must
live in this world of bandits!"
AS he crossed the boulevard Montpar-
nasse he saw that the railroad station was
on fire. For a moment he hesitated-there
might be fine pickings yonder-but prudence
prevailed and he shambled on, scanning the
passersby with crafty face half everted,
bludgeon swinging, cap over one eye, the
incarnation of communism militant. Az
frighted citizens gave him room, turned and
looked after him as though in him they
saw the symbol of all that was secret
and dreadful in the city-the embodied
shape of anarchy-the omnibus prophet OF
revolution.
He passed on, staggering when prudent,
cringing when the ~sentries of the guard,
! pacing the devastated streets, halted to
look after him, lanterns raised. At such
moments he cursed them as loud as he
dared; sometimes when far enough away
he would insult them with gestures and
| epithets, gratifying to his vanity because
! of the slight risk such amusement entailed.
He ratified the forks in his pocket as he
walked; once or twice he broke into a song
a doggerel verse or two of some senti-
mental bariere ditty that attracted him be-
cause, like criminals of his type, he adored
sentimental song. He thought of Hare
wood, lying in the of the Nan
terre fort. Would he live or die? His
wounds had turned so bad that the sur
geons began to look at him in that mus
ing way that even the dying understand.
The Mouse scratched his ear; dead or
alive he must find his way back to Hare
wood; for the necessity that he felt for
Harewood's company left him restless as
a lost cur.
He thought often OF Red Riding Hood.
She was so small and thin and SO afraid of
him that he wondered why he thought of
her at all. In his burrow he had buried
an infants silver cup. This he decided to
present to Red Riding Hood when he could
do so without fear Of aspersions on his
honesty. He chuckled as he thought how
it would please that child-she would look
at him with those big eyes-she would
| peTudpS SHlllt-tNOlu ut Dicu -Wudt Il uTOll
young one! And so he came to the house
on the ramparts in the rue d'Ypres.
The cellar of the house was reached from
the garden through a fight OF stone steps.
The heavy slab that closed the manhole had
no paddock.
The Mouse, on his hands and knees,
CROPPED about in the dark, stumbling among
dead weeds and broken cucumbe frames,
| DutlnR and clrainR until WithOIt any
warning, he almost fell into the manhole
itself. Startled, alert, he crouched breath
less by the slab on the grass. Somebody
had removed it; somebody then was in the
cellar!
Stealthily he crawled into the manhole
and descended the first three steps. His
worn shoes made no noise; he crept three
steps further.
At the end of the cellar. in the full light
OF a lantern on the floor, sat three men.
Two of them wore uniforms of officers OF
the carbineers; the third was in civilian
dress, Their voices were indistinct, but
their features were not, and the Mouse fairly
bristled as he recognized them. They were
S~tautfer. Mortier and Buckhurst.
The first thought OF the Mouse was in
stinctively personal. They had come to rob
him OF his plumber! II was that, rather
than curiosity that led him to creep toward
them, nearer, nearer, wriggle behind a bar
rel, and crawl so that, with outstretched