Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-07-11

ssssas:s.s.sssss
a last look at Cayius-at the huddled
gray town. and the towers above 1t. A
little thoughtful we all We're, think
The times We're rough and our errand
was serious. But youth and early
morning are fine dispellers of care: and
i once ON the uplands we trotted gayly
upward. now passing through wide
glades in the sparse oak forest, where
| the liees all leaned one way, low over
| bare. wind-swept downs; or once and
again descending into a chalky bottom,
Where the stream bubbled through
deep beds of fern, and lonely farm
house nestled amid orchards
-Four hours ridinS. and we saw be-
low us Cahors, filing the bend of the
| river. We canteled over the Nallandre
| bridge, which there crosses the lot,
and 50 to my uncle's house of call in
the square. Here we ordered break
fast, and announced With pride that
| we were going to Paris.
Our host raised his hands. Nov.
there" he exclaimed. regret in his
Voice And If You had arrived yester-
| day you could have Travelled up With
/ Nidane de Beers! And you a small
! party sewing your lordships presence
End the roads but so-so!"
/ lut lHe Nldame was riding with
only hall a dozen attendants also" 1
| answered. Ticking my boot in care
4 less way.
The landlord shook his head. "Ah,
NJ. lie yidame knows the world!" he
answered shrewdly. He is not to be
taken off his guard, not he! One of his
! men whispered me tnat 100 stanch
fellows would Join him at Chateauroux.
They say the wars are over, but"
NJ : 1,.ao oh ,chO
1 de.S', cast an expressive glance at some
fiae Nitches of bacon which were hang
linz in his chimney. However. your
I loraships know better than DO" he
/ sdaesl. hiskly. Il am a poor man.
only wish TO live at peace with my
neishhors, whether they go to mass or
| ss,i:aon.''
This was a sentiment so common in
those days and so heartily echoed by
incst men of substance both in town
/ ard country that we did not stay to
essen: to it; but having received from
| the worthy fellow token which would
lnsarc our obtaining fresh cattle ct
Limoges. we took to the road again,
/! refreshed il, body, and with some food
/ fer thought
FiVe-and twenty attendants We're
iuore than even such man as Beers,
4 Who had many enemies. travelled with
in those days: unless accompanied by
ladies. That the vidame had provided
such reinforcement seemed to point
to q wider scheme than the one With
which we hah credited him. But we
could not guess what hts plans We're;
since he must have ordered his people
before he heard of GATHERINGS engage
meilt. Either his jealousy therefore
had put him on the alert earlier, or
his threatened attack on Pavannes was
only part of a larger plot. In either
4 case our errand seemed more urgent,
bat scarcely more hopeful.
Tho varied sights and sounds how
ever of the road-many OF them new
To us-se7t US from dwelling over
much on this. Our eyes We're young,
and whether 1T was pretty girl lin
aeting behind a troop of gyps!es, or g
pair of strollers from fredericksburg
lcu.s they still called themselves
singing In the old dialect Of Provence
of q Norman horse dealer with his
string of cattle tied head and tail or the
Pup de Dome to the eastward over the
f.uvergne hills, or tattered old sol
der wounded in the wars-fghting fol
either side according as their lordships
inelned-we We're pleased with all.
y ct we never forgot our Grand we
never, think. rose in the morning-toc
often stiff and sore-without thinking:
To-day or tomorrow or the next day
AS the case might be-"we shall
make all right for Kit" For Kit! Per
haIos ii was the purest enthusiasm we
We're ever TO feel. the least selfish aim
we we've ever to pursue. t'or kit.
|. Meanwhile we met travellers of ranh
on the road. Half the nobility OF
France We're still in Paris enjoying the
, festivities which We're being held to
, mark the royal marriage. We OBJ
, tained horses where we needed then
without difficulty. And though we
i had heard much of the dangers of the
way. infested as 1T was said to be by
disbanded troopers, we We're not once
stopped or annoyed.
But it is not my intention to chron.
icle all the events of this my first jour.
ney, though l dwell on them with pleas
ure; or to say what l thought of the
=, towns. all new and strange to me
. through which we passed. Enough
, that we went by way of Limoges
: ChateaurouN and Orleans, and that al
, ChateaurouX we learned the failure o.
. one hope we had formed. We hat
! thought the Beers when Joined there
, by his troopers would not he able to ge
relays; and that on this account w,
, might by travelling post overtake him
, and possibly ship by him between tina
place and Paris. But we learned n
; / Chateaurax that his troop had re
{ ceived fresh orders to go to Orleans
/ and await him there, the result beins
a that he was able to push forward wit!
. relays so far He was evidently in no
haste. For leaving there with hi
horses fresh he passed through Anger
willie, 80 miles short of Parts, at noon
whereas we reached it on the evenn,
of the same day-the sixth after leav
!, ing Cayius.
i We rode into the yard OF the inn;
; large place, seeming larger in the dusl
, so tired that we could scarcely Sill