Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1901-08-17
The House of The Wolf,,,,,
No n spoke. The priest looked
down. his cheek liYid with anger.
BY STANLEY J. wEYMAN

down. his cheek livid with anger.
From what?" Beers continued,
with grim ~playfulness. There is the
mystery. From the clutches of this
profigate Mirepoix, l suppose. From
the dangerous Mirepoix. Upon my
honor" with a sudden ring Of resolu-
ton in his tone, II hin you are safer
here; l think you had better stay where
you are, madame, until morning! And
risk Mirepoix!'
"Oh, 10! MOI" madame cried, vehem-
emily.
"oh. yes! yes!" he replied. what
DO you say coadjutor? Don't you
think SOP"
The priest looked down sullenly. His
voice shook as he murmured. in an
swer: Madame will please herself.
She has a character, M. lie Vidame.
But II she prefer to stay here-well!"
oh, she has a character, has she?"
rejoined the giant, his eyes twinkling
with evil mirth,, "and she should go
home with o and my old friend,
Nine. do, to save It.! That is II, is IL?
No, no." he continued, when he had
had his silent laugh out, Mime. de Pa
Vannes Will DO very very well here
very well here until morning. We
have work to do. Come. Let us go
and do it,"
do you mean it?" said the priest.
starting and looking up with q subtle
challenge-almost a threat-in his tone
Yes, 1 do"
Their eyes met; and seeing their
looks, / chuckled, nudging Croisette.
NO FEAR OF them discovering US now. /
recalled the old proverb which says
that when thieves fall out honest men
come by their own, n specialized on
the chance of the priest freeing us once
for all from NJ. de Beers.
But the two were ill-matched. The
vidame could have taken up the other
with one hand and dashed his head on
the floor. And 1t did not end there.
i doubt If in craft the priest was his
equal. Behind a frank brutality Beers
s~unless his reputation belied him
concealed an Italian intellect. Under
a cynical recklessness he yelled a rare
cunning and a constant suspicion; en-
Joying In that respect a combination OF
apparently opposing qualities, which I
have known no other man to possess in
an equal degree, unless II might be his
date majesty, Henry the Great. A
child would have suspected the priest;
u veteran might have been taken In by
the vidame.
And indeed the priests eyes present
ly sank Our bargain Is to go for
nothing?' he muttered sullenly.
Il know of no bargain" quoth the
Vidame. And / have no time to lose,
splitting hairs here. Set it down to
what you like. Say 1t is a within of mine,
q rad, a caprice. Only understand that
Nine. de Pavannes stays. We go. And"
he added this, as a sudden thought
seemed to strike him, though 1 would
not Willingly use compulsion to a lady,
L think Nine. d'O had better come too"
you speak masterfully," the priest
SAID with a sheer, forgetting the tone
ne had himself used a few minutes be-
fore to Mirepoix.
Just so. l nave 40 horsemen over
the way" was the dry answer. For
the moment, l am master of the le-
gions, Coadjutor."
That Is true" Nine. d'O said: so
SOFTLY that / start I'd. She had scarcely
spoken since Beers entrance. AS she
spoke now, she shook back the hood
from her face and disclosed the chest
nut hair clinging about her temples
deep blots of color on the abnormal
whiteness Of her skin. That is true.
M. de Beers" she said. You have the
legions. You have the power. But YOU
will not use it, l think, against an old
friend. You will not do us this hurt
Wnen L But listen"
He would not. In the very middle Of
her appeal he cut her short-brute that
he was! mo. madame!" he burst out
violently, disregarding the beautiful
face, the s~upplicating glance that
might have moved a stone, that is
just what / will not do. l will not lis
ten! We know one another. Is not
that enough?"
She looked at him fxedly. He re-
turned her gaze, not smiling now, but
cycling her with a curious watchful-
ness.
And after a long pause she turned
from him VERY we'll" she said softly,
and drew a deep, quivering breath,
the sound OF which reached us. Then
let us 60" And without-strangest
thing Of all-bestowing a word or look
on her sister, who was weeping bit
terly in a chair, she turned to the door
and led the way out, a shrug of her
shoulders the lest thing I marked.
The poor lady heard her departing
step, however, and sprang up. 1t
dawned upon her that she was being
deserted. "Diane! Diane!" she cried
distractedly-and l had to put my hand
on Croisette to keep him quiet, there
was such fear and pain in her tone
Il will go! / will not ce left behind in
this dreadful place! Do you hear?
Come back to me, Diane!"
1t made my blood run wildly. But
Diane did not come back. Strange!
And Beers too was unmoved. He
stood between the Door woman and the
door, and by q gesture bid Mirepoix
and the priest pass out before him.
Madame" ne said-and his voice,
stern and hard as ever, expressed no
jot of compassion for her, rather such
an impatient contempt as q pulling
child might elicit-'you are safe here.
And here you Will stop! Weep If you
please" he added cynically, you win
have fewer tears to shed tomorrow.
His last words-they certainly were
Odd ones-arrested her attention. She
checked her sobs, being frightened, /
4hfnE np1 lAAInI ~ % Ill., D. ]
haps he had spoken with this in view,
for while she still stood at gaze, her
hands pressed to her bosom, he slipped
quickly out and closed the door behind
/ heard a muttering for an In
slant outside, n then the tramp OF
feet descending the stairs. They were
gone, and we were still undiscovered.
For madame, she had clean forgotten
our presence-of that l am sure-and
the chance OF escape we might afford.
On finding herself alone she gazed a
short time in alarmed silence at the
door, and then ran to the window n
peered out, still trembling, terrified,
silent. So she remained awhile.
She had not noticed that Beers on
going out had omitted to lock the door
behind him. / had. But / was In
to move hastily. Some one
might return TO see to it before the
vidame left the house. And, besides,
the o was not over strong, and If
woul be no obstacle to the three
of us when we had only Mirepoix to
deal with. So l kept the others where
they were by a nudge and a pinch, and
held my breath a moment, straining
my ears to catch the closing Of the
door below. / did not heal that. But
[ did catch a sound that otherwise
might have escaped me, but which now
my eyes to the door Of our
room. Some one in the silence, which
the trampling on the stairs,
had cautiously laid a hand on the
The light in the room was dim. Mire-