Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1901-06-29
The House Of The Wolf,,,,,,
BY N J. wEYMAN


last night from Toulouse; and I go to-
morrow to Paris. / nave but rested
n washed of the stains of travel
that ! may lay my-ahl"
He seemed to see us for the first
time, and negligently broke off in his
compliment; raising himself and sa-
luting us. "Ah," he continued. indo-
lently. two OF the maidens Of Caylus,
l see. With an odd pair Of hands
apiece, unless / am mistaken. Why do
you tot set them spinning, mademoi-
seller" and he regarded us with that
smile which-with other things as evil
had made him famous.
Croisette pulled horrible faces be-
mind his back. We looked holly at him:
but could And nothing to say.
You grow redi" he went on, pleas
antly-the wretoh!-playing with us as
a cat does with mice. at offends your
dignity, perhaps, that / bid mademoi-
selle set YOU spinning? 1 now would
spin at mademoiselle's bidding, and
think It happinessi"
we are not girls!" / blurted out,
with the flush and tremor of a boys
passion. You had not called my god
father, Anne de Montmorenci, a girl,
M. lie Vidame!" For though we count
ed 1t q joke among ourselves that we
all bore girls names, we were young
enough to be sensitive about II.
He shrugged his shoulders. And
how he dwarfed us all as he stood
there dominating our terracei IN. de
Montmorenci was a man." he said,
scornfully. IN. Anne de Caylus is"
And the villain deliberately turned
his great back upon us. taking his seat
the low wall near GATHERINGS chair.
1t was clear even to our vanity that
he did not think us worth another
word-that we had passed absolutely
from his mind. Nine. Claude came
waodling out at the same moment, Gil
carrying a chair behind her. And we
well, we skunk away and sat or the
other side Of the terrace, whence we
could still glover at the offender.
Yet who were we to glover at him?
To this day / shake at the thought of
1t was not so much his height
and bulk, though he was so big that
the clipped, pointed fashion OF his
beard-a fashion then new at court
on him incongruous and effem-
mate; nor 30 much the sinister glance
of his gray eyes-he had q slight cast
in them; nor the grimy suavity of his
manner, and the harsh, threatening
voice that permitted Of no disguise. II
was he sum Of these things, the great,
brutal presence Of the man-that was
overpowering-that made the great
falter and the poor crouch. And then
his reputation Though we knew lit
tie OF the worlds wickednesss, all we
did know had come to us linked with
his name. We had heard of him as q
duelist, as a bully, an employer of
braves. At Jarnac he had been the
last to turn from the shambles. Men
called him cruel n vengeful even for
those ~days-gone by now, han God
and whispered his name when they
spoke OF assassinations; saying COM
monty OF him that he would not blench
before O Guise, nor blush before the
virgin. 81,
Such was OH visitor and neighbor,
Raoul de Mar, Nidame de Beers. As
sat on he terrace. now cycling us
askance, and now paying Catherine a
l likered him to q great
cat before which n butterfly has all
unwittingly lirted her prettiness.
Poor Catherine! No doubt she had
her own reasons for uneasiness; more
reasons, ! fancy, than l then guessed.
For she seemed to have lost her voice.
She stammered and made but poor re-
piles; n Nine. Claude being deaf and
and we boys too timid after the
we a experienced to fll the
gap, the conversation languished. The
Vi6ame was o for his part the man
to put himself out On q hot day.
1t was after one Of these pauses-
not the first but the longest-that /
on finding his eyes fixed on
mine. More, / shivered. 1t is hard tn
describe, but there was a look in the
Vidame's eyes at hat m which
l had never seen before. A look Of
pain almost; OF dumb savage alarm at
any rate. From me they passed slow
~ to Marie and mutely Intercepted
him. Then the Vidame's glance trav-
hnnly 10 (fnflnrinA md cAft101 ~,
her.
Only q moment before she had been
but too conscious of his presence. Now,
as it CHANGED by bad luck, or in the
course OF Providence, something had
drawn her attention elsewhere. She
was unconscious Of his regard. Her
W yes were fixed In O far-away
Her color was high, her lips
were parted, her bosom heaved gently.
The shadow deepened on the Vi
face, Slowly he took his eyes
from hers, and looked northwards also.
Caylus Castle stands on a rock In the
middle of the narrow valley Of that
name. The town clusters about the
of the rock SO closely that when
l was a boy / could fling n stone clear
Of the houses. The hills are scarcely
500 yards distant on either side, rising
in tanner colors from the green fields
about the brook. 1t Is possible from
the terrace to see the whole valley, and
the road which passes through II
GATHERINGS eyes were on
the northern extremity of the defile,
where the highway from Cahors de-
from the uplands. She had
been sitting with her face turned that
way all the afternoon.
l looked hat way too. A solitary
was descending the steep
track from the hills.
"Mademoiselle!' cried the Vidame,
suddenly. We all looked up. His one
was such that the color fled from Kits
face. Their was something In his
voice she had never heard In any voice
before-something that to a woman
like q blow. "Mademoiselle," he
snarled, us expecting news from Ca
hors, from her lover. / have the honor
congratulate M. de Pavannes on his
conquest,
All! he had guessed 1t! AS the words
on the sleepy silence, an insult in
/ sprang to my feet,
amazed End angry. yet astounded by
his ~quickness of sight and wit. He
must have recognized the Pavannes
badge at that distance. IN. lie VI
/ said, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
was white and voiceless-"M. lie Vi
~ oaN Il lOppCu IN u
tered, stammering. For behind him I
could see Croisette; and Croisette gave
me no sign of encouragement or sup
port.
So we stood face to face for a mo-
ment; the boy and the man Of the
world, the stripping and the roue Then
the vidame bowed to me In quite a new
fashion. IN. Anne de Caylus desires to
for M. de Pavannes?" he
asked, smoothly; with a hooking
smoothness.
/ understood what he meant. But
something prompted me-Croisette
afterwards that 1t was a happy
thought, though now I know the crisis
have been less serious than he fan
cied-to answer: Nay, not for M. de
Pavannes. Rather for my cousin"
And bowed. II have the honor on
her behalf to acknowledge your con-
UTQ fIIIo finno nj L. yVllo-.o