Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-10-10

The House of The Wolf,,,,,,aa
BY STANLEY j. WEYMAN

u. WEYf1AN ~
saa;ssssssssssasassssssases
one answer. should have bitterly rued
| the day. Providence was good to me.
Such men and such women, we may be-
lleNe, have ceased to exist now. They
tlourished in those miserable days of
war and divisions. and passed away
With them like the foul night-b birds OF
the battlefield.
| 10 return to our journey. In the
| morning sunshine one could not but be
cheerful. and think good things posi-
Die. The worst trial l had came With
each sunset. For then-we generally
rode late into the evening-Louis
sought my side to talk to me of his
sweetheart. And how he would talk
| Of her. How many thousand messages
| ne gave me for her How often he re-
called old days among the hills, With
each laugh and jest and incident, when
we five had been his children. Until l
would wonder passionately, the tears
running down my face in the darkness,
how he could-how he could talk OF her
| IN that quiet voice which betrayed no
rebellion against fate, no cursing of
1 prlNidence. How he could plan for her
and think of her when she should be
alone.
| Now | understand it. He was still
| laboring under the shock of his friends
| murder. He was still partially stunned.
Death seemed natural and familiar to
him. as to one Who had seen his allies
| and companions perish without warm
| ing or preparations Death had come to
be normal to him. life the exception;
as have known it seem to child
brought face to face With corpse for
the first time.
.af CT, Y.
rened. We could see the Auvergne
hills at no great distance on our left
the Puy de Dome above them-and
we four We're riding together. We
had falen-an unusual thing-to the
rear OF our party. Our road at the mo-
ment was mere track running across
moorland, sprinkled here and there
With sorse and brushwood. The main
company had struggled on out of sight.
There We're but Il half dozen riders
to be seen an eighth of Il lea que before
us couple almost ~ far behind. |
looked every way With a sudden surg
ing of the heart. For the first time
the possibility of flight occurred to me-
The rough Auvergne hills We're Within
reach. Surprising we could get lead
of quarter of a league. we could
hardly be caught before darkness came
and covered us. Why should we not
put spurs to our horses and ride off?
'lmpossble." said Pavannes quietly,
when / spoke.
"Why?" l asked with warmth
First, he replied, because l have
given my word to go With the Nidame
to Cahors"
My face flushed hotly. But"
cried, what of that?' You We're taken
by trcachery. Your safe conduct was
disrcgarded. Why should you be scrup-
ulous? Your enemies are not. This is
| folly.'
Il think not. Nay" Louis answered,
shaking his head, you would not do
| it yourself in my place"
II think l should" | stammered awls-
| wardly.
NO you would not, lad" he said.
smiling. II know you too Well But
| would not do it. it is impossible" He
turned in the, saddle, and, shading his
eyes with his hand from the level rays
of the sun. looked back intenty. ut
is as ! thought" he continued. lone
OF those men is riding Gray Margto,
4 which Bure said yesterday was thu
fastest mare in the troop. And the man
on her is a lightweight. The other
fellow has that Norman bay horse we
We're looking at this morning, II is a
trap laid by Beers. Ammo. If we turned
aside dozen yards those two would be
after us like the wind. y
do you mean" l cried, that Beers
has drawn his men forward on pur-
| pose?"
Precisely" was Louis answer.
THAT is the fact. Nothing would
| please him better than to take my
honor first. and my life afterwards.
| But, thank God, only the one is i'm his
/ power.
And when / came to look II the horse
| mep Immediately before us they con-
filmed Louis View. They We're the
| best mounted of the party; all men of
1 light weight, too. one or the other of
them was constantly looking back AS
| night fell they closed in upon us with
their usual care When Bure joined
us there was u CLEAN of Intelligence in
| his bold eyes. Il flash of conscious trick
cry. He knew that we had found him
out and cared nothing for it,
And the others cared nothing. hut
the thought That if left to myself
cunning trap filled me with new hatred
towards him; such hatred and such
! fear-fcr there was humiliation
mingled with them-as | had scarcely
| felt before. brooded over this, barely
noticing what passed in our company
for hours--nay. not until the next day
when. towards evening, the cry arose
round me that we We're within sight OF
Cahors. Yes, there 1t lay below us, in
| its shallow basin, surrounded by gem
tie hills The domes of the cathedral,
the towers of the Nallandre bridge the
bend of the Lot, whore its stream en-
braces the town. knew them all. Our
long Journey was over.
And l had but one idea. had some
time before communicated to Croisette
the desperate design / had formed--to
fail upon Beers and kill him i'm the
midst of his men--in the last resort.
Now the time had come if the thing
WAS ever to be done; il We had not left
ii too long already. And ] looked about
me. There was some confusion and
Jostling as we halted on the brow of
the hill, while two men were dispatched
ahead to announce the governors ar
rival, and Bure, with half dozen
| spears, rode out as an advance guard.
The road whore we stood was narrow,
n shallow cutting winding down the
declivity of the hills. The horses We're
tired. 1t WAS a bad time and place for
my design, and only the coming night
WAS in my favor. But 1 was desperate.
Yet before ] moved or gave a signal
which nothing could recall, | scanned
the landscape eagerly, scrutiniZing in
turn the small, rich plain below us,
warmed by the last rays of the sun, the
bare hills here glowing, there dark, the
scattered wood clumps and spinneys
that filled the angles Of the river even
the dusky line of the holm oaks that
crowned the ridge beyond--Caylus
way. So near our own country there
might be help. If the messenger whom
we had dispatched to the vicomte be-
fore leaving home had reached him, our
uncle might have returned. and even
| be In Cahors to meet us.
But no party appeared in sight; and
saw no place where an ambush could
| be lying. i remembered that no It'd