The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-07-15

tention Of the honest fellow. He made
US as comfortable a resting place as be
could contrive with the aid of saddle
and rugs, and then, giving us some
wine to drink, babe us sleep, while he
retired little distance, not to rest, but
to attend to the horses and keep a
watch. So utterly tired out were we
that we must have fallen asleep at
once, and the sun was already rising
when Lalande aroused us.
"If madame does not mind" he said,
sit would be well'if we moved farther
up into that wood yonder and rest
there while | go to a village hard at
hand and procure some food and take
news of the state of the road"
To this | assented readily. and after
walking for about n quarter of a mile
we found a spot which exactly suited
our purpose and where both we and
the horses could be concealed for the
remainder of the day, if it was so nee
essary, without any fear of discovery
Lalande then started off for the viii
lage, and we waited his coming with
hungry Impotence, taking, however,
the opportunity of his absence to make
a forest toilet 1t was some time be-
fore the equerry came back, and we
were just beginning to be alarmed at
his absence when he appeared, bearing
with him the things he went to pro-
cure, and whiR Mousette and | were
eating he told us what he had found
out adding:
hot do 11e
able to travel by daylight-that croque-
mort La Coquille and his gang passed
through st. Bathilde yesterday and
are in the neighborhood, and not they
alone, but one or two others of like
kidney We shall have to make our
way as best we can by night"
But this was too much. Not for any
thing was l going to endure the misery
of last night over again, and | argued
and eXpostulated with Lalande, Mou-
settle joining with me with shrill objur-
cations, and at last the poor fellow
gave in, but, | confess, with a very bad
grace, grumbling a good deal to him
self and declaring he would be no lon
ger responsible for our safety. | own
now that we were wrong in persisting
as we did, but | put it to any one if
they would have endured that we had
to endure without protest, and, then
we were women, and am afraid pos
sessed some of that contrarness of dis
position which have heard the oppo-
site sex credit us with, though for pure
mulish obstinacy give me a man who
thinks he has made up his mind.
| Lalande was, however determined
| upon one thing and that was to avoid
the main road, and, as l had so far sue
| cessfully opposed his plan of forcing a
night journey, | did not feel justified
in making further objections and al
| lowed him to follow the bypaths he
chose without further protest, though
| indeed it was as if there was some
truth in Mousette's remark of last
night that he was choosing the most
| difficult tracks to show how well be
knew the way. We now entered the
mountains of the Limousin, and what
would have been a mile elsewhere be-
came three here with the ups and
downs, the turns and twists. For miles
we passed never q human habtation
except now and again few woodcut-
ters' huts and sometAnes a small out
lying farm, and l felt the justice of
Lalande's remark when he defended
himself from a sharp attack by Mou-
settle by saying he had chosen this
road because it was safe from gentle
men like La Coquille, who never found
any bones worth the picking on it and
| 1aHk
verely alone-though. of course, there
was the odd chance of our meeting
them, and so again to the old argument
of travelling by night.
AS we went on the scenery became
wilder and more savage, and once q
large gray wolf with two cubs by her
side appeared on the track about fifty
PAGES or SO in front of us, and after
giving our party a quiet survey and
showing us a line of great strong teeth
as she snarled on us trotted calmly
off with her family down the hillside.
Both Mousette and myself were not
unnaturally alarmed but Lalande,
with "Never fear, madame; there
is no danger" kept quietly along,
though saw that he had pulled pis-
tol from his holster. AS the day ad-
vanced we became aware that the sun
was being obscured by clouds more
often than it should be at this time of
| year, and every now and again gusts
| OF wind would race down the ravines
and lose themselves with ominous
warnings through the forest. Still the
horizon was clear, and high above all
others we could make out the crest of
Mount Odouze. I asked Lalande if he
thought there was likely to be a
storm.
at is hard to tell, madame. Storms
come on very suddenly in these hills,
But If there is one it will not be very
bad, for we can see the Cradle as that
dip between the two peaks of Mount
Odouze is called, quite distinctly"
But, though he spoke thus reassur-