Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-02-14

The two men leered at each other
across VIllon. hoping that their praises
of each other might have due effect
upon the great lord who seemed so con-
descending to them. Villon smiled. .
"You are the Castor and Pollux OF
purity? DC you remen Der the night or
last Shrove Tuesday and the girl you
carried off to Fat Margot's and held
to ransom"
. The effect Of his words upon the two
men was startling. The ugly episode
doomed up In their memories and they
shivered to find II known. In a second
the simulated friendship of bandit for
bandit vanished and the two men
glared at each other with the ferocity
of fighting dogs as they hurled accusa-
ton and denial at each other:
That was Collins adventure
THAT was Casin's enterprise!
II deplored It,"
81 had no hand in it,"
Forgetting their respect for author
fly in the fury of their an~tagonism,
they NstrucN angrlly at each other
across their questioner and were Crap
ping In close combat when Villon made
a signal and they, in their turn, were
dragged back raging into the ranks OF
their fellow prisoners.
There was only one left ~now-Jehan
lt OuD-N no SlOOu VIII lOtuCu I'll llo
and lowering brows, surveying the eff
forts of his comrades. Villon made a
sign, and the man was dragged into
his presence. Villon clapped him on the
shoulder.
You seem a brisk, assured fellow
for a man in duress."
The friendly demeanor of the great
man cheered the prisoner n he an
swered blufly:
MY good conscience sustains me-
Nillon's demeanor was still amicab!e
as he put his next question in a voice
that came only to Jchan's ears.
II am glad to hear 1t. How did The
venin pensetc come TO his death?'
The muscles of Jehan lie Loup's face
twitched for a moment, but he clinChed
his fingers tightly to restrain himself
and answered with a surly impassabil-
ity:
How should I know, my lord?"
Villon drew him nearer and spoke
lower still.
who better? That nasty quarrel
over the cards, the high words and a
snatch for the winnings, a tilted table,
an e~Xtinguished taper, a stab in the
dark and a groan. Exit Thevenin PEN
sete. Your dagger doesn't grow rusty"
Jehan's face grew grayer and uglieT,
but he kept his countenance.
OllTtl5iiGul ne ans W CI leu, L lONSu
him like a brother"
LAS Cain loved Abel" Villon said. He
made a sign, n Jehan lie Loup was
taken back to his fellows.
SO far Nillon had been sufficiently d.
verted. He had played upon the terrors
of his friends, he had bewildered them
to the top Of his desire. He now fore
saw the possibility of sport more deli
cate as his glance fell pom the group
yp .;,I. Nh, a1.r.Na.a1 f11afln. 1flyn
frightened birds at the foot of the
statue of Pan. He made a sign to Mes
sire Noel, and the gilded exquisite drew
mean
Bring me hither those four gentle
women" he commanded.
The fop's face heightened with
amazed disapprobation.
"Gentlewomen, messire? Those four
doxies?"
VillOn reproYed him.
"They are women, good captain, and
you and | are gentlemen, or should be,
and must Use them gently.
McsSire Noel frowned and his hand
made Il gesture in the direction of his
sword-hilt; then he remembered the
folly IF quaTreling with so great a man,
and contented himself with Struggling
his shoulders as he questioned:
And the demirep in the doublet and
hose?"
Let her stay for the present" Villon
answered, and in obedience to a sign
from Noel the four girls came timidly
forward with doWnCast eyes, while HUI
guette remained apart, leaning COM
posedly against the image of Pan and
surveying the scene with Il good
humored Indifference.
When the girls were close to him, VII
Ion spoke:
tNK-,II 900, 1,I;,. Yrh,t l.. thfr
trade Of yours that has brought you
into trouble
Jehanneton dropped a curtesy.
Il make the caps hat line helmets"
lsabeau followed quickly:
Il am a lace weaver. Enne, an hon
est trade"
Blanche came next.
Il am Il slipper maker"
Denise ended the catalogue.
And / a glover"
Mischief danced IN Villon'S eyes.
mo worse and no better. A word in
your ear" He whispered something in
to each girls ear in turn, and as he did
so, each girl started, drew back, looked
confused, laughed and blushed.
1t is ever to be deplored that the
worthy Dom Gregory, whose ecclesias-
teal history of Poitou is the source of
so much curious information concern
ing Villon, should have omitted, from
a mistaken sense of deliCacy, to chroni-
Gle precisely what it was that the poet
whispered in the ears Of each of the
girls. All he condescends to record in
his grabbed, canine Latin, is that VII
Ion showed SO much intimate acquaint-
ance with certain physical peculiarities
or whimsical adventures private to
each damsel that she believed the
speakers knowledge TO be little less
than supernatural. Literature of the
skittish sort must deplore the monastic
reticence, but history car do no more
than accept it and leave imagination to
fill in the blank as best it pleases.
All history is certain of is hat the