Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-02-07

AS soon as Villon found himself
alone he looked cautiously around him,
,omprehending In his astonished glance
The gray walls of the palace, the moss
grown terrace, the petal-streWn steps
the old stern tower with its omlnous
,un dial, and the wealth OF wonderful
roses all about him, making the air a
gery paradise of exquisite colors ana
exquisite odors. He shut his eyes Tor
4 few seconds and then opened them
sharply as If expecting to find that tle
scene had vanished shadow-like into
hin impalpable air, but castle II Ter
race, tower and roses remained as they
1ad been, very plain to the poets as
.onished senses. Tiptoeing cautiously
across the grass, he reached a narple
seat which stood beneath a bower OF
roses and seemed to be protected by a
great terminal statue Of the god Fan
which had been given as a present 10
Louis by an eastern prince, VINO nau
carried IL from Athens. Pressing MS
aand to his forehead, Villon tried TO re-
call the events Of the evening pelore,
which for some fantastic reason seemed
to lie long centuries behind MIN. he
could remember dimly an evil looking
cell with straw upon the floor and
chains upon the walls; he could recall
the sullen faces of u~nfriendly gaolers.
One Of these g%aolers, he remembered,
aad thrust a mug Of wine into his hahd
and babe him drink surlily. and he had
drunk greedily, as was his way When
free drink was offered to him, and
drinking, drank oblivion sudden n
complete.
But why had he gone to a dungeon?
His senses ached as he asked hlmself
his, and faint pictures began to piece
themselves together out Of the episodes
IF the dead night. He saw again the
suuilid walls Of the Fircone tavern
and In his mind jumped back TO his
recitation Of the ballad and his nerce
sense OF indignation at the humiliation
IF Paris, girdled by a wall OF hostlle
Burgundians and governed by an I'M
potent king. Then came the vision or
IN angels visit and a prayer that mad
more devil han angel In ii, and then
came a quarrel, and a fight in the dark
ness shattered by the flaming torches
IF the watch and Thibaut's huge body
lying on the ground, n huddled heap or
shining armOr. He remembered the
ribbon that had been flung to him from
the gallery and thrust his hand into the
bosom Of his vest of cloth II gold
and found the token there, Its Slossl-
ness of white and gold soiled by us
touch of the floor. Then came his cap
Lure, his Contumelious march through
the gloomy streets, his taste of an un-
tnown prison, his taste Of popped wine,
and then sleep.
His next consciousness was that he
was lying on a soft bed instead OF on a
truss of straw, and that the darkness
about him was not the darkness or the
cell. Suddenly some one drew q cur
tain and in a second the place Where
he lay filled with q soft light ana
showed that to Villon which ~astonlshed
him as much as IL the gates or para
disc had parted before hin n shown
him the shining lines Of the hosts Of
heaven. He remembered that he was
living in n stately bed, nestled in snowy
linen. beneath a coVcTlet or crimson
silk. He remembered that the bed
stood in q gorgeous room, heavy with
magnificent tapestry and rooted with q
carved and painted ceiling that gilt
tered with gilt and stars. Curtains or
purple velvet admitted the daylight
through windows on which rich armor-
Ial bearings glowed in colored glass.
Soft and delicate odor i~mpregnated the
atmosphere and tender strains Of deli
cate music stole wooingly on the senses
from the strings OF n distant lutte.
Then there came, so kindly memory
assured him, an obsequious man in
black. with no less obsequious attend
ants, and singular ceremonies Of bath
ing, pertaining and hair dressing and a
putting on Of sweet linen and furred
raiment and jewels, and all the cere-
monials for the TRANSPORTATION Of n
ragged robin into the likeness of a
mighty lord. on the top Of all this
preparation rose the u OF n splendid
banquet, served in ware of gold and
silver and waited on by the same OBJ
~seuuious figure i'm black and the same
RESPECTFUL pages. Then followed the
summons to walk into the air, the pro-
cession through quiet corridors on 10
the cool gray terrace n the mai IN
stallment in the scented solitude OF the
rose garden. Nillon was head-sick and
heart-sick with the effort to put so
much of the past together. He felt as
If in some strange titanic way he had
ruined a world and was suddenly called
upon by Providence to piece the fraG-
ments together and make all whole
again. He tapped his forehead o
deringly.
Last night l was a red-handcd out
law, slee1ing on the straw of a dun
geon. Today l wake in a royal bed and
my varlets call me monseigneur. There
are but three ways Of explaining this
singular situation. Either l am drunk
or | am mad or | am dreaming. If | an
drunk, | shall never distinguish Bor-
deaux wine from Burgundy-a melan-
choly dilemma. Let's test it."
The marble table stood but a little
way from him. The golden vessels that
stood upon it had served him at that
morning meal which was still an inn
Mediate excellent memory, and he re-
.mbered how his attendants had told
n that one held wine of Bordeaux