Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1903-11-27
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DILEMMA OF CAPTAIN HELM.

THE DILEMMA OF CAPTAIN HELM.
~ NCLE JAZON, feeling like
fish returned to the water aft
er long and tOrturing captiv-
ity in the open air, plunged in
to the forest with anticipatiOns of lively
adventure and made his way toward
the Wea plains. 1t was his purpose to
get boat at the village of Ouiatenon
and pull thence up the Wabash until he
could find out what the English were
doing. He chose for his companions
on this dangerous expedition two ex-
pert coureurs de bois. Dutremble and
Jacques Bailoup. Fifty miles up the
river they fell in with some friendly
Indians, well known to them all, who
were returning from the portage.
The savages informed them that
there were no signs of an English ad-
vance in that quarter. Some of them
had been as far as the st. Joseph river
and to within a short distance of De-
troit without seeing white man or
hearing Of any suspicious movements
on the part of Hamilton. So back
came Once Jazon with his pleasing re-
port, much disappointed that he had
not been able to stir up some sort of
trouble.
1t was Helms turn to laugh.
"What did tell your he CRIED in a
jolly mood. slapping Beverley on the
shoulder. II knew mighty well that it
was all big story with nothing in it.
What on earth would the English be
thinking about to march an army away
off down here only to capture a rotten
stockade and lot of Cabling party
voos?'
Beverley, while he did not feel quite
as confident as his chief, was not sorry
that things looked little brighter than
he had feared they would turn out to
be. Secretly and without acknowledge
ing it to himself he was delighted with
the life he was living.
He began to like walking about aim
lessly in the towns narrow streets,
with the mud daubed cabins on either
hand. This simple life under low.
matched roofs had a charm. Every
body cried cheerily, bon jour, mon
sieur comment allez-vousW as he went
by, always accompanying the verbal
salute with graceful wave Of the
hand.
But it was always a glimpse of Alice
that must count for everything in Bev-
erley's reckonings, albeit he would
have strenuOusly denied it. True he
went to Roussillon place almost every
day, it being fixed part of his well
ordered habit, and had talk with her.
Sometimes, when Dame RoussillOn was
very busy and so quite off her guard,
they read together in novel or in GER
tain parts of the odd volume Of Mon
taigne. This was done more for the
sweetness of disobedience than to en-
Joy the already familiar pages.
Now and again they repeated their
fencing bout but never with the result
which followed the first Beverley soon
mastered Alice's tricks and showed her
that, after all, masculine muscle is not
to be discounted at it's own game by
even the most wonderful womanly
strength and suppleness. She struggled
bravely to hold her vantage ground
once gained so easily, but the inevita-
BILE was not to be avoided. At last one
bowling winter day he disarmed her
by the very trick that she had shown
him. That ended the play, and they
ran, shivering, into the house.
"Ah," she cried. "it isn't fair. You
are so much bigger than l. You have
so much longer arms. so much more
weight and power. 1t all counts against
me! You ought to be ashamed Of your
self! She was rosy with the exhilarat-
ing exercise and the biting of the fros-
ty breeze. Her beauty gave forth
new ray.
Deep in her heart she was pleased to
have him master her SO superbly; but
as the days passed she never said SO,
never. gave over trying to make him
feel the touch of her foil. She did not
know that her eyes were getting
through his guard, that her dimples
were stabbing his heart to its middle.
"You have other advantages" he re-
piled, (which far overbalance my
greater stature and stronger muscles"
Then after a pause he added, After all
girl must be a girl"
Something in his face, something In
her heart, startled Der so that she made
quick little move like that of a rest
less bird.
"You are beautiful, and that makes
my eyes and my hand uncertain" he
went on. "Were fencing with a
mon there would be no glamour"
He spoke In English. which he did