The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-01-01

4 Oao iiSillG IeIIldlDS uUOl GUOluGT. NO-uOI
till the heavens themselves do fall, will
/ forgive you, girl. If you disobey me and
marry this man. Your father never yet
broke his word to man-and he will not
do SO now with his God"
Old Antoine Bordeaux, a wealthy retired
farmer and land owner of the American
Bottoms in southern Illinois, glared fierce
ly at the handsome couple that stood be-
fore him. The girl. his daughter, to whom
his remarks had been addressed, was a
pretty brunette, with the black hair and
dark eyes of her French ancestry. The
young man who was with her and showed
defiance In every line Of his clear-cut fea-
, lures was o different type, with brown hair
and gray eyes.
IT was the old story. The daughter of a
rich old mar choosing to love a young fell
low whom her father deemed not wealthy
enough to be a desirable son-tn-law, in
preference to caring for one of the a
rich young farmers who had appeared as
suitors 70. the hand of Louise Bordeaux.
Antoine Bordeaux had forbidden the cou-
pie to meet. The thing which had called
for the bitter remarks which have just
been given was his happening to come
upon them that afternoon, and to over
! hear enough Of their conversation to learn
that they had decided to run away and
get married the next week, which would
Aiidi LOUISE cisIlleeHlH DlTlfludy. ne
had finally burst in on them when Frank
Leslie had said: "When we are married,
your father will forgive us fast enough"
and had sworn the oath which, according
to his French Catholic training, must
never be broken.
And now, go to the house, girl" he con-
cluded. LAS for you, SIR turning to
Leslie, you have my final answer. Let
me never see you here again"
"11l see Won next week T.OIiSe." said
Leslie. as he turned away, paying no at
%tention to old Bordeaux. who stood stamp
ing the ground in his rage. Louise threw
a kiss to him as he walked away toward
the cluster of white houses that formed
the little French village of New Baden.
Then she marched up to the big white
farm house that stood surrounded by trees
in the midst of the fertile acres that
formed Antoine BordeauX's ancestral do
main. Antoine himself followed her and
sat down on the porch to smoke his pipe
and try to compose his ruffled feelings.
To all appearances he should have been
a very contented old man. His family,
old and respected, his life a blameless
one. Heaven had sent him no sons, it is
true, to comfort his old age, but it had
sent him two beautiful daughters, the
elder of whom, Evelyn, was married to a
wealthy merchant of Belleville. the county
seat, and his younger daughter. Louise.
WAS NE dcNHOMleuSeu DellG OIL l1G COuT-
ty, and was sought for by a score of the
young farmers of that section. And here
she had persisted in falling In love with
a young newspaper man who covered"
st. Clair county for a st. Louis paper. 1t
was truly enough to vex a more even tenn
pered ma han Antoine Bordeaux. He
growled and grumbled to himself a while
as he sat on the porch, until. finally over
como by the oppressive May day, he fell
asleep. Over in the southwest great banks
of strange, black-iooking cloud were
forming, out they were at the back of the
house, and he did not see them before he
doZed off.
Suddenly he woke up with a start. How
dark 1t had ~grown-and how dead and OPP
pressive seemed the air. Once he had
suffered an attack Of apoplcxy. Could it
be that lie was to have another stroke?
And What was this greenish light that
seemed to be in the sky? He heard a
strange rumbling. too! Thunder? No; it
was different from that! 1t was different
from anything he had ever heard before,
and then he saw Frank Leslie come DASH
Ing into the gate-while at the same time
Louise came screaming to the door.
Leslie reached the porch at a bound.
run for the cellar" he shouted, and
brushing the old man aside. he caught
Louise In his arms and almost carried her
out to the kitchen, where he opened the
$500 wv oAAN 6AASNSH AlSA oo"ii lAiS = IS,
Then he seized Antoine by the arm, and
before the old man could demonstrate he
found himself being hurried on to the
stairs. Then came such a sound as he had
never heard in his life before-a SOUND that
will ring in his ears till the last leaf in
his book of existence shall be w~ritten-and
through the door, as Leslie drew it shut
after him, he caught a glimpse of what
seemed to be the whole side of the house
caving in toward kim as the sturdy struc-
ture collapsed and came down upon them
with a crash that was ~deafening. He felt
himself being pushed down to the bottom
of the steps, while his voice was drowned
IN the awful din that told him tina the
old homestead in which he and his fathers
before him had lived SO many years had
gone down before this dread Visitor-even
like q house of cards. What terrible
Judgment from heaven was this that had
fallen upon him? There was d noise like
ten thousand trip hammers all going at
once. He was vaguely conscious that Les
lie had brushed past him down the steps
and was doing his best to soothe and quiet
Louise, and even in that dreadful moment
Bordeaux could not but notice how calm
and steady the young mans voice was.
Antoine admired bravery. His French an
cestors had fought in the Old Guard with
Napoleon, but he doubted If any one Of
them could have been any cooler or
calmer in the face of death than was this
young fellow who was to be his unwelcome
son-in-law. He sat down in the inky dark
ness in u temporary lull of the overwhelm-
ing noise managed to shout out and ask
Leslie what all this meant.
"Cyclone!' yelled Leslie. as the noise
began again. Gradually the terrible din
ceased.
~ guess I'd better try to get us out of
here" said Leslie from out the darkness.
Now, sit still. little girl In a minute
more he came cropping his way to the
steps, and crawled past Antoine to the
door above. Come up here and help me
try to get this door open," he called out
a moment later. Bordeaux went slowly
up the steps, and the two men strained
every muscle to try and force the door
Open. but without avail.
It's no USE" said Leslie. "I guess the
whole hous is piled up on top Of it. Now,
let's see. Are there any windows down
here?'
Yes answered Antoine, they have
been covered up from the outside. Wait
till I light a match and get my bearings.
I've only got four" he said, as his tremb-
ling fingers struck the first one. While the
light lasted Leslie had a chance to look
about him. The cellar was a small one.
possible 12x12. He caught a glimpse of
two small narrow windows, but both
seemed to have been banked up from the
outside. On q box under one Of the win
dOwH sat T.oIiSe and throuob tho Ono