The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-02-18

after a while. and began to think of
getting back to the inn tireSide. | re-
traced my steps perfectly, l thought,
and if my calculations were right
should nave stood where the broad, we'll
lighted street l had traverSed corners
on Rue st. Denis. But the locality was
entirely strange, and | had lost sight
of the great tower which I had thought
would guide me home. when a squad Of
the watch halted me and questioned
my errand.
II am a gentleman, and officer of the
king" l replied with such an air they
passed On.
Il pray you, gentlemen. direct me to
the Rue st. Denis, thence l can find
my way"
The man gave me directions which
simply confused me, and, ashamed to
confess my ignorance, / Numbered on
to where five or six narrow, crooked
streets ran together. branching out like
the fingers from my palm. I paused
now uncertain which way to go amid
so many devious courses, II deciding
almost at hazard. turned down the best
paved of all those dingy streets. l had
hardly gone past more than two cross
streets, when there stood at a corner,
looking timidly this way and that, a
slight girl, with blonde hair and eyes
of Breton blue. she seemed so brave,
| yet so out OF place and helpless at that
hour of the night, on such an unfre-
quented road. l almost made so bold
as to address her, thinking l might be
of service to a lady in distress. But
my tongue vas not formed for such
well chosen words and polite phrases,
SO l merely held to one side, she stand
ing to the outer edge to admit of my
passage.
AT the moment | got opposite her, it
seems h had misjudged the width of
the pavement, for / heard her give a
slight ejaculation, n one foot slipped
off the paved way as if she would fan
into the muddy street 1 passed my
arm quickly about her, and raised her
to a place of safety, but even then could
bring no word Of courtly elegance to
my assistance.
She thanked me p~rettily and daintily,
and as l pursued my course, I
could but turn and give vet an
other glance in her direction. She
caught my eye, and again looking
each way, bent her steps down a by-
way leading off to the left, which we
We're that instant nearest. There was
that in her manner, / could not say
exactly what. which led me to follow
her at a respectful distance. seeing
which h turned her head. and /
fancled l could observe a thankful lit
tie smile playing about her lips. At
n rate h ~quickened her pace and
walked with more assurance, no longer
in doub about her movements
For many rods at times she would be
lost to view in the dark. and her tread
was SO light it scarcely made a sound
or the great, clumsy Gathering /
created drowned it entirely. just at
the time I, thought l had lost her, I
could catch a glimpse of a fitting skirt
beneath one Of the 1ambeaux, which,
stuck in inches of the wall here and
there, lighted cid Paris.
In a very pleasant frame of mind,
strobe along behind her. 1t was Won
derfui, l thought, how readily a wo-
mans intuition recognizes a protector.
And for I must admit I was young
then; in the ways Of wamen. far young
er than my years. amused myself
with many eerscetures concerning what
manne of errand had taken this young
woman abroad alene on such Il night.
A lady she plainly seemed. Disguised
a little, that might be, for her quiet
dignity DIG not fully comport with the
style of her dress.
A thousand airy castles I built for
my fair heroine to live in, and I, like
the kntghuy heroes Of the Grusades,
was ever her defender, even her cham
pion in the lists.
Busted with these fancies and ro-
mantle Thoughts, | lost count of streets
and passages, turning this way, that
and the ether, through many narrow
and tortuo0s byWays and alleys, until
| realized I vas hopelessly lost. With
my fair guide in front and my good
sWord by my side, lightly I rocked Of
streets or houses. Yet I dared not for
get / was on an errand for the gov
efnor and must not expose myself to
bootless peril.
At last, and somewhat to my relief,
she stopped before a great oaken IRON
studded gate, possibly of five good
PAGES width, in one corner of which
was cut a smaller door SO low a man
must stoop to pass. Upon this smaller
door she raped and stood in the at
titude of waiting.
| a a ome now to look about
me. 1t was in a quarter of the town
that was ~ferbidding. Here were two
huge, dismal. gray-stone mansions,
separated by a court yard of probably
forty PAGES across; a high wall fronted
the street, hanked by a tower on either
side the gate. On top, this wall was
4 defended by bits of broken glass and
spikes of steel, stuck into the mason
ry whi it was yet soft. More than
this the Pickering brazier would not
permit me to see. All Of this | took
III Il SiaHCey across the street the
murkiness of the night shut out my
view. She raped again, impatiently,
but in the same manner as before. "A
trifiing space thereafter the smaller
door was opened, whoever was inside
first having peeped out through a
round hole. which closed itself with a
shutter no bigger than his ye.
The lady looked first to me, then
stepped inside and stood back as if she
bade me enter.
This was an adventure / had not bar
gained for. Thinking only to see that
the lady reached her destination in
safety, here was a complication of
which / had never dreamed. What
her singular errand was. or wherein
she desired my assistance, I could not
even hazard a guess. Yet there she
stood and beckoned me to enter, and
I moved forward a pace or two so
could see within the door.
The concierge I.eld the door ajar,
and aSInore repuisive, deformed wretch
y laid eyes upon. His LEFT arm
hung EitheTed al his side; at MS
girdse he swung A bunch of keys, win,
any Il OF which a strong ma sr,ixht