Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1904-02-25
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Thou art not of PARISH" the taller

ThOu art not OF ParlS! the tall0T
man asked.
mo, this is my first night in Paris"
II thought as much. This lady" the
tall man continued in a sarcastic tone.
permit me to present you to mad
emolsellc Florine. waitress ana decoy
pigeon for Betrand's wine rooms, where
gentlemen sometimes play at dice"
He laughed again. and even the girl
could muster up smile now that the
danger had blown over.
THAT IL true, Mademoiselie." I
asked. She nodded.
Then. good sirs, I'll fight no more In
such n matter"
And by my soul. comrade, right glad
I am to hear you say It; for you fight
IKE very devil Of hell. and Carne
Ward knows swordsman."
Carne Ward! The very fellow I had
been sent out to flnd. now by queer
chance thrown full in my way. Verify,
I was relieved to know I could hold
my own against this famous-or in
fnrhous-bravo. Another thing gained:
I knew my man while yet stranger to
him. And further. stumbled on the
very place which Of all other I desired
to find. Truly the chance was odd.
The two gentlemen upon the stair
had not yet staunched their merriment
while these thoughts coming so unex-
pectedly had swept me every recollec-
ton Of the fight.
Thou are not Of PARISH" the spokes-
man asked again.
heard him as man hears some
thing afar OFF. for my foot resting up
on the package which had been
dropped. sent my mind a wandering
again. Could It be that this was q
paper OF importance. or possibly the
very one desired? Why not7 re-
solved to possess It at every hazard.
Yet were to stoop and pick 1t up now,
and they saw me, knew Of no means
by which I might leave the place In
safety. So I carelessly showed 1t with
my foot farther into the shadow Of the
step. / answered the question asked
me 90 long before.
mo, my lord. the city IL q strange
one to me"
"Of what place. did you say?"
Now had purposely RETAINED from
saying. and did not know what reply
to give. ] hated to appear boortsh, be-
sides 1t would not serve my purpose.
My father being Of Normandy.
deemed would have nearly the accent
of those people, so made venture to
say:
"Of Normandy. sir" in sucA a way
he did not pursue the subject further.
We thought you no Partisan, or this
conquest" and they laughed again.
do you play?" ne queried.
But rarely, my lord" the fact was
I knew little OF the dice.
They put about and assembled the
stair the two together. then Ward, I
coming on behind. but not until the
packet. from which hoped SO much,
was safely in my bosom. This was
easily accomplished when Ward had
turned his back.
We climbed the stair, and after some
forty or fifty PAGES stood inside the
room of which Serigny had spoken to
ms. 4 Is eoeY ID. recognize the place from
The gaming tables were ranged
about in the center OF the room, and
about them sat many men-and wo-
the place row Of columns ran some
tour or flve yards from the wall. These
pillars formed convenient alcoves for
those who would sit and sip their wine.
Some were curtained. the better to
screen their occupants. Others stood
broadly open.
The four Of us walked over to table
well out Of view and sat down to wine.
II was then regretted not having al
provide myself with garments moro
suited to my character, for felt at
trncted some attention az we passed
through the room, and this was most
to be avoided.
We seated ourselves about the table
and ordered wine; mino remained I'M
faster while the others drank. / de-
"Comrade, you do not drink" Ward
remarked. rs your blood still hot with
the clash OF steel7'
mo. by my honor. that is long for
gotten: It Is my oath, an oath, too.
that cannot be broken"
"Ah, to a lady7"
nodded, and he smiled.
We talked Indifferent gossip, and
after while tho Spanish troubles
arst spoke of II. Somehow felt
wards carelessness to be assumed.
and that he very much desired to
hear what these two gentlemen would
say on matter 20 important. His
manner made 1t plain to me he knew
the two gentlemen. and also that they
We're men Of rank. However. they
much, yet they said nothing which was
not common talk on the streets. After
e bit they arose to leave, and Twas
gorely perplexLd whether It were bet
ter that depart with them, now TINT
papers which might be valuable rested
safely against my breast. or had
better stay and endeavor to learn MOI o
drink heavily. Perhaps q little more
liquor might loosen his tongue. and I
might even capture him or his confed-
crate. Discretion would have taken me
away, for that these two gentlemen
were powerful enough to protect me
In case OF trouble In the house did
not doubt. The bearing Of the elder
man especially was such 40 to inspiss
confidence.
The adventure. though, was too en-
ticing, and the hotter counSols Of youth
prevailed. bade tho gentlemen good
night. and remained sitting at the table
with Ward. It was but few moments
before regretted my unwiso decision.
Ward leaned forward. the edge Of
the table pressing against his breast,
and in 90 doing noticed the absence Of
tho paper which he had forgotten in
the fight. His face changed Instantly.
there was merely puzzled expression.
us Of an intense effort to remember.
He looked swiftly at me. gave no
sign. The two men were gone. His
anxiety convinced me Of the import
ance of the papers. He thought for a
moment, then excused himself and
went out the way we came. As ne
passed through the room. saw him
stoop and whisper Q word to one OF the
men at the dice table. In 2 minute the
fellow shifted his seat. and though no
continued to play. he had taken post
ton where. as imagined. he could
watch me that did not leave. be-
came uneasy now, for could not tell
how many there were. and my princt-
pal thought was how to get out OF the
house. Assuredly not by the way ]
entered.
Looking about more carefully to nete