Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1904-03-05

the skies are bluer and the WIND Toes
not cut you through as 1T does In
this damp Paris of yours
Eyes, I thought you Of Languedoc,
from your speech. So the climate Is
with us in our parts beyond the seas.
Beneath our southern sur ice Is q
thing almost unknown, and the snow
never comes"
"And where dc you live, my lord?"
his eyes wide open and shallow.
I felt somewhat flattered at his
artless recognition of the difference in
our stations.
I'm Biloxi; the southern provinces,
Louisiana" l explained, whereof
Bienville is governor"
Afterward l thought l could remem-
Der a knowing twinkle in the fellows
eye, which passed unnoticed at the mo-
ment.
"Ah, I hear much of the colonies; 1t
must be q goodly land to dwell in, but
the savages and the cannibals."
/ laughed outright.
Verify, friend, we have no canni-
balls worse than the barbarous Span
iards who wait but the chance to
slaughter our garrison" and before /
was aware, l had told him of my voy-
age from Biloxi, and of going to YER
sailles, stopping short only of giving
the purpose Of my visit to Paris. l
was sore ashamed Of he indiscretion.
When 1 looked 1 found him laughing
silently to himself, laughing at me.
Then you are Captain de Mouret?'
he asked with purest Partisan intona-
ton, and the courtesy OF a gentleman.
How did you know" 1 attempted
to be stern, but somehow my effort fell
fiat. How do o know"
well, I've been expecting you" and
he brushed his hand across his chin,
wiping the yellow whiskers away be-
fore my astonished eyes.
Il am Jerome de Greville. Claude
told me OF your coming, but l wished to
make sure. We have examined your
baggage" he went on frankly, un-
mindful OF my in-concealed disap-
prevail, but found nothing in the way
Of identification. You see," he apollo
gized, these things are necessary here,
in affairs of this nature, II a fellow
would preserve the prope connection
between his head and his body"
He rolled up his whiskers, laid
aside a yellow wig, and l could see
he was as Serigny had described. he
was not as tall as I, but strongly built,
and some two good years my senior,
Captain, If you will allow me 1 will
take these traps of yours to our apart
ments. You lodge with me-"
I was nettled that l should have
spoken so freely to a stranger, and felt
ill-disposed to be pleasant, but he soon
drove away any lingering animosity.
When we had settled in our rooms
which adjoined, de Greville thew him
self across his couch and said:
Look here, de Mouret, we have q
hard task before us, and you may as
well know it. M. de Serigny tells me
he has instructed you himself, but de-
tails he would leave to me. What's
your name?"
"Placide," l replied as simply as a lac
of ten.
well, I'm Jerome. We are to stand
together now, and men engaged II
business like ours have no time for eX-
ira manners"
His bon camaraderie was contagious
and l gladly caught it. Agreed, Jer'
ONE; so be It.. Go on"
First we must locate our frient
Carne Ward, the very flend of a fellow
who stops at nothing. Then to cater
him with the papers, take them, cos
what ii will. For that work we havt
strong lads enough and true. Above
all we must make no mistake when We
strike, for If he scents our suspicion:
OF him he'll whisk them off to Spair
before you could bat your eye"
listened to him intently, yet en-
joying to the utmost my prospective
triumph. He went on:
Then there is that other fellow; W
don't know who he is, the one tina
came over with you. He will probabl!
exchange dispatches with Ward, theI
off to the colonies again. There is no
so much trouble about him, for he cal
be captured aboard ship. 1t is TvarC
we want, and his dispatches"
1 said very quietly, still looking int
the fire:
THAT much is already done"
Jerome raised up on his elbow an,
stared at me as if he thought me mad
1T have taken those dispatches from
your friend. Here they are"
"The devil o have" he cried out
reaching the middle of the floor at
single bound. How and when?"
He would not leave off until l hat
related the whole of my adventure be
ginning with meeting the girl, n end
Ing when / found him, at the inn. H
was as happy as Il school boy, AM
laughed heartily at my being so read
such tender doves to pluck she doe
not often find, and l warrant you sh
lets not many go so easily"
I thought it unnecessary to tell hin
Of my encounter with Ward, onl,
that l had found the packet where h
dropped 1t.
You lucky dog; it's well he did no
see you, or you might not now b
talking to me with a whole skin
1t was better though to let him knoy
of wards wound, for that would per
haps assist us in a measure to deter
] min upon our future course. So tina
part of the affair / detailed in full.
verify, lad, our savage accom-
plishment stood you in good stead"
He recognized the description l CAV
Of the fellow with Ward, but said h
was a bully, hired merely to fight, an
perhaps knew nothing of consequence
Then we examined very closely tn
envelope containing the papers.
had, from all appearance, come owe
from the colonies, and bore traces {
having long been carried about
mans person. This settled mat
ter. The go-betweens had met, an
the traitor on lie Dauphin was mos
likely in possession of the instruction
from Spain. This made his captur
the more important.
De Greville we'll merited all Serign
had said of his shrewdness, and NOR
Now see what a simple scheme he lai'
We were to first find where Yvar
was hidden. He would certainly G
INTO hiding until his wound we
healed; the finding of the papers upo
him making it necessary he should M
be seen in Paris.
Where WOULD ne De Hkely 10 SeCle'
himself? All, trust a m for tha'
30 reasoned Jerome. What woman
LAstrea, Of course. OF her intrigl
with Ward, de Greville, who was
handsome gallant with a smoot
tongue, had learned from a waitress
Bertrand's. This was the more prot
able because, Bertrand's being a pul
lie place, the confederate would see
him there without suspicion. This COZ