Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-01-06

full feeling of the sheets Of soft linen
I fell asleep.
! CHAPTER VIII.
The doctor came that night, and
took out Of my back piece of fattened
lead. 1t had gone under the flesh
quite half round my body, next tc
the ribs, without doing worse than &c
rake the bone here and there and weak
en- me with loss of blood. l woke
awhile before he came. The baroness
and the fat butler were sitting beside
me. She was a big. stout woman Of
some 40 years, with dark hair and
gray eyes, and teeth Of remarkable
symmetry. That evening, / remember
she was in full dress.
my poor boy!" said she, In English
! and in sympathetic tone, IS she benz
over me.
Indeed, my own mother could moi
have been kinder than thst good wo-
man. She was one that had
heart and hand for the sick-room.
told her how l had been hurt End OF
my ride. She heard me through with
a glow in her eyes. 4
What a story!" said she. What a
daredevil! l do not see how 1t has
beer possible for you to hve."
She spoke to me always In Engiish
of quaint wording and quainter &C
cent. She seemed not to know that
could speak French.
An impressive French tutor-a nne
old fellow, obseQuious and bald-headed
sat by me all night to give me med
icine. In the morning ] felt as II
had a new heart in me, and was plan
ming to mount my horse. l thought !
ought to go about my business, but
fear / thought more of'the young Ia
dies and the possibility Of my seeing
them again. The baroness came In
after l had bite to eat. told her
I felt able to ride.
"You are not able, my child. You
cannot ride the horse now" said She
feeling my brow; maybe not for q
YER long time. I have large house
plenty servant, plenty food. Parbleu!
bs content. We shall take good care
of you. II there is one message to 60
to your chief, you know l shall send
It."
wrote q brief report Of my ad-
venture with the British, locating the
scene as carefully as might be, and she
tsent-it-h by mousted .assenger- to "ths
Burg"
"The young ladies they wish to see
you," said the baroness. "They are
kind-hearted; they would like to dc
what they can. But tell them no;
they will make you to be very tired"
"On the contrary, it will rest me-
Let them come" said.
"But I warn you" said she, lifting
her finger as she left the room, do not
fall in love. They are full Of mischief
They do not study. They do not care.
You know they make much fun all
day"
The young ladies came in presently
They wore gray gowns admirably fit-
ted to their fine figures. They brought
big bouquets and set them, with a
handsome courtesy, on the table be-
side me. They took chairs and sat
solemn-faced, without word, as If 1t
were a Quaker meeting they had come
to. l never saw better models OF SYM
pathetic propriety. l was about to
speak. One of them shook her head
a finger on her lips.
do not say one word" she said SOL
emnly in English. 'It will make you
YER sick"
It was the first effort Of either. OF
them to address me in English. AS
soon knew, the warning had exhausted
her vocabulary. The baroness went
below in moment. Then the one
who had spoken came over and sat
near me, smiling.
"She does not know you can speak
French" said she, whispering and ad-
dressing me in her native tongue, as
the other tiptoed to the door. "On
your life, do not let her know. She
will never permit US to see you. She
will keep us under lock and key. She
knows we cannot speak English, SO
she thinks we cannot talk with you.
It is a great lark. Are you better?"
What was to do under orders from
such authority? AS they bade me,
hope you will say, for that is what
did. l had no easy conscience about 1t,
l must own. Day after day took my
part in the little comedy. They came
in Quakerfaced If the baroness were
at hand, never speaking, except to her
until she had gone. Then-well, such
animation, such wit, such bright eyes
such brilliancy, have never seen OF
heard.
My wound was healing. War and
stern duty were as things Of the far
past. The grand passion had hold OF
me. tried to fight it down, to shake
it off, but somehow it had the claws OF
a tiger. There was an odd thing about
it all: | could not for the life Of me
tell which of the two charming girls
loved the better. 1t may seem in
credible; l could not understand 1t my
self. They looked alike, and yet they
were quite different. Louison was q
year older and of stouter build. She
had more animation also, and always
a quicker and perhaps a brighter an
swer. The other had face more Sc
rious, albeit no less beautiful, and q
slower tongue. She had little to say
but her silence had much in it to ad-
mire, and, indeed, to remember. They
appealed to different men in me with
equal force, did not then know why.
A perplexing problem 1t was, and had
to think and suffer much before I saw
the end of 1t, and really came to know
what love is and what it Is not.
Shortly l was near the end Of this
delightful season of illness. had been
out of bed week. The baroness had
read to me every day, and had been so