Amador ledger., 1906-05-18

this thrust. was gritting my teeth,
hardly able to keep myself within
bounds Yet l would hear him to the
end.
II will tell you briefly, that you may
report the facts to His Majesty. AS
you know, Latour was to be shot at
sunrise yesterday morning. We decided
to wait a day, hoping to extract from
him valuable information. Mademoiselle
and her party, in three carriages, left
yesterday morning before dawn. La
tour, who was confined in one of the
cellars, must have bribed one of the
servants, and somehow slipped past the
guard and entered the forward carriage,
where he hid beneath bundle of rugs.
The guard discovered at breakfast time
that Latour was gone, but, in fear of
punishment omitted to report until
this morning, giving the spy twenty
four hours in which to get away. I'm
fortunately for your friends, mademoi-
selle decided to stop en- route for visit
with an acquaintance, and we had no
difficulty in overtaking them. OF course,
the spy is gone; but we drew a con-
fession from the servants, and had the
extreme pleasure of shooting them in
stead of Latour. Those are the facts,
and you will pardon my suggestion that
you return Immediately and communi-
cate them to the Emperor"
81 return at my own pleasure, L
replied. my orders do not come from
you. l request you to show me to
Mademoiselle Lagunay."
1 really believe that Griesman under
rated me as fighter. How should he
have known my training?
So, without fear, and, as cat dal-
lies with a mouse, thinking to give me
another playful bite, he ascended to the
la or daOree of Insult
t,"I have told you that mademoiselle is
my prisoner. AS such she may not see
you. She is also my companion, and as
such she does not wish to see you.
Why, monsieur, it was but an hour ago
that she sat upon my lap, all srailes
and bushes and
1 sprang at him with an oath. My
sword came from its scabbard with an
angry hiss. Had 1 followed my first
impulse his craven skull had been split
that instant But 1 merely smacked
his face with the fiat of the blade. Say
it again, if you dare. You lie, dog"
Both men jumped to their feet. The
Colonel had his sabre in the air when
his orderly rushed between US. Re
member the Emperor's orders" he
cried. You will lose your commission.
Let him go. He is helpless.
But Griesman, traitor though he
proved to be, was no coward. Thor
oughly enraged by my challenge he
threw the man aside and came at me
with all his two hundred pounds
weight I stepped back little to get
room, and caught his blade on my
guard He swore beneath his breath
and struck again with terrific force.
Again 1 stopped him.
"a little less Drawn and more skill,
baby l said, derisively. "You will be
wearied.''
We carried the regulation German
cavalry sabre, rather heavy and slightly
curved. 1t was built on the American
model, and as 1 met his savage lunges
began to feel at home. l fell nat
urally into the old position of defense.
The muscles of wrist and arm came
easily into play. In memory L saw the
great tan-bark circle Nof the academy
where we had our daily drills. 1 was
again in the ring, defending my title of
the best swordsman of the class. And
so, without tremor or apprehension, L
stood there and fought for Aimee's
sake and for my own life, parrying his
mighty strokes with little difficulty,
though the shock as / caught his heavy
blade told on my arm, so long unused
to sword play. 1 made no effort to
strike. So swift was his attack and so
vicious that I preferred the defensive,
we'll knowing that eventually he would
tire. At intervals 1 taunted him. using
all the German terms of scorn and con-
tumely that I could call to mind. His
anger was terrible. Great beads of
sweat formed on his brow and rolled
down his cheeks. His eyes protruded,
his mouth opened, his breath came
faster. We moved around the room,
advancing, retreating, sidestepping,
neither obtaining any advantage,
though I was certain that my play was
superior to his.
The innkeeper fled in terror at the
first clash, and we had the big room to
ourselves The orderly stood to one
side, encouraging his Colonel Now
and then we rested momentarily,