Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-09-20

voice to answer her. Tier I pointed
to NJ. de Cocheforet DO o love
him." / said. hoarsely, roughly. The
gliding tone had passed from her voice
to mine. She did not answer.
Because, if you do" l continued
you will let me tell my tale. Say no but
once more, MademoiselleII am only
human and I go. And you will repent
it all your life"
| had done better had I taken that
tone from the beginning. She WINGED,
her head dropped, she seemed to grow
smaller. All in a moment, as it were,
her pride collapsed. 81 will hear you,"
she answered feebly.
Then we will ride on, If you
please" I said, keeping the advantage
I had gained. "You need not fear.
Your brother will follow"
I caught hold of her rein and turned
her horse, and she suffered it without
demur. In a moment we were pacin,
side by side, the long, straight road
before us. At the end where it topped
the hill, l could see the finger-post--
two faint black lines against the sky.
When We reached that, involuntarily I
checked my horse and made it move
more slowly.
well, Sir" she said impatiently.
And her figure shook as if with cold.
at is a tale l desire to tell you,
Mademoiselle," l answered, speaking
with effort. Perhaps l may seem to
begin a long way off, hut before I end
l promise to interest. Two months
ago there was living in Paris a man,
perhaps a bad man, at any rate, by
common report, a hard man"
She turned to me suddenly, her
eyes cleaning through her mask. ooh,
Monsieur, spare me this!" she said,
quite scornfully. 81 will take it FOR
granted"
VERY well, I replied steadfastly.
Good or bad, this man, one day,
in defiance of the cardinals edict
against duelling, fought with a young
Englishman behind st. Jacques
church. The Englishman had influence,
the person of whom l speak had none,
and an Indifferent name; he was ar
rested, thrown into the chatelet, cast
for death, left for days to face death.
At the last an offer was made to him.
If he would seek out and deliver up
another man, an outlaw with a price
upon his head, he should himself go
free"
| paused and drew a deep breath.
Then I continued, looking not at her,
but into the distance: "Mademoi-
selle, it seems easy now to say what
course he should have chosen. 1t
seems hard now to find for
him. But there was one thing which
I plead for him. The task he was asked
to undertake was a dangerous one.
He risked, he knew he must risk, and
the event proved him right, his life
against the life of this unknown man.
And-one thing more-there was time
before him. The outlaw might be TAX
en- by another, might be killed, might
die, might. But there, Mademoiselle,
we know what answer this person
made. He took the baser course, and
on his honor, on his parole, with
money supplied to him, went free
free on the condition that he delivered
up this other man."
paused again, but I did not dare
to look at her, and after a moment
of silence I resumed. Some portion
Of the second half of this story you
know Mademoiselle; but not all. Suf-
flee it that this mar came down to a
remote village, and there at a risk,
but Heaven knows, basely enough,
found his way into his victims home.
Once there, his heart began to fail
him. Had he found the house gar
risoned by men, he might have pressed
on to his end with little But
he found there only two helpless, loyal
women; and | say again that from the
first hour of his entrance he sickened
Of the work he had in hand. Still he
pursued it. He had given his word,
and If there was one tradition OF his
race which this man had never brok-
en-, it was that of fidelity to his side;
to the man that paid him. But he
pursued it with only half his mind, in
great misery sometimes, if you will be-
lieve me, in agonies of shame. Grad
ually, however, almost against his
will, the drama worked itself out be-
fore him, until he needed only n
thing"
! looked at mademoiselle. Bue her
head al averted; / could gather
nothing from the outlines of her fornl.
And l went on. "Do not misunder-
stand me-" I said, in a lower voice.
do not misunderstood what | am go
ing to say next. This is no love story
and can have no ending such as 70
mancers love to set to their tales. But
] am bound to mention, Mademoiselle,
that this man, who had lived about
inns and ea~ting-houses and at the gam
ing-tables almost all his days, met
here fer the first time for years a good
woman; and learned by the light OF
her loyalty and devotion to see what
his life had been and what was the real
nature of the work he was doing.
think-nay, I know-that it added a
hundred-fold to his misery, that wien
he learned at last the secret he had
come to surprise, he learned it from
her lips and in such a way that had he
felt no shame, hell could have been no
place for him. She thought and had
reason to think, that the moment he
knew her secret he went out, not even
closing the door and used it. But the
truth was that. while her words were
still In his ears, ley came to him
that others had the secret; and had