Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-06-27

ed from me; she rode @ before; che
affected TO ignore ny presenc
caught my horse. ding BY the road
side, Z furlong forward, and mounted
and fell into place behind the two, as
in the morning. s. And Just as we had
plodded on then III silence, we plodded
! on now, while / wondered at the I'M
fathomable ways OF women, and
knowing that I had bore myself we'll,
! marveled that she could take part in
such an incident and remain un-
changed. 49,, :. :: =
! Yet it had made change in her.
Though her mask screened her well,
it could not entirely hide her emotions,
and by-and-bye1 marked that her head
dropped, that she rode sadly and list
lessly, that the lines of her figure were
altered. I noticed that she had flung
away, or furtively dropped, her rid
ing-whip, and understood that to the
old hatred of me were now added
shame and vexation; shame that she
had so lowered herself, even to save
! her brother, vexation that defeat had
been her only reward.
| OF this I saw sign at Lectoure,
where the inn had but one common
room, and we must all dine In COM
pany secured for them table by
the fire and leaving them standing by
| it, retired myself to a smaller one,
| near the door. There were no other
guests and this made the separation
between us more marked. M. de Co.
cheforet seemed to feel this. He
shrugged his shoulders and looked: at
me with smile half sad, half comical.
But mademoiselle was implacable.
She had taken off her mask and her
face was like stone. Once, only once,
during the meal I saw change come
over her. She colored, suppose at her
thoughts, until her face famed from
brow to chin. watched the blush
spread and spread, and then she slow
ly and proudly turned her shoulder
to me and looked through the window
at the shabby street.
| | suppose that she and her brother
had both built on this attempt, which
must have been arranged at Auch.
For when we went on in the after
noon T saw a more marked change.
They rode now like people resigned to
the worst. The gray realities Of the
brothers position, the dreary, hopeless
future, began to hang like mist be-
fore their eyes; began to tinge the
landscape with sadness; robbed even
the sunset of its colors. With each
hour their spirits tagged and their
speech became less frequent, until
presently, when the light was nearly
gone and the dusk was round us, the
brother and sister rode hand in hand
silent, gloomy, one at least of them
weeping. The cold shadow of the
cardinal, of Paris, of the scaffold
was beginning to make itself felt; was
beginning to chill them AS the noun
tains which they had known all thei1
lives sank and faded behind us and We
entered on the wide, low valley of thu
Garorne, their hopes sank and fadet
also-sank to the dead-level of despair
Surrounded by guards, a mark fol
curious glances, with pride for com
panion, NJ de Cocheforet could doubt
less have borne himself bravely
doubtless he would bear himself brave
ly still when the end came. But almos
alone, moving forward through tn
gray evening to prison, with so man.
measured days before him, and moth
ing to exhilarate or anger-in thi
condition It. was little wonder if b
felt, and betrayed that he felt, tn
blood run slow in his veins; if h
thought more of the weeping wife an,
ruined home, which he left behind him
than of the cause in which he ha'
spent himself.
But God knows they had no monop
oily of gloom. I felt almost as sal
myself. Long before sunset the flusl
of triumph, the heat of the battle
which had warmed my heart at moo
were gone; giving place to chill dis
stisfaction, a nausea, dependency
such as have known follow a lon
night at the tables. Hitherto ther
had been difficulties to be overcome
risks to be run, doubts about the enc
Now the end was certain and yer
.. near; so near that it filled all tn
prospect. One hour of triumph migt
, still have: Rugged the thought Of
as gambler hugs his last stake.
planned the place and time and mod
and tried to occupy myself wholly wit
it. But the price? Alas, that wou]
intrude too and more as the eveniu
waned; so that as l passed this {
that thing on the road. which coul
recall passing on my journey south
with thoughts so different, with pla1
that now seemed so very, very old
asked myself grimly if this were reall
!. l, if this were Gil de Berault, known {
Zaton's premier joueur; or some Dc
Quichotte from CASTLE, fitting at win,
. mills and taking BARRIERS bowls fl
l gold.
!. We reached Agen very late in II
evening after cropping through a b.
way near the river set with holes an
willow-stools and frog-spawns- pla'
no better than a slough. After it Il
great fire and the lights at the BIZ
Maid seemed like glimpse of a ne
world and in twinkling put som
thing Of life and spirits into two
least Of us. There was queer ta
round the hearth here of doings I