The Washington times., 1909-12-18
- By -
ROBERT BARR

louise marching at tire head of the
men on his way to Loches 20 re-enforce
his fathers garrison. This junction you
were unable to prevent"
Again the indulgent smile illuminated
the gentle countenance Of the veteran.
The young archbishop, thank God,
may have 500 men or 5000, but he does
not possess the brains OF his father
Luynes had a messenger ride hot-haste
TO Toulouse from Blois. Arriving at the
Southern city. he being a man of Loches,
born and brought up there. had no diff
ficulty in persuading the archbishop that
he came from the Due d'Epernon, his
father, with orders. verbal because he
dare not trust them to writing. asking
the archbishop to bring to Loches all
and thus we have imprisoned the arch
bishop and his 500 men
Imprisoned? Surely that is not the
word to use
"They are as safely imprisoned in
Loches as If we had them in the Bastile.
What now think you is the key to the
whole situation?"
Il do not know" replied Cardillac.
why, II is Paris; It is turbulent, I'M
certain Paris. Luynes and the young
king must make sure Of Paris, and the
! rest Of the country may go hang, as
has always been the case. What the
archbishop should have done, since his
father dare not move. was to march
his I'VE hundred men from Toulouse
direct to Paris, rousing the country as
he came along, gathering recruits at
every village, and before he reached the
gates of Paris he might have had any
| where from ten thousand TO nifty thou
sand men at his back: and Paris. al
ways ready for a fight, would have
welcomed him with open arms. But
look you at the situation now. There
are DEpsruon and his son. with all
| their men, in Loches Castle, out OF
which they dare not move. They know
the castle is impregnable, and once
they leave It to fight in the Oper Luynes
has double their number. of men at
Blois waiting to meet them. Since then
! he has stationed FIVE thousand men at
| Tours, within striking distance Of LO-
ches. and now, if the Due d'Epernon
dare leave that fortress these men OF
Tours will not attempt TO fight him,
but viii instantly occupy the town and
castle he mas abandoned, and that with
out taking a single man away from
BIois. where they guard the imprisoned
queen.
And look you not az the craft of
| IIynes' treatment S1 the queen In
| stead Of placing her here in the Bias
| tile, where she might at any time be
rescued by an uprising in Paris, he
moved her Just as IL she were on a
chessboard down to Blois, as near as
| possible to her principal supporter,
/. D'Epernon, az Ioches. Thus Paris is
tranquil. An Instruction here could
not help the queen. They cannot get
her person, and a mob rarely fights
long without some center TO rally round.
Thus we have the queen herself i'm
prisoned in BIois: her favOrite. Con-
| chi, always hated by the people, is
dead; her only general with brains and
knowledge of strategy holds the strong
est castle In France, and his very
! strength is his weakness, because he
! dare not leave It and allow IL to fall
| into our hands If he leaves II he is
, crushed in the field by our superior
numbers, II he stays there, ne is null
lifted"
TT seems 70 me-" said CardiIlac
that there can be no other outcome
than civil war
The Continuation of This story VIII
BE Found in TomOPrOW'N
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