Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-08-26
a x.
Bread Upon the Waters.

shrieking wildly, Keeling In a kind OF
drunken frenzy, now that their goal
was In sight, waving their blazing
brands above their heads or shaking
~furiously such rude weapons as they
carried. And as 1 looked at them, L
realized how thin is the veneer Of CIV
ilization, product though 1t be OF long
centuries. Here 1t had vanished at q
breath. These creatures a reverted
10 the state OF a. and burned
with the lust of blood and plumber.
why, there are women among
them!" ] cried, and indeed there were
certain petticoated figures shrieking as
madly as the rest, though there was
nothing feminine In the demoniac
c-ountenances revealed by the light Of
the torches.
'aThe women are the worst OF all"
said M. lie Comte. TN Paris they have
devised ~tortures OF a fiendishness be-
yond mans ingenuity; they sit day
after day watching the guillotine; they
are never stated with blood"
But the mob had reached the ter
race, had swept over II like q tidal
wave and on into the house. Instant
iy a pandemonium broke loose-the
crash of breaking glass, OF furniture
riven asunder, Of doors burst from their
hinges. 1t seemed that in a breath the
house itself must be destroyed, torn
stone from stone under that fierce as
sault. I saw Madame shudder at the
thought OF the havoc which was being
wrought among the objects that she
loved.
"But where are the Blues?" I asked.
"Surely they will not stand idly by and
permit this outrage?"
How could they stay it?" asked NJ,
lie Comte sadly. They are powerless.
They can do nothing. AS we'll hope TO
stay the tide OF the ocean,"
They wish to do nothing, monsieur"
said Pasdeloup, They abandon the
chateau and all it's contains to the mob.
See, there they go yonder."
And following his gesture we saw
two boats loaded with armed men just
slipping into the shadows Of the far
Their shore.
M. le Comte stared at them for a
moment. then down at the irenzied
crowd on the terrace, and grew white
20 the lips. AT last he turned to his
wife.
Come madame" h said, IN a voice
strangely calm, do you and Charlotte
descend to the floor below, where you
can, at least, sit down. If I had only
thought to bring a candle
II have one" said Pasdeloup, and
produced from his pocket q piece of
c6ndie some six inches IN length, to-
gether with flint and steel, In a mo-
ment the candle was alight.
Good" cried his master. Nov you
can feel almost at home, madame. Per-
haps you may even succeed IN getting
an hours sleep. Certainly you will be
Tar more comfortable than on this ex-
posed platform. Let me light the
way"
He took the candle from Pasdeloup's
hand and started down the stair.
Madame followed him without a word,
but her companion paused and glanced
at me. I was at her side In an In
slant.
What Is jt2" she asked. in a whisper.
Why are we banishedf There Is no
Danger"
'Oh. no. mademoiselle." 1 assured
her. There Is not the least danger. I
hope that you will really get some
sleep"
"sleepl" she echoed scornrully. For
what do you take me2"
'For the loveliesr woman in the
world" I said. I'm that. at least. |
am not mistaken"
Wait until you have seen more of
them!" she retorted, with a flash of
her old spirit, and started down the
stair. But at the second step she
stopped and turned back to me. IN.
de Tavernay," she said, looking up at
me with shining eyes. Won must prom
Ase me one thing
What Is that
IF there is any danger, you win call
me"
VERY WELL I said quietly. after q
moment, IT promise"
Thank you." she said. and waving
her hand to me, disappeared into the
darkness below.
M. lie Comte was back q moment
later. the shadow still dark across his
face. He came directly to the spot
where Pasdeloup and / stood leaning
against the wall.
Now. Pasdeioup,'' he said, tell
me what you know of this affair. I
confess that / do not in the least un-
derstand 1t. And I want the worst
mind you, the worst. I want TO
know the very uttermost we shall have
20 race. Who was 1t set these peasants
on2 Who set that trap for me this
morning2 Whose hand Is 1t aiming
these blows at me7"
For a moment Pasdeloup hesitated,
staring from his master down at the
chateau and back again.
You remember GoIijon, mon
sieur?" he asked at last, and ii seemed
TO me that I had heard the name,
though I could not remember where.
"Goujon7' repeated M. lie Comte.
4NQTWtAO y hC4
zone night, three years ago, mon
Bieur, as o were about to retire.
you fancied you heard a noise In the
room above your ap~artment-an empty
attic. You called a servant and tax
Ing your pistols, mounted to that attic.
IN one corner you found a man crouch
Ing. You dragged him forth and dis
covered Ii TO be a creature who should
haua hnan amnlnuad ah.ant 4A- E=un...
He excused himself by saying that one
or the maids was his mistress, that on
leaving her. he had lost his way and
stumbled into that attic. The maids.
did. indeed. sleep on that floor. and
you found that he was the lover Of
one OF them. But when she shrieked
out that II was not with her he
spent his nights, you did not heed
her: you thought 1t was merely some
excuse So Q contented yourself
with kicking the fellow down the
steps OF the terrace and warning him
never TO set foot on your estate
again."
"Well7" said M. lie Comte, some
what impatfently,
.*Vell, that fellow was Gou1on.
monsieur. Had you passed your sword
through him, all this would never have
occurred. Six months later you were
walking In your woods dovssz yonder
by the river. when you came suddenly
upon b man taking a hare from d
snare. CHANGED to- pass at the mo-
ment and we brought him with as