The Washington herald., 1910-10-30
ANarrOWEscape

pllments TO you at the banquet tonight.
What banquet"
His grace celebrates his birthday to-
day and, according to his usual custom,
he has Invited all hts neighbors and their
| ladies to the castle tonight"
Please sive my compliments to the
marquis and tell him l shall be delighted
/ 10 come as soon as / have removed the
dust Of travel from my inform and made
myself look as decent as possible under
( the circumstances"
! Il will return for you in an hour then.
/ II ii suits you, lIeutanS Mt" said the mar
quis' majordomo and left the room with a
deep bow
Lieut.. Louis de Ballette, Of Emperor
Napoleon's hussars. en- route from Bay
onne to Madrid in command of re-en-
! forcements of 100 troopers, was delighted
with the magnificent room placed at his
disposal by Marquis dc Ronda, who had
also begun to dress, and when he had
quite finished he picked up the gift he
had received from his fancee when about
TO leave France. II was a small double
barreled pistol of excellent workman
ship
Promise me TO Gerry 1t always; 1t
may come IN handy sometime" Antoi-
nette had said. when she handed it 10
him. and he readily gave the promise
/ Having seen that both barrels were load
ed he now put it into his pocket.
few moments later the majordomo
returned and through endless corridors
he conducted the French officer into a
large hall full of ladies and gentlemen
dressed in the picturesque costumes Of
the Spanish country aTistOcI acy. A tall
dark gentleman introduced himself to the
lieutenant as Marquis de Ronda. gave him
the tips Of the fingers. and asked him
to follow him into the adjoining dining
hall Here he was given the place OF
honor opposite the host and found the
most beautiful of all the ladies present
I seated at his right. She received his FIRST
words with such an expression Of un-
speakable contempt that there was moth
ing left for aim to do after that but 10
ignore her presence absolutely.
He had not chosen his own seat. and
was thus not responsible for their meet
ing.
But not only MS neighbor at the table,
the whole company stared AT him with
unconceaied hatred and contempt, so he
| concentrated his whole attention on the
excellent dishes and choice wines, and
was just about 10 raise his glass Of
/ champagne 20 his lips when his host.
who had been staring at him for some
time, leaned across the table and asked
Well senior, now do you like my simple
little dinner"
1T Is excellent. marquis I have sell
dom enjoyed better dinner than to-
night"
I am delighted 10 hear it and hope you
viii do justice to my table. for who
knows II YOU will have any chance OF
ever enjoying such a meal again.
Lieut. De BalIette expressed the convic-
ton that he would. for among his friends
In Paris were many gourmets who set
an excellent table. but the marquis said.
with a malicious smile
Il 30 not know, senior. If you have
heard that Gen. Xavier Nina has barred
the -oad from here 20 Madrid"
II never heard Of any Gen. Xavier
Nina" the lieutenant replied. but I
know OF a bandit Of that name. and II he
has dared bar the road I am sure the
soldiers Of the Emperor will soon drive
him on
You think SO. senior" 4 contemptuouz
smile played about the marquis lips.
What DO YOU think will happen 10 KAY
Ter Nina If he falls into the hands Of
your comrades
He will be placed before a court-mar-
tial and treated according 20 the sen
tence passed upon him."
And if he should fall into your own
hands lieutenant"
II will have him shot down like a dog -
There was deadly silence in the hall
as the lieutenant pronounced these words.
and ererybodys eyes were turned to-
ward the marquis, who shrugged his
shoulders and asked.
And what DO YOU think would happen
TO yourself if you were TO fan into Nina s
hands?"
Exactly the same thius. The blood
thirsty monster has never spared any OF
my comrades. so there is no reason "a
think he would treat me differently"
There was the clank of arms. and as
De Ballette turned his head he saw that
all the doors We're guarded by Spanish
soldiers. At the same moment he real
lied what this meant and whose hospi-
tally he had accepted, so he was not
surprised when his host said:
You are right, senior. l am Xavier
Nina and you and your men viii all be
shot as soon as we have finished this
meal"
With the utmost calmness the Young
French officer listened to his own death
sentence. conscious that his beautiful
neighbor was eagerly watching him "a
discover the slightest trace Of fear in
his face
He had finished eating and placidly
raised his glass 10 his lips while his
brain tried TO invent some plan 10 es-
cape Suddenly a thought flashed
through his mind. With his left hand he
gripped his beautiful neignbor's shoulder
while his right pressed the cold steel bar
rel Of his pistol against her temple.
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