The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1910-10-13
CHAPTER WI.
False Preten% >.

CHAPTER yTI.
False Pretents.
But only the merest bnath did she
permit her soul to stars unveiled be-
fore me. Then she dew her hand
away and fenced herself again with
that invulnerable arnor
Come. my friend" she said, and
In my ears, 1--WE must be syoing on
we have a long journey still before
u.s."
I arose like a drunken man. I dared
not believe what that glimpse OF glory
had revealed to me; 1t seemed too Won
derful. too stupendous to be true. /
had looked into her soul and seen love
there-but was 1t really there? Or
was 1t merely Che reflection of what
my own soul disclosed?
] glanced down at her, but she
was staring straight before her as
she walked steadily forward, with a
face so cold and impassive that the
doubt grew, enwrapped me, darkened
to conviction. 1t was folly to suppose
that her eyes had really revealed their
secret; 1t was absurd to believe that
any such secret lay behind them. Who
was 7 that I should hope to awaken
love II, the breast of such a woman as
this? Pity. perhaps-sympathy. friend
ship, kidness--anything but the deep.
splendid passion hungered for. She
had been moved fol. the moment; but
emotion. Well, certainly, would
never remind her OF 1t. My business
was to place her safely in the hands
of friends. Then / must be away TO
work out my own destiny.
So we went on through the night,
taking at every fork of the road the
way whcih led nearest the west, for
had 10 leagues and more to cover ere
we should reach the Mocage. and the
nearer we approached our destination,
the more closely would danger en-
compass us. From south and east,
troops were being massed to crush out,
by sheer weight of numbers, the flame
of insurrection which had arisen so
suddenly In the very heart Of France.
From every town within so leagues the
National Guard had been summoned:
from Paris itself levies were Fastening
-levies Of Septembrists, cut throats,
assassins. asking nothing better than
permission to murder and pillage,
and commanded by a general deter
mined not to fight but to destroy,
not to defeat but to exterminate-in
a word, not to rest until all Vendee
had been made wilderness, barren
waste. This line of enemies, marching
forward in this temper. we were forced
to pierce In order to reach our friends.
The moon rose high in the heav-
ems, paused at the zenith, then
started on its course down the west
ern sky. thanked the fortune
which gave us her friendly light to
guide us, for the road grew more
wild and rough. In one place, in
deed, it was merely the bed Of tor
rent, little different from that over
which we had already toiled SO pain
fully. So we left it, and breaking
our way through the hedge which
Even was beginning to feel fatigued
and could guess at my compan-
ions WEAKNESS, but she refused to
listen to my suggestion that we stop
and rest. But dawn was not far dis
tant, and we must find some safe
hiding place for the day. There were
any for some time; but where there
was a road. however bad. there must
also be people to travel II, and to
seek rest, to resign oneself to sleep,
save in a safe covert, would be the
height Of folly.
The country had grown open and
level. with only an occasional tree
used for pasturage. though I saw no
sheep nor cattle; but at last along a
ridge at our right I caught sight Of
a thicket, and toward this we made
our way We found 1t a dense growth
of small saplings and underbrush.
and broke our way into 1t with diff
Guilty, but the event repaid the labor.
for at last we came to little glade
not over rod across and carpeted
with grass.
Here is our resting place." I said.
land our home for another day."
My companion sank down with q
sigh Of utter fatigue. f& ~
IT am very tierd," she inurmured,
and STOPPING over drew off the shoes
which had slipped over her own.
"You are to sleep until you are
quite rested added 1--WE will re-
main here until evening. Then after
darkness falls and before the moon Is
up, We shall try to pierce the lines of
the Republicans, which cannot be far
away. For that you must be fresh,
for we may need to be feet"
But YOU" she broke in quickly. you
are going to sleep, too?"
first wish to assure myself that there
Is no house too near US. Good night.
mademoiselle."
Good night my friend" she said.
looking up at me with little tremu-
lous smile 80 full Of sorrow and wear
mess that my eyes grew wet.
stood a moment gazing down at
her, longing to gather her in my
arms, as one would a child and ca
ress and comfort her and hold her so
until she fell asleep. But l managed
to crush the longing ,oack and turn
away to the task which / had set my
self ~"
The thickst crowned a low ridge
which stretched between two gentle
valleys. That we had left was, as /
have said innocent of human habita-
tiop. In the one to the north fam
cied I could discern group Of houses,
but they were so far away that we
need iapprehend no danger from
them. To the westward along the
ridge, the thicket stretched as far as
! SSals ouv h,a,ps 80 ~,