The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1910-06-30
CHAPTER H.-lContinued.l

eumed my seat beneath its branches
for i was curious to see the end of this
encounter. My svmpathies were wholly
with the fugitive. Whatever the mer,
its of tho case, SO gallant a dash fol-
liberty deserved TO be successful. And
yet he could scarcely hope to escape
with 20 men at his heels. -
Once a chorus of frantic yells CAME
to me from the grove, and l thought
for a time that the chase was ended,
But the moments passed n l saw
no sign of either the fugitive or his
p%ursuers. Perhaps he had eluded them,
after all; or perhaps they were push
Ing across the country after him.. In
either event, ii was useless for me to
tarry longer: it was time for me to
be getting forward IL / wanted to reach
Chatellerauit, as 1 had planned. by
nightfall. Only / should have liked to
say goodby to Sergeant Dubosq. There
was about the man a fascination, an
air of deviltry that pleased me. Per-
haps. at another time, / might ever
have found myself listening to his
words; but now
'Eit still. monsieur said a low
voice Just behind me and 1 started
round to find myself looking down
the long barrel OF a pistol just above
which cleaned two eyes | and
cold as steel. II was moved to shoot
you" he went on evenly, "as the
shortest way out, but after all, I am
not a murderer. l will give you one
chance. / must have your horse.
Give me your word of honor to sit
there quietly and you are safe; re-
Fuse" and he made a menacing lit
tie motion with his pistol.
There could be no doubling his
earnestness. One glance at the reso-
Lutte and implacable ~countenance con
WINGED me that its owner would not hes
itate to shoot mi down. But to lose
my horse
Come" he said, decide quickly.
Faith, h choice ought not to be diff
ncultl" and he laughed grimly.
a the horse, monsieur" ! said in
D voice trembling with rage and cha-
grin; but my hour will come"
He laughed again, put up his pistol
and cams out upon the road.
AS / watched him unite my horse,
! realized suddenly all that this loss
would mean to me, and q blind i'm
pulse seized me to rush upon him and
run him through. / think l must have
yielded to II, in spite of my passed
word, had he not seemed to trust 1t so
implicitly. For he even turned his
back to me as he bent to adjust the
stirrups.
He seemed in no hurry-indeed. I was
apparently far more excited than he
and / had time to admire the erect fig
ure. the easy carriage, the grace Of
movement. Dubosq had spoken truly
when he remarked that no one could
mistake me for this finished cavalier.
He sprang to the saddle with superb
and paused for q look about
him. He was even humming a song.
"Ah. there they come" he said, and
Following his eye, / saw DubosQ and his
men burst from the grove and come
charging across the field. AT last they
have discovered how 1 eluded them!
Awkward louis! Adieu, minsieur."
Till we meet again!" I directed.
He laughed blithely.
"A you will" he said, n gathered
up the reins. Whittier are you bound ?"
he added, turning back to me. s
4 Poitiers," | answered.
Then we may indeed meet again."
and waving his hand to his enemies,
who by this time were very near, he set
squirt TO flank and gailoped away down
the road.
A shower OF bullets followed him,
but he kept on apparently unhurt, and
IN a moment more was out of gun
shot.
Dubosq came painting up. his men at
his heels. He was fairly livid. He
stopped for an instant to shake his
nst at the cloud of dust far down the
va Then he turned to me.
"Traitor!" he cried hoarsely. "Aris-
tocrat!" And l saw how the great
veins stood out across his forehead. $50
you had the ~effrontery to wait for
mel"
"Assuredly." I replied, as calmly as 1
could. since you requested it."
He glared at me for a moment with
bloodshot eyes. Then he turned to his
men.
Secure him." he said. 1--WE will let
him espouse Madame GuilIotine."
.W And hofnra 7 an,tld nnan 49,, H.. ~
protest, my hands were dashed behind
me.
For the horse was not all that / had
lost. In the holsters of the saddle was
q pair of handsome pistols which had
belonged to my father. and in the port
manteau strapped behind it an array Of
gallant clothing such as / had never
possessed before and would in all like
lhood never again possess. AS to re-
plenfshfng my purse, / remembered
only too acutely how my mother had
pinched herself for months to provide
me with this outfit. No, decidedly, to
repair this misfortune, ]. had only my
am free to say that 1t was not of a
quality greatly to ~enhearten me. Ger
tainly, my first adventure in the world
had ended most disastrously.
So ! trudged on, looking neither to
the right nor to the left, turning my
iuioloIluuc oSST III Hy HllHu, ana re-
calling the good points of my horse,
the comfort Of my saddle, and the beau
ties of my wardrobe, as a starving man
will picture to himself the savory de-
tails of some banquet he has enjoyed in
happier days. And l almost found it In
my heart to regret that l had not struck
the robber down In that moment when
he had dared to turn his back upon
me.
There were a few people on the road.
u u as ! met stared at me curious
ly, evidently unable to understand how
II was that q young fellow so gall
lantly arrayed should be footing il
through the dust with sour counte-
nance. This. of course, served only to
increase my spleen, and ended in my
pulling my hat over my eyes and trudg-
ing on without glancing up, even ~
the rustic of a petticoat. / know not
how great a distance / covered In Lli
fashion. but AT last the sum-, rising
high In the heavens, beat down ,por.
me with such ardor that my head L.
gan to swim dizzily. So / looked about
for shelter, and seeing just ahead OF
me a little cluster of mean houses,
FASTENED my steps In the hope that
there might be an inn among them.
So, indeed. there proved to be-
of the low. iI smelling room. dark
almost as a dungeon, even In full
day, i hesitated, for I was armed
only with sword and dagger and II
was impossible to see what lay with