The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1910-08-11
CHAPTER VIZ. Continued,

-
But as I looked at him. coul'
scarcely believe that this was tn
blooathirsty ruflian whose voice
hard istened TO. lie stood leaning OF
his Iuusket, staring toward the chat
eau, and a beam OF light falling full
upon his face, revealed a mere youth
with features finely chiseled and th'
dreamy eyes OF a poet, His haiI
clustered about his face in little curls
his lips were eurveG and sensitive n
any wOman's. l stared at him anlaz
ed; then. suddenly, / understood. This
WAS one of those who fought Tor al
ideal. who fancied that tGr era OF uni
versa! brotherhood was at hand anu tha'
THE revolution was 10 make X pess!ete-
one 10 whom liberty, equality Irater-
nifty was moi q mere phrase, but a
vision to be realized. l had heard OF
such. u never until that moment had
/ believed in their existence. Could
1t be that, after all, the revolution had
IN ii q germ of good, a possibility OF
light
/ shook the thought await WAS alb
surd 10 suppose that good could spring
from murder and outrage, that light
could come from q darkness SO re
voting. This was not a moment for
theories, but Tor deeds. / must go /
must make g dash for II. / should iait,
e. VI AFIA ST. -IiJ S1GtA NAANAA i@AE ~
in that clear light But the shot would
a!asna the house. would give its occu-
iTfst1- ri ie5tst u moment to Tor
tta:=-a3=Gse.aae That, II ATTY rate, i cUuiu
accomplish,
/ gathered myself for the sprlng-iust
afTea1 or me lay n strip OF moonllt
laWa-tt was there that the peril lay
1t was there he would bring me down.
And the shot would precipitate the at
tack.
paused. Ii there was no alarm. at
least 20 minutes would be required to
post the sentries n to make sure
there was no break in the chain. Per-
haps there was another and a better
way; perhaps l could leap upon the
sentry and bear him down before he
could give the alarm.
| raised my head cautiously and
iooked at him again, measuring the dis
tance. He was humming the Marseil-
iaisc, his thoughts, evidently. far away,
for his eyes were lifted and he was
staring absentiy UP at the clear heav-
ems. Had / d dagger, / could have
struck him. but I a no weapon, and
even had there been g dagger IN my
hand. I doubt If l could have nerved
my arm to the blow, so pure, so youth
ful did he appear at that moment
younger than /. and somehow l under
stood that there in the sky he saw a
face smiling down at him.
j shook myself savagely and called
myself a fool. Since he had espoused
the cause of murderers. he must suf-
fer like any other-thls was no time to
hesitate. Again l measured the dis
tance and noted his abstraction. /
would be upon him at a single bound,
and my fingers nee at his throat, l
knew that he woul not cry out.
Suddenly. in the shadow back of him.
fancied | saw a deeper shadow move.
I strained my eyes; yes, there 1t was
another sentinel, perhaps. My heart
fell. And yet, why did he advance SO
slowly. why did he crouch 30 near the
eR-th9. Was 1t man or beast?
Breafhlessiy I watched it. vague, in
choate, scare dfscernible, but the men
ace of its attitude the meaning of that
slow advance. was unmistakable. "A
man. undoubtedly. since in Poltou no
such bloodthirsty beast of prey existed.
But who-who? / glanced again at the
sentry's unconscious face, so pure, so
innocent. Should I warn him; should
The shadow stood suddenly erect, a
knife flashed In the air, and the sentry
fell forward upon the grass, coughing
The shadow ben over the pros
trate figure. the knife flashed again and
the coughing ceased.
Chilled with horror as / was, i never
the.ess had self-control enough to see
that the moment for escape had ar
rived. I slid from the seat and crept
forward toward the house. across that
disk of mooniit lawn, where it,
that the light of all the suns in
was beating down upon me;
then, with a deep breath OF thankful
ness, into the shadow of the s~hrubbery
There / stood erect and softly
but rapidly pressed forward. / gained
the walk, before me was the open
a moment more
Then I became conscious of swift,
soft steps behind me. and a chill of
terror ran up my spine and seemed to
stiffen the hair pom my head. for 1
knew that the slayer of the sentry was
pursuing me. knife in hand-red, drip
ping knife in hand! Numb with fear,
l iierveG myself for the struggle, but
even It's + tsii,ae e d powerful and cruel
was laid roughly on my shoulder.
on. monsieur" whispered a
voice in my ear. Go on. X
will 80 with YOU.