The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-03-21
CHAPTER XyIII-(Continued.)

@"t'' hiehe'ieu has u'ho Ho'
"Ah!" and Cartouche remained for
a thoughtful. well mon
sieur." he said, at last, in a tone fun
OF significance, Il do not believe we
shall need to have recourse. to a rescue
OF that character The matter will soon
adjust itself"
Adjust itself? But how?" I ques-
toned, In amaZement.
mo matter and Cartouche laughed,
a short dry laugh. only. monsieur,
should a rescue become necessary, you
may count upon me-"
Very WELL" l said. II shall see you
again, then, If there is need" n l
turned my horse back in the direction
from which l had como.
Wait a moment, monsieur" he
called, with a good humored chuckle,
coming out Of the house and putting
up his pistol. you are already on the
road to Versailles. 1t is one OF the
principles of our business never to tell
the truth If it can be avoided. ON
tinue straight ahead and you will reach
st. Cloud. Ten leagues farther is YER
sailles."
l turned my horse about with a jerk.
Does the o run through a wood
near here?" i asked, as / took a new
hold on the bride.
Not half a league farther on, O
sieur," he answered, in a surprised
voice, and l was off before he could
say more. AS / glanced back over my
shoulder I saw him standing there still
staring after me, and then, as though
struck by a sudden idea, turn and
vanish within the cabin. / had need
of haste, for II o'clock could not be far
distant. But the horse Madame du
Maine had provided was a good one,
n I laughed as / pictured to myself
how she must be tearing her hair at
the thought that ii was she who had
given me the means OF saving the re-
gent. The moon had risen clear Of the
trees while / was parleying with Car
touche and flooded the country with
MONDAY brightness. Fearing no pit
falls in this wide and level road, l
spured onward, peering ahead for The
wood of which C~artouche had spoken,
but of which / could see no sign. Once
1 thought l heard the beat Of horses
hoofs behind me, but when ] turned
In my saddle I saw 10 one, and con-
cluded hat they were merely the echo
Of my own. The minutes passed, n
finally, to my great relief, away before
me / saw that the white road seemed
to disappear in the darkness, as though
cut off at the entrance to a tunnel.
This, then, was the wood, n with
new ardor. for l had begun to fear that
C~artouche had misled me, 1 galloped
towards it. The roa flew past un-
der my horse like some gigantic rib
bon, and in q l was In the
shadow of the trees
Here I paused. 1 did not know
how far the WOOL extended, nor
did ] know at what point the
ambush had been prepared. The only
thing to be done, evidently, was to ride
to the other side and stop the regent
and his party before they entered 1t.
1 proceeded cautiously, the lust dead
ening the hoofbeats of my horse, for I
did not know at what m I myself
might be greeted by a volley from the
roadside. At last, far down the av-
enue ahead, / saw the oad opening
out INTO the plain. and at the same
moment / again heard the sound Of
swiftly galloping horses in my rear.
This tim there was no MISLEADING the
sound. and as l turned. 1 saw a troop
Of three or four men just entering the
wood. AS l looked at them the mys-
FERROUS words Of Cartouche flashed into
my head. Could 1t be that it was to
him the duchess la confided the task
Of assassinating the regent, and thai
he had not suspected my purpose until
too late to stop me? The thought made
me drive the spurs nee more into the
fanke Of my horse, and as 1 did so, /
heard again that clear. sharp whistle
which Cartouche had used once before
to summon his men to attack me. AL
most before the sound had died away
under the trees there came a flash of
fire from the roadside, a ringing report,
and my horse stumbled and nearly fell,
then continued slowly onward, limping
badly. l heard the horses Of my pur-
suers rapidly drawing nearer, and even
at that moment / saw ahead Of me down
the road another little troop approach
ing from the direction Of Versailles, and
knew 1t vas the regent and three or
four companions. Would I be on time?
Would my horse carry me out of the
forest? The troop behind me was dan
gerously close.
stop, monsieur cried a voice which
I knew to be that Of Cartouche. stop
or we fire!"
Without answering, I threw myself
forward upon my horses neck and
again drove in the spurs. l could hear
the poor brute's breath coming in gasps.
and from the trembling of his body 1
knew he was almost done. But it was
no time to spare him. and the white
road cleaning in the moonlight lust
ahead was so near-so near.
Again Cartouche cried out for me to
halt, n again I did not answer.
I glanced ahead and saw that the
regents party had apparently heard the
tramp or our horses, for they had
stopped to listen. In an instant I had
seized a pistol from the holster and
fired 1t in the air. They would hear
the report and at least be prepared to
a the danger which threatened
them. AS my shot rang out through
the still night air I heard a savage
oath behind me. There came a crash
of pistols and a great blow seemed to
strike me In the head. / reeled In the
saddle. caught myself as I was falling.
and held on. The earth seemed whirl-
ing under me, strange lights danced
before my eyes. ! shook them from me
with clenched teeth; l was out in the
moonlight; my horse still staggered on.
And then, ar in a dream, I saw the re-
gent, sitting on his horse calmly in the
middle Of the road.
"Save yourself, monsieur!" cried.
Save yourself! They would kill you!"
I felt the horse slipping from under
ne, the sky grew black, something in
my head seemed to burst. and 1 knew
no more.
CHAPTER XIX.
DANCENIS TELLS THE STORY.
/ lay for some time without stirring,
looking ixedly at the window In front
Of me and wondering in a vague way
what had happened. I could see the
sun shining brightly On some %shrubbery
outside the window. The view was