Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-05-01

not already arrested simply because
| they are giving me little freedom so
| that they may watch my movements.
Now walk close to me and with your
| left hand take the packet / spoke of
first and slip it into your pocket"
| DE Lussac did so.
| Nov, take the keys"
DE Lussac did SO.
Bury the packet somewhere safely.
and so as to be doubly sure, send y
| note to Monsieur. Blanc. No. 3, Rue
Petit Versailles. stating that you have
buried a packet OF the utmost import.
ance TO us in such and such . place.
SO that, in the event of your arrest OF
death, he may recover it. You have
servant you can trust %
| Yes"
1 They had passed through many
streets. The stranger had let De LUIS
sac lead the way, so engrossed was he
With the conversation. and DE Lnssac
had walked wherever chance might
lead him; chance, or instinct, perhaps,
| had led him by maze of streets into
the street where he lived. the Rue de
| Nalois.
AT this period. the Rue de valois
was perhaps the most fashionable street
in paris Here Madame du Barry had
her town house where the Vicomte
Jean du Barry lived when he chose to
favor Paris with his presence, the
Comte de Coigny dwelt here and the
Comte d'Harlancourt. whose residence
! was situated almost opposite to the
Hotel de Lussac
That is ALL said De Lussac's com
panion. II will leave YOU here and
pass on, while you enter your house.
Remember that our fates are all in your
hands and the fate of France, for, II
ell a..
power. he will stop a nothing, not even
torture, to extract confessions from the
men he has imprisoned. Some one of
them will be sure to confess, giving full
details--and then goodby forever TO the
hopes of the people
He. raised his hat and passed on.
/ Had anyone been watching, he might
have fancied that two casual acquain
tances had parted, never two conspira-
| tors who between them held the future
and the fate of France.
| De Lussac, when the door opened to
him. passed into glassed-in court
yard and between two rows of orange
trees set in green painted tubs to the
doorway of the house.
| At this period, 1T was necessary for
| a nobleman who wished to keep close
to affairs, to follow his king and tc,
possess a mansion within easy distance
of the kings residence. AS his majesty
Il
from Paris to Versailles. from Yer
sailles to Marty, and so forth, 1t is easy
to imagine the drain this custom inn
posed on the resources Of the nobility.
DE Lussac, who was Indifferent to GUS
| tom, contented himself with single
residence in Paris and the Chateau de
Lussac, the family house in Auvergne;
utterly regardless of the sneers Of the
4 titled larvae, the brOcaded parasites
of the court who dubbed him the
Auvergnat." So he managed to live the
life he chose to live, to avoid oppress-
the poor--a most admirable figure in a
society cold, glittering. and as indif-
4 ferent to man as the Jungfrau-wfth-
out the Jungfrau's purity.
De Lussac had left the house OF the
baroness filled with this kindlier phil
oSophy and outlook on life and 10! half
| way down the Rue Peysette the revO.
Hutton had tapped him on the shoulder
Now, as he stood in his library. hav-
ing closed the door. he faced his posi-
ton.
/ Philosophy OF no philosophy, his
plain course of duty lay straight be-
fore him. These men were in prison
and his oath compelled him to liberate
l them at all costs. De Sartines must be
lbound in his own tolls and to do SO he,
1.-THE Comte de Lussac, must enter the
house Of his kinsman and play the part
OIL q peuIy It1leI.
He no longer belonged to the Society
of the Midi in heart, he was about to
divorce himself from 1t and the oath
l he had taken did not prevent him from
leaving it at will, but 1t very explicitly
bound him to the course of action which
| the head center had just laid down for
him.
\ AS he stood before the writing table
contemplating his position. the sweat
moistened the palms of his hands. He
\ would have to ransack De Richelieu's
bureau like a common robber, open
| ing the drawers with duplicate keys;
| he would have to lie, and deceive, and
act deception under the garb OF friend
! illness and kinsmanship.
| For a moment, despair at the trap
he found himself in filled his heart
| Then came the thought, You are doing
this for whom? Not yourself. The
more repugnant to you the greater the
sacrifice. BE firm
4 He sat down to the writing table and
taking sheet of writing paper from a
| Spanish cedar wood box, he dipped a
pen in ink and wrote with a firm hand:
To-day l am burrying In the earth
as you enter my courtyard. packet
| of vital Importance to the S. de M.
| Should ] be arrested or should / die
show this letter to Jasmin, my valet.
| He is entirely to be trusted. Unearth
| the packet and make use Of it as your
wisdom sees fit.
(signed) Armand de Lussac"
\ tContinued Mex. Weekly
Modern Life.
Il