The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1913-10-23

y IOS seemed To 0lOt my eyes,
shook from hair to heel and laid my
head against the solid stone, while
the blank, throbbing seconds passed.
The Countess stood there. shocked
and breathless. | saw her sleeve in
rags, and the snowy skin all bruised
beneath
What irony turks in blind chance
that | should owe this woman my
life-this woman whose home | had
come to confiscate, whose friends |
had arrested, who herself was now
my prisoner, destined to the shame of
exile,
Perhaps she OWNED my thoughts
| do not know-but she turned her
troubled eyes to the arched window,
where a painted saint imbedded in
golden glass knelt and beat his breast
with two heavy stones.
Madame | said slowly, your cour-
age and your goodness to me have
made my task a heavy one. Can |
tighten it for you in any manner"
She turned towards me. almost tim
idly. Gould I go to Morsbronn be-
fore-before | cross the frontier?
have house there; there are a few
things | would like to take
She stopped short, seeing. doubtless.
the pain OF refusal in my face. But,
after all, it does not matter | sup
pose your orders are formal?"
Yes, madame"
Then it is a matter OF honor"
"A soldier is always on his honor;
a soldiers daughter will understand
that"
81 understand she said.
We had stopped. by a mutual i'm
pulse, at the head of the stone stair
way.
Why do you shelter such a man
as John Buckhurst?" asked, abruptly.
She raised her eyes to me with per
feet composure.
Why do you ask"
Because / kave come here from
Paris to arrest him"
She bent her head thoughtfully and
laid the tips of her fingers on the
sculptured balustrade.
TO me" she said, there's no such
thing as a political crime"
1T is not for political crime that
we want John Buckhurst." | said,
watching her 1T is for civil out
rage"
Her face was like marble; her
hands frightened on the fretted carv.
ing.
What crime is he charged with ?"
she asked, without moving
He is charged with being com,
mon thief" | said
1t is brutal to make such a
charge!" she said will you pledge
me your honor that if he answers
satisfactorily to that false charge OF
theft, the government will let him
go free
Il will take it upon myself to do
so" said l. But what in Heavens
name is this man to you. madame ?
He is a militant anarchist, whose
creed is not yours, whose propaganda
teaches merciless violence, whose pro
gramme is terror"
She was gazing at me with dilated
eyes, her hands holding tight to the
balustrade.
Did you not know that?" l asked
astonished.
No" she said.
You are not aware that John Buck
hurst is the soul and center of the
Belleville Reds"
1t is-it is false!" she stammered
NO. madame, it is true He wears
a SNUG mask here; he has deceived
you all"
John Buckhurst will answer for
himself" she said, steadily.
When, madame"
For answer she stepped across the
hall and laid one hand against the
blank wall Then, reaching upward
she drew from between the ponderous
blocks little strips of steel. colored
like mortar, dropping them to the
stone floor, where they rang out
When she had flung away the last
one. she stepped back and SET her
frail shoulder to the wall; instantly
mass of stone swung silently on an
unseen pivot, yellow light streamed
out, and there was tiny chamber
Illuminated by a lamp, and man just
rising from his char