The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-06-12

- NOT necessary LOT you TO see ElIni
questions or complaints can be adj
to him in writing" IS
Mon Dieu!" cried the unfortunate
young man. Il am then imprisoned
without reason given, and / may, per-
maps. see the governor tomorrow. O.,
Monsieur, beware of what you do! An
injustice like this is a crime. I ask.
simply, what / ave done that / should
be seized like this n imprisoned, and
you give me an answer which is no an
sWer. You refuse to tell me-"
Inc man Of parchment at the desk
turned to the jailer who had now
opened the door.
Number %, corridor number 4" he
said.
Follow me- said the jailer.
De Lussac looked round him as
though he were looking for sympathy
or help. Then, with a gesture impos-
sible to describe, he followed the Off
Ger. In tn corridor some one touched
him on the shoulder. 1t was Beaure-
gard.
Courage, MY friend,'' said the big
man, your case may rot be so a as
you suppose. You have always your
kinsman, the DUO de Richeiieu, to fall
back upon"
That was the asst straw, and De
Lussac scarcely heard ~Beauregard say
ing good-by, as the lieutenant of De
oSA In " z away " " = i
and air and freedom, leaving his
charge to follow h jailer.
This parsonage, who wore the semi
uniform of the state prisons and car
ried at his belt a heavy bunch of keys,
led the way along the corridor till they
reached a door, reconstructed and made
hideous by a. lock of size,
and Of such a complicated nature that
it took the jailer a full minute in
opening, yet there We're locks in
the Bastile so complicated. con-
structed with such horrible ingenuity,
that it would take at least five minutes
TO master them.
The jailer held the door open for de
Lussac to pass through, and they as
cended a circular stone staircase. The
walls of this place We're f-ungus-grown
and still showed stains caused by the
torches OF the archers, arbaletriers, and
musketeers OF past ages; the steps
were tread-worn by the feet of genera
tons of prisoners, guards and jailers.
They passed through another corri-
dor till they reached a stairway.
1t led to another corridor, halfway
down which the jailer halted, took the
bunch Of keys from his belt and opened
a door.
De Lussac saw before him a square
stone cell lighted by a window, high
placed, and protected by heavy iron
Dai ~ pco Sloou III OIiS i1cI, ID
table in the center, and a chair by the
table. A pitcher of water stood upo
the table.
There was no other furniture at all.
AS he Stood for a moment before en-
tering this place, suddenly, from away
down the corridor came the ghost of
a voice; high-pitched, cracked and
faint as though strained through some
microscopic opening. 1t was singing
the verse of a o om,non in the
streets of Paris some 20 years before.
De Lussac, shivering, entered the cell,
drew the chair from the table and sat
down.
Your supper will be brought to you
at s." said the turnkey, speaking for
the first time. SHOULD you care to pay
you will be well served: you can even
have wine. What money have you?"
Il do not want wine. Bring me pa
per, pens and ink"
Paper and pens-what forH'
Il wish to write to the governor"
the mar in a grumbling voice. well,
if it amuses you, you can nave o
paper and pens but they cost money."
De Lussac took a louis from his
pocket and gave it to the jailer.
That will pay you. When can l
have them?"
"At s o'clock"
T.. nul L law lllc1ll al ollIS.
Patience" replied the jailer.
He glanced round the cell in a per
functory manner went out, n shut
the door. With the closing of the door
came the click of the lock, and then
absolute and perfect silence.
The prisoner could not even heal the
footsteps of his jailor retreating down
the corridor. Like the fortress of ST.
Peter and st. Paul, which still exists
to the shame of civilization, the bastile
had one supreme and GROWING terror,
it's silence.
Silence had been built into the place
by the masons who labored at those
walls 80 feet thick. Silence, old as the
times of Louis XII. Silence, complete
and ~steadfast like this, has a person
ality, at least during the first few hours
of ones acquaintance with it. 1t seems
to be listening and at the same time
observing one. De Lussac, fresh from
the sounds of the streets, and the
voices of people, sat for a little while
without moving. listening. scarcely
breathing.
Then he rose to his feet and walked
up and down the cell trying to find
refuge in thought. But his thoughts
We're enough to drive a strong man to
despair. He saw de Richelieu sitting
at his bureau engaged in his accounts.
De Richeliea would, in the course of
TIE next Lew hours, inevitably IlQu the
drawer open, and the infamous docu-
ment lying on the other papers. He
would know to a certainty that he-de
Lussac-had opened the drawer. found
the document, and worst of all. read
it.
1t was a secret that concerned the
honor of the king. as well as De Sar-
tines. and that mean Imprisonment
for ever for De Lussac,
Then the vision of SODHie Linden rose
before him; the woman who had shown
him what a fair thing life is to those
who love.
Cod" cried the unfortunate, as he
looked around him at the mean and
sordid cell. the walls of granite blocks
four feet square, the bed, the bare
table, the hole in the wall that went by
name of window.
There would be rainy winter after
Moons that would creep into long win
ter nights; hot summer days would
pass over the Bastile, bringing moth
ing here. And men would say: "Oh,
the Comte de Lussac! Let me see;
he died, did he not? Or at all events.
Disappeared; but that was 20 years
ago." And there would be no one to
put them right, not even the Comte
de Lussac himself, still perhaps living,
white and old: still, perhaps, biting his
nails in No. %, corridor Z.
He pushed his table Under the win