Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-05-29

the door; and I had to open drawer
after drawer to Its full extent. 0xamine5
each paper they contained. and replace
them. have never felt afraid before,
but while carrying out this business I
was filled with terror and stupefaction.
! worked mechanically. and like man,
WORKING In q dream; had any one en-
tered should have run my sword
through his heart, replaced the papers,
hidden my disgrace and then destroyed
myself. It was this thought that gave
me courage
And among all these papers there
was not a sign OF the document; It was
by the merest accident found it at
last"
You found it,s
'Wait-yes, found 1t, behind a SEE
cret panel Of the top right hand drawer.
panel the existence Of which dis
covered by a chance which seems mi
raculous.
The thing ought to belong to the
history OF the world, so that men might
see the depth Of infamy that man can
descend to.
1T contains the names Of Sc corn
brokers, the amount of corn each of
these has delivered, the amount OF
money paid him. The receipt for the
corn is signed by De Sartines, the re-
ceipt for the money by the master
broker
"All this corn has been bought, to be
sold at thrice it's purchased price to q
starved market and q starving people"
but Monsieur de Richelieu,--Why did
, he hold the document?"
He is the king.
The king?"
"The kings intermediary; half Of the
money for the purchase of the corn has
been supplied by the king. De Riche-
lieu Is the king 81 business man In the
affair; his watch dog over the rapac-
ity of De Sartines and TerTay. who
was the inventor OF the scheme.
Mon Dteu! and this document 2?
wait. I was seated with the open
drawer before me. the document IN
my hand, amazed by my SUGGEST
amazed by the infarny Of these men.
when, outside, suddenly sounded sharp
and clear the voice OF my cousin. De
Richelieu. In q flash l folded the docu-
ment. placed It on top. Of the papers
in the drawer, closed the drawer. un-
able to lock 1t because I had taken
the key from the lock, and, rising. was
in the act Of taking q book from one
OF the shelves when the door opened
and the due entered. followed by Rane.
bearing a pile of books and papers. De
home; can you conceive such bad
luck? The due seemed still in splendid
humor and, evidently. he suspected
nothing: he rallied me for staying IN
the house when the weather was SO
glorious outside, and. as turned from
the shelves, book in hand, he passed
to the bureau and sat down before It,
while Raffe spread its top with the
books and papers.
'.'These are my half yearly ac-
counts said the due. 'Raffe and are
going over them together, and fear
1t will take US till supper time. a
weary business, and fear we shall
dkAft1rh VOu In vONlr reading. y
AT that my eye fell on the clock.
which stands on little table near the
window, and saw that 1t marked
three minutes to Z. remembered my
appointment with you. had for
iinsman that would leave him to his
accounts, went to the stable. borrowed
a horse and killed him half q league
from Paris. ran the half league.
had not spared the horse; my only ex-
cuse is that I did not spare myself !"
And you have left this document
right hand top drawer Of Monsieur de
Richelieu's bureau?'
Yes
why did you not thrust It into your
pocket r.
For answer, De Lussac turned and
pockets with heavily embroidered
flaps, making 1t work OF difficulty
even to insert ones hand.
THE drawer was open before me"
said he; nothing was easier than to
place the paper In 1t and close it,
And you have left the drawer un-
locked?"
Yes: / had no time to lock It,"
And Monsieur lie DUO is sitting there
now doing his accounts and at any mo-
ment he may require some paper or
other, take his keys from his pocket,
insert one in the lock and find that the
drawer Is already unlocked That will
mean suspicion, search and discovery =
Precisely. But the chances are
that he will 60 on with his accounts.
One must sometimes trust to chance
True said Madame Linden, land
you came all the way back to see me,
killed horse. nearly killed your
self"
Yes; and would have come twice
the distance and killed two horses for
one glance from your eyes,
He drew her to him and their lips
met.
'And now" said she. you are going
back?"
Yes. My work is easy now. II
Monsieur de Richelieu has discovered
nothing, shall simply have to wait
for a moment alone In the library,
open the drawer. take from 1t the
document, and close the drawer again.
Then you may be sure that with It in
my possession, will not be long in
returning to Paris, and then"
And them"