The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1913-10-09
ole MINISTER
Xk n POLICE
BY HENRY MoNTJoY
I NIL c.gyasAl l,.a n. Boss.M.ra csns.as
N

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when. from the direction OF Versailles.
he saw q vehicle approaching. II was
sAhi" said he. Here is the din
gence. ! will take It"
The words acted like a charm. The
coachman climbed to his seal again
and Gaillard, seeming to forget his
wife, took De Maupeou by the arm.
Get In, monsieur said he. II have
lost my wife. No matter. ! will find
her again, and we q have a drink
at Paris. Wives are easily found. Be-
sides. she may have gon on to her
mother. who lives In the Rue de BON
dy; and I have q bottle In the cabrio-
De Maupeou hesitated between the
choice of Gaillard. who was undesir-
able. and the diligence, which was no
vehicle for the first magistrate OF
France to be found in. He chose Gail
lard. stepped into the cabriolet. and
was lost. H5s
For several miles they proceeded at
q rapid pace, and Gaillard, forget
ting his wife, forgetting his grievances.
forgetting everything but conviviality,
applied himself to the bottle and under
Its charms sang n Of a free and
volatile nature. and presently. losing
interest in music. fell asleep.
The horse, as though In sympathy
with the wearied reveler. slackened its
pace, and the Paris diligence. which
had been following them and taking
their dust. passed them with q tinkIing
OF bells and q cry Of derision from the
driver.
De Maupeou looked at his watch. II
was after eight. He shouted to the
driver to hasten his speed and that In
divtdual replied through the dusk that
WAS NOW uQfhnrfnO and uuhfnnnA I'm hf0
horse. .. .'
The speed increased for a quarter Of
a mile and then slackened gain, de-
spite h apparent efforts of the dri-
Yer. SO that when the toll gate was
reached and DeMaupeou looked at his
watch he found that 1t pointed to 20
minutes past g.. m
The vehicle stopped at the toll gate
and the sergeant OF duty came to the
window with q lantern. The lantern
was for the examination Of the Inter-
Tor OF the cabriolet., for It was not yet
dark and De Maupeou could see the
sergeant3 face clearly in the dusk.
Gaillard. who had suddenly Weakened
from his sleep. put his hand under the
seat for his bottle, and pulled lout in
stead q dead fowl. which he hastily
stuffed back. Y
But the sergeant had seen him. y
In q De Maupeou and his
companion were hauled from the coach
and the sergeant, diving under the seat,
gave a cry like the cry of a hound.
The compartment beneath the seat
was stuffed with contrapand!
It seemed to the luckiess vice chan
cellor that he was In the midst of q
nightmare: dumb at his abominable
position and not daring to give his
name before all the guards and those
loafers who hung around the toll gates
of Paris, he let himself be led into the
guard room. which was ~forttnatefy
empty. and where he took his seat on
h bench beside Gaillard, whose
drunkenness had again descended on
him like a veil, and who now, relieved
from the clutches Of the soldiers, sank
Into a condition of complete oblivion,
despite the fact that while being led
past the sergeant he had in a perfect
iy wide awake manner contriVed to slip
into he hands of the latter q piece OF
paper containing a short paper signed
"Rappelier."
De Maupeou, unable for a moment to
think or form a plan, looked at his
watch. 1t pointed to $3.50. -
The sergeant and the soldiery did
not know him by sight; these men OF
the guard houses had nothing to do
with h law courts or the palaces,
and h paper of Rappelier disclosed
A~ShAA6I SOhbnlAihB Ouly u uITeCLlOn
that neither Gaillard nor his COM
panion were smugglers, but hat they
were to be held in custody till 10
O'clock and hen discharged, and the
whole affair reported to Monsieur de
Sartines. ~ ..
Gaillard, let us say at once, was Mon
sfeur Marmortal, that p~Iainclothes
agent of the palace police whose
humor and resource in the case Of the
mysterious Mademoiselle M. form such
an amusing chapter in the memoirs Of
Monsieur de Condamine.
f. CHAPTER v.