Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-10-03
"Ah. the pie!" said the king. laugh
ing and turning from the bird. Yes,

sieur de Maupeou is the representa-
tive of the law, I would ask him to
be present at he Inauguration of my
pie. since Monsieur de Sartines, the
representative of order, is absent"
The king glanced at the evere and
serious face of Monsieur de Maupeou
and burst out laughing.
Ma foil" cried he, IAN excellent
idea. My dear De Maupeou. you must
dine with us today"
"Your wish Is my command, sire.''
replied De Maupeon, vaguely uneasy
at the limited mystery of this pie and
the manner of the king, but glad, all
the same, Of another chance to push
his request. But, If / may make so
bold to say SO. at the Inauguration of
tive of the law seems to me less called
for than q representative Of medicine
in the form Of your majesty's ply
sician."
make your mind easy, dear Nom
sieur de Maupeou," said the comtesse.
my pie will give indigestion to no
one; no will swallow 1t. yet it is
compounded Of one thing that. accord
ing to the sages, makes men fat"
And what is that, madame?" asked
the vice chancellor.
Laughter" she replied.
Almost IS h uttered the word the
door by which the king had entered
OPSAASo AAO q 0S4 LA
Madame la Comtesse d'Egmont."
The daughter Of Richelieu belonged
to the skirts Of the De Choiseul party,
that is to say, h hated Madame du
Barry as bitterly as any one OF them,
yet was anxious to please the king
on her fathers account. Hence her
presence today.
She had scarcely made her compli-
ments to the king and the comtesse
than the servants voice announced:
Monsieur IAbbe Fremont"
And before the cleric had fully paid
Coigny, charming, youthful and full of
grace, followed by The Duo d'Aiguillon,
the Ccmte de Coigyn and .Chon du
Barry, exquisite in a robe au bord de
~riviere green clasped by a great
brooch of emeralds at the waist.
ing in the anteroom till the last mo-
ment possible. and now as they stood
talking, the king, the Due d'Aiguillon,
the Comtesse d'Egmont n the Com
Jesse de Coigny forming one group;
the Able Fremont, the Comtesse du
ing another, while Chon contented
herself with teasing Combefere. AS
they were talking thus the door sud-
denly opened and like q thunderclap to
DE Maupeou, the servant announced:
Monsieur lie Comte de Sartines."
III Cl44Sd vi VIC odI LlllCO
deserves a word: When he had left
the Duo de Richelieu's house, having
given his grace the order of secret adj
lnittlance to the Bastile. he returned
to the Hotel de Sartines very much
perturbed in his mind. He was used to
enemies, he was used to traps. he vas
used even to attempts on his life; but
in all his experience he had never
found himself in a position half SO
grave as the present. He could i'm
! prison the woman who held him in her
grip, but We're he to do so her Internal
ingenuity would hit him no less surely;
De Maupcou would receive the weapon
from the hands Of the unknown who
held it, and as surely as death is the
portion OF man De Maupeou would use
it.
He sat for a while deep in thought.
lie could see no possible outlet from
the trap that surrounded him. Sud-
denly he struck himself on the fore
head. The king! That was his only
chance. He would lay the whole mat
ter before the king and attack De
Maupeou before De Maupeou could at
tack him.
He knew the king so we'll, that
shuffier and evader and double-dealer.
He knew that if De Meaupeou were to
lay a formal charge, backed by that
atrocious paper, the king would hush
the matter up for his own sake, and
l AAekS SAAO AldoAA III AI0 WOul0 "a LIZ
Maupeou would be his-De Sartines'-
disgrace and exile. It was imperative
to frighten the king. to poison his mind
against De Maupeou-nay, ven to lie
to the king, accuse De Maupeou and
Madame Linden Of having stolen the
better than that. OF having concocted
the thing and forged his-De Sartines'
signature to it. The king would
know this to be a lie; that did not
matter in the least. Before the dan
ger of having his own name implicated
the lying king would back his lying
lieutenant general of police.
The king would sacrifice De Maui
peou just as readily as De Sartines. 1t
all depended on which OF the two got
his ear first and frightened him
against the other.
1880. Driving swiftly he could reach
Versailles at 5; that would be the
kings dinner hour and a bad time for
an Interview; still, the case was des-
perare n he could lot delay, as it
. Vas imperative for hi,? to return ia
house at s. He rams for his horses
and in 10 minutes was on the road.
Whel he arrived at Versailles he
was received with the news tina the
king was dining wit, Madame du
Barry. Du Barry! y an instant he
remem oered-waat he had up to this
forgotten-that he ha<; promised to
i call tht.t day on the co ntesse with re-
gard to the ballad mCHgers. T5e had
promised to call at 10. 4. and he had
failed 10 keep his appointment. Madame
!! Linden had driven it cit of his mind.
!. Agaiit in this due with the Austrian
I woman h had secret: just by the
power of obsessin2 hi~ thoughts she
had caused him to maze this slip. He
stood for a moment balted and furious,
Thought outwardly quite calm. Then.
lpassing u the great staircase. he