Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-10-23
,e? Answer. Don't stand there like

d iOOl-
"Oh. madame" said the old fellow In
a grumbling voice. "a story that is half
a story is.rlo story. You wish to know
everything. Well, then, you shall. I
went to the Rue Plastiere as you told
me, showed the ring as you told me,
received the paper. took it to a place
l know OF. opened it and read the docu-
ment it contained, of which I could not
make hea or tail"
Mon dieu!" cried the baroness,
clasping her hands at this astounding
admission.
Ono moment, madame. Seeing
Monsieur de Sartines' signature and
putting two and two together, I
judged it better to suppress the docu-
ment and inclose a plain piece of pa,
per. A plain piece of paper never does
any harm till it is written upon"
But the document. the document!"
cried De Sartines. What nave you
S ons1Ek With it? Oh mon Dieu, if you
"one moment. monsieur. Having
resealed the parcel, / called a cabrio-
let ana took the document to the house
of Monsieur lie Due de Richelieu, who
was The original possessor of it and
In whose possession it now Is. Mon
sieur Is in bed, very much indisposed."
now pale to the lips, "how did you
know hat the Due de Richelieu pos
sessed it? How"
How, madame? Why. the night 1t
was aiken from the dues house I
journeyed to Paris with the lady who
had taken it. / felt 1t in her pocket.
l could have picked her pocket, but I
madame. ever since I nave been in our
service. I could have ruined you 10
times over. AS it is, I lave guarded
you while looking after my masters
interests; given you good advice.
when / could have given you bad. I
have been the mole Of the affair, be-
hind the scene all the time, and l would
have brought it all to a conclusion long
ago but for that pig Gaussin." Placide
swept his hand across his head INC
his era hair vanished; with a hand
kerchief he was holding in his left
hand he wiped away the wrinkles OF
fPlacide, cast the beard Of Placide OF the
wearing and-De Sartines could
scarcely believe his senses-there on
the parquet before him was standing
Lavenne.
"Lavenne!" cried his master.
"At your service, monsieur"
The baroness, almost fainting from
the shock Of this me~tamorphosis, stood
holding the back Of a chair. She un-
derstood the situation instantly, and
the fact that this agent of police had
been part and parcel of her life, under
running the whole story of the last
week and saving, by a stroke of ge-
MUS, the man whom she a In a mo-
ment of anger brought to the edge of
destruction. She waved away the ring
he was holding out to her.
His devotion, his common sense, his
consummate acting banished all Ill
feeling from her mind. Not only had
he saved his master, but he had saved
her.
Monsieur she said, keep the ring,
not as the gift of an admlring woman
to a supreme actor, but as the gift
of a friend to q friend" Her voice
failed her and her eyes were moist
as h turned to the door.
Rosine had entered the room.
Madame" said Rosine at the door.
the carriage has arrived."
zone moment said his Mistress"
She picked up the blank piece OF pa
per from the floor, took 1t to the
bureau and wrote something on 1t:
folded it, and addressed 1t; then leav-
ing it on the bureau, she came to De
Sartines and held out her hand.
"Goodby, Monsieur de Sartines, un-
less you wish to keep me q prisoner
Madame" replied De Sartines. a
world Of worry off his mind, Il would
much prefer keeping you a friend"
"Goodby. Monsieur Placide. You will
find your age In q little parcel In
1.-THE top left hand drawer of my bu-
reau. but you will not find my thanks
there, for such a little. drawer would
not hold them.
"Goodby, Paris" She kissed her
hand to the room around her, turned
win a smile to the two men, bowed,
laughed with a laugh that had yet a
y little catch in 1t, and vanished like
dream.
por1na oo,rn ~ ood rn,noX,ad ~.
boxes. They heard the carriage start
ing and De Sartines. walking to the
bureau, saw a paper there with his
name, upon 1t.
It was the paper that had fooled De
( Maupeou.
He picked it up. opened It and reads:
Order of release for Monsieur de Sar-
tines from the worry of a woman;
once his admirer, but now his friend"
He dropped the paper. What did she
mean? Had she-had she? Then he
remembered De Lussac. No, It was
impossible. The comte had always
been her lover.
He came to the window, opened it
and stood looking out, watching the
lights OF the lanterns lining the Rue
Cog Heron, and listening to the noise
of the streets. 1t was as though he
we're looking for something he had
lost.
Then he turned from the window.
"Cordieu!" said he. What q wom-
AM"
THE END.