Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1913-08-14
CHAPTER XXI.
The Stairway OF Silver.

iHc stairway OF StlNef.
The stiffness of the moment that
followed was tense: then thickly the
young man answered something ir-
relevant about clown, bottle and a
loaf; with cap drawn down and half
averted face, he lurched a little for
ward in the darkness, and the senti-
nefs weapon fell. oh. that's you, is
IT, Henri?" he said in a different tone.
stepping back How did you leave
the fellow"
Eating the bread and calling for
more!" AZ he spoke, the other
stopped. swaying uncertainty; above
the arch, the wick, ill-trimmed. bright
ened and darkened 20 the drafts OF air
through break and slit OF the old
lamp; and briefly he awaited a favor.
able moment, when the Game blew out
until almost extinguished; then with
hand near sword-hilt. somewhat over
briskly. but in keeping with the part,
he stepped toward the arch; through
II, and quickly past the sentinel.
You seem to have been Teasing
and drinking little yourself. tonight,
comrade?'' called out the latter after
him. Il noticed il when you went I'm.
and But aren't you taking the
wrong way" AS the other. after start.
Ing toward the barracks. straightered.
and then abruptly wheeled into the
road, running up the Mount.
BAH" A moment the young man
passed Cant soldier" articulatiug
with difficulty. go to sec his sweet.
heart without"
Eth bien!" The sentinel shrugged
his shoulders. 1T isn't my business. | !
think. though. ! know where they'll
put you tomorrow, when they find cut
through the guard at the barracks" |
To this ominous threat the other
Ceigred no response, only. after the
fashion Of a man headstrong in iuso- /
briefly, as well as in affairs of gal
lantry, continued his upward way; at
first, speedily; afterward, when be.
yono hearing Of the man below, with
more stealth and as little noise as pos
slble, until the read, taking a sudden
angle, brought him abruptly to an
open space at the foot Of a great fight
of stone stairs.
Broad, wide, broken by occasional
platforms, these steps, reaching M.
ward in gradual ascent. had designed
ly. in days gone by, been made easy
for broken-down monarchs or corpu.
lent abbots. Also they had been
planned to satisfy the discerning eye,
jealous Of every addition or alteration
a the Mount My lord, the ancient
potentate, leisurely ascending in &c.
oil NH;
an earthly power reaching even into
England. could still fancy he was go
ing up a Jacobs ladder into realms su-
pernal. Saint Louis, with gaze be-
nignly bent toward the aerial escalier
de dentelle of the chapel TO the left.
might well eXclaim no royal road could
compare with this inspiring and holy
way; nor is 1t difficult 10 understand
a sudden enChantmeut here, or be
yond, that drew 10 the rock on three
pilgrimages that other Louis. more sin
ner than saint, the eleventh Of his
name TO mount the throne of France.
But those stones, worn in the past
by the footsteps of the illustrious and
the lowly, were deserted now. and. for
the moment, only the moon, which had
escaped from the cloud, exercised
there the right OF way; looking square.
ly down 10 efiace times marks and
pave with silver from top 10 bottom
the flight of stairs. Il played, TOO, on
facadss. towers and battlements on
either side. and, at the spectacle-the
diak. directly before him-the Black
Saigueur. about to leave the dark and
sheltering byway. involuntarily paused.
Angels might walk unseen up and
down In that effulgence, as, indeed
the old monks stoutly ayerred was