The Detroit times., 1913-09-15

In fearful need AS IL was once a
long time ago, the water of his blood
was changed into wine. So the pris-
oner stood in the courtyard in the
blaclSness OF midnight and found him
self ready.
RE CROPPED his way TO the shed no
had seen from the governors win
dow: with his ola boyish agility he
scrambled ur its slipping roof and telt
| for the coping he had noticed-the
coping wide enough for mans foot !;
he had found il; he had found a va
ter-pipe above 10 help him stand on
1t; he was on the coping. face fat 10
the wall, working his way with inf.
| mite. delicate care 10 the window OF
the governor. He never knew how
long that part took: IL seemed a
! great while. though not many feet
lay between the shed and the win
dow. Then he felt the stone sill Of
the window; his hand crept up: it
was open--wide open. With a strong
pull he had swung himself over and
stood la the dark. in the governors
bedroom.
Stood and listened. hardly. daring
0r the first instant 10 draw the long
breath he sorely needed. Then he
smiled No necessity for that caution
al least. The governor Was snoring
heavy aggressive snore which would
rave drowned most noises. Francois
stood quiet till his eyes had grown
accustomed TO the. shadows, and then
they searched about quickly. All.
there they were. the governors
clothes. On chair by his bed With
wary steps he stole across. He lift
ed OF one or two things and sud
denly there was jingle.
All" growled the governor and
flung out his hand, and the snore
came to full stop.
The hand searched the darkness a
second; all but touched that of Fran
co.'s, then fell Imply, the head turned
away. with deep sigh. Like a
statue Francois stood, frozen to the
floor, and dared not look at the figure
stirring In the bed, for fear his gaze
might awake the sleeper For he
slept; the sound OF the keys had only
Jared some chord In his uneasy
dream. Long minutes after the snor-
ing was In rill progress again Fran
co.'s waited, and then with careful
ringers he clasped the entire bunch
OF keys softly and carried them into
the next room.
There was q low, light there, on the
writing table Francois slipped the
thin, old, brass key which he knew
on from the bunch; he glanced about
quickly and found the filnt and steel
on Its table and put them in his
pocket: he took down that small saber.
With ii, we'll polished. scabbard, and
buek1ed II about himself: then q
thought came To. him. A sheet of pa
Der ~lay Cn the, governors writing
E4hD - II he had been about to
(N1fef ~ letter. pen and ink were
ilA n The prisoner dropped into the
1870 chair and wrote:
~ 6aar C0unG: cHn not run away
rWlth0pt ho4i1> a goodsby for you and
"a wos& UeslAnks f6r the kindness
y0t have ahown me. Be sure shall
not foreet our evenings together and
shell be kldd when I hear of your
promotion, ag am sure shall hear
/ heartily hope am not going to
maize trouble for YOU. But 1 have
to go-you will understand that. With
q thousand thanks agGin am. Count,
your grateful xis0ner-Francois
Beaupre." And under the signature
by an after inspiration he wrote:
DE toug cote's ION dit que ie suis /.
Celia Sc peut! ct dependant ZEN ris. /"
Still the count snored.. Francois.
alert. stood and listened as he folded
the note carefully and laid 1t under
weight on the table. Then he tempt
ed Providence no longer. He slid
the battered. bright, old. brass key
softly into the lock, let himself into
the dark stairway. relocked the door
on the inside, CROPPED his way pain
fully down the steep stairs into the
wine cellar, and when he felt q level
floor under his feet struck light
with the governors fint and steel.
He lighted one OF his candle ends. |
The rwine-cellar. which he had left
only two hours before. seemed almost
homelike: II lacked the governor,
that was all. He crossed to the pro-
jecting stone In the north wall. and
pressed the corner OF the stone be-
low. Nothing happened. Hurriedly
he pressed tt again. harder, bat the
cold even surface OF the wall stared
him blankly In the face. Again he
pished-with no result. A sickness
came over him. Was all his labor and
peril 10 SO for nothing? Was he &c
be caught and thrust back. this time
into some far worse dungeon How
had he dared TO hope The entrance
was closed, overgrown. the masonry
Grown solid with years and damp |
ness.
CHAriSa XXI. Is 4
The Peasant Guide.
He flashed out the saber and des- |
perateiy be slid It this way and that |
about the great stone, trying TO find
a crack. something 10 loosen. some.
thing that would give. And while he
worked In a fever. in a chill. he re.
membcred Pietro's letter.
Then he set down the candle end 7