Grand Forks daily herald., 1915-05-29

forward I'm the darkness, trembling in
an underlined apprehension. Then !
felt swear felt-a little hand
placed In mine. 1t was the hand Of q
child. or 2 very youAs woman: Long
and slender and tapering and very
cold. must have spoken in my agi-
tation. for Jacoby addressed me:
You, too, Andre?' he asked. You,
too?'"
1t seemed to Faulois there was a
shocking exultation in Jacoby's tone.
He made no reply. The hand was
his, as it seemed. They continued TO
sit silent in the darkness. At last The
Poacher spoke:
LET US co. said he is timorous
tone. ! am cold.
NO said Jacoby."
More time passed. At last Jacoby
spoke. in shaken. raw voice-Faul-
quite unlike his own.
Nov, Andre, my friends said nc,
we will go II YOU will
The men rose in silence: and grQped
their way to the door. AS he .sAp-
preached 1t Taulois felt his hand TAX.
Ell again by that slender little hand in
the darkness but it was no longer
cold. AS the seven stumbled into the
corridor Faulois heard some one laugh
laughter OF very young and very
happy woman. There was no sugges-
tion of evil in it, he said--but 1t lack
ed something. 1t was AZ though the
laughter had no soul When the
candles were lighted it was seen that
The Poacher was wet with perspira-
ton.
Il go forward to the trenches to-
morrow" he said. loudly. 'Tomor-
row. ] tell you. ! go forward to the
The others laughed somewhat shak-
emily. There was little talk among
them. Jacoby did not speak at all. In
the morning he seemed flushed, as
though with fever, but curiously elat-
ed. He had wrapped handkerchief
high about his neck. Faulois asked
him about it.
II must have hurt myself during the
night he said. sullenly. "It continues
to bleed" .t
The Cynic's Investigation.
There was no more talk OF continu-
ing the seances. Two others went
with The Poacher to the trenches.
Morgan would not come to the cha
Of sleeping all day long. At night,
after sitting silently about the fire for
a time, he would leave the room in
which the others slept. Sometimes he
did not return for hours. AS the days
passed Faulois gained the impression
that there was a woman in the house.
II did not see her-quite." said he,
seemed to me sometimes that she left
room by another door just as en-
tered. Once l wakened after having
been asleep for hours. The door was
open. and 7 heard Jacobys voice in
the hall. 1t was as though he were
pleading with some one. Then
heard that odd laughter I had heard
before. 1t was fuller, somehow
| throa oatier-with malice and an utter
recklessness in it."
Faulois and the others asked that
they might be sent forward to the
trenches. They are young men, Of
Paris. There is nothing they fear
quite SO much as the laughter of their
friends. They gave no reason for
asking that they be returned to battle.
When Jacoby heard the plea had been
them with very bright. quiet eyes,
from the dark corner in which he now
sat by preference. His hand moved
up to the cloth that was around his
neck. There was half smile upon
his face, as though there were jest
the others did not share. Outside the
window some One-some woman
hummed a little throaty snatch Of
song. Jacoby went out without q
| word.
I'VE did not sleep that night" said
Faulofs. We heard laughter, and
once-I am eure-.a soundFas though
a woman in silken dress had walked
slowly down the corridor. In the
| morning we found Jacoby dead in the
boudoir of ,ths.. lady of the chateau.
His neck was bare. A little trickle Of
blood from the wound had dried upon
his throat
That was the; end of Faulois's story.
We asked Bender if he believed-here,
in this bright, holiday town. with the
sound of music and tramcars and the
| laughter Of children in our ears.
"Eaulois believed" said BENDER