Rocky Ford enterprise., 1915-03-12

treaSon!' demanded the doctor, grow
ing red.
yes" said, "if you insist"
The Countess had turned to me in
amazement.
"Treason!" she repeated. in an un-
steady voice. rs 1t treason for a
small community to live quietly here
in the Alsatian hills, harming nobody.
asking nothing save freedom of
thought? treason! Monsieur, the
word has an ugly ring to me. am
soldiers daughter!"
There was something touchingly
illogical in the last words-this young
apostle of peace naively displaying her
credentials as though the mere word
Soldier" covered everything.
Because / have learned that the
boundaries of nations are not the
frontiers of human hearts, am I
traitor? Because / know no country
but the world, no speech but the uni
versal speech that one reads in
brothers eyes. because l know no bar
riers. no boundaries, no limits to hu-
man brotherhood, am l a traitor?"
The young Countess had risen In
her earnestness and had laid one slen-
der sun-tanned hand upon the table.
War;" she said What is this
war to US? The Emperor? What is
he to us? We who have set watch
on the worlds outer ramparts, guard
ing the white banner OF universal
brotherhood! What is this war to
usl"
DO you mean to say that you care
nothing for your own birthland?" l
demanded, sharply.
"I love the world-all of it-every
| inch-and II France is part of the
world, so is this Prussia that we are
teaching our poor peasants to hate"
Madame" said |. "the women OF
France today think differently. Our
Creator did not make love of country
trite virtue, but passion, and set
it in our bodies along with our other
passions. II in you it is absent, that
concerns pathology, not the police!"
She had turned trihe pale; now
she sank back into her chair. looking
at me with those troubled gray eyes
in which Heaven Itself had set truth
asd loyalty.
Come" said Bazard. In a rage
choked voice. let It end here. Mon
sieur Scarlett- II the government
sends you here as spy and an off,
cial, pray remember that you are not
also sent as a missionary"
My ears began to burn. THAT Is
true" I said. looking at the Countess.
whose face had become expressionless.
Il ask your pardon for what | have
said and for what | am about
| to do
There was a silence. Then, In a low
voice, | placed them under formal ar
rest. one by one, touching each lightly
on the shoulder as prescribed by the
code. And when | came to the Count
ess. she rose. without embarrassment.
moved my lips and stretchH out
my arm. barely touching her. She
was my prisoner.
81 must ask you TO prepare for a
! journey" | said. You have your
own horses. OF course?"
Without answering. DIR. belmont
/ walked away towards the stables; Pro
! fessor Tavernier followed him. head
] bent
we shall want very little" said the
| Countess. calmly. to Madetnoiselle Ell
need? And you. Monsieur BaZard. will
you be good enough to go to Trois-
Feuilles and hire old Brauer's car
riage?"
Madame" said !, before I affix
/ the government seals to tho doors of
| your house | must ask you to conduct
me to the roof of the east wing"
She bent her head in acquiescence:
| followed her up the terrace into a
stone hall where the dark Flemish
pictures stared back at me and my
/ spurred heels jingled in the silence.
| Up. up. and still up. winding around
Gothic spiral. then through a pas
sage under the battlements and out
across the states. with wind and set
ting sun in my face and the signing
tree-tops far below.
In the north a spark of white fire
began to flicker on the crest of Mount
| Tonnerre. 1t was the mirror of a
heliograph flashing out across leagues
of gray-green hills to the rocky pulpit
of the Pigeonnier.
Instantly I drew nag from my
pouch. tied 1t to the point of my sabre.
and stepped out along the projecting
snout of gargoyle.
! / had been tagging the Pigeonnier
vigorously for ten minutes without re-
suit, when suddenly a dark dot ap-
peared on the tower beneath the sem
aphoTe, then another. My glasses
brought out two officers, one with a
flag; and. still watching them through
the binoculars. | signaled slowly, using
my free hand: This is La Trappe.
Telegraph to Morsbronn that the in
spector of Imperial Police requires a
peloton OF mounted gendarmes at
once"
1t may have been half a minute be
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