The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-08-06

the door at the main entrance. To bis
surprise, the door was not locked. En-
tering the church, he found no one, but
through a crack in a door leading from
the chancel to a room used by the
priest and acolytes came a ray Of light.
What could it mean? The pastor of
The church was an old man. too feeble
to be engaged in any church duty at
dead Of night. 1t was no religious
matter that was being observed.
The marquis was about to walk to-
ward the door through which the light
came when it opened aud half a dozen
persons came out of the apartment.
They bore lights, but TO dim were they
that De ROQua@:> could not distinguish
the faces Of :se several members Of
the party. TlMge were a priest who
was unknown to him, two men and
two women, evidently persons Of rank,
and the last two to enter the church
were a man and a woman. From this
woman's dress De Roquette judged
that the couple were about to be mar
ried. The little party moved toward
the chancel, where the priest stationed
himself, the couple before him, the
two other men on the side Of the
groom, the two women on the side of
the bride.
The marquis walked softly forward,
hoping to get a nearer view of the
faces, but before he reached a point of
vantage their backs were to him. The
priest faced him, and he saw at ace
that he was not the pastor Of the
church. To the marquis establishment
he recognized in a priests garb a
worthless fellow Of the ~neighborhood,
who had served several terms in prison
as a malefactor.
Assured that some piece Of villainy
was being perpetrated, De Roquette
seized an enormous sword resting on
the tomb of one of his ancestors and,
pushing forward till he stood directly
behind the wedding party. cried out:
II forbid the bans!"
The false priest looked up from a
book he held in his hand. and the 9th
ers turned quickly.
Then did the marquis meet with a
great surprise. The attendants were
men and women of the court. The
groom was the proligate duke, while
the bride was the lady Of whom the
marquis had been dreaming. She had
entered with apparent reluctance and
now looked up like a frightened bird.
The duke, with the assurance that
often characterizes vice, knit his brows
and said threateningly:
"Who are you, monsieur"
"Gaston, Marquis de Roquette, pro-
prietor Of the estate on which this
church stands. No ceremony is per-
mitted here except it is conducted by
Father Arouet, the pastor. Surely
none will be permitted by one not in
orders and the veriest scamp in the
province"
Paralyzed by these words, the group,
all except the bride, stood as if dis
covered in a crime. Then she, break
ing away from them, flew to De Ro-
quette and. catching at him for pro-
lection. stood regarding the others in
terror. Raising the ponderous sword.
luC 1CAASlu VI "AISu was AICoAlS cNudl
to his WI height. he stood ready to
bring it down upon whomsoever might
interfere with him or her. The duke.
drawing the rapier at his side, advanc-
ed, paused, then said to the girl:
emile, will you not return to me?"
She made no other answer than to
cover behind her protector.
"This is no place. marquis" said the
duke. "fOr 4 dispute among men. Let
us go out among the graves. The Sex
ton will not have far to carry you in
the morning"
II will certainly give your grace an
opportunity to cross swords with me-"
replied the marquis, "but not at the
present moment. unless you force me
to do so. My first duty is to protect
this lady, and l see no one here with
whom l may safely leave her."
One Of the attendant men sprang for
ward and seized the duke by the arm.
He was followed by the other man,
then by the women. All pleaded with
him to desist.
'This will make a scandal" they ar
gued, that will put you again in the
Bastille and send the rest of us to our
country estates, where we will have
nothing to do but pine for Paris. We
were foolish to abet you in this wild
scheme. And the Countess Emile!
Do you suppose the powerful family to
which she belongs will not avenge this
insult If It becomes known? Give uD
your mad scheme. It is doubtless for
tunate that it has been interrupted.
and IL it can be kept secret none of us
may suffer on account of our part
in it," -,
The duke stood burning to proceed,
but all declared that it was of them
that he should think and not of him
self, though an exile to the country
would be less irksome than the Bastille.
Finally he sheathed his sword and, aft
or one more appeal to the countess to
como RI him no WAS hurriad ont Of tho