Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1916-09-14
A Romance of
Early Days In
the Middle Wesf

| acknowledge him as husband. Right
or wrong, whatever the church might
do, or the world might say. l had come
to the parting of the ways; here and
now l must choose my own life. obey
the dictates of my own conscience. I
had been welded by fraud to a man l
despised; my hatred had grown until
now l knew that | would rather be
dead than live in his presence.
II this state of mind was sin, it was
beyond my power to rid myself Of the
curse: If I was already condemned of
holy church because of failure to abide
by her decree, then there was naught
left but for me to seek my own happi-
ness, and the happiness of the man l
loved.
| lifted my head, strengthened by
the very thought, the red blood tingling
again through my veins. The truth
was mine; l felt no inclination to OBJ
seure it. The time had come for rejoic-
ing, and action. l loved Rene OAR
tA6hJy dudg dIllOuSA uC Adu uCNCl DpO- |
ken the word, l knew he loved me.
Tomorrow he would be in exile, a wan
derer Of the woods, an escaped pris-
oner, under condemnation of death,
never again safe within reach Of
French authority. Ay, but he should
not go alone; in the depths of those
forests, beyond the arm of the law, be-
yond e the grasp of the church, we
should go together. In our own hearts
love would justify. Without a qualm
of conscience, without eve a lingering
doubt, l made the choice, the final
decision.
| know not how long 1t took me to
think this all out, until / had accepted
fate; but I do know the decision
brought happiness and courage. Food
was brought me by a strange Indian,
apparently unable to speak French;
nor would he even enter the room,
silently handing me the platter through
the open door. Two sentries stood just
without-soldiers Of De Baugis, |
guessed, as their features were unfa-
miliar. They gaZed at me curiously,
as l stood in the doorway, but with
out changing their attitudes. Plainly
| was held prisoner also; M. Cassion's
threat was being put into execution.
This knowledge merely served to
strengthen my decision, and I closed
and barred the door again, smiling as
| did so.
1t grew dusk while l made almost
vain effort to eat, and, at last, push
ing the pewter plate away, l crossed
over, and cautiously opened the wood
en- shutter Of the window. The red
light of the sunset still illumined the
western sky, and found glorious refec-
ton along the surface of the river.
1t was a dizzy drop to the bed Of the
stream below, but Indians were on the
| opposite bank, beyond rife shot, in
| considerable force, a h%alf-dozen ca
noes drawn up on the sandy shore, and
several fires burning. They were too
| far away for me to judge their tribe,
yet a number among them sported war
bonnets, and l had no doubt they were
%Iroquois.
So far as | could perceive elsewhere,
there was no movement, as my eyes
Travelled the half-circle, e. a wide
| vista of hill and dale, green valley
| and dark woods, although to the left
could occasionally hear the sharp re-
port of a rife, in evidence that besleg-
ing a were still watchful of the
| fort entrance. I could not lean out far
| enough to see in that direction, yet as
the night grew darker the vicious spits
of fire became visible. Above me the
| solid log walls arose but a few feet
a tall man might stand upon the win
| dow ledge, and find grip of the roof;
but below was the sheer drop to the
| riyer-perchance two hundred feet be-
meath. Already darkness shrouded
the water, as the broad valley faded
into the gloom of the night.
There was naught for me to do but
sit and wait. The guard which NJ
Cassion had stationed at the door pre-
vented my leaving the room, but its
more probable purpose was to keep
others from communicating with me.
De Tonty had evidently resorted to
diplomacy, and instead of quarreling
with the three officers when they APP
preached him, had greeted them all so
genially as to leave the impression that
he was disposed to permit matters to
take their natural course. He might
be watched Of course, yet was no
longer suspected as likely to help res
cue the prisoner. All their fear now
was centered upon me, and my pos
slble influence.
If | could be kept from any further
communication with either D'Artlgny
or De Tonty, it was scarcely probable
that any Of the garrison would make
serious effort to interfere with their
plans. De Tonty's apparent indiffer-
ence, and his sudden triendliness with
De Baugis and Cassion, did not worry
me greatly. l realized his purpose In
thus diverting suspicion. His pledge
of assistance had been given me, and
his was the word of a soldier and gen
tleman. In some manner, and soon
before midnight certainly would re-
ceive message from Boisrondet.
Yet my heart failed me more than
once al I waited. How long the time
seemed, and how deadly silent was the
night. Crouched close beside the door,
| could barely hear the muttered con-
v~ersatlon of the soldiers on guard;
and when I crossed to the open win
dow | looked out upon a black void.
utterly soundless.
Not ever the distant crack Of a rife
now broke the solemn stiffness, and
the only spot of color visible was the
dull red glow of a campfire on the OPP