Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1916-07-27

Afforded glimpses OF the canoes-mere
blurred outllnes--and occasionally the
figure of a man, only recognizable as
he moved.
was still staring at this dim pic
ture when some noise, other than the
wind, startled me and I drew silently
back behind a great stump to avoid
discovery. My thought was that some
one had left the mission house-Cas-
sion perhaps with final orders to those
on the beach-but a moment later l
realized my mistake, yet only crouched
| lower in the shadOw--a man was adj
vancing from the black concealment
Of the woods and crossing the open
space.
He moved cautiously, yet boldly
! enough, and his movements were not
those of an Indian, although the low
| bushes between us and the house
! shadow, prevented my distinguishing
more than his mere outline 1t was
only when he lifted his head into the
/ CLEAN of light. and took hasty survey
! through the window of the scene with
in, that l recognized the face of
/ D'Artigny. He fingered scarcely a
/ moment, evidently satisfied with what
he saw, and then drew silently back,
/ hesitating a brief space, as though de-
| batting his next movement.
I waited breathless wondering what
his purpose could be, half inclined to
! iufprcaut aud yuogtin, bf,, W. T..
| seeking TO serve my cause? to learn
/ the truth Of my relationship with Cas-
/ sion? or did he have some other OBJ
. ject, some personal feud in which he
| sought revenge? The first thought
sent the warm blood leaplng through
my veins; the second left me shivering
as if with sudden chill.
Even as 1 stood, hesltating. uncer-
tain, he turned and retraced his steps
along the same path of his approach,
passing me not ten steps away and
vanishing into the wood l thought
he paused at the edge and bent down,
yet before l found voice or detcrmin-
alton to stop him, he had disappeared.
Ny courage returned, spurred by cur
| iosity. Why should he take so round
about a way to reach the shore? What
was that black, shapeless thing he had
paused to examine? l could see some
thing there, dark and motionless,
though to my eyes no more than
shadow.
ventured toward it, creeping be-
hind the bushes bordering the path,
| conscious of an odd fear as l drew
closer. Yet it was not until 1 emerged
from the fringe of shrubbery that even
the faintest conception of what the
object was 1 saw occurred to me.
Then / stopped, frozen by horror, for
| confronted a dead body.
For an instant 1 could not utter a
sound or move a muscle Of my body.
My hands chung convulsively to a
nearby branch, thus supporting me
erect in spite of trembling limbs and
l stared at the gruesomc object,
black and almost shapeless in the
moonlight. Only part of the trunk
was revealed, the lower portion con-
cealed by bushes, yet could no longer
doubt it was a mans body-a large,
heavily built man, his hat still crushed
on his head, but with face turned
away.
What courage overcame my horror
and urged me forward 1 cannot tell;
I seemed impelled by some power not
my own, vague fear Of recognition
Juggling at my heart. crept nearer,
almost inch by inch, trembling at
every noise, dreading to discover the
truth. At last 1 could perceive the
CHASTITY features--the dead man was
Hugo Cheyet.
1 nerved myself to the effort, and
turned the body sufficiently to enable
me to discover the wound-he had
been pierced by knife from behind;
had fallen, no doubt, without uttering
cry, dead ere he struck the ground.
Then it was murder, foul murder, a
blow in the back, Why had the deed
been done? What spirit of revenge,
of hatred, of fear, could have led to
such an act? I got again to my feet,
staring about through the weird moon
light, every nerve throbbing, as
thought to grip the fact and find its
cause. Slowly drew back, shrinking
in growing terror from the corpse,
until 1 was safely in the priests gar
den. There 1 paused irresolute, my
dazed, benumbed brain beginning to
grasp the situation and assert itself.