The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-01-19
CHAPTER xlv-Continued,

In a way I must have known this
before, yet, lot until that moment
did the fact lawn upon me In full
Acknowledge 1T. I sank my head on
my hands, my breath quickened by
surprise, by sh lme. and felt my cheeks
burn. I loved him. and believed he
loved me. I lnew then that all the
happiness Of lie centered in this one
fact: while between us arose the
shadow Of Cassion. my husband. True
I loved him not; true ! was to him
wife only In name, true our marriage
was . thing Of shame, yet no less a
fact, nc less q barrier. I was q La
Chesnayne to whom honor was a re-
ligion; q Catholic bowling humbly to
the vow of Holy church: q French
woman taught that marriage was a
sacred rite.
The knowledge OF my love for DAT
tigny brought NJ more fear than
pleasure. I dare not dream. or hope;
I must escape his presence while I
retained moral strength to resist temp
tation. I got to my feet, not knowing
what I could do. yet with a wild con
ccptlon Of returning to the beach, and
seeking to Ind q passage southwark.
I would 80 now along the shore, before
D'Artagny came back. and meet those
returning canoes. In such action lay
my only safety-he would find me
gone. would trace me along the sand,
yet before I could be caught, I would
have met the others, and thus escape
the peril Of being alone with him
again.
Even a. I reached this decision,
something in my throat and
ch0ked me, for my eyes sal just out
side the curve Of the shore line a
canoe emerge from the shadows Of the
blud. l cannot picture the reaction.
the sudden shrinking fear which. in
that Instant, mastered me. They were
soming. seeking me; coming to drag
me back into slavery; coming to de-
nounce D'Artigny OF crime and de-
mand hts life.
I sank down out Of sight, yet my de-
cisjou was made In an instant. 1t did
not Scem to me then as though another
course could We taken. That n'Artigny
was innocent I had no doubt. l loved
him. this I nc longer denie1 to myself;
and ( could not possibly f-etray the
man to the mad vengeance o: Cassion.
I pcered forth, across thu ridge Of
earth cOnceaIfng me from observation.
ut the distant canoe. It was too far
.awNy for mt to be certain If its occu-
pants, Jet I assured myser that In
dams were a. the paddles, willie three
oebers. who's. dress designated them
~ whites. occupied places in the boat.
I turned an6!. ran down the bank to
,yhere he dr. yet glowed duly in the
GObow, emitting q faint spiral OF blue
smeke. dug dirt up with my hands and
covered tAe Goals. until they were COM
pletely .extinguished. Then I crept back
to the blr,f summit and lay down to
watch.
The canoe rounded the curve in the
shore and headed straight across
howard where ! rested In concealment.
Thelr course would keep them too far
away from the little strip Of sand on
which We had landed to observe the
iuupriut Of our feet or the pile Of wood
Dtlxt1gny had iung down. ! observed
~ With On intense feeling Of relief
8 I peered cautiously gu from my
covert
I ceuld see now clearly the faces
q tho,s n the canoe-the dark. ex-
presei6nless c~ountenanccs OF the In
dams, and the three white men. all
gasing intentlys Ct the shore line. as
they swept. past. : soldier In the bow.
and Pere Allouex and Cassion at the
stern. the 1attse standing. gripping the
steariag padlss. The sound Of his
rafpfag. disaGrseable voice reached me
orst
4This Il the spot" he exclaimed.
9--A