The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1918-11-28

purpose. 1t has often failed me,
in the course of our struggle, but
this time | had no catlse to com
plain.
II felt myself In such luck that
Il never doubted for Il second that,
having found the entrance to the
s~ubterranean passage, | should
also find the way out. As a mat-
ter Of fact. ! had only to pull
gently at the slight obstacle Of a
few stacked bricks which hid the
opening in order to make my
exit amid The remains Of tho
castle keep.
Guided by the sound Of your
voice, slipped through the
stones and thus reached the back
of the grotto in which Florence
lay. Amusing, wasn't it,
You can imagine what fun
it was to hear you make your
little speeches: Answer me, yes
or no Florence. "A movement of
your head will decide your fate.
Ii it's yes, L shall release you. If
it's no, you shall die. Answer
me, Florence! A sign Of your
head: is the answer yes or no?'
And the end, above all, was delic-
lous, when you scrambled to the
top OF the grotto and started
roaring from up there: It's you
who have asked to die, Flor
ence. You asked for it and
you We got it,!
Just think what a joke it was:
at that moment there was no one
in the grotto! Not a soul! With
one effort. [ had drawn Florence.
toward me and put her under
shelter. And all that YOU were
able to crush with your avalanche
OF rocks was one or two spiders,
perhaps, and a few flies doing
on the flagstones.
"The trick was done and the
farce was nearly finished. Act.
first: Arsene Lupin saved. Act
second: FLORENCE Levasseur
saved, Act third and last: the
monster vanquished alb
solutely and with a vengeancc!'
Don Luis stood up and con-
templated his work with a sat
isfied eye.
you look like a sausage, my
son!' he cried, yielding at last to
his sarcastic nature and his habit
OF treating his enemies familiarly.
Ia regular sausage! A bit on
the thin side, perhaps: a saveloy
for poor people! But there, you
don't much care what you look
like, / suppose? Besides, you re
rather like that at all times; and,
IN any case, you're just the thing
for the little display of indoor
gymnastics which / haveain mind
for you. You'll see: it's an idea
OF my own. a really original idea.
Don't be impatient: we shan't be
long
He took one Of the guns which
the cripple had brought to the
well and tied to the middle of the
gun the end of a twelve or fiji
teen yards length of rope, fast
ening the other end to the cords
with which the cripple was bound
just behind his back. He, next
took his captive round the body
and held him over the we'll:
HShut your eyes, if you feel
at, all giddy. And don't be fright
ened. III be very careful.
Ready7"
He put the cripple down the
yawning hole and next took hold
of the rope which he had just
fastened. Then, little by little,
inch by inch, cautiously, so that
it should not knock against the
sides of the we'll, the bundle was
let down at arms length.
When it reached a depth of
twelve yards or SO, the gun stop
ped its further descent and there
it remained, slung in the dark
and in the exact center Of the
narrow circumference.
Don Luis set light to a num-
Der of pieces of paper, which
went whirling down, shedding
their CLEANS upon the walls.
Then, unable to resist the craving
for a last speech, he leaned over
as the scoundrel had done, and
grinned:
Il selected the place with care,
so that you shouldn't catch cold.
I'm bound to look after you, you
see. / promised Florence that I
wouldn't kill you; and I prom
ised the French government to