The Pulaskian. (Pulaski Heights [Little Rock], Ark.) 1915-1929, 1920-03-25

We" ~ past Anu
The namel" he cried, Selling her
by the shoulders. Tell me now, I
wait no longer"
The old obstinate look came on har
lace. Her remorse and pity instantly
died. She compressed her Inns and
was silent.
The name! Thou shalt tell mel I
should have beaten thee when tbou
vast a child. But l shall not beat thee
now, for I can compel thee to tell me
The name! The name /"
She remained silent and utterly oni.
eseent. So strong had the inhibition
grown that she could not have told,
had she been willing to do So save
under the impulse of some overpov-
ering mental shock. And. armed nv
the years, she grew calm as he grew
Violent, and her mind passed under
the domination of the old habit.
lie let her go and stood beside her.
pulling at his gray beard and smiling.
Marie had never seen her father smile
at such time before. And there came
into her mind an idea which had
never seemed possible, that some day
she might yield up her secret. The
mental inhibition of a lifetime was
breaking under the stress.
Dupont strobe toward the door,
stopped there, and looked back.
i go now to the schooner" he said.
i shall be aboard till we sail this eve
ming. If thou come 20 me before I sail
and tell me the name, l give thee his
life, one life for another"
what life? What other?o cried the
girl wildly.
lie glared into her eyes, and the
look in his own was that of a man
devil-haunted.
"Dost thou think do not know" he
cried, "of Monsieur Askew and thee
or that Mademoiselle has broken her
betrothal with him because of thee?"
He turned toward her with menacing
gesture. "The name!" he Numbered.
She covered under his words. and
the name now trembled upon her lips.
But before she spoke it Dupont was
gone.
He was gone, and she was alone in
the gray of the morning, watching the
gray sea heave under q Frightening
sky. as she had watched it all her life
And her fathers appearance in her
room seemed unreal as a dream.
All day she watched him from the
cottage busy about his ship, piling the
logs on deck. All day she waited,
stunned. and incapable Of action re-
peating over and over in her mind her
fathers words, whose meaning was
unintelligible to her. Yet ST. Boniface
remained unchanged in that ruin that
had come upon her. Men laughed
noisily as they strolled from their
work at noon, children shouted at
play; the hum of the mill was a soft
undertone accompanying the horror in
her heart. 1t seemed incredible that
st. Boniface could know nothing, when
the whole universe was crying out
against her.
1t was late in the afternoon when
she saw two figures SLOUGH toward the
vessel. She recognized Pierre and Lee
blanc. And in a moment she under
stood the meaning of their appearance.
Murder was being planned, against
Hilary, who had saved her. She
watched them so on board paralyzed
with fear.
Then the power of action, return
ing, shattered the paralysis of viii
that held her. She ran bareheaded
from the cottage, through the streets
of st. Boniface, toward the Chateau.
She must get help there; her thoughts
turned instinctively thither, as st.
Boniface had always turned for aid
toward its Seigneur.
Madeleine, seated in her room, with
her memories of her dead, heard the
door bell jangle She went down, to
see Marie in the hall. At the sight
of the girl feeling of repulsion, wild
and unreasonable, stiffened her. but
when she looked into her face, she
spoke gently.
What is it?" she asked.
"DIademoiselle," stammered the girl,
they are planning to kill him."
eWhom?"
.Monsieur Askew, who saved me
from Pierre that day. Mademoiselle. |
have only now learned what they say
of him and me. 1t is not true. And
they are going to murder him. came
to you to save him."
"Where is he?"
sIIe is going on board tonight. Per-
haps he is there now. Pierre and Le-
blanc are waiting for him there
wait here" cried Madeleine
She ran back into the Chateau, put
on her coat and hat, and took a re-
yolver which had lain for many years
unused in drawer of a cabinet. she
hurried to the stable, harnessed the
horse, and brought the sleigh TO the
door She motioned to Marie to enter,