The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1920-03-19

grown that she could not have told
had she been willing to do so, save
under the impulse of some overpow.
ering mental shock. And, armed by
the years, she grew calm as he grew
violent, and her mind passed under
the domination of the old habit.
He 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 lifetime was
breaking under the stress.
Dupont strobe toward the door,
stopped there, and looked back.
Il go now to the schooner" he said.
Il shall be aboard till we sail this eve
ming. If thou come 10 me before sail
and tell me the name, give thee his
! life, one life for another"
what life? What other?" cried the
girl wildly.
He glared into her eyes, and the
look in his own was that of a man
devil-haunted.
"Dost thou think do mot 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 a 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. It 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 go on board, paralyzed
with fear.
Then the power Of action, return
ing, shattered the paralysis Of will
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.
"Mademoiselle," stammered the girl,
'they are planning to kill him."
"Whom?"
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. I came
to you to save him."
"Where is he?"
"He is going on board tonight. Per-
haps he is there now. Pierre and Lee
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-
volver which had lain for many years
unused in drawer of cabinet She
hurried to the stable, harnessed the
horse, and brought the sleigh to the
door, She motioned to Marie to enter,
leaped in, and took the reins, and the
two girls started along the road
through the forest.
1t was difficult journey through
the deep snow. Often the horse fioun-
dered knee-deep in the drifts, and the
way seemed endless; but near the vii
lage the snow was tramped hard, and
the sleigh went like the wind. Neither
of the girls spoke, but before the eyes
of each was the same dreadful picture.
At last they emerged from the for
est and crossed the bridge. The hum
of the mill had ceased, and had been
succeeded by another sound, well
known to jewellers along the st. Law
renee shores when winter arrives: The |
stirring of the ice foes as the impend- |
ing storm drives them together to their
long winter anchorage.
The sleigh went madly along the |
wharf, which groaned and creaked as
the ice battered it on either side. Made
leine sprang from the sleigh and ran
on board the schooner, which was al
ready moving.
AS Marie descended to follow her
she saw that it was too late. There |
was an increasing space between the
wharf and the deck. She hesitated,
and then it was impossible to follow.
For moment she thought she saw |
Madeleine threading the narrow pas
sage between the piles of lumber;
then the darkness closed about her.