Mountain advocate., 1920-02-06
CHATTER XVII.
The Little Dagger.

LerOuX bt0gRefeu Ddck hEalnSt tbs
wall and STOOD there, scowiing like q
devil. II was evident that my answer
had been totally unexpected.
did you know this, madameT cried
Leroux f1ercely to Jacqueline.
"Yes," she replied.
"You lied TO shield yourself"
"No. to shield him." she cried. BE
cause he was my only friend when !
wns helpless In a strange city. You
did not steal my money, did you,
paul7' she added, turning swiftly upon
me. "No.,, you have paid me. You
were keeping It for me-"
.Sr"You lie, d--n your" yelled Le-
roux, and he struck her across this
mouth as he had STRUCK me.
/ wrlthed In my bonds Ipuiled the
| heavy table after me as l tried impO-
tently to crawl toward him, sending
the wheel flying and all the papers
whirllng through the air. l cursed Lee
roux as blasphemously as he was ours
ing Jacquelinc.
And at the. door was the pale facN
Of Philippe Lacroix.
Leroux turned on me and kicked ms
savagely and dragged the table TO tho
far end of the room and struck me re-
peatedly, while l struggled like a mad.
man. The oaths and excavations that
streamed from my lips seemed to be
uttered by another man, for l heard
them indifferently, or rather some
thing that was /. deep in the maze Of
my personality. heard them--not that
pitiful, puny, goadcd thing that fought
In It's bonds until it ceased, painting
and exhausted.
There followed 4 long silence. whllo
, Lcroux strobe furiously about the
room. At last he stopped; he seemed
to have made up his mind.
1 saw JacQueline looking at ne. ]
would not meet her gaze, but at last
her persistence compelled me. Then I
saw her glance toward the wall
The two broadswords hung there
within arms reach. above the broken
mirror. My heart leaped up ut the
thought Of her valor. She had no
mind to yield.
But shook my head imperceptibly
In answer and looked down at mp
| bonds.
had been trying hard to devise
some method of freeing myself. My
struggles had relaxed the ropes
around my wrists sufficiently to allow
my hands two or three inches of move
ment, and l hoped, by hard work, tc
loosen them sufficiently to enable me
to get at least one hand free.
Then Felt that something hard was
pressing into my back, just within
reach Of my right thumb and fore
finger. 1 let my thumb and finger
travel up and down it. 1t had the
form Of tiny knife with a heavy.
rounded handle.
And suddenly 1 knew what it was
1t was the knife with which Louis
d'Epernay had been killed
I could just get MY finger and
thumb round the point of the blade.
The ropes scored deeply into my
wrists as l worked at it, but 1 felt
| the lining give, and presently l had
worked the blade through and had the
knife out by the handle.
But It was made for thrusting more
than cutting, and l had to pick the
ropes to pieces strand by strand.
Jacqueline had been imperceptibly
| edging away from her father ard Lee
rOuxS she was now standing immedf'
ately beneath the rusty swords. And
outside the door l still perceived La
croix, motionless.
II flashed across my mind that hS
understood the girls desperate russo
and that he was waiting for the issue
l picked furiously at the ropes which
bound my hands, and long strand IN.
colled and whipped back on my wrist.
LerOux seized JHcquellne by the
wrists and dragged her across the fiooE
to me.
"LOok Mt him." he yelled. "LOok
into his face. WIN you marry me II
let him go free?'
mo" answered Jacqueline.
II swear to you that he shall bS
thrown from the top of the cataract
unless you give your consent within
five minutes"
"Never" she answered firmly.
81 VIII denOunce your fatherl">-
"You can't frlghten me with such
stun. l am not a weak old manr'
"You will think differently after
Charles Duchaine has been hanged In
Quebec JAIL" he sneered.
His words received a wholly unex-
pectcd answer. The dotard leaped
forward, stopped down and picked up
the heavy roulette wheel.
He raised it aloft ard staggered
wildly toward LerouX.
no RE CONTINuEDN