The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1920-02-14

. seeing the PROSTATE body, drew In
? deep chestfui of air A black Clout
filled with dancing specks swan be
7 fore his vision. Out of II he saw the
face Of one of the nearest spectators
pungent that instinctlvely Hilary leap
: cd aside. Out of the cloud he saw
Hiack Pierre plunge forward. knife "
his hand. The spent blow cut IIilary''
sleeve. Pierre recovered himself anC
rushed Mt the American, n fearful spec
tacle. dripping sweat and blood. Hi
airy cnught him with the right under
the jaw, sending him fat The knife
Went whirling away into The under
brush. Black Pierre lay still
) Hilary turned to thc nearest Of the
nwed lumhermen. Bring him n cur
Of water" he ordered.
The man understood md ran into
Pierrp's hut Itut Pierre was sham
ming: he opened his eyes. fixed them
with burning hate on Hilary. md mum
hlcd
Get up" said Hilary.
Pierre rose sullonly cdging out Of
the reach of the expected blow lie
wns cowed. the fighting spirit was out
Of him. MS II was ont of his compau-
Ions. As civilized men fear the law.
the lunbermen feared the unknown
forces that lny behind Hilary and
manifested themselves through the
strength of his arm.
"fll give you five minutes to get Off
the st Boniface territory into the Ste.
Marie limits, the other side Of Rocky
river" Hilary said He turned to the
spectators. 'Tll thrash every man not
employed by me who comes upon my
land" he announced
Whether they understood the mean
| Ing of the words or not. they realized
the significance Of the gesture Black
Pierre. among his companions Mt the
edge Of the clearing. stopped his re-
treat. He meant Mt least to save his
face by threats. But Hilary had de-
| liberntely turned his back on him md
without apparent fear of danger. wns
examining the shncks. and poking the
moss ont of the interstices between the
logs with forked stick When he
| turned the last of the ste. Marie men
was disappearing out of the clearing
| down the road. He waited long enough
| for them to rench the fork, before re-
entering the buggy.
He was thoughtful on the drive
homeward He knew that It was only
the unexpected nature of his action
which had cleared the concession. That
had been paramount duty. Mt any
cost he must preserve the integrity of
his land, But. given Brousseau's lead
ership and active hostility, they could
put up fight which would render him
impotent. Physical force could bring
him nowhere I'm the end
1t took about nm hour for the embel-
lished story to filter through to the
mill Before work was knocked Oft that
afternoon Hilary became conscious of
new Difference in his hands manner.
of gaping looks TINT followed him when
he went from office 10 mill or back
For the first time ST. Bonface began
to believe that the Morris regime had
really passed
We've still got Broussenu. though"
said Hilary 10 Lnfe. "Whpn do You
suppose he's going TO declare bimself7"
Soon" said Lafe. you've seen to
that, Mr. Askew.'
"Well,' answered Hilary cheerfully.
"we'll meet that trouble when It comes
J,tI {on
breaking UP those piles and sending
them through the mill. I've got to get
out n record load next month, and I'm
going to credit all the wood that goes
through the mill to the st. Bonface
tract and let Brousseau take any ac-
ton he likes about It,"
Brousseau was not long In declaring
war. On the following afternoon. MS he
sat In his office. Hilary. looking through
the window. saw Madeleine Rosny
driving rig along the road toward the
mill Beside her sat Il man whom he
had never seen before. He surmised
ut once that 1t was Brousseau. but he
hardly expected That the girl was
bringing him to the office.
Such proved to be the case. The rig |
stopped Mt the door and Hilary had a
glimpse of Madeleine's averted. scorn-
full face as she sat waiting. MS If Hilary |
was beneath her pride, as If to stop |
there was no more than to stop ut any |
laborers shack. Her companion leaped |
out and came briskly to the door.
He was man of something more
than forty. but active and young-look-
ing. He came into the office and glared |
down at Hilary. who Mt once rose and
faced him.
I'm Mr.. Brousseau." said the visitor.
1--WE heard of you" snid Hilary.
You'll hear more of me. You as
saulted one of my men yesterday. DO
you think you can come into this coun-
try and knock my men about like that
for doing their duty?"
"He was on the Rosny seigniory. and
cutting my timber"
"He was on the west side of Riviere
Rocheuse," snarled Brousseau 1.-THE
Riviere Rocheuse has never been sur
veyed What you call the creek Is the
upper part of Riviere Rocheuse. Lee
blanc had permission to cut that tract
for Mr.. Morris because our two com
pnnies worked hand in hind. 1t is not
my way to make explanations, Mons
ieur Askew. but take that for what 1t
Is WORTH