The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-19
BOOK, I: THE ROBE
CHAPTER I.

l.
He was born with gift of laugh
ter and a sense that the world was
mad. And that was all his patri-
mony. His very paternity was OBJ
scure, although the village OF
GavriIlac had long since dispeiled
the cloud OF mystery that hung
about 1t. Those simple Brittany
folk were not 30 simple
as to be deceived by a pretended
relationship which did not even pos
ses sthe virtue Of originality When
a nobieman announces himself the
god father Of an infant fetched no
man knew whence, and thereafter
cares for the lads rearing and edu-
cation, the most unsophisticated OF
country folk perfectly understand
the situation. And 50 the good PEG
pie OF Gavrillac permitted them
selves no illusions on the score OF
the real relationship between
Andre-Louis Moreau-as the lad
had been named-and Quintin de
Kercadiou, Lord Of Gavrillac.
Andre-Louis had made the most OF
his opportunities. You behold him
at the age of four-and-twenty
stuffed with learning enough 10 pro-
duce an intellectual Indigestion in
an ordinary mind.
Ia body he was q slight Wisp Of
a fellow, scarcely above middle
/ height, with lean, astute counte-
nance. prominent of nose and
! cheek-bones. and with lank, black
I hair that reached almost to his
shoulders. His mouth was long,
/ thin-Iipped, and humorous He was
+ only just redeemed from ugliness
a., by the splendor of a pair of ever
/ questioning, luminous eyes, so dark
as to be almost black. OF the
whimsical quality OF his mind and
/ his rare gift of graceful expression.
! his writings afford US very ample
evidence. OF his gift of oratory he
| had already achieved a certain
4 fame for it in the Literary Cham
! Der OF Dennes-one of those clubs
{ in which the intellectual youth Of
France foregathered to study and
/ discuss the new PHILOSOPHERS that
were permeating social life. But the
fame he had acquired there was
1 hardly enviable. He was too impish,
too cauStic. TOO much disposed-so
| thought his collea gues-tO ridicule
/ their sublimest theories for the
! regeneration of mankind. Himself
he protested that he merely held
them up to the mirror of truth. and
that IL was not his fault if when
reflected there they looked ridicu-
lOus
I All that he achieved by this was
to exasperate; and his expulsion
| from a society grown mistrustful
of him must already have followed
but for his friend, Philippe de Vii
MORN, divinity student of Rennes.
who, himself, was one of the most
popular members OF the Literary
+ Chamber
Coming to Gavrillac on Novem-
her morning, Philippe found in that
sleepy Breton village matter to
! quicken his already lively indigna-
ton. A peasant, named Mabey,
had been shot dead that morning by
a gamekeeper of the Marquis de la
Tour d'AZyr. The unfortunate fell
! low had been caught in the act OF
taking a pheasant from a snare.
and the gamekeeper had acted
under explicit orders from his mas
ter
f. Infatuated by an act of tyranr.y
; so absolute and merciless. NJ. de
VilmC-in proposed TO lay the mat
ter before NJ. de Kercadiop Mabey
was q vassal ct GavrilIac, and Vii
NORM hoped to move the Lord OF
Gaxrillac to demand at least some
. measure OF reparation for the
widow and the three orphans which
that brutal deed had made.
But because Andre-Louis was
Philippe's dearest friend. the
young seminaFist sought him out in