Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-09-12
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=. E~ H Louis
Mk0z Joseph Vance
QSNN0 e, enn International Magazine Company
H Louis
Joseph Vance
epn International Masazine COMPANY

III anu oil ~dlldZAIS-
ly fleet pair of heels he showed,
taking into account his h~eaviness of
body. Duchemin saw him swerve
from his first course and steer for a
vehicle standing at some distance
evidently the conveyance which had
brought the sightseers to view the
spectacle of Observation-Disclosures by
moonlight.
Waiting in the middle of a broad
avenue of misshapen obelisks, a
diiapidated barouche on either side
Its pole dropped two sorry specimens
Of crowbait. And their panied
amazement was so unfeigned that
DCchemin laughed aloud when the
fat rogue bounded to the box.
snatched up reins and whip and
curled a cruel lash round their bony
fenks.
Since it took them some moments
to come to their senses and apprecia-
ate that all this was not an evil
dream, Duchemin's hands were
%clutching the back of the carriage
when the horses broke suddenly into
an awkward, numbering gallop.
The moment Duchemin found his
own feet in the swaying vehicle he
leaped on the shoulders of the other
and dragged him backward from
the box.
What followed was not very clear
to him, a melange of impressions.
The mock-American fought like a
devil unclaimed. The animals at the
pole ran away in good earnest, that
Wretched barouche rolled and pitch
ed like a rudderless shell in a crazy
sea. h a two men f1oundered in its
well like fish in a pail.
They fought by no rules, with no
science, but bit and kicked and
gouged and wrenched and struck as
occasion offered each to the best
of his ability. Duchemin caught
gllnpses of a face hideously dis
torted with working features and
d~isfigured with smears of SCOT
through which insane eyeballs
rolled and glared in the moonlight.
Then a hand like a vice gripped
his windpipe, he was on his back,
his head overhanging the edge of the
floor, a thumb was feeling for one
of his eyes Yet it could not have
been much later when he and his
opponent were standing and sway
ing as one. locked in an embrace of
Wrestlers.
Still, Duchemin knew as many
tricks of hand-to-hand fighting as
the other. perhaps a few more. And
Their he was, no doubt, in far better
condition. At all events the fellow
was presently at his mercy, in a
hold that gave one the privilege of
breaking his back at will. A man of
mistaken scruples, Duchemin failed
to do so. A thrust and a kick,
which he enjoyed infinitely, sem tnC
brute spinning out to land on his
head.
The fall should have broken his
neck. AT the worst it should have
stunned him. Evidently it didn't.
When Duchemin had scrambled up
to the box, captured the reins and
brought the nags to a stop, he saw
no signs of his Apache by the road
side
Not five figures but four only
were waiting beside the cirque when,
wheeling the barouche as near the
group as the lay of the ground per-
mitted, he climbed down. A nan
lay at length in the coarse grass,
his head pillowed on the lap of one
woman. Another woman stood
aside, trembling and wringing aged
hands. The third knelt beside the
supine man. but ros quickly as
Duchemin drew near, and came to
meet him.
In this one he recognized her to
salvation Chance had first led
him. and now found time to appre-
ciate a face Of pallid loneliness, in
teiligent and composed, while she
addressed him quietly and directly.
An exquisite voice. English, he
guessed, or possibly American, but
much at home in France -.
Monsieur d'Aubrac has been
wounded, a knife thrust. 1t will be
necessary to get him to a sergeon
quickly as possible"
IF monsieur would be so good"
Duchemin knelt behide the man.
who welcomed him with open eyes
and a wry smile that vas almost as
faint as his voice.
1T is nothing, monsieur-a clean
cut in the arm, with some loss of
blood"
The young girl in whose lap rest
ed the head Of Monsieur d'Aubrac
sat back and watched Duchemin
with curious, grave eyes in which
traces of moisture glimmered.
Had the animal at my mercy. I
thought" d'Aubrac apologized,
when suddenly he drew that knife,
struck me and broke away"
II understand" Duchemin re-
piled. But don't talk. You'll want |
all your strength, my friend"
With his pocket knife he laid open