Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1922-09-12
Duchemin made I, his a, well
By Stanley

Durhemln made 10 his NJ well
The weather was fine. his near
high. he was happy 10 I've OIL OF
harness and again his own uan
Constant exercise tuned w
muscles gone slack and suf, with
easy living. A keen sun dafkened
his face and hands. brushed up IN
his cheeks a warmer glow Than th.y
had shown In many a year. aud
faded out the heavier lines with
which Time had marked his coun,e'
nance.
Moreover. because this was France.
where one may affect whlsker
without losing face. he neglected his
razors; and though this was not his
hrst thought. fair disguise 1t
proved.
Rain at length interned the trav'
eler for three days In a little pace
called Meyruels. long leagues re.
mote from railroads and the world
they stitch together.
Here lsald Duchemln) nothing can
hrNoip wv aNa ~ - hatH Nt's' w.
me TO be considering what ! am TO
make OF the remainder Of ivy days.
Too many Of them have been wasted.
too great d portion of my span has
been sacrificed TO yanltles
Yet little while and one must
bid adleu 10 that Youth which one
has so heedlessly squantcred. a last
adleu to Youth with Its days of high
adventure. It's cafetree heart. It's
susceptibility TO the lnanite stduc'
lions OF Romance.
And for all this mood OF prema.
ture resignation 10 the bourgeois
virtues Ducheinin was glad enough
when his fourth day In Meyrucls
dawned fair. and by eight was up
and away, purpo.lns u days tramp
TO Montpelier ie.vleux concerning
which one heard curious talesl
Long after noon. sheer fools luck
led him 10 q hamlet whose mean
auberge served him bread and cheese
with a wine slngularly thin and acid.
The one able bodied man 10 evl.
dence. n hulking. suriy animal. on
learning that Duchem.n wished 10
visit Observation-Disclosures. refused
with a growl TO have anything to do
with him. Several times during the
course OF luncheon he caught the
fellow cycling him strangely. he
thought. from q window OF the
suberge. In the end the peasant giri
who waited on him grudgingly con-
scented TO put him on his way.
IIe followed her directions. con.
,.nued his long tramp and In the
silver and purple mystery OF . per.
feet moonlight night found himself
looking down from a hilltop upon
Montpelller.le.vleux.
Rumor had prepared him 10 know
the place when he saw II. nothing for
It's s,upendous lunacy. Heaven
knows what convulslon or measured
process OF Nature accomplished this
thing. For his part Duchenln WAS
unable 10 accept any possible scien'
the explanation, and will so 10 his
grave believing that some halt
wllted cyelops created Montpelier
le.vlsux In an hour Of idleness. build
ing him a play city OF titanic mono
ll,hs. then wandered away and forgot
Il altogether.
TO his mind there was somethlng
sinister IN the por,entous immobill'
~ Of the place. In It's silence. ls
want OF excuse for being. n sense OF
aseold evil like an lnarticulats men'
ace
when abruptly q man moved from
behind rock some thirty or forty
PAGES ahead. Duchemln stopped
short. with tangled nerves and q
barely smoihercd exclamation. Pos
slbly a shape of spectral terror would
have been less startling. In that
weird place and hour humanity
seemed more homogeneous than the
supernatural.
IL was at once apparent that the
man had neither knowledge OF nor
concern with the stranger. For an
instant he stood with his back 10 the
latter. a stout body hlllng on, too
well the uniform OF q private soldier
In the American Eypedlilonary
Forces-that most ungalnly. inutile.
unbecomlng costume that ever
graoed the form OF nan.
Then he haf turned, beckoned
hastily 10 one Invisible 10 the oh.
server. and furtiyely moved on. AZ
furtiyely his signal was answered BY
a fellow who wore the nondescrlpt
garments OF a peasant. And ~ sud.
denly az they had come into sight.
the Two slipped round rocky
shoulder. aud the street Of monolllhs
was empty.
lCeniinucd In Our Mem Issuel