The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-04-07

cOnqueraDIe. HIS dOmlneer1ng spirit
could not, when opposed, reckon with
any possibility of disaster. AS he
/ sprang toward Father Beret there was
a mutual recognition and we speak
guardedly, something that sounded
exactly like an exchange of furious
excavations. AS for Father Beret's
words. they may have been a mere
priestly formula Of objurgadon..
The moon was accommodating
With a beautiful white splendor 1t en-
tered a space of cloudless sky, where
It seemed to slip along the dusky blue
surface among the stars, far over in
the west.
Its you, is it?" Hamilton exclaimed
between teeth that almost crushed one
another. You providing hypocrite of
heIlr'
Father Beret said something. Ii
was not complimentary, and it sound
ed sulphurous. if not profane. Re
member, however, that a priest can
scarcely hope to be better than Peter,
and Peter did actually make the 81
mon pure remark when hard pressed.
n
thing with vigorous emphasis, and
met Hamilton half way.
Both men, stimulated to the finger
tips by a draught Of imperious passion.
fairly plunged TO the inevitable con
hiot. All, If Alice could have seen her
beautiful weapons cross, IL she could
have heard the fine, far-reaching
cunk, clink, clink. while sparks
leaped forth dazzling even the moon
ughe: If she could have noted the ad-
mirable, nay. the amazing play, as
the men, rega1ning GOODNESS to some
extent, gathered their forces and fell
cautiously to the deadly work, 1t
would have been enough to change
the cold simmer Of her face to fash
of warm delight. For she would have
understood every feint, longe. parry,
and seen at a glance how Father Be-
ret set the pace and led the race
at the beginning She would have I'M
derstood; for Father Beret had taught
her all she knew about the art Of
fencing.
Hamilton quickly felt. and with a
sense Of It's stTangeness. the priests
mastery command Of his weapon. The
surprise called up all his caution and
cleverness. Before he could adjust
himself to such an unexpected con
dition he came near being spitted
outright by a pretty pass under hts
guard. The narrow escape, while it
put him on his best mettIe, sent a
wave Of superstition through his
brain. He recalled what Barlow had
=
the devil priest or priest-devil At
ROussillOn place on that night when
the patrol guard attempted to take
Gaspard ROussillon. Was this, in
deed. Father Beret, that gentle old
man, now before him. or was 1t an
aveuging demon from the shades?
The thought fitted electrically
! across his mind, while he deity par
ried. tented. longed, giving his dark
antagonist all he could DO 10 meet
! the play. Priest or devil, no thought,
| he cared not which. he would reach
! its vitals presently. Yet there lin
| gered with him a haunting half-fear,
| or tenuous awe. which may have aided,
rather than hindered, his excellent
workmanship.
| Under foot It was slushy with mud.
water and Zoe, the consistency vary.
| ing from a somewhat solid crust to
/ puddles that hahiuundatsd Hamil-
! tons boots and quite . overfiowed
| Father Beret's moccasins. An ex-
/ ecrable field for the little matter IN
| hand. They gradually shifted posi-
ton. Now 1t was the Governor. then
| the priest. who had avantage as to
/ the light. For some time Father
Beret seemed quite the shiftler and
| surer fighter, but was 1t his age tell
| ing on him0 he lost perceptibly in
| suppleness. Still Hamilton failed to
| touch him. There was a battling
| something In the old mans escape now
and again from what ought TO have
been an inevitable stroke, Was it
| luck? II seemed 20 Hamilton more
| than that-a sort Of uncanny eva
| sion. Or was IL supreme mastery, the
| last and subtlest reach Of the fen
| GERS craft2
Youth forced age slowly backward
in the struggle, which at times took
| on spurts so furious that the slender
blades, becoming mere glints Of aciou-
| lar steel. split the moonlight back
and forth, up and down, so that their
meetings, following one another in a
well-nigh continuous stroke. sent a
| jarrinG noise through the air. Father
! Beret lost inch by inch, until the
| lighting was almost over the body of
/ Alice; and now for the first time Ham
ilton became aware of that motion-
less something with the white, lu-
minous face in profile against the
! ground; but he did not let even that
/ unsettle his fencing gaze. which fol
! lowed the sunken and dusky eyes of
| his adversaI !. A perspiration sud
denly flooded his body, however. and
! began to drip across his face. His
arm was firing. A doubt crept like
a chill into his heart. Then the priest
| appeared to add a cubit to his stature
| and waver strangely IN the soft light.
| Behind him, low against the sky. a
| yide-winged owl shot Eoiselcssly
| across. just above the prairie.
The soul Of a true priest Is double:
| It is the soul Of a saint and the soul
| Of a worldly man. What is most
/ beautiful in this quality is the SUI
| preme courage with which the saint
| ~ spirit attacks the worldly and so
often heroically masters 1t. In the
| beginning OF the fight Father Beret let
| n passion Of the earthly body take
| him by storm. It was we'll for Gov
ernor Henry Hamilton that the priest
was so wrought upon as to unsettle
his nerves, otherwise there would
have been an evil heart impaled mid
way Of Father Beret's rapier. A little
later the sanity spirit began to assert