The Coolidge examiner., 1931-04-24

Tonteur manor without the thought
Of inferiOrity sending its misgiv-
ings through his soul. In some mys-
teriOus way which he did not un-
Gerstand, but which he strongly
felt, he had passed away from yes
terday forever.
Soon his feet were in the path
which led to the manor. 1t was so
still he could have believed that
every one was asleep as he cOur-
ageously mounted the wide steps to
| the door of TOinettes home On
! this door was a great black knock
er of battered iron. The face of
the knocker was a grinning ogre.
q gargOylish head which, from his
earliest memory Of it, had fixed it
! self upon him as a symbol Of the
! grim and unapproachable spirit
! that guarded the rooms within. His
hand reached out to awaken the
! dull thunder of its voice.
His fingers touched the cold iron
He hesitated in the moment lie was
| lifting it, for he observed that the
door was open by a space of a few
inches. Through the aperture a
voice came to him clearly. It was
a high, biting. angry voice, and he
recognized ii as Madame TOnteur'S.
He raised the weight from its
metal panel and would have
knocked when he heard a name
which made him pause in rigid 81
! lence 1t was his own.
He heard Toinette's mother say :
| Henri Bulain was fool for mar
rying that good-fOr-nothing English
! woman, and Edmond is a greater
fool for not driving her from the
| country when her breed is mur-
dering and killing almost at our
doors. The woman was made for a
spy, despite the pretty face which
| has Softened EdmOnd's silly heart,
and that boy of hers is no less Eng
! llsh than she. The two should not
be allowed to live so near TO us, yet
Tonteur maintains they are his
friends. The place they have built
| should be burned and the English
woman and her boy sent where
| they belong. Let Henri Bulain go
with them if he chooses to be a rem
egade instead of a Frenchman !"
"Ffe upon you for such thoughts.
Henriette," chided the milder voice
/ of Madame Tache. 81 despise the
English as much as you or Toi-
nette, but it is unfair to voice such
invective against these two, even
though the woman is proud of her
| pretty face and her boy is q mud
| Singing little wretch. Edmond Is
a big-souled man and simply be-
friends them out of pity. Are you
angry because of that, Henriette?"
II am angry because she is Eng
lish, and her boy is English, and
yet they are allowed to live among
us as if they were French.N | tell
you they will be traitors when the
time for treachery comes'
Jeems had stood with his fingers
clenched at the unyielding iron of
| the knocker Now he heard an
other voice and knew it was Toi-
nettes.
Il think Jeems' mother is nice"
she said. But Jeems is a detest-
able little English beastw
"And some day that beast will
help to cut our thrOats," added her
mother unpleasantly.
The great iron knocker fell with
a crash, and almost before the
sound of IL reached the servants
ears, the door swung open and
Jeems stalked in. The women were
speechless as he stood in the wide
opening to the room in which they
were seated. He scarcely seemed
to realize they were there and
I, looked only at Toinette. He re-
mained for a moment without
movement or speech, his slim figure
tense and gripped Then he bowed
his head in a curtsy which Cath
crime had carefully taught him
When he spoke his words were as
calm as those of Madame Tache
had been.
II have come to tell you I am
sorry because of what happened at
Lussan's place, Toinette," he said,
and he bent his head a little low
er toward her. II ask you to for
| give me-"
Even Henriette TOnteur could
not have thought of him as a beast
after that, for pride and fearless
ness were in his bearing in spite of
the whiteness of his face. AS the
occupants of the room stared at
him, unable TO find their voices. he
drew back quietly and was gone as
suddenly as he appeared. The big
| door closed behind him, and turn
ing TO window near her Toinette
saw him go down the steps. An ex-
clamatiOn of Indignation and amaze
ment came at last from her mother,
but this she did not hear. Her eyes
were following Jeems.
He went across the open and into
the fields. AS he drew near the
foot of Tonteur hill, Odd came eau
tiously forth to meet him, but not
until they reached their old rest
! ing place at the crest of the
ascent did he pause or seem to
notice the dog. Then he looked
back upon the seigneurie. A bit
of iron had sunk into his soul. His
eyes were seeing with a new and
darker vision. From the rich val
/ ley which had been the fount of
all his dreams they turned TO the
faint CLEAN of distant water in the
south where lay Lake Champlain.