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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20330-h.zip b/20330-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cea2f00 --- /dev/null +++ b/20330-h.zip diff --git a/20330-h/20330-h.htm b/20330-h/20330-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc50bed --- /dev/null +++ b/20330-h/20330-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12818 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Black Wolf's Breed, by Harris Dickson +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 5%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: medium; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 5% } + +P.salutation {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 5% } + +P.closing {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 5% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.index {font-size: small ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + +P.published {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 15% } + +P.quote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report2 {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center } + + +H4.h4left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgleft { float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 1%; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgright {float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1%; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +.pagenum { position: absolute; + left: 1%; + font-size: 95%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + + + + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Black Wolf's Breed, by Harris Dickson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Black Wolf's Breed + A Story of France in the Old World and the New, happening + in the Reign of Louis XIV + +Author: Harris Dickson + +Illustrator: C. M. Relyea + +Release Date: January 11, 2007 [EBook #20330] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""Come, fellow, thou art trapped; give me up my purse."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="377" HEIGHT="616"> +<H3 STYLE="width: 377px"> +"Come, fellow, thou art trapped; give me up my purse." +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +The Black Wolf's Breed +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I> +A Story of France<BR> +In the Old World and the New, happening<BR> +in the Reign of Louis XIV<BR> +</I> +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +HARRIS DICKSON +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. M. RELYEA +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP +<BR> +Publishers -:- New York +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright 1899 +<BR> +by +<BR> +The Bowen-Merrill Company +<BR><BR> +<I>All rights reserved</I> +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TO THE MEMORY OF +<BR> +<I>BIENVILLE</I> +<BR> +THE SOLDIER-GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA +<BR> +OUT OF WHOSE +<BR> +MIGHTY PROVINCE HAS GROWN NEARLY ONE-HALF +<BR> +OF THE +<BR> +WORLD'S GREATEST +<BR> +REPUBLIC +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap00a">FOREWORD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">The Master</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">Bienville</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">Aboard Le Dauphin</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">The Road to Versailles</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">The Decadence of Versailles</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">Louis XIV</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">At the Austrian Arms</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">A New Friend</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">Mademoiselle</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">In the House of Bertrand</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">The Dawn and the Dusk</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">Florine to the Rescue</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">The Girl of the Wine Shop</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">The Secretary and the Duke</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">New Hopes</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">The Unexpected</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">The Flight From Sceaux</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">Serigny's Departure</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">The Castle of Cartillon</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">From the Path of Duty</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">The Fall of Pensacola</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">The Contents of the Box</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">A Note Which Went Astray</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">The Children of the Black Wolf's Breed</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap250">APPENDIX</A></TD> +</TR> +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +"Come, fellow, thou art trapped; give me up my purse." . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-008"> +"What is it; what device is there?" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-210"> +"The old man gazed steadily at me for some moments." +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P> +<I>FRANCE—In the old world and in the new!</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>The France of romance and glory under Henry of Navarre; of pride and +glitter under Louis XIV, in whose reign was builded, under the silver +lilies, that empire—Louisiana—in the vague, dim valley of the +Mississippi across the sea: these are the scenes wherein this drama +shall be played. Through these times shall run the tale which follows. +Times when a man's good sword was ever his truest friend, when he who +fought best commanded most respect. It was the era of lusty men——the +weak went to the wall.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>King and courtier; soldier and diplomat; lass and lady; these are the +people with whom this story deals. If, therefore, you find brave +fighting and swords hanging too loosely in their sheaths; if honor +clings round an empty shadow and the women seem more fair than honest, +I pray you remember when these things did happen, who were the actors, +and the stage whereon they played.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>THE AUTHOR.</I> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap00a"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOREWORD +</H3> + +<P> +<I>It is fitting that old men, even those whose trade is war, should end +their days in peace, yet it galls me grievously to sit idly here by the +fire, in this year of grace 1746, while great things go on in the world +about me.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>The feeble hound at my feet, stretching his crippled limbs to the +blaze, dreams of the chase, and bays delighted in his sleep. Nor can I +do more than dream and meditate and brood.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>News of Fontenoy and the glory of Prince Maurice thrills my sluggish +blood; again I taste the wild joys of conflict; the clashing steel, the +battle shouts, the cries of dying men—-yea, even the death scream of +those sorely stricken comes as a balm to soothe my droning age. But +the youthful vigor is gone. This arm could scarcely wield a bodkin; +the old friend of many campaigns rusts in its scabbard, and God knows +France had never more urgent need of keen and honest swords.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>Thus run my thoughts while I sit here like some decrepit priest, +bending over my task, for though but an indifferent clerk I desire to +leave this narrative for my children's children.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>My early life was spent, as my children already know, for the most +part in the American Colonies. Of my father I knew little, he being +stationed at such remote frontier posts in the savage country that he +would not allow my mother and myself to accompany him. So we led a +secluded life in the garrison at Quebec. After the news came of his +death somewhere out in the wilderness, my brave mother and I were left +entirely alone. I was far too young then to realize my loss, and the +memory of those peaceful years in America with my patient, accomplished +mother remains to me now the very happiest of my life.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>From her I learned to note and love the beauties of mountain and of +stream. The broad blue St. Lawrence and the mighty forests on its +banks were a constant source of delight to my childish fancy, and those +memories cling to me, ineffaceable even by all these years of war and +tumult.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>When she died I drifted to our newer stations in the south, down the +great river, and it is of that last year in Louisiana, while I was yet +Captain de Mouret of Bienville's Guards, that I would have my children +know.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>Along the shore of Back Bay, on the southern coast of our Province of +Louisiana, the dense marsh grass grows far out into the water, +trembling and throbbing with the ebb and flow of every tide.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>Thicker than men at arms, it stands awhile erect where the shallow sea +waves foam and fret; then climbing higher ground, it straggles away, +thinner and thinner, in oaken-shaded solitudes long innocent of sun.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>Beginning on the slopes, a vast mysterious forest, without village, +path, or white inhabitant, stretches inland far and away beyond the +utmost ken of man. There the towering pines range themselves in +ever-receding colonnades upon a carpet smooth and soft as ever hushed +the tread of Sultan's foot. Dripping from their topmost boughs the +sunlight's splendor flickers on the floor, as if it stole through +chancel window of some cool cathedral where Nature in proud humility +worshiped at the foot of Nature's God.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>It was in those wilds, somewhere, the fabled El Dorado lay; there +bubbled the fountain of eternal youth: through that endless wilderness +of forest, plain and hill flowed on in turbid majesty the waters of De +Soto's mighty grave.</I> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MASTER +</H3> + + +<P> +It was late one clear moonlight night in the spring of 17—, when three +silent figures emerged from the woodland darkness and struck across the +wide extent of rank grass which yet separated us from the bay. +Tuskahoma led the way, a tall grim Choctaw chieftain, my companion on +many a hunt, his streaming plumes fluttering behind him as he strode. +I followed, and after me, Le Corbeau Rouge, a runner of the Choctaws. +We were returning to Biloxi from a reconnaissance in the Chickasaw +country. +</P> + +<P> +Each straight behind the other, dumb and soundless shadows, we passed +along the way, hardly bruising a leaf or brushing the rustling reeds +aside. +</P> + +<P> +"See, there is the light," grunted Tuskahoma, pointing to a glimmer +through the trees. "Yes, the White Prophet never sleeps," assented Le +Corbeau Rouge. +</P> + +<P> +The light which marked our almost ended journey came from a window in +one of those low, square log houses, fortress-dwellings, so common in +the provinces. +</P> + +<P> +Here, however, the strong pine palisades were broken down in many +places; the iron-studded gate hung unhinged and open, the accumulated +sand at its base showed it had not been closed in many years. +</P> + +<P> +But the decay and neglect everywhere manifest in its defenses extended +no further, for inside the enclosure was a garden carefully tended; a +trailing vine clung lovingly to a corner of the wide gallery, and even +a few of the bright roses of France lent their sweetness to a place it +seemed impossible to associate with a thought of barbaric warfare. +</P> + +<P> +I loved this humble home, for in such a one my mother and I had spent +those last years of sweet good-comradeship before her death—the roses, +the rude house, all reminded me of her, of peace, of gentler things. +</P> + +<P> +The character of its lone occupant protected this lowly abode far +better than the armies of France, the chivalry of Spain, or the +Choctaw's ceaseless vigilance could possibly have done. He came there +it was said, some fifteen years before, a Huguenot exile, seemingly a +man of education and birth. He built his castle of refuge on a knoll +overlooking the sheltered bay, hoping there to find the toleration +denied him in his native land. The edict of Nantes had been revoked by +King Louis, and thousands of exiled Frenchmen of high and low degree +sought new fortunes in newer lands. +</P> + +<P> +Many had reached America, and strove with energetic swords and +rapacious wallets to wrest blood and gold and fame from whatsoever +source they might. +</P> + +<P> +This man alone of all those first explorers had shown no disposition to +search out the hidden treasures of the wilderness, to prey upon the +natives. He became their friend and not their plunderer. +</P> + +<P> +His quiet life, his kindness, his charity, his knowledge of the simple +arts of healing, so endeared him to every warring faction that at his +house the Choctaw and the Chickasaw, the Frenchman, Spaniard and the +Englishman met alike in peace. So the needless fortifications fell +into unrepaired decay. +</P> + +<P> +Many an afternoon I had paddled across the bay and spent a quiet hour +with him, as far from the jars and discord at Biloxi as if we were in +some other world. +</P> + +<P> +As, this night, we drew nearer the house we saw no signs of life save +the chinks of light creeping beneath the door. I rapped, and his voice +bade me enter. +</P> + +<P> +The master sat at his table in the center of a great room, about which +were a number of surgical and scientific instruments, all objects of +mistrust to my Indian friends. +</P> + +<P> +These curious weapons of destruction or of witchcraft, for so the +Indians regarded them, contributed to make him an object of fear, which +doubtless did much to strengthen his influence among the tribes. +</P> + +<P> +He was at this time somewhat more than sixty, slender and rather above +the medium height. With his usual grave courtesy he welcomed us and +readily loaned the small pirogue necessary to carry our party across +the bay. +</P> + +<P> +The Indians were restless and the governor waited, so I only thanked +our host and turned to go. +</P> + +<P> +He rose, and laying his hand upon my arm detained me. "Wait, Placide; +I am glad you returned this way, for I have long wished to speak with +you; especially do I wish it on this night—on this night. Sit down." +</P> + +<P> +Mechanically I obeyed, for I could see there was something of more than +usual import on his mind. The Indians had withdrawn, and the master, +pacing uncertainly about the room, paused and regarded me intently, as +if he almost regretted his invitation to stay. After several efforts +he abruptly began: +</P> + +<P> +"I fear I have not very long to live, and dread to meet death, leaving +a solemn duty unperformed. It is of this I would speak." +</P> + +<P> +I listened in silence. He spoke hurriedly as though he doubted his +resolution to tell it all. +</P> + +<P> +"You, and every one in these colonies, know me only as Colonel d'Ortez, +the Huguenot refugee. So I have been known by the whites ever since I +came here to escape persecution at home, and to get forever beyond the +sound of a name which has become hateful to me—my own. +</P> + +<P> +"The Counts d'Artin have been a proud race in France for centuries, yet +I, the last d'Artin, find the name too great a burden to bear with me +in shameful silence to my grave. See this," and he took from his +throat a pearl-studded locket, swung by a substantial golden chain, +which he opened and handed to me. Inside were the arms of a noble +family exquisitely blazoned upon a silver shield. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it; what device is there?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-008"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-008.jpg" ALT=""What is it; what device is there?"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="378" HEIGHT="625"> +<H3 STYLE="width: 378px"> +"What is it; what device is there?" +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +I knew something of heraldry and read aloud without hesitation the +bearings upon the shield, prominent among which were three wolves' +heads, chevroned, supported by two black wolves, rampant, the coronet +and motto "Praeclare factum." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye," he mused half coherently, "the wolf; 'tis the crest of the +d'Artins, quartered with those of many of the most ancient houses of +France. So do those arms appear to men. But see." +</P> + +<P> +He took the locket quickly from me and with a swift forceful movement +turned the plate in its place, exposing the reverse side. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this? Look!" +</P> + +<P> +I glanced at it and started, looking inquiringly into my old friend's +face. He avoided my eye. +</P> + +<P> +I saw now upon the plate the same arms, the same quarterings, but over +all there ran diagonally across the scutcheon a flaming bar of red +which blazed evilly upon the silver ground. I understood. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" he demanded impatiently. I still could find no word to +answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Speak out boy, what is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"The same, but here, overall, is the bendlet sinister." I scarcely +dared to look up into his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye," he replied, his countenance livid with shame. "It is the bar +sinister, the badge of dishonor. So do those proud arms appear in the +sight of God, and so shall they be seen of men. And for generations +each Lord of Cartillon has added to that crimson stripe the indelible +stain of cowardice." +</P> + +<P> +The master, his features working convulsively with humbled pride, his +eyes never leaving the floor, continued resolutely. +</P> + +<P> +"The story is short. Over a hundred years ago the Count d'Artin was +murdered in his castle by the son of a peasant woman, his half brother, +who assumed the title and seized the estates. This was easy in those +times, for the murdered man was a Huguenot, his slayer a Catholic in +the service of Guise, and it was the day after St. Bartholomew's. The +count had sent his infant son for safety to an old friend, the abbott +of a neighboring monastery. This child was brought up in the Catholic +faith, and in him and his descendants resided the true right of the +Counts d'Artin. Of this they have always been ignorant. The usurper +on his death bed repented, and calling his own son to him, told him the +whole story, exacting a solemn oath that he would find the disinherited +one and restore to him his own. This oath was kept in part. His son, +Raoul d'Ortez, found the child, then an officer in the army, but lacked +the courage to declare his own shame, and relinquish the price of his +father's crime. By that Raoul d'Ortez this locket was made, and the +same vow and the same tradition were handed down to me. I have no +child. God knows I would give up the accursed heritage if I could. +</P> + +<P> +"During all these years a careful record has been kept of the true +lineage, which was only broken in my father's time. Here in this +packet are the papers which prove it; I confide them to you upon my +death. After I am gone I want you to find the last d'Artin." +</P> + +<P> +He was silent now a long time, then continued in a lower tone: "My +mother was of the reformed religion and I embraced her faith. It seems +like a judgment of God that I, a Huguenot, should lose under King Louis +what my Catholic ancestor gained under King Charles. Now go, lad." +</P> + +<P> +I could say nothing, but touching his hand in mute sympathy turned away +without a word. +</P> + +<P> +I had almost reached the door when he sprang after and again detained +me. His glance searched apprehensively into the shadowy corners of the +room, his voice wavered, the look of a hunted animal crept into his +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis said," he whispered, "the restless spirits of my fathers yet +haunt our castle in Normandy—oh, merciful God, do you believe it? Oh +no, no, after all these troubled years I fain would find a dreamless +slumber in my grave." +</P> + +<P> +I soothed him as I would a frightened child, and left him standing at +the door. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIENVILLE +</H3> + + +<P> +Musing on this strange story, and the old man's unwonted fear, I walked +on down to the water's edge where my Indian friends, already in the +pirogue, awaited me. Another half hour and we were in Biloxi. +</P> + +<P> +When we reached the barracks I found orders to attend the governor at +once. +</P> + +<P> +Bienville stood before his fire alone, quiet, but in a very different +mood from any in which I had theretofore seen him. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret," the rough old warrior began, without any prelude +or indirection, "I desire to send you at once to Paris on an errand of +the utmost importance to myself and to this colony. I select you for +this task, though I can ill spare you here, because it is a delicate +matter. I believe you to be honest, I know you are courageous." +</P> + +<P> +I bowed, and he went on. Something had evidently occurred to vex and +irritate him. +</P> + +<P> +"You know the people who surround me here, the weak, the vicious, the +licentious of all the earth. A band of unprincipled adventurers, vile +Canadians and half-breeds, all too lazy to work, or even to feed +themselves out of the bountiful earth which would give everything we +need almost for the asking. The air is full now of rumors of a Spanish +war, and a Natchez-Chickasaw alliance. If these things are true we +would find ourselves entirely cut off from French supplies, and this +colony would literally starve to death. Yes, starve to death with +untold millions of fruitful acres all about us. Had we strength to +fight I would not care so much. With but two companies of +undisciplined troops, a mere straggling handful, officered by +drunkards, we could not defend this post a day against any organized +attack." +</P> + +<P> +All this I knew to be true, so I made no comment. He pursued the +conversation and evidently relieved his mind of much that had troubled +him for months. +</P> + +<P> +"Then this beggarly commissary of mine, and the trafficking priest, de +la Vente, they are constantly stirring up strife against me here, and +putting lies in the hands of my enemies at court. The king, too, is +wearied out with this endless drain upon his treasury for money and +supplies, and is now, so I am informed, almost ready to accede to +Crozat's proposition, and turn over to him the revenues and government +of the colonies." +</P> + +<P> +The old man grew earnest and eloquent. +</P> + +<P> +"What! turn over an empire such as this to a miserable trading +huckster, the son of a peasant—permit him to name the governors and +officers! Why, under his rule, such cattle as la Salle and de la Vente +would feed fat upon the miseries of the people! Great God, Placide, do +you appreciate what that means? To create this peddler of silks and +laces lord of a boundless domain, more magnificent than Louis in his +wildest schemes of conquest ever dreamed? Why, boy, the day will come +when for a thousand leagues the silver lilies will signal each other +from every hill top; marts of commerce will thrive and flourish; the +land will smile with farms and cities, with proud palaces and with +granite castles. The white sails of our boats will fleck every lake +and sea and river with their rich burdens of trade, pouring a fabulous +and a willing wealth into the coffers of the king. Gold and silver +mines will yield their precious stores, while from these niggard +natives we will wrest with mighty arm the tribute they so +contemptuously deny the weakling curs who snap and snarl at my heels. +Grey tower and fortress will guard every inlet, and watch this +sheltered coast. In every vale the low chant of holy nuns will breathe +their benediction upon a happy people. And hordes of nations yet +unknown and races yet unborn, in future legends, in song, in story and +in rhyme, will laud the name of Bourbon and the glory of the French. +Oh lad! lad! 'tis an ambition worthy a god." +</P> + +<P> +The governor had risen, and waving his long arms this way and that, +pointed out the confines of his mighty dreamland empire with as much +assurance as if cities and towns would spring up at his bidding. +</P> + +<P> +His whole frame spoke the most intense emotion. The face, glorified +and transfigured by the allurement of his brilliant mirage, seemed that +of another man. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Placide! Placide! it stings me that this chivalrous king of ours, +this degenerate grandson of Henry the Great, should think of selling +for a few paltry livres such an heritage as this. Shame to you Louis, +shame!" +</P> + +<P> +His tone had grown so loud, so peremptory, I interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"Caution, sire; who knows what tattler's ears are listening, or where +your thoughtless words may be repeated." +</P> + +<P> +He stood moodily with hands behind him gazing into the fire. For years +I had known Bienville the soldier, the stern and unyielding governor, +with the hand of iron and the tongue of suasion. +</P> + +<P> +Now I saw for the first time Bienville the man, Bienville the +visionary, Bienville the enthusiast, the dreamer of dreams and the +builder of castles. I watched him in amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"Then these miserable women whom our good father, the Bishop of Quebec, +was so kind as to send us, bringing from their House of Correction all +the airs and graces of a court. Bringing hither their silly romances +of a land of plenty; they vow they came not here to work, and by the +grace of God, work they will not. They declare they are not horses to +eat of the corn of the fields, and clamor for their dear Parisian +dainties. Against such a petticoat insurrection the governor is +helpless. Bah! it sickens me. I wonder not that our men prefer the +Indian maidens, for they at least have common sense. But by my soul, +Captain, here I stand and rant like some schoolboy mouthing his speech. +Tush, it is forgotten." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me, Captain de Mouret, what have you learned of the Chickasaws, +for our time grows short." +</P> + +<P> +Glad to change the current of his thought I went on in detail to give +the results of my reconnaissance. Everywhere we found preparations +among the allied tribes, and felt sure we saw signs of a secret +understanding between them and the Spaniard. +</P> + +<P> +The governor made many notes, and carefully examined the charts I had +drawn of the Chickasaw towns, systematically marking down the strength +and fortifications of each. When I had finished my report we sat for +quite a while, he silent and thoughtful, watching the thin blue smoke +eddy round and round then dart up the capacious chimney. +</P> + +<P> +"And they charge me at the court of France," he soliloquized, giving +half unconscious expression to the matter uppermost in his mind, "they +charge me at the court of France, what no man save my king dare say to +me—that I divert the public funds to my own use. I, a Le Moyne, who +spend my own private fortune in protecting and feeding these ungrateful +people. But we waste time in words, like two chattering old women. We +need ships and money and men—men who fight like gentlemen for glory, +not deserters and convicts who fight unwillingly under the lash for +gold. +</P> + +<P> +"What can I do with troops who would as gladly spoil Biloxi as Havana? +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret, you will sail on le Dauphin to-morrow at daylight. +Place these dispatches in my brother Serigny's hands immediately upon +your arrival. From that time forward act under his instructions. +Remember, sir, your mission is a secret one." +</P> + +<P> +I knew well the name he gave me, for next to Iberville, Serigny was +reputed the most accomplished of all the Le Moyne's. To his fame as a +soldier, his attainments as a scholar, he added the easy grace of the +courtier. His position at the court of Louis gave him great prestige +throughout the colonies; he being a sort of adviser to the King on +colonial affairs, or so we all then thought him. Little did I then +know how scant was the heed paid by power and ambition to real merit +and soldierly virtues. +</P> + +<P> +This while we sat without passing a word. Truth to tell I was loath to +leave the Governor, for I knew even better than he how much of +treachery there was in those about him. Besides that I had no +confidence in my lieutenant, and yet hated to acquaint Bienville with +the fact for fear he might mistrust my motives. I was heavy at heart +and dreaded the future. +</P> + +<P> +When, somewhat after midnight, I arose to go, he came around the table +and taking me by both shoulders gazed steadily into my face. I met his +glance frankly and quailed not. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, Placide, these are such days of distrust I doubt every one +about me. Forgive me, lad, but your old commander's reputation, aye, +his honor even, depends now so much upon your fidelity." +</P> + +<P> +I could say nothing. I felt a stealthy tear tremble in my eye, yet was +not ashamed, for its mate glistened in his own, and he was a man not +given to over-weeping. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ABOARD LE DAUPHIN. +</H3> + + +<P> +The morning dawned moist and cold, with a stiff westerly wind. Just +before daylight a small boat pushed off the low beach, scraped along +the shallows, skirted the western edge of the island which there lies +endwise across the harbor, and put me aboard le Dauphin. +</P> + +<P> +I alone had no part in all the noisy preparation for departure, but sat +absorbed in thought near an open port listening to the straining of the +masts, the flapping sails, the low complaining beat of the +wind-tormented waters. +</P> + +<P> +Above the creak of the windlass raising anchor, I could catch snatches +of whispered conversation just outside the port. The two men were +beyond my range of vision. One seemed to be tossing in a boat, the +other hung down the vessel's side by a ladder. I made out, +disjointedly: +</P> + +<P> +"Along in September—as soon as you return—all will be in +readiness—two thousand Creeks, Chickasaws, Natchez—we ought to have +no difficulty—Yvard—Spanish ships. The fall of Biloxi will be a +great thing for us." And much more that I could not hear clearly. +</P> + +<P> +But I had heard enough to know there was some truth in the rumor of a +Spanish-Indian alliance, and an attack on Biloxi. And the name Yvard, +being unusual, clung somewhat to my memory. +</P> + +<P> +I immediately ran on deck and sauntered over towards that side, seeking +to discover the traitor. No one was there, only a little group of +officers walking about; towards the shore were the retreating outlines +of a light boat. I knew none of these officers, any one of whom might +have been the man I overheard, and so I durst ask no questions. I +could therefore confide in no one on board for fear of making a +mistake, but must rely upon giving Bienville prompt warning upon my +return, and I must needs hide my reluctance and mingle with officers +and men, for perchance by this means I might uncover the scoundrel. +</P> + +<P> +Although I made free with the men, pitched quoits, and joined in their +rough play, I trusted none, suspected all. No, not all. There were +two young fellows whom I was many times on the point of calling to my +confidence, but, thinking it wiser, kept my own counsel. Treason could +ever wear a smiling front and air of frankness. +</P> + +<P> +Levert was a man much older than myself, of gloomy and taciturn +manners, yet something there was so masterful about him men obeyed him +whether they would or no. A more silent man I never knew, yet +courteous and stately withal, and well liked by the men. But it was to +Achille Broussard my heart went out in those days of loneliness. His +almost childish lightness of disposition and his friendly ways won me +completely, and we became fast comrades. A noble looking lad, with the +strength of a young Titan, and the blonde curls of a woman. During the +long idle hours of the afternoon it was his custom to banter me for a +bout at swords, and Levert generally acted as our master of the lists. +At first he was much my superior with the foils, for during his days +with the Embassy at Madrid, and in the schools at Paris, he had learned +those hundreds of showy and fancy little tricks of which we in the +forests knew nothing. However, I doubted not that on the field our +rougher ways and sterner methods would count for quite as much. +</P> + +<P> +With all the five long weeks of daily practice, I gathered many things +from him, until one day we had an experience which made us lay the +foils aside for good. +</P> + +<P> +We had been sitting after the dinner hour, discussing his early life in +Paris. He wound up with his usual declaration, "As for myself, give me +the gorgeous plays, the fetes and smiles of the Montespan, rather than +the prayers, the masses and the sober gowns of de Maintenon. And now +it is your turn, comrade; let us know something of your escapades, your +days of folly in dear old Paris." +</P> + +<P> +"I have never seen Paris," I answered simply. +</P> + +<P> +"What! Never been to Paris? Then, man, you have never lived. But +where have you spent all your days?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the colonies—Quebec, Montreal, Biloxi. But now I will have an +opportunity, for I am going—" +</P> + +<P> +I had almost told something of my mission, ere I checked a too fluent +confidence. +</P> + +<P> +Levert, who had been pacing up and down the deck in his absorbed and +inattentive way, dropped his blade across my shoulder and challenged me +to the foils. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it is too early yet," Achille replied, "besides, we were talking +of other things. As you were saying, comrade, you go—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you two talk too much," Levert broke in again, "let us have a +bout; I'm half a mind I can handle a foil myself. A still tongue, a +clear head and a sharp blade are the tools of Fortune." +</P> + +<P> +It seemed almost that he had twice interrupted purposely to keep me +from talking. I thought I read that deeper meaning in his eyes. +Somehow I grew to distrust him from that moment. What consequence was +it to him of what I spoke? +</P> + +<P> +It was not Levert's business to govern my tongue for roe, so I only +said: +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, we'll try our skill somewhat later; not now," and resumed my +conversation with Achille. +</P> + +<P> +While his manner showed a concern I deemed the matter little to +warrant, yet it did make me consider, so I determined not to speak +truly of myself. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now, comrade, of your own intrigues. You were saying—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, nothing of that kind. I journey to Paris simply for my own +pleasure." Levert, who half listened at a distance knew I was going to +heed his advice, though I misdoubted his motive, and again took up his +pacing to and fro. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, my dear Captain, but 'tis a long trip for such an errand?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, quite a long trip, but I weary of the life at Biloxi, and would +amuse myself for a while in France." +</P> + +<P> +"But the garrison at Biloxi; is that strong enough to spare so good a +soldier? then the Indians, do you not fear them?" +</P> + +<P> +I glanced at him quickly, only half betraying my thought, but replied +nonchalantly: +</P> + +<P> +"No, the Indians are quiet, at least so our scouts tell us, and as for +the state of the garrison, you were long enough ashore to know we are +strong." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, then, there is another motive; a woman. Come, is it not true? +Confess?" +</P> + +<P> +I blushed in spite of myself; it was an idle way I had, for I had seen +little of women. My confusion threw him completely off the track; had +I only guessed it, would have taken refuge in that device sooner. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, comrade; you are wrong"—but still somehow my color came and +went like a novice out of the convent. His good-humored raillery +continued until I became annoyed in earnest, yet was glad he took the +matter so seriously. When Levert passed us again on his walk I spoke +to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, my dear Levert, we will try our fortune with the foils if it +pleases you." +</P> + +<P> +"No, my humor is past. Do you try with Broussard; methinks he had +rather the better of you yesterday. You agree, Broussard?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," he replied, eagerly, "let us at it." +</P> + +<P> +He fenced rather worse than usual, so I had no trouble in touching him +as I pleased. This begat an irritation of manner, and noticing it I +suggested we leave off. +</P> + +<P> +He would not hear to it; I saw the color slowly leave his face; his +thin lips curled back and showed his teeth, until, fearing a serious +outbreak, I stepped back as if I would lay aside the foil. He pressed +me close, so close indeed I could not if I would drop my guard. He +touched me once or twice. +</P> + +<P> +"I call the bout a draw," declared Levert, who had himself observed +Broussard's unusual energy. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, not so, not so; he gives back. I've much the better," and he +lunged at me so vigorously I was forced to act with more aggression. +The button snapped from the point of his foil; I cared not, and he +affected not to see it, though something made me sure he realized his +advantage. I determined now to show him a trick of my own. +</P> + +<P> +From my youth I had the peculiar faculty of using one hand quite as +well as the other, and had often practiced changing my sword swiftly +from right to left. It was a simple feat, much more showy than +difficult, yet exceedingly bewildering to an adversary. In this +instance it afforded me an easy means of reaching his undefended side. +So I feigned to be driven back, and watching for a more headlong and +careless rush, my weapon was apparently twisted from my hand and for an +instant seemed to hang suspended in the air. I caught it in my left +and before he recovered his footing had thrown his foil from him, +sending it whizzing overboard. It took but an instant to press my +point firmly against his chest, as he stood panting and disarmed. +Never was man more surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"Bravely done," cried Levert. +</P> + +<P> +"A most foul and dishonorable trick," Achille snarled. +</P> + +<P> +"Not so," Levert corrected him gravely, looking at me to observe the +effect of the insult. I stood still at guard, but made no move. +</P> + +<P> +"Broussard, you are angry now, and I'll take no heed of your heated +words. But to-morrow you must make a gentleman's amends." +</P> + +<P> +"Tush, tush," Levert interposed, "'tis the quarrel of a child. He +means nothing." +</P> + +<P> +Broussard said no more, but looked surly and ill pleased. I was +secretly elated at the success of my coup against such a skilled +swordsman, and only remarked quietly: +</P> + +<P> +"Broussard, when your anger has passed I trust you will do me the honor +of an apology." +</P> + +<P> +Behind it all I cared little, for I felt myself his master with his +chosen weapon and could afford to be generous. He came up in very +manly fashion, after a time, and craved my forgiveness, but we played +at foils no more. +</P> + +<P> +The lookouts were beginning to watch for land, I growing more and more +impatient as the end of our voyage drew near. And now I had much +leisure to contemplate, and wonder at the strange turn of fortune which +had called upon me to play a part in the affairs of state, though what +the drama was, and what my lines might be, I could only guess. The +story of Colonel D'Ortez, too, furnished me much food for reflection +these long starlit nights, when I sat in my favorite seat in the very +prow of the vessel. There would I sit night after night, watching the +phosphorescent waves rippling against the vessel, gleaming fitful in +the gloom; there observe the steadfast stars, and seem alone with +darkness and with God. +</P> + +<P> +One wet morning, pacing the slippery deck, the sailing master called to +me: +</P> + +<P> +"See, sir, yonder dim outline to the nor'east? 'Tis the Norman coast; +this night, God willing, we sleep in Dieppe." +</P> + +<P> +My errand now consumed my entire attention, so I thought no more of my +companions of the voyage, bidding them both good-night before we had +yet landed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROAD TO VERSAILLES +</H3> + + +<P> +At the break of day, rumbling out of the little fishing village, I was +surprised to see both Broussard and Levert astir as early as myself, +each in a separate coach, traveling the same direction. I thought it +strange that they chose to go separately, and that neither had told me +of his expected journey. However that might be, as it suited my +purpose well to be alone, I disturbed not myself with pondering over +it. Yet I wondered somewhat. +</P> + +<P> +The King and Court were at Versailles; so judging to find Serigny there +I turned aside from my first intention and proceeded thither. I was +shocked by the universal desolation of the country through which I +passed. Was this the reverse side to all the <I>Grand Monarque's</I> glory? +I had pictured <I>la belle</I> France as a country of wine, of roses and of +happy people. These ravaged fields, these squalid dens of misery, the +sullen, despairing faces of the peasantry, all bore silent protest to +the extravagances of Versailles. For the wars, the ambition and the +mistresses of Louis had made of this fair land a desert. Through the +devastated country roamed thousands of starving people, gaunt and +hungry as the wild beasts of the forest; they subsisted upon such +berries as they found, but durst not touch a stick of their lord's wood +to thaw out their frozen bodies. +</P> + +<P> +Young as I was, and a soldier, the sight of this wide-spread suffering +appalled me, though being no philosopher I reasoned not to the cause. +Yet this was the real France, the foundation upon which the King had +reared the splendid structure of his pride. +</P> + +<P> +It was some time during the second day, I think, when we passed a few +scattering hovels which marked the approach to a village where we were +to stop for dinner. At the foot of a little incline the horses shied +violently, and passed beyond the man's control. My driver endeavored +in vain to quiet them, and then jumped from his box and ran to their +heads. I looked out to see what the matter was, and observing a squad +of soldiers, followed by quite a concourse of villagers, I sprang to +the ground. +</P> + +<P> +Down the hill they marched, some ten or fifteen fellows in a dirty half +uniform, I knew not what it was, while straggling out behind them +seemed to follow the entire population of the hamlet. The old and +gray-haired fathers, the mothers, the stalwart children and toddling +babies, all came to stand and gape. In the lead there strode a burly +ruffian, proud of his low authority, who shouted at intervals: +</P> + +<P> +"So-with-the-H-u-g-u-e-n-o-t-s!" +</P> + +<P> +Behind him skulked four stout varlets, bearing between them a rude +plank, on which was stretched a naked body, the limbs being not yet +stiffened in death. I hardly credited my sight. Before they came +abreast of us I inquired of the driver what it all meant. He only +shrugged his shoulders, "A dead Huguenot, I suppose," and gave his care +to the horses. Verily this was past belief. +</P> + +<P> +I placed myself in the road and bade the leader of the procession +pause. He stopped, staring stupidly at my dress. +</P> + +<P> +"What is here my good fellow? what crime hath he committed?" +</P> + +<P> +He, like the driver, answered carelessly: +</P> + +<P> +"None; she is a Huguenot." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>She</I>," I echoed, and stopped the bearers who laid their ghastly +burden down, having little relish in the task. Yes, it was in very +truth a woman. +</P> + +<P> +"For the sake of decency, comrade, why do you not cover her and give +her Christian burial?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is the law," he replied stolidly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, it is the law," eagerly assented the people who gathered +about the corpse, not as friends, not as mourners, but as spectators of +the horrid scene. Among them, unrebuked, were many white-faced +children, half afraid and wholly curious. I looked at them all in +disgust. They went their way and came to the outskirts of the village, +where they contemptuously tossed the woman from the plank across a +ditch into the open field. In spite of my loathing I had followed. +</P> + +<P> +I perceived now a feeble old woman hobble up toward the body and try +with loud wailings to make her way through the guard which surrounded +it. They shoved her back with their pikes, and finally one of them +struck her for her persistence. +</P> + +<P> +"Pierre, look at her old mother; ah, Holy Virgin, what a stubborn lot +are these heretics." +</P> + +<P> +Her mother! Great powers of heaven, could it be possible? My +indignation blazed out against the inhuman guard. +</P> + +<P> +"Why do ye this most un-Christian thing?" and to the crowd: +</P> + +<P> +"Do you call yourselves men to stand by and witness this?" +</P> + +<P> +At my words one sturdy young fellow, of the better, peasant-farmer +class, broke from those who held him and would have thrown himself +unarmed against the mail-clad guard. Many strong arms kept him back. +He struggled furiously for a while, then sank in the sheer desperation +of exhaustion upon the road. As soon as he was quiet the mob, +gathering about the more attractive spectacle, left him quite alone. I +went up to him, laid my hand upon his shoulder, and spoke to him +kindly. He looked up, surprised that one wearing a uniform should show +him human sympathy. He had a good, honest face, blue-eyed and frank, +yet such an expression of utter hopelessness as never marred a mortal +countenance. It haunts me to this day. +</P> + +<P> +I was touched by the man's sullen apathy, succeeding so quickly to the +desperate energy I had seen him display, and asked concerning his +trouble. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, God, Monsieur, my wife, Celeste, my young wife! Only a year +married, Monsieur." He raised upon his elbow, taking my hand in both +of his, "We tried to go; tried to reach England, America, anywhere but +France; they brought us back, put us in prison; she died—died, +Monsieur, of cruelty and exposure, then they cast her out like some +unclean thing; she, so pure, so good. Only look, lying there. Holy +Mother of Christ, look down upon her." +</P> + +<P> +He turned his gaze to where his wife lay and sprang up. +</P> + +<P> +"She shall not—shall not," and cast himself again towards the guard. +A dozen men seized him. +</P> + +<P> +Deeply pained by his misery and the horror of the thing, I made my way +to the front, near where the body lay. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this foul law of which you spoke? Tell me?" +</P> + +<P> +My tone had somewhat of authority and anger in it, so the fellow gave +me civil answer. +</P> + +<P> +"The law buries a Huguenot as you see—such unholy flesh could never +sleep in holy earth. The beasts and birds will provide her proper +sepulcher." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, but compose her fittingly; here is my cloak." +</P> + +<P> +"It is not the order of the King," he sullenly replied. The brutal +throng again gave assent. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis not the law, 'tis not the law," and bowed their heads at very +name of law. +</P> + +<P> +I remembered the Governor's errand, and could waste no time in quarrel +which was not mine, yet willingly would I have cast my cloak about her. +I inquired of the man: +</P> + +<P> +"And what is the penalty should the hand of charity take this woman +from the highway?" +</P> + +<P> +"On pain of death." +</P> + +<P> +"Then death let it be," screamed her husband, and breaking through the +line of guard, he threw himself upon his wife, protecting her with his +pitying garments. +</P> + +<P> +Whilst I had been talking to the officer, no one observed the man come +stealthily to the front, coat in hand, until, seeing his chance, he +broke through their line. But these staunch upholders of the law would +not have it so. They tore him viciously away, and I, sickened, turned +from a revolting struggle I could do nothing to prevent. All these +long years have not dimmed the memory of that barbarous scene. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DECADENCE OF VERSAILLES +</H3> + + +<P> +It was nearly noon on the fourth day when I alighted at the Place +d'Armes, the grand court-yard of Versailles, and I fear I cut but a +sorry figure for a governor's messenger. It appeared that my dress at +best was unlike that worn at the court; my fringed leather leggings, +hunting knife and long sword differed much from the wigs and frizzes +worn by the officers of the guard. However, I made bold to seem at +ease and accustomed to court as I addressed the officer of the watch. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you direct me, sir, to M. de Serigny? I have business with him." +</P> + +<P> +The man smiled, I knew not at what, and regarded me curiously. I felt +my face flush, but repeated the question. +</P> + +<P> +"M. de Serigny," he replied, "is with the court. Seek him at his +apartments. Pass through yonder great gate, turn to the left and +inquire of the guard at the door." +</P> + +<P> +I walked on hastily, glad to be quit of his inspection. Such a throng +of fine gentlemen in silks, satins and ribbons I never dreamed of; even +the soldiers seemed dressed more for bridals than for battles. I held +my peace though, walking steadily onward as directed, yet itching to +stick my sword into some of their dainty trappings. At the door I came +upon a great throng of loungers playing at dice, some throwing and +others laying their wagers upon those who threw. +</P> + +<P> +Standing somewhat aloof was a slender young fellow who wore the slashed +silver and blue of the King's own guard:—I knew the colors well from +some of our older officers in the Provincial army. They had told me of +men, soldiers and hard fighters, too, wearing great frizzled wigs +outside their natural hair, with ruffles on their sleeves and perfumed +laces at their throats—but I had generally discredited such tales. +Here was a man dressed more gaily than I had ever seen a woman in my +childhood—and he seemed a fine, likely young fellow, too. I fear I +examined him rather critically and without proper deference to his +uniform, for he turned upon me angrily, catching my glance. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, my good fellow, didst never see the King's colors before? Where +hast thou lived then all these years?" +</P> + +<P> +He seemed quite as much amused at my plain forest garb, leggings and +service cap, as I had been at his silken trumpery. I replied to him as +quietly as might be: +</P> + +<P> +"In our parts beyond the seas we hear often of the King's Guard, but +never have my eyes rested upon their uniform before." +</P> + +<P> +Observing my shoulder straps he unbent somewhat and inquired: +</P> + +<P> +"Thou bearest the rank of captain?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, comrade, in the service of the King in his province of Louisiana. +I pray you direct me to the apartments of M. de Serigny, I would have +speech with him." +</P> + +<P> +He was a manly young lad, of soldierly bearing, too, despite his +effeminate dress; he turned and himself guided me through the many +intricate halls and passages until we reached a door which he pointed +out as Serigny's, where, with polite speeches, he left me alone. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur was out, at what business the servant did not know, but would +return at two of the clock. In the meantime I sought to amuse myself +strolling about the place. I knew I could find my way along the bayou +paths of Louisiana the darkest night God ever sent, for there at least +I would have through the trees the glimmer of a friendly star to guide +me. But here in the King's palace of Versailles, with the winding +passages running hither and yonder, each as like the other as twin +gauntlets, I lost myself hopelessly. +</P> + +<P> +Clanking about alone over the tiles in great deserted corridors I grew +almost frightened at my own noise until I passed out into an immense +gallery, gaily decorated, and thronged with the ladies and gentlemen of +the court. I could not make much sense of it all except it seemed +greatly painted up, especially overhead, and nearly every figure bore +the face of the King. +</P> + +<P> +From the windows I could see a strange forest where every tree grew in +the shape of some odd beast or bird, being set in long rows, and among +them were white images of some substance like unto the Holy Mother at +the shrine in Montreal. Some of these graven stones were in semblance +of men with horns and goats' legs, and some of warrior women with +plumed helms upon their heads. Verily I marveled much at these strange +sights. +</P> + +<P> +The pert little lads who idled about the hall began to make sport of me +concerning my dress, and laughed greatly at their own wit. I paid no +heed to their foolish gibes, there being no man among them. It irked +me more than good sense would admit, and I left the hall, and after +many vain endeavors made my way out into the open air—being right glad +to breathe again without a roof above my head. +</P> + +<P> +I was ill at ease among all these gay gallants who minced and paced +along like so many string-halted nags. It was said the King walked +much in that way, and so, forsooth, must all his lords and ladies go. +Perhaps it was the fashion of the court, but I stuck to the only gait I +knew, a good, honest, swinging stride which could cover fifteen leagues +a day at a pinch. +</P> + +<P> +Off to one side the water kept leaping up into the air as I am told the +spouting springs do in the Dacotah country. I walked that way and was +soon lost in wonderment at the contemplation of a vast bronze basin +filled with curious brazen beasts, half men half fishes, the like of +which I had never seen. Some had horns from which they blew sparkling +streams; others astride of strange sea monsters plunged about and cast +up jets of water. It all made so much noise I scarcely heard a voice +behind me say: +</P> + +<P> +"I'll lay a golden Louis his coat is of as queer a cut as his nether +garment—whatever its outlandish name maybe." +</P> + +<P> +"Done," said another voice. +</P> + +<P> +I gave no heed, thinking they meant not me, until a dapper little chap, +all plumed and belaced, stepped in front of me with a most lordly air. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey, friend, who is thy tailor?" and behind me rang out the merry +laugh at such a famous jest. +</P> + +<P> +I turned and there being a party of fine ladies at my back full gladly +would I have retired, had not the young braggart swaggered to my front +again and persisted: +</P> + +<P> +"Friend, let us see the cut of thy coat." +</P> + +<P> +We men of the forest accustomed to the rough ways of a camp, and +looking not for insult, are slow to anger, so I only asked as politely +as might be, because of the ladies: +</P> + +<P> +"And wherefore?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I say so, sir," he replied, most arrogantly and stamping his +foot, "cast off thy cloak that we may see." +</P> + +<P> +I still stood undecided, scarce knowing what to think, and being +ignorant of fashions at court. De Brienne—for that was his +name—mistaking my hesitation, advanced and laying his hand upon my +cloak would have torn it off, had I not brushed him aside so vigorously +he stumbled and fell to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +I had no thought of using strength sufficient to throw him down. He +sprang up instantly, and, furious, drew his sword. I felt my own wrath +rise at sight of cold steel—it was ever a way of mine beyond +control—and asked him hotly: +</P> + +<P> +"How is it affair of thine what manner of coat I wear?" +</P> + +<P> +He made no reply, but, raising his arm, said, menacingly; +</P> + +<P> +"Now, clown, show thy coat, or I'll spit thee like a dog." +</P> + +<P> +I glanced around the circle at the blanched faces of the ladies, seeing +such a serious turn to their jest, and would not even then have drawn, +but the men made no effort to interfere, so I only answered him, "Nay, +I'll wear my cloak," when he made a quick lunge at me. I know not that +he meant me serious injury, but taking no risk my blade came readily, +and catching his slenderer weapon broke it short off, leaving him +raging and defenceless—a simple trick, yet not learned in a day. It +was a dainty little jewel-hilted toy, and I hated to spoil it. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, sir, thank the King's uniform for thy life," my blood was up, and +I ached to teach him a lesson, "I can not turn the King's sword against +one of his servants." +</P> + +<P> +The ladies laughed now, and the hot flush mounted to my cheeks, for I +feared a woman, but their merriment quickly died away at sound of an +imperious voice saying: +</P> + +<P> +"For shame de Brienne, brawler!" "And thou, my young coxcomb of +Orleans," he continued, addressing that dissolute Prince: "How dare +you, sir, lead such a throng of revellers into the King's own gardens? +Is not your own house of debauchery sufficient for Your Grace? Have a +care, young sir, I am yet the King, and thou mayest never be the +Regent." +</P> + +<P> +The Duke simulated his profound regret, but when Louis' back was turned +made a most unprincely and most uncourtly grimace at his royal uncle, +which set them all a-laughing. Whereat all these noble lords and +ladies made great pretense of gravity, and ostentatiously held their +handkerchiefs before their mouths to hide their mirth. +</P> + +<P> +Already these satellites began to desert the sinking to attach their +fortunes to those of the rising sun. I marvelled at this, for the name +of Louis had been held in almost Godlike reverence by us in the +colonies. Meanwhile he had turned to me: +</P> + +<P> +"Well said, young man; thou hast a loyal tongue." +</P> + +<P> +"And a loyal master, sire," for it needed not the mention of his name +to tell me I faced the King. That face, stamped on his every golden +namesake, had been familiar to me since the earliest days of my +childhood. +</P> + +<P> +"Thy name, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +Kingly still, though a little bent, for he was now well past sixty, +Louis stood in his high-heeled shoes tapping the ground impatiently +with a long cane, his flowing coat fluttering in the wind. For a +period I completely lost my tongue, could see nothing but the blazing +cross of the Holy Ghost, the red order of St. Louis, upon the Monarch's +breast, could hear nothing but the grating of his cane against the +gravel. Yet I was not ashamed, for a brave soldier can proudly fear +his God, his conscience and his King. +</P> + +<P> +"Thy name," he sharply demanded, "dost hear?" +</P> + +<P> +"Placide de Mouret, Captain of Bienville's Guards, Province of +Louisiana, may it please you, sire," I stammered out. +</P> + +<P> +"Attend me at the morning hour to-morrow," and he strutted away from +the giggling crowd. +</P> + +<P> +I too would have turned off, had not my late antagonist proven himself +a man at heart. He quickly moved toward me holding out his hand in +reconciliation. +</P> + +<P> +"I ask thy pardon, comrade; I too am a soldier, though but an +indifferent one in these peaceful times. We mistook thee, and I humbly +ask thy pardon." +</P> + +<P> +Of course I could bear no malice against the fellow, and he seeming +sincere, I suffered him to present me to his friends. First among +these, de Brienne presented me to His Royal Highness, the Duke of +Orleans, "First Prince of the Blood, and the coming Regent of France." +</P> + +<P> +This latter speech was given with decided emphasis, and a malicious +glance toward a pale, studious looking man, a cripple, who, the center +of a more sedate group, was well within hearing. The deformed Duke of +Maine, I thought, rival of Orleans for the Regency. The ladies I would +have willingly escaped, but they would not hear of it, and soon I was +surrounded by a chattering group, asking a thousand questions about the +fabled land of gold and glory beyond the seas. Right glad was I when +one of the gallants pointed out a thoughtful looking gentleman who +walked slowly through the eastern gate. +</P> + +<P> +"There is M. de Serigny, a brother of Bienville, your Governor." +</P> + +<P> +"That de Serigny?" I repeated, "then I must leave you, for I would +speak with him," and I bowed myself off with what grace I could muster, +knowing naught of such matters. A brisk walk fetched me to Serigny's +side. In a few words I communicated my mission. His quick, incisive +glance took in every detail of my dress and appearance, but his +features never changed. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait, my dear Captain," he drawled out, with a polite wave of his +perfumed handkerchief, "time for business after a while. Let us enjoy +the beauties of the garden." +</P> + +<P> +My spirits fell. Could this be a brother of the stern Bienville, this +the man upon whom my governor's fortunes now so largely depended? His +foppish manner impressed me very disagreeably, and, in no pleasant +frame of mind, I stalked along by his side listening to the senseless +gossip of the court. We soon passed out of the gardens into the great +hall, and reached his own apartments. +</P> + +<P> +No sooner was the valet dismissed and the key turned in the lock than +his face showed the keenest interest. After satisfying himself of my +identity and glancing through the packet which I now handed him, he +gave vent to an exclamation of intense relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a day too soon, my dear Captain, not a day, not a day, not a day," +he kept repeating over and over, looking at the different documents. +"The King promises to act on this matter in a few days, to-morrow, +probably. Chamillard is against us; he seems all powerful now; the +King loves him for his truculence. But these will help, yes, these +will help." And again he ran through the various papers with +business-like swiftness. His fashionable air and the perfumed +handkerchief were alike laid aside. Now I could see the resemblance +between him and his sturdy brother. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow, yes, to-morrow, my lad—pardon me the familiarity, Captain +de Mouret," he apologized, waiving aside my hand raised in protest. +"To-morrow we must act. We must gain the King's own ear. These must +not go through the department of war. Chamillard will poison the +King's mind against us. Most likely they would never reach the King at +all. Louis will hardly listen to me even now." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let me speak to the King," I blurted out before I thought. +</P> + +<P> +"You?" he repeated in unconcealed astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I," I replied, for I was now well into it, and determined to wade +through; besides I loved my old commander, and would venture much in +his service. +</P> + +<P> +Then I told Serigny of the occurrence in the garden, or enough to let +him understand why I was summoned to the morning audience. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art lucky, lad; here half a day and already have an appointment +with the King." "Yes," he roused half aloud, "Louis likes such things. +He grows suspicious with age, and doubts even his ministers. It is +quite possible he may question you of affairs in the colonies. If so, +speak out, and freely, too, my lad; Louis loves the plain truth when it +touches not his princely person or his vanities. God grant that we may +win." +</P> + +<P> +Serigny then told me much of the petty trickery of the court in order +that I might understand how the land lay. +</P> + +<P> +"It may be of service to you to know something of the many webs which +ambition, cupidity and malice have woven about us here in this great +government of France," he went on, speaking bitterly. "We never dare +speak our thoughts, for blindness, silence, flattery and fawning seem +surer passports to favor than are gallant deeds and honest service. +The King grows old, and it is feared his end is near. Of this, men +scarcely whisper. His death, as you know, would leave all France to +the frail little Duke of Anjou. Looking to this, the court here is +already divided in interest between the rivals for the regency, Philip +of Orleans, and the Duke of Maine. The Orleans party is the stronger, +though the Duke stands accused in the vulgar mind of poisoning all who +may come between himself and the throne, save this Anjou child, who +will probably die of sheer weakness. The King has recently had his de +Montespan children legitimated and rendered capable of inheriting the +crown, though the legality of this action is bitterly contested by the +Orleanists. He has also, it is said, left a will in favor of the Duke +of Maine, giving him all real power, while nominally making Orleans the +Regent. And strange as it may seem, it is said this will was made at +the persistent request of de Maintenon, so viciously hated by the proud +de Montespan. But you know she was the teacher of this little Duke, +and they are very much attached to each other. Were the Duke of Maine +a more vigorous man, there would be no doubt of his success. If 'that +little wasp of Sceaux,' as Madame Orleans calls the wife of the Duke of +Maine, were the man of the family, she would surely be the Regent. +She's a wonderful woman. Madame du Maine hates Bienville because she +can not use him in her dealings with Spain. She has duped the Bretons +by the promise of an independent provincial government, but Bienville +stands true to his King. So they seek by every means to discredit him. +You may surmise from this how unfortunately our affairs here are +complicated in the affairs of great personages, where lesser men lose +their lives at the first breath of suspicion." +</P> + +<P> +After a little I had ample opportunity to observe the man more closely, +for he kept his seat to examine at leisure the dispatches I had +brought. He was evidently not entirely pleased with this inspection, +giving vent at times to low expressions of annoyance. +</P> + +<P> +"Always the same trouble, la Salle and de la Vente, spies in +Biloxi—Ah, here is the fine hand of Madame du Maine, currying favor +with the Spaniard in aid of her cripple husband. If we could only make +this plain to Louis; this stirring up of strife. Fancy a son of de +Montespan on the throne of France. Yes, yes, yes, here is the awkward +work of our old friend Crozat, the tradesman, who would purchase an +empire of the King. See how clumsily he throws out his golden bait." +</P> + +<P> +I could but listen and observe. Now, more than ever, in the sternness +and decision of his countenance he resembled his famous brothers, +Iberville, Sauvolle and Bienville—and yet beyond them all he possessed +the faculties of a courtier. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain, are you acquainted with the nature of these dispatches?" he +asked directly. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sire, only in general, and from my knowledge of affairs at Biloxi." +</P> + +<P> +"My brother tells me I may trust you." My face flushed hotly with the +blood of anger. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my dear Captain, I meant no offense; I speak plainly, and there +are few men about this court whom you can trust. There is an adventure +of grave importance upon which I wish to employ you. Your being +unknown in Paris may assist us greatly." +</P> + +<P> +I signified my attention. +</P> + +<P> +"It is supposed we are on the eve of war with Spain, and it is my +belief the colonies will be the first objects of attack. Some person, +and one who is in our confidence, is now carrying on a secret +correspondence with the Spanish agent at Paris. Cellamare, the Spanish +Ambassador, is concerned in the intrigue. This much we know from +letters which have fallen into my hands, and I have permitted them to +be delivered rather than interrupt a correspondence which will +eventually lead to a discovery of the traitor. We have now good reason +to believe that dispatches of a very serious nature are expected daily +by Yvard—Yvard is the Spanish spy—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yvard, Yvard," I mentally repeated, where had I heard that name? +</P> + +<P> +"These papers are to give our exact strength at Biloxi, the plans of +our fortifications, and a chart of all the navigable waters of +Louisiana. We can not afford to let the Spaniards have this +information, even if thereby we should capture their agent." +</P> + +<P> +I maintained a strict silence. +</P> + +<P> +"You understand le Dauphin is the last vessel over, and no other is +expected for months, so we think all this information came over with +you." +</P> + +<P> +When he began I instinctively thought of Levert, who set out alone for +Paris just behind me. As he proceeded, the name "Yvard" again fixed my +attention. The very name I had heard mentioned by one of the men the +morning I left Biloxi. Serigny was right in his surmise, but I let him +go on without interruption. +</P> + +<P> +"If I am correct, these plans will be perfected in Paris before le +Dauphin sails again. The spy, whoever he may be, will perhaps want to +return in her. Now you can see what I want. You can understand what a +help you may possibly be in this matter. You doubtless know every +person who came over in le Dauphin, yet you must avoid notice yourself, +for they would suspect you instantly." +</P> + +<P> +I still said nothing to him of the conversation I had overheard, or of +my own suspicions, childishly thinking I would gain the greater credit +by unearthing the whole affair and divulging it at one time. +</P> + +<P> +"We have some reliable fellows in Paris, and I will send such letters +as will put you in possession of all the information they have. You +and they, I trust, can do the work satisfactorily, but in no event +shall my name, or that of Bienville, be connected with the enterprise. +If the matter should come to the King, we would lose what little hold +we now have upon him. It is not an easy or an agreeable task. The +Spanish spy bears the name of Carne Yvard, a man of good birth, but a +gambler and a profligate. He is known throughout Paris as a reckless +gamester, but no man dare question him, because of his marvellous skill +with the sword. He spends much of his time at Bertrand's wine and card +rooms, though he has the <I>entree</I> at some of the most fashionable +houses in the city, even at Madame du Maine's exclusive Villa of +Sceaux. But thereby hangs his employment; we do not know how far +Madame is involved in this intrigue with Spain and the Bretons." +</P> + +<P> +Verily I felt encouraged as Serigny unfolded his charming plans for my +entertainment. In a strange city to hunt up and dispossess a man like +this of papers which would hang him. A delightful undertaking forsooth! +</P> + +<P> +"But we plan in advance, my dear Captain. We must wait the pleasure of +the King concerning you. We will renew this subject to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +That night I lodged with Serigny. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LOUIS XIV +</H3> + + +<P> +Even at this time I remember how nervous I was when I dressed for my +interview with the King. What it was for, or how it might result, I +could form no idea, so I did not trouble myself with vain thinking. +</P> + +<P> +Promptly at ten I presented myself at that famous door which led to the +room where Louis held his morning levee. Already the approaches were +crowded, and the officer on watch was busy examining passes and requests +for admission. Some there were who passed haughtily in without even so +much as a glance at the guard or the crowd which parted obsequiously to +let them through. Most probably favorites of the King, or perchance his +ministers. When he reached me the officer of the guard, noting my +uniform, inquired: +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret of Louisiana?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"You are to be admitted, sir," and I found myself ushered immediately +through the opening ranks of Swiss mercenaries into the audience chamber +of the King. +</P> + +<P> +Louis no longer held his levees in the great vaulted chamber into which I +was first shown, but in a smaller and more sombre room, that of de +Maintenon. The character and dress of those present reflected with a +chameleon's fidelity the change in His Majesty's habits. Madame sat near +the King, working upon a piece of tapestry which, when she was interested +in what went on, lay idle in her lap. Behind her chair stood the +sour-visaged Jesuit confessor, Letellier. +</P> + +<P> +Death, which spared not even the Bourbon, had taken away the Dauphin and +his son; leaving as the King's successor an infant yet in his cradle. +This embittered every thought of the King's declining years, made him +gloomy, petulant and querulous. And yet there were many men still about +him capable of upholding the dignity of the throne. I heard announced, +one after the other, Grand Marshal Villars, lately placed in command of +all the armies of France; the Duke of Savoy, a famous soldier, but a +deserter from the English; the brothers de Noailles, one bearing a +Marshal's baton, the other, cold, cynical, austere, robed in churchly +garments, Archbishop of Paris. There were Villeroi, de Tourville, the +admiral; and Marshal Tallard—he who lost the bloody field of Blenheim to +the Englishman Churchill. +</P> + +<P> +I confess I was abashed at the sound of so many great names, and advanced +in hesitating fashion across the floor, to kneel before the King. +</P> + +<P> +"Tut, tut, Captain de Mouret," he said, kindly, "Rise, we would hear +somewhat from you touching matters in our Province of Louisiana, and +particularly of their safety in case of war—say, with Spain." +</P> + +<P> +He then asked a few questions about things familiar to me, which put me +quite at ease. What I said I can scarce at this time recollect, but I +know I spoke with all a soldier's enthusiasm of my beloved commander, of +his diplomacy in peace, of his war-won successes. +</P> + +<P> +It did not pass unnoticed that many a venomous glance was shot towards me +from that little group behind the King, but in the King's presence I +feared nothing, and spoke on, unrestrained. +</P> + +<P> +Once a tall man whom I took to be Chamillard interrupted; the King +motioned me to proceed, and I told him all the strength and resources of +the colonies, their weakness and their needs. When I thought I had +finished, the King's face hardened, and looking me straight in the eye, +he inquired: +</P> + +<P> +"What is this I hear of Bienville's presuming to criticise me—me, Louis, +his King—for contemplating such a disposition of the colonies as suits +my royal pleasure? Can you tell me that as glibly, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +For the moment I was astounded and had no word to say. I could see a +faint smile run round the circle as they exchanged glances of +intelligence. Serigny was right. The spy had already arrived. His +eavesdropping news had reached the King. In my indignation I forgot the +man I addressed was the Imperial Louis. Defending my master I spoke +vigorously the truth, and that right earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty is a soldier, and will forgive a soldier's blunt speech. I +beg you, Sire, to consider the services and the sorrows of Bienville's +people, the loyal le Moynes. Where rests his father? Where his valiant +brothers, Ste. Helene and Mericourt? Dead, and for the silver lilies! +Where's Iberville, the courteous, the brave; he who ravaged the frozen +ocean and the tropic seas in his royal master's name? Dead, Sire, of the +pestilence in San Domingo. Does the King not remember his good ship +Pelican? Has the King forgotten Iberville? Hast forgotten thine own +white flag cruising on thine enemy's coast, borne down by four vessels of +superior weight? Did the Eagle stretch her wings to escape the Lion? +</P> + +<P> +"Did the Silver Lilies flee before St. George's Cross? No, by the +deathless glory of the Bourbon, no! And who was he that dared—following +the example of his King, the Conqueror of the Rhine—who was he that +dared meet such enemies and engage such odds? Whose was that boyish face +of thirty, waving his curls upon the quarter deck, with the noble front +of a very God of War? Iberville! Who is he that brushes away a tear to +gaze upon his stripling brother beside the guns, soon to be exposed by +his command to such a fearful danger? Iberville, again! Who is that +fiery soldier, recking nothing save his duty, who seeth without a tremor +that beloved brother lying mangled at his post, where the storms of hell +do rage, and flames consume the dead? Who, when the enemy lay +dismantled, their hulks afire, their colors struck, their best ships +sunk, when the glorious standard of France triumphant dallied with the +breeze—who is that dauntless gentleman who kneels upon his battle-riven +but victorious deck and sobs aloud in agony above his writhing brother? +Who is this stricken gentleman, who, having won that most heroic fight +for his King, now prints a kiss, as a tender maiden might, upon the pale +lips of a dying lad? Ah, Sire, it was Iberville, it was Iberville, my +King, Iberville the gentle, Iberville the true! Hast thou forgotten that +wounded lad who lived to serve his King so well on other fields? Dost +remember his name? Let me remind you, Sire, that lad was Bienville de la +Chaise, your loyal governor of Louisiana. Did the King but know the +trials and sufferings of my master in upholding the royal authority, he +would forgive him much. Nor do I fear to say it even here, that those +men who seek his downfall would as lief line their wallets with Spanish +doubloons as with honest Louis d'or. De la Vente, the renegade priest, +the center of strife and discontent in the colonies, traffics with the +Indians and brings opprobrium upon your Majesty's name. It is he or la +Salle who sends this idle tale—la Salle, who, from your Majesty's +commissary, supplies this de la Vente with his merchandise. Who their +friends are here to tell your Majesty these tales, I care not. Saving +the royal presence, I would be pleased to discuss the matter with them +elsewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art a bold lad," observed the King. +</P> + +<P> +I had noted his eyes flash, and the thin nostrils dilate at mention of +the passage of the Rhine; so, emboldened by the surety of success, I kept +my own courage up. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, Sire, truth need have no fear from the greatest of all the +Bourbons. Bienville is a soldier, not a courtier, and stung beyond +endurance by the threat of his enemies that they would yet beguile your +Majesty to sell your fair Province of Louisiana, and turn the royal +barracks into a peddler's shop—mayhap he did use some such hot and +thoughtless expressions to me. These, some spy may have overheard and +forwarded here to his hurt. If it please you to hear the words, I will +repeat them upon the oath of an officer." +</P> + +<P> +"Go on," he commanded drily. +</P> + +<P> +"Bienville did say it was a matter of shame to forego such abroad domain +wherein lay so much wealth, because of present troubles. It is his +ambition to found there a new empire in the west, to add a brighter glory +to the name of Bourbon, to plant the silver lilies upon the remotest +boundaries of the earth, calling it all Louisiana, a mighty continent, +without a rival and without a frontier. Ah! Your Majesty has in +Bienville a strong heart and a firm hand, a man who prefers to devote his +life to your service, rather than live at ease in France; a man who +carries more scars for his King than your Majesty has fingers—poorer +to-day than when he entered your service, though others about him have +grown rich." +</P> + +<P> +I told him, too, without reserve, of the contemplated Indian attack in +the spring, of my own haste to return. His face lighted up with the fire +of his thought: +</P> + +<P> +"Then, by my faith," he broke in, "you need a bold, ambitious soldier for +your Governor. What think you, Villars, Chamillard—gentlemen?" +</P> + +<P> +None dared oppose the King. +</P> + +<P> +"I overheard you, Captain, in the gardens yesterday, and think the master +who has taught you such sentiments is a man the King of France can trust. +Convey to the trusty and well beloved Governor of our Province of +Louisiana our renewed confidence, with our assurance he is not to be +disturbed. We make you our royal messenger for the purpose." +</P> + +<P> +Then he gravely inclined his head to signify the interview was done. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as I decently could I left the royal presence and repaired at +once to Serigny. I found him still in his apartments waiting me with +every appearance of intense impatience. Almost as I rapped he had opened +the door himself. The valet had been dismissed. My face—for I was yet +flushed with excitement—told of our victory. He grasped my hand in both +his own and asked: +</P> + +<P> +"We have won? Tell me, how was it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, sir, and nobly. I have the King's own warrant that our Governor is +not to be disturbed." +</P> + +<P> +Every shade of anxiety vanished, and he laughed as unaffectedly as a girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art a clever lad; but tell me of it, tell me of it!" +</P> + +<P> +I told him then of the audience, neglecting not the minutest detail, not +even the black looks of those who thronged about the King. +</P> + +<P> +"Chamillard's doing, and Crozat. Crozat the parvenu—Marquis du Chatel, +forsooth, with his scissors and yardstick for device." +</P> + +<P> +He questioned me closely concerning the personages present, and what they +said. After having heard on to the end he was quite composed and +broached again the subject of the previous night. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Captain," he commenced, half banteringly, "if thou hast done thy +conferences with the King, we will talk of your next adventure. Time +presses, and you see from what Louis said, our enemies are already at +work." +</P> + +<P> +I hearkened with many misgivings, for I felt of a truth uncertain of +myself in this new character—and shall I confess it—a trifle ill at +ease concerning this bravo, Carne Yvard, the duelist of the iron hand, +and the gamester with the luck of the devil. However, I put upon myself +a steadfast front and listened. +</P> + +<P> +"We have a fine lad at Paris in our service," said Serigny, "and with him +four as staunch fellows as ever dodged a halter. De Greville—Jerome de +Greville—has his lodgings in Rue St. Denis, at the sign of the Austrian +Arms. The host is a surly, close-mouthed churl who will give you little +information until he knows you well. Then you may rely upon him. Jerome +has been watching our quarry these many weeks; we hold him in easy reach, +as a bait to catch his accomplice. Then we will put them both where they +can spy upon us no longer. I desire them to be taken alive if possible, +and by all the gods, they shall hang." +</P> + +<P> +Verily, this was a pleasant adventure for me to contemplate, taking alive +such a desperado, who handled his sword like a hell-born imp. +</P> + +<P> +"I would not expose you to this," continued Serigny, "but for the stern +necessity that those papers should reach me unopened. They are to be +delivered to you, and I hold you responsible. You understand?" +</P> + +<P> +I bowed my acquiescence. +</P> + +<P> +Then he went on, talking more at ease, though I was far from placid at +the prospect. He told me of the different streets, the lay of the town, +and the various men with whom I would be thrown. +</P> + +<P> +"Beyond all," and in this I afterward acknowledged his foresight, "do not +neglect the women, for their hands now wield the real power in France." +</P> + +<P> +I must own I thought more on the nature of my new errand than on what he +was saying. I felt no small degree of distrust, yet, for my honor's +sake, kept it to myself. +</P> + +<P> +"And when shall I set out for Paris?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"To-day; at once. Le Dauphin has already lain four days at anchorage, +and we know for a surety that the expected spy has come. We can not act +too promptly." +</P> + +<P> +And so it came about that I left within the hour. +</P> + +<P> +A carriage had been made ready, and I bade Serigny good-bye in his own +rooms. He feared our being seen together too frequently about the palace. +</P> + +<P> +"But one other thing, my lad," he stopped me as I would go, "you must +need have other garb than that. Your harness of the wilderness but ill +befits a gay gallant in Paris—for such you must now appear. You visit +the capital to see the sights, understand; a country gentleman—Greville +will instruct you, the rascal has naturally a turn for intrigue and +masquerading. A dress like yours would mark you apart from the throng +and perchance draw upon you the scathe of idle tongue. Here is gold to +array yourself as becomes a well-to-do gentleman, and gold to spend at +wine and on the games withal—for, thank Providence, the ancient House of +Lemoyne is not yet bankrupt." +</P> + +<P> +I fain would not take his proffered coins, but he urged them upon me with +such insistency that I, seeing the good sense of doing as I was bid, +placed them in my meager purse, and with a light heart I set out upon my +doubtful journey. +</P> + +<P> +The fear of which I spoke died away, for since our success with the King, +my spirits rose, and I deemed all things possible. Besides, was I not in +the personal service of my beloved commander who never knew a fear? +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +The postilion whipped up his horses, and we turned towards the old city +of Paris, that treasure-house of varied fortunes whence every man might +draw his lot—of poverty or riches, of fame or obscurity, of happiness or +misery—as chance and strength directs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE AUSTRIAN ARMS +</H3> + + +<P> +It was well into the night when the first dim lights of Paris came into +view, and perhaps some two good hours afterwards before we drew up in +front of the "Austrian Arms." +</P> + +<P> +It was not a new or prepossessing place, yet much better than those I +had seen along the road from Dieppe. +</P> + +<P> +The host well deserved Serigny's appellation of a churl, for he looked +suspiciously at me, and when I asked for de Greville replied he knew +nothing of him. I could get no satisfaction from him, so I determined +to take up my abode and wait. In I went and heeded not the surly host +who regarded me askance. +</P> + +<P> +The small public room was vacant, and I possessed myself of it with the +settled air of a man who has come to stay. Verily the fire felt most +grateful, and it did me much comfort to stretch as I listed, after the +tedious confinement of the coach. Mine host busied himself about +mending the fire, but whenever I raised my eyes I caught his gaze fixed +doubtingly upon me. Evidently the man knew more than he told, and I +planned to test his loyalty. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, my good man," I called to him, "dost know anything of this +Jerome de Greville? Where is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"By our Lady, noble sir, I know him not. Paris is a great city, and +many noble gentlemen come and go at their will." +</P> + +<P> +"But M. de Greville lodges with you, I am told. My business is urgent." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not recall such a name? Jerome de Greville?" and the rascal +turned his eyes to the ceiling in the attitude of deep contemplation. +I smiled inwardly. +</P> + +<P> +"If it please you, sir, to write your name in my guest book, should +Monsieur de Greville call I will show it him. You may tell me where +you can be found." +</P> + +<P> +He fetched out a worn and greasy book from a chest in the rear, and +handed me a pen, watching, as I thought, with some interest, what name +I would write, though I much questioned if he could read it. I pushed +the book aside. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it matters not, my name; it is an obscure one, and M. de Greville +would not recall it. See here my good fellow, here is a gold piece to +aid thy memory. At what hour will M. de Greville return?" +</P> + +<P> +He took the coin, and turning it over and over in his palm, said, as if +to it: +</P> + +<P> +"If Monsieur will write a note and leave it, I will send to other inns +and see if such a man be in Paris. Monsieur is of Gascony?" he +ventured. +</P> + +<P> +The Gascons were at this time regarded with distrust, it was such an +easy matter for them to carry news into Spain, being on the border. +</P> + +<P> +I soon found there was nothing to be gained from the fellow, and +becoming convinced of his steadfastness was willing he should keep the +coin as earnest money for future services. De Greville not coming in, +I grew restive, and concluded I would stroll about the city. Claude, +for so the landlord styled himself, directed me to the principal +thoroughfare, and I thought by walking straight along one street I +could easily return. There was nothing unusual in the neighboring +buildings to make a landmark of, so I chose a great round tower not far +away, and carefully laid my bearings from that. +</P> + +<P> +The landlord watched me taking my observations and felt sure I would +shortly return; the more so that my few articles of apparel and +necessity were left stowed in the corner by his hearth. These I had +purposely so arranged that I could detect any meddling. Throwing my +cloak about me I took the way he indicated, and soon passed into a +wider and more handsome street, which I came afterward to know. +Walking idly on, without thought of distance or direction, I tired +after a while, and began to think of getting back to the inn fireside. +I retraced my steps perfectly, I thought, and if my calculations were +right should have stood where the broad, well-lighted street I had +traversed corners on Rue St. Denis. But the locality was entirely +strange, and I had lost sight of the great tower which I thought would +guide me home, when a squad of the watch halted me and questioned my +errand. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a gentleman, and officer of the King," I replied with such an air +they passed on. +</P> + +<P> +"I pray you, gentlemen, direct me to the Rue St. Denis, thence I can +find my way." +</P> + +<P> +The man gave me directions which simply confused me, and, ashamed to +confess my ignorance, I blundered on to where five or six narrow, +crooked streets ran together, branching out like the fingers from my +palm. I paused now uncertain which way to go amid so many devious +courses, and deciding almost at hazard, turned down the best paved of +all those dingy streets. I had hardly gone past more than two cross +streets, when there stood at a corner, looking timidly this way and +that, a slight girl, with blonde hair and eyes of Breton blue. She +seemed so brave, yet so out of place and helpless at that hour of the +night, on such an unfrequented road, I almost made so bold as to +address her, thinking I might be of service to a lady in distress. But +my tongue was not formed for such well chosen words and polite phrases, +so I merely held to one side, she standing to the outer edge to admit +of my passage. +</P> + +<P> +At the moment I got opposite her, it seems she had misjudged the width +of the pavement, for I heard her give a slight ejaculation, and one +foot slipped off the paved way as if she would fall into the muddy +street. I passed my arm quickly about her, and raised her to a place +of safety, but even then could bring no word of courtly elegance to my +assistance. +</P> + +<P> +She thanked me prettily and daintily, and as I pursued my course, I +could but turn and give yet another glance in her direction. She +caught my eye, and again looking each way, bent her steps down a by-way +leading off to the left, which we were that instant nearest. There was +that in her manner, I could not say exactly what, which led me to +follow her at a respectful distance, seeing which she turned her head, +and I fancied I could observe a thankful little smile playing about her +lips. At any rate she quickened her pace and walked with more +assurance, no longer in doubt about her movements. +</P> + +<P> +For many rods at times she would be lost to view in the dark, and her +tread was so light it scarcely made a sound—or the great, clumsy +clattering I created drowned it entirely. Just at the time I thought I +had lost her, I could catch a glimpse of a flitting skirt beneath one +of the flambeaux, which, stuck in niches of the wall here and there, +lighted old Paris. +</P> + +<P> +In a very pleasant frame of mind, I strode along behind her. It was +wonderful, I thought, how readily a woman's intuition recognizes a +protector. And I—for I must admit I was young then; in the ways of +women, far younger than my years—I amused myself with many conjectures +concerning what manner of errand had taken this young woman abroad +alone on such a night. A lady she plainly seemed. Disguised a little, +that might be, for her quiet dignity did not fully comport with the +style of her dress. +</P> + +<P> +A thousand airy castles I built for my fair heroine to live in, and I, +like the knightly heroes of the Crusades, was ever her defender, ever +her champion in the lists. +</P> + +<P> +Busied with these fancies and romantic thoughts, I lost count of +streets and passages, turning this way, that and the other, through +many narrow and tortuous byways and alleys, until I realized I was +hopelessly lost. With my fair guide in front and my good sword by my +side, lightly I recked of streets or houses. Yet I dared not forget I +was on an errand for the Governor and must not expose myself to +bootless peril. +</P> + +<P> +At last, and somewhat to my relief, she stopped before a great oaken +iron-studded gate, possibly of five good paces width, in one corner of +which was cut a smaller door so low a man must stoop to pass. Upon +this smaller door she rapped and stood in the attitude of waiting. +</P> + +<P> +I had a moment now to look about me. It was in a quarter of the town +that was forbidding. Here were two huge, dismal, gray-stone mansions, +separated by a court-yard of probably forty paces across; a high wall +fronted the street, flanked by a tower on either side the gate. On +top, this wall was defended by bits of broken glass and spikes of +steel, stuck into the masonry while it was yet soft. More than this +the flickering brazier would not permit me to see. All of this I took +in at a glance; across the street the murkiness of the night shut out +my view. She rapped again, impatiently, but in the same manner as +before. A trifling space thereafter the smaller door was opened, +whoever was inside having first peeped out through a round hole, which +closed itself with a shutter no bigger than his eye. +</P> + +<P> +The lady looked first to me, then stepped inside and stood back as if +she bade me enter. +</P> + +<P> +This was an adventure I had not bargained for. Thinking only to see +that the lady reached her destination in safety, here was a +complication of which I had never dreamed. What her singular errand +was, or wherein she desired my assistance, I could not even hazard a +guess. Yet there she stood and beckoned me to enter, and I moved +forward a pace or two so I could see within the door. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>concierge</I> held the door ajar, and a more repulsive, deformed +wretch I never laid eyes upon. His left arm hung withered by his side; +at his girdle he swung a bunch of keys, with any one of which a strong +man might have brained an ox. Every evil passion which curses the race +of men had left its imprint upon his lowering countenance. Yet for a +moment, when his gaze rested upon the girl, it was as though some spark +of her loveliness drove the villainy from his face. He was hardly so +tall as she who stood beside him watching me, the semblance of a +mocking sneer about her lips. Looking past them both I could see what +manner of place it was. A smoky oil-lamp sputtered in the rear, +sufficiently distinct to disclose the paved court-yard, covered with +the green slime which marks the place where no sun ever shines. +Further than this I could see nothing except the tall gray buildings +which shut in every side and this wall in front. That door once locked +upon the intruder there would be no easy egress. Instinctively I held +back. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur is afraid?" she inquired, then tossed back her head, and +laughed such a low, disdainful, mean laugh, as fired my every nerve to +hear. I hesitated no longer. Let come what will, let the Governor's +errand look to itself, for no man or no woman could ever laugh at me +like that. +</P> + +<P> +Holding my blade at easy command, I stepped inside. Immediately the +door closed, and the rasping of the key told me it was securely locked +as before. Then came regret, but came too late. What I had so +foolishly commenced, I must now see finished. The cup had been taken +in hand and the dice must be thrown. +</P> + +<P> +As we came, I followed her again, though at much closer range. We +crossed the yard diagonally, across the broken panes, bits of casks, +wine bottles and other refuse scattered about. I liked not the aspect +of the place. As the girl was about to enter a door leading inside the +building, a man came down the inner stairs and passed out, coming in +our direction. For the moment he was under the light I had good sight +of him. +</P> + +<P> +A rather low, dark fellow, dressed in the height of the fashion, yet +somewhat flashily withal; not too foppish, he was evidently a young +gallant of the better class. He staggered somewhat from wine, and +carried a magnificent breadth of shoulder, denoting considerable +strength. This was my mental catalogue from the glimpse I caught. +</P> + +<P> +By this time, the lady had got rather within the range of the light; +the man came straight at her, and, to my amazement, despite her +struggles, seized and kissed her. This was before I could reach them. +</P> + +<P> +I was upon him in an instant. Another, and he had reeled back against +the wall, drawing his weapon as he fell. He recovered his feet, my +blade met his, yet each paused, well knowing the deadly lottery of such +a duel in the dark. +</P> + +<P> +The lady ran up as nearly between us as she dared, and besought: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Messires, Messires," she plucked me by the sleeve, "do not fight; +there is no need of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Get out of the way you impudent hussy," he commanded, "I'll kill your +meddling lover, like the varlet hound he is." +</P> + +<P> +I went at him in earnest. His further insult to her made every muscle +a cord of steel. I soon found this no mere sport, for the fellow was a +thorough master of his weapon. I was a trifle the taller and had a +longer reach; this, with my heavier blade, gave me well the vantage. +Besides I had touched no wine, and my nerves were steady. +</P> + +<P> +However, I had the light full in my face, and he was not slow to see +the annoyance it caused me. I knew I could not maintain such a fight +for long, so I pressed him sternly and the bright sparks flew. +Backwards, step by step he retreated, until he had almost reached the +door out of which he came. I durst not withdraw my eyes from his, yet +I had seen the lady run swiftly up the inner stairs, whether for help +or for other assassins I could not guess. +</P> + +<P> +Still back, ever pressing him desperately back, the fight went, and he +stood again inside the door, at the very foot of the stair. Now every +advantage was mine, for he was well within the glow of the lamp, every +movement distinctly visible, while I yet stood in darkness. +</P> + +<P> +"For the sake of mercy, my lord, come quick." It was the girl's voice +at the head of the stairs; "there they are. They will desist if you +command it." And I heard the heavy tread of two men coming down the +stairs, a lighter step behind them. My foot touched something which +lay in the dense shadow of the doorstep. It felt soft, a package of +some kind. Then I remember seeing something fall from the cloak of my +adversary forgotten in the heat of the fray. I placed my foot upon it. +</P> + +<P> +"What quarrel is this, gentlemen? Put by your swords?" +</P> + +<P> +The voice was that of a man accustomed to obedience. My antagonist +stood entirely upon the defensive; I stepped back a pace and we rested +at ease. He leaned heavily against the balustrade; his breath came +hard; I could see he was nearly spent, so furious had been our short +contest. His face showed, besides, the flush of too much wine, or +perchance I had not been so fortunate. +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you, gentlemen? Your quarrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did but kiss the wench, and this fellow set upon me in the dark." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, my lord," I replied stoutly, according to the stranger the +respect he seemed to command. "A wanton insult to this lady whom I met +unprotected in the streets, and saw her safely to her gate. Who she +is, or what, I know not." +</P> + +<P> +The two men looked at each other, from the girl to me, then burst into +such peals of incredulous laughter as roused my anger again. Even my +late foe joined in, but faintly. +</P> + +<P> +"Would either of you, my lords, be pleased to take the matter up?" for +I was hot now indeed. +</P> + +<P> +But they only laughed the more. The lady looked much confused. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art not of Paris?" the taller man asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, this is my first night in Paris." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought as much. This <I>lady</I>," the tall man continued in a +sarcastic tone, "permit me to present you to Mademoiselle Florine, +waitress and decoy pigeon for Betrand's wine rooms, where gentlemen +sometimes play at dice." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed again, and even the girl could muster up a smile now that +the danger had blown over. +</P> + +<P> +"That is true, Mademoiselle?" I asked. She nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, good sirs, I'll fight no more in such a matter." +</P> + +<P> +"And by my soul, comrade, right glad I am to hear you say it; for you +fight like a very devil of hell, and Carne Yvard knows a swordsman." +</P> + +<P> +Carne Yvard! The very fellow I had been sent out to find, now by a +queer chance thrown full in my way. Verily, I was relieved to know I +could hold my own against this famous—or infamous—bravo. Another +thing gained; I knew my man while yet a stranger to him. And further, +I stumbled on the very place which of all others I desired to find. +Truly the chance was odd. +</P> + +<P> +The two gentlemen upon the stair had not yet staunched their merriment, +while these thoughts coming so unexpectedly had swept from me every +recollection of the fight. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art not of Paris?" the spokesman asked again. +</P> + +<P> +I heard him as a man hears something afar off, for my foot resting upon +the package which had been dropped, sent my mind a wandering again. +Could it be that this was a paper of importance, or possibly the very +one I desired? Why not? I resolved to possess it at every hazard. +Yet were I to stoop and pick it up now, and they saw me, I knew of no +means by which I might leave the place in safety. So I carelessly +shoved it with my foot farther into the shadow of the step. I answered +the question asked me so long before. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my lord, the city is a strange one to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Of what place, did you say?" +</P> + +<P> +Now I had purposely refrained from saying, and did not know what reply +to give. I hated to appear boorish, besides it would not serve my +purpose. My father being of Normandy, I deemed I would have nearly the +accent of those people, so I made a venture to say: +</P> + +<P> +"Of Normandy, sir," in such a way he did not pursue the subject further. +</P> + +<P> +"We thought you no Parisian, or this lady would not have made so easy a +conquest," and they laughed again. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you play?" he queried. +</P> + +<P> +"But rarely, my lord," the fact was I knew little of the dice. +</P> + +<P> +They put about and ascended the stair, the two together, then Yvard, I +coming on behind, but not until the packet, from which I hoped so much, +was safely in my bosom. This was easily accomplished when Yvard had +turned his back. +</P> + +<P> +We climbed the stair, and after some forty or fifty paces stood inside +the room of which Serigny had spoken to me. I could recognize the +place from his description. +</P> + +<P> +The gaming tables were ranged about in the center of the room, and +about them sat many men—and women, too—at play. On three sides of +the place a row of columns ran some four or five yards from the wall. +These pillars formed convenient alcoves for those who would sit and sip +their wine. Some were curtained, the better to screen their occupants. +Others stood broadly open. +</P> + +<P> +The four of us walked over to a table well out of view and sat down to +wine. It was then I regretted not having already heeded Serigny's +admonition to provide myself with garments more suited to my character, +for I felt I attracted some attention as we passed through the room, +and this was most to be avoided. +</P> + +<P> +We seated ourselves about the table and ordered wine; mine remained +untasted while the others drank. I determined to touch no wine that +night. +</P> + +<P> +"Comrade, you do not drink," Yvard remarked, "is your blood still hot +with the clash of steel?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, by my honor, that is long forgotten; it is my oath, an oath, too, +that can not be broken." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, to a lady?" +</P> + +<P> +I nodded, and he smiled. +</P> + +<P> +We talked indifferent gossip, and after awhile the Spanish troubles +were mentioned; I think the tall man first spoke of it. Somehow I felt +Yvard's carelessness to be assumed, and that he very much desired to +hear what these two gentlemen would say on a matter so important. His +manner made it plain to me he knew the two gentlemen, and also that +they were men of rank. However, they were quite discreet; while they +talked much, yet they said nothing which was not common talk on the +streets. After a bit they arose to leave, and I was sorely perplexed +whether it were better that I depart with them, now that papers which +might be valuable rested safely against my breast, or had I better stay +and endeavor to learn more from Yvard, who was beginning to drink +heavily. Perhaps a little more liquor might loosen his tongue, and I +might even capture him or his confederate. Discretion would have taken +me away, for that these two gentlemen were powerful enough to protect +me in case of trouble in the house I did not doubt. The bearing of the +elder man especially was such as to inspire confidence. +</P> + +<P> +The adventure, though, was too enticing, and the hotter counsels of +youth prevailed. I bade the gentlemen good night, and remained sitting +at table with Yvard. It was but a few moments before I regretted my +unwise decision. +</P> + +<P> +Yvard leaned forward, the edge of the table pressing against his +breast, and in so doing noticed the absence of the paper which he had +forgotten in the fight. His face changed instantly, the drunken leer +vanished. At first there was merely a puzzled expression, as of an +intense effort to remember. He looked swiftly at me. I gave no sign. +The two men were gone. His anxiety convinced me of the importance of +the papers. He thought for a moment, then excused himself and went out +the way we came. As he passed through the room, I saw him stoop and +whisper a word to one of the men at the dice table. In a minute the +fellow shifted his seat, and though he continued to play, he had taken +a position where, as I imagined, he could watch me that I did not +leave. I became uneasy now, for I could not tell how many there were, +and my principal thought was how to get out of the house. Assuredly +not by the way I entered. +</P> + +<P> +Looking about more carefully to note the different means of egress, my +attention was attracted by a carven shield above the main door. The +arms were the same as those graven on the locket shown me by Colonel +d'Ortez the night I left Biloxi. There, standing out boldly above the +door, was the same sable wolf, the crest of the d'Artins. For a moment +his story filled my mind again but I had no time then for such +reflections, and dismissed them to a future period of leisure. The +question how to leave the house on that particular night gave me +infinitely more concern than the idle speculation as to who had +probably owned it long years before. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NEW FRIEND +</H3> + + +<P> +I rapped on the table, called a waitress, and ordered a bottle of light +wine, which I knew would not hurt me. +</P> + +<P> +"Send for Mademoiselle Florine," and before many seconds were gone that +lady presented herself, and perched upon the edge of the table where I +sat. Her humor was gay, her laugh was keen; she smiled and asked, "Has +Monsieur forgiven?" with such a penitent little look I bade her be at +ease. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle, sit down, I pray you," and she saw by my serious face I +was in no mood for chaffing, so she seated herself with a pretty air of +attention. I could see the fellow at the dice watching, but now he +appeared quite satisfied I intended to stay and drink with the girl. +She was evidently a great favorite with the habitues of the place. He +looked at me less frequently than at the door, and I guessed he +expected Yvard's return. +</P> + +<P> +Now I grew certain. Yvard had merely gone down the stair to see if he +had dropped the papers in the fight. As soon as he found they were not +there I felt morally certain he would come and demand them of me. I +had begun the game, and must play out the hand. So I reached across +the table, filled the glasses for myself and Florine, raising mine high +as if I would propose a toast. I tapped her banteringly on the cheek, +for the benefit of him who watched, and said in a low tone, trying to +maintain my nonchalant manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to me a minute, and I beseech you smile, do not look so +serious. You brought me here, and now I trust you to get me out alive. +Is there any other way than that I came?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked about her apprehensively, so I cautioned her again. +</P> + +<P> +"For heaven's sake smile; I am closely watched, and you must laugh and +be merry as if I drank with you and made love." +</P> + +<P> +She comprehended, and well did she play her part. The tones of her +voice were light and playful; she lifted the glass to her lips, tasting +as a connoisseur, and said between her sips: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Monsieur, there is—another way leading out—on an alley—in the +rear." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you reach it?" +</P> + +<P> +"The door behind the table—where they play for highest stakes—leads +to the passage. Do but cast—your eyes that way—and you will see." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let us—" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait, Monsieur, not yet. If Monsieur would go and seat himself at +that table, as if he desired to play, I will slip around and make ready +the door for him. Monsieur was kind to me, and Florine is grateful. +Even we women here respect a gentleman." +</P> + +<P> +I pitied the woman from the bottom of my heart. I took out my purse, +paid the reckoning, and together we wandered aimlessly toward that +table, laughing and looking on at the various games. The fellow +watched us as we went, but was pleased, and seemed satisfied the woman +but carried out the purposes of her employment. +</P> + +<P> +I took a seat at the table, laid a wager or two and made myself intent +upon the game. Florine stood behind my chair for awhile, watched my +play, then disappeared. After a little she returned and again took her +place behind me. Directly she laughed out merrily, and in a tone loud +enough to be heard by the man who listened as well as watched, cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur plays the stakes too low. Fortune favors the brave," and +reaching over she took several gold pieces from my store, laid them out +and leaned close beside me to watch the throw. In this position she +whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"I have the key to the outer door. The inner door will be unlocked. +Monsieur will play twice more, and by that time I will be in the +passage. Arise, and when you lay your hand upon the door I will open +it from the other side." I lost the throw. +</P> + +<P> +"Double the wager, and better luck next time," she laughed as she moved +off, and joking lightly to different men she knew, made her way beyond +my range of vision. During the play I saw Yvard come in hurriedly and +question the man at the door. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his +head. Yvard evidently asked who had passed out or in. +</P> + +<P> +The doorkeeper then recollected, and I imagined he was telling of the +two gentlemen who had just gone down the stair. Yvard stood an instant +as if uncertain what to do. He was much agitated and perfectly sober. +He glanced toward the table where he had left me. I was gone. He +strode over to his confederate, yet engaged in play, and made no +pretense of concealing the abruptness of his question. The man, in +reply, indicated my position at the other table. Yvard appeared +somewhat relieved. Again he spoke, and this time the man at the table +gathered up the money in front of him and replaced it in his purse. +Then he cried loud enough for me to hear: +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +And sprang up instantly. They both looked at me and held a hurried +consultation, then separated, and one going one way, one the other, +came over toward where I sat. By this time my second throw was made, +and I felt if Florine played me false the game was lost. Yet hoping +for everything I rose quietly, and thrusting my winnings in a +wallet—for I had been fortunate—stepped back and laid my hand upon +the knob. It was locked. +</P> + +<P> +I had no time to think, but saw the whole trick; lured to my +destruction, hemmed in beyond hope of escape. Bitterly I repented my +folly. +</P> + +<P> +I have heard men say they faced death without a tremor, and so for that +matter have I, yea, many times, but it was upon an honest field in +lawful fight for honor's sake or duty's. My cheek paled in spite of +me, at sight of the men who now came on. Three others with blades half +drawn pressed close behind Yvard. How many more there were I had no +knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +It was a sore test to my courage thus to meet the ugly chill of death +in a Parisian gambling hell—in a place of such ill-repute. But there +was no escape, and even if I fell in fight, they would brand me as a +thief. Should the papers be found on my body, then honorable men would +execrate my memory as a traitor to country and to King, for had not +Serigny told me he could not avow my connection with him? The lust of +life still surging strong within me, I drew my sword. Its point +effectually guarded the narrow space in front from post to post. They +parleyed a time, and I rested firm against the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, fellow, thou art trapped; give me up my purse." +</P> + +<P> +"Spit the thief, run him through," came from one of those behind—for +the rear guard, beyond the reach of steel, was ever loud and brave. +But Yvard, being in front, was more cautious. He well knew the first +man who came against me would be badly hurt. And, I rather fancied, he +respected my blade. +</P> + +<P> +As they took counsel together, dozens of voices from the hall swelled +the din, yet above it all I caught a light step without. My heart +bounded to my throat; I felt the door give way at my back, and before +they understood what had happened, I was safe on the other side, with +the stout oaken boards well locked between. +</P> + +<P> +I heard Yvard yell: "To the great gate, my bullies, and I will follow +here," and at once a great pressure was cast against the door, but it +bravely bore the strain. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," Florine said; and taking me by the hand together we sped +through many dark and devious windings, until I stood once more in the +open street. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry, Monsieur, take that street; it leads to Rue St. Antoine, whence +Monsieur can find his way." +</P> + +<P> +I would have paused a moment to thank the girl, but she bade me haste. +I pressed a piece of gold into her hand; she would not have it. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Monsieur, not for your gold," and the woman of the wine shop +shamed my thought. "Good-night, Monsieur." She kissed my hand, and +drew back into the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +I turned hastily down the street, but had not made more than the +distance of three rods when I heard a scream, and looking back saw two +men dragging Florine back into the street. +</P> + +<P> +"Which way did he go?" Yvard demanded fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +She made no reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Speak quick or I'll kill you as I would a hare." +</P> + +<P> +Still she kept her tongue. +</P> + +<P> +"She makes time for her lover, Carne," the other man suggested, and as +I feared he would strike, I called out loudly to them: +</P> + +<P> +"Here he is," to draw them off from the girl. +</P> + +<P> +They dropped her at once and started in my direction. I ran on ahead, +yet at a disadvantage, for I knew not where to go, knowing, too, that I +could not fight them both. Yet more than all I dreaded falling into +the hands of the city guard with the papers I had upon me. I ran under +a street lamp, and taking up a position some twenty feet beyond in the +dark, waited. The knife for one, the sword for the other, was my +thought. Holding my long sword in my left hand, I swung my right free, +and catching my knife by its point, stood my ground. The younger man +was swifter, yet seemed afraid to lead Yvard. So they passed under the +lamp side by side. +</P> + +<P> +Selecting Yvard as my mark, I made a quick cast, and had the +satisfaction of seeing my knife glitter as it struck him full in the +shoulder, and bury itself well to the hilt. It was a trick I had +learned from the Indians, and it had not been lost. +</P> + +<P> +"A million devils, who was that?" screamed the stricken man, tugging to +free the knife. Out it came, followed by a widening dark stain upon +his doublet. +</P> + +<P> +"He had others with him—hidden in the dark," and at his companion's +suggestion, they stood back to back, in readiness for their imaginary +foes. +</P> + +<P> +This gave me an opportunity to slip away, they pursuing no further. I +dodged round the next corner and took my way up a street running +parallel to the one I left. +</P> + +<P> +When they no longer came I slackened my pace to a walk, trying in vain +to recall how I came and how to reach Rue St. Denis. There was nothing +for it but to keep straight on. The streets grew broader and travelers +were not so few. I questioned several, and for a coin secured an +honest-looking idler to guide me. It was not so very far after all to +my inn, yet right joyful I was to see the place again and to find a +cheerful fire blazing on the hearth. I stood before the homelike +warmth and chuckled to myself at the success of my adventure. +</P> + +<P> +The host and some crony of his sat at table with their cards and ale. +I overlooked the game. They exchanged glances and prepared to leave +off, whereat I apologized and begged them not to let me disturb them. +Claude declared he had only waited for me, and being tired he would +shut the house. He went on up to bed and his friend took a seat beside +me at the fire. +</P> + +<P> +He was a simple-looking young fellow, dressed after the fashion of a +peasant farmer, with mild blue eyes, and straggling yellow whiskers on +his chin. I thought to question him about the city. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, friend, how goes the world in Paris?" +</P> + +<P> +"Much the same as ever, yet your Paris is new to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed? You are not of the city; of what place, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of Languedoc, in the south, where the skies are bluer and the wind +does not cut you through as it does in this damp Paris of yours." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I thought you of Languedoc, from your speech. So the climate is +with us in our parts beyond the seas. Beneath our southern sun ice is +a thing almost unknown, and the snow never comes." +</P> + +<P> +"And where do you live, my lord?" his eyes wide open and shallow. +</P> + +<P> +I felt somewhat flattered at his artless recognition of the difference +In our stations. +</P> + +<P> +"In Biloxi; the Southern Provinces, Louisiana," I explained, "whereof +Bienville is governor." +</P> + +<P> +Afterward I thought I could remember a knowing twinkle in the fellow's +eye, which passed unnoticed at the moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I hear much of the colonies; it must be a goodly land to dwell in, +but for the savages and the cannibals." +</P> + +<P> +I laughed outright. +</P> + +<P> +"Verily, friend, we have no cannibals worse than the barbarous +Spaniards who wait but the chance to slaughter our garrison," and +before I was aware, I had told him of my voyage from Biloxi, and of +going to Versailles, stopping short only of giving the purpose of my +visit to Paris. I was sore ashamed of the indiscretion. When I looked +I found him laughing silently to himself, laughing at me. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are Captain de Mouret?" he asked with purest Parisian +intonation, and the courtesy of a gentleman. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know?" I attempted to be stern, but somehow my effort fell +flat. "How do you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I've been expecting you," and he brushed his hand across his +chin, wiping the yellow whiskers away before my astonished eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Jerome de Greville. Claude told me of your coming, but I wished +to make sure. We have examined your baggage," he went on frankly, +unmindful of my ill-concealed disapproval, "but found nothing in the +way of identification. You see," he apologized, "these things are +necessary here, in affairs of this nature, if a fellow would preserve +the proper connection between his head and his body." +</P> + +<P> +He rolled up his whiskers, laid aside a yellow wig, and I could see he +was as Serigny had described. He was not as tall as I, but strongly +built, and some two good years my senior. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain, if you will allow me I will take these traps of yours to our +apartments. You lodge with me." +</P> + +<P> +I was nettled that I should have spoken so freely to a stranger, and +felt ill-disposed to be pleasant, but he soon drove away any lingering +animosity. +</P> + +<P> +When we had settled in our rooms, which adjoined, de Greville threw +himself across his couch and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, de Mouret, we have a hard task before us, and you may as +well know it. M. de Serigny tells me he has instructed you himself, +but details he would leave to me. What's your name?" +</P> + +<P> +"Placide," I replied as simply as a lad of ten. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm Jerome. We are to stand together now, and men engaged in +business like ours have no time for extra manners." +</P> + +<P> +His <I>bon camaraderie</I> was contagious, and I gladly caught it. "Agreed, +Jerome; so be it. Go on." +</P> + +<P> +"First we must locate our friend Carne Yvard, the very fiend of a +fellow, who stops at nothing. Then to catch him with the papers, take +them, cost what it will. For that work we have strong lads enough and +true. Above all we must make no mistake when we strike, for if he +scents our suspicions of him he'll whisk them off to Spain before you +could bat your eye." +</P> + +<P> +I listened to him intently, yet enjoying to the utmost my prospective +triumph. He went on: +</P> + +<P> +"Then there is that other fellow; we don't know who he is, the one that +came over with you. He will probably exchange dispatches with Yvard, +then off to the colonies again. There is not so much trouble about +him, for he can be captured aboard ship. It is Yvard we want, and his +dispatches." +</P> + +<P> +I said very quietly, still looking into the fire: +</P> + +<P> +"That much is already done." +</P> + +<P> +Jerome raised up on his elbow and stared at me as if he thought me mad. +</P> + +<P> +"I have taken those dispatches from your friend. Here they are." +</P> + +<P> +"The devil you have," he cried out, reaching the middle of the floor at +a single bound. "How and when?" +</P> + +<P> +He would not leave off until I had related the whole of my adventure +beginning with meeting the girl, and ending when I found him, at the +inn. He was as happy as a school-boy, and laughed heartily at my being +so readily made a victim of by the girl Florine. +</P> + +<P> +"Such tender doves to pluck she does not often find, and I warrant you +she lets not many go so easily." +</P> + +<P> +I thought it unnecessary to tell him of my encounter with Yvard, only +that I had found the packet where he dropped it. +</P> + +<P> +"You lucky dog; it's well he did not see you, or you might not now be +talking to me with a whole skin." +</P> + +<P> +It was better though to let him know of Yvard's wound, for that would +perhaps assist us in a measure to determine upon our future course. So +that part of the affair I detailed in full. +</P> + +<P> +"Verily, lad, your savage accomplishment stood you in good stead." +</P> + +<P> +He recognized the description I gave of the fellow with Yvard, but said +he was a bully, hired merely to fight, and perhaps knew nothing of +consequence. Then we examined very closely the envelope containing the +papers. It had, from all appearance, come over from the colonies, and +bore traces of having long been carried about a man's person. This +settled one matter. The go-betweens had met, and the traitor on le +Dauphin was most likely in possession of the instructions from Spain. +This made his capture the more important. +</P> + +<P> +De Greville well merited all Serigny had said of his shrewdness, and +more. Now see what a simple scheme he laid. +</P> + +<P> +We were first to find where Yvard was hidden. He would certainly go +into hiding until his wound was healed; the finding of the papers upon +him making it necessary he should not be seen in Paris. +</P> + +<P> +Where would he be likely to secrete himself? Ah, trust a woman for +that; so reasoned Jerome. What woman? L'Astrea, of course. Of her +intrigue with Yvard, de Greville, who was a handsome gallant with a +smooth tongue, had learned from a waitress at Bertrand's. This was the +more probable because, Bertrand's being a public place, the confederate +could seek him there without suspicion. This confederate being unknown +and unsuspected could come and go unchallenged. Jerome's deductions +were plain enough when he told me these things and the wherefore. +</P> + +<P> +It was agreed our plan would be to watch L'Astrea; she at least would +enable us to find Yvard, or his accomplice whom we most wished to +discover. +</P> + +<P> +Who would do this? Why I, of course, for no one knew me, or would know +me when I had wrought the miracle of shining boots, blue coat, curly +wig, laces at throat, in all which small matters Jerome was a +connoisseur, and so it was laid out with much care; run the quarry to +earth, then continue the chase as needs demanded. +</P> + +<P> +Yet folly of follies; how lightly are such well arranged plans broken +into. Through a woman came all this scheming, by a woman's hand it was +all swept into naught. Both innocent of intention, both ignorant of +effect. Yet it was true. Jerome and I, as we then thought, disposed +our pieces with great care and circumspection, advanced the pawns, +guarded the king, and made ready for the final checkmate. Yet a +woman's caprice overturned the board, scattered our puppets far and +wide, and by the tyranny of an accident recast our game on other lines, +without rule or rhyme or reason. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADEMOISELLE +</H3> + + +<P> +In the morning of the following day we were engaged about a business +which troubled me no little. Had it not been for Jerome I fear I had +never come through it at all with credit. +</P> + +<P> +First, we repaired to another house which Jerome possessed in a more +fashionable quarter, and thither by his directions came a fawning swarm +of tailors, boot-makers, barbers, wig-makers; vendors of silken hose +and men with laces, jaunty caps, perfumes—it was a huge task, this +making a gentlemen of me—as Jerome phrased it. +</P> + +<P> +I worried over it grievously in the beginning, but at length sullenly +delivered myself into his hands, murmuring an abject prayer for the +salvation of my soul. That, at least, was not to be remodeled by all +their fashionable garniture. These heated discussions concerning what +I was to wear were not for me to put a voice in. Verily, I knew +nothing and cared naught for the cut of a shoe my Lord of Orleans had +made the style, nor did it matter whether my coat was slashed with +crimson or braided with golden furbelows. Like some wretch a-quivering +of the palsy I heard the learned doctors wrangling over my medicine, +which they must needs hold my nose to make me swallow. For all their +biases and twistings I knew full well they could carve no sprig of +fashion from so rough a block as I. Certes, I must now have a squire +to fasten this new harness well upon me, for by my word, I knew not one +garment from the other by sight of it. Jerome went off into fits of +laughter seeing me trying to struggle into things I could not even +guess the use of. +</P> + +<P> +When the worst was over, late in the afternoon, I felt like a +play-actor, dressed for his part, but who, for the life of him, could +not recall one syllable of his speech, nor breathe because of his wig. +Jerome surveyed me with a half-critical, half-approving scrutiny, until +I essayed to buckle on my sword. +</P> + +<P> +"By my lady, fine sir, that dingy old cutlass will never do for a +drawing-room. As well a miller's dusty cap to cover those glorious +borrowed curls of thine; we must get thee one shaped in the mode." +This quip exterminated my patience. +</P> + +<P> +"To the foul fiend with all this everlasting style of thine. I know +this blade, have tested it on many fields, and by all the gods at once +I'll not replace it with a silly toy." +</P> + +<P> +"A most virtuous resolution, a most godly oath, but my mettlesome +friend, I'll point out thy error." +</P> + +<P> +To his insinuating argument, even in this matter, at length I yielded; +surrendered with the better grace perhaps, that he provided a most +excellent piece of steel, which he said had seen good service. I tried +its temper, and the edge being keen, I laid my own aside with sore +misdoubtings, casting off an old friend to strap on a new. He now +added a touch of rouge here and there, a black line to my brows and in +the corners of my eyes, stepping back ever and anon to observe the +effect. It galled me raw, yet I must perforce submit. When the whole +job was finished, and I was allowed to sit, I gained no comfort. My +clothes were too tight in some places, while in others I rocked about +as loose as a washerwoman's arm in her scrubbing tub. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome must now give me some lessons in deportment, he called it. It +was but another name for a smirking and a-bowing and a-grimacing, what +was denominated the "etiquette of the court." Jerome sat himself +contented down, and put me through my paces like some farrier showing +off a foundered nag. I more than half believed he was all the while +making game of me, yet I knew no better. At any rate it was the +veriest nonsense. +</P> + +<P> +After a series of rehearsals Jerome withdrew to make himself ready, +leaving me to practice my new acquirements of gait, of gesture, and of +speech. What had taken me the better part of a laborious day he +accomplished in a short half hour. Coming back unannounced he caught +me bowing and scraping before a mirror, like a man stricken with +idiocy. I felt as shamed as though I had been detected hiding in face +of the enemy. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome mocked and taunted me into a fine rage, which he deftly pacified +in wonderment at himself. I should never have known him again for the +plain Jerome. Arrayed in much the same character of finery which +bedecked me, I could give no accurate description of his dress, except +that with glossy wig and a bit of color in his cheeks he strutted +valiantly as a crowing cock in his own barnyard. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Placide, we are going to a ball; we can do nothing in our quest +to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"To a what?" +</P> + +<P> +"A ball. I thought it might be well to have you look in upon Madame +M—'s and recite your lessons. It is to be a famous gathering and well +worth your seeing." +</P> + +<P> +I was in a whirl, a stupor, by this time, and obeyed implicitly; +beside, it required such an infinite skill to keep my sword from +swinging between my legs and throwing me down, I had no time to +consider of minor matters. He led the way and I followed meekly as a +lap-dog. +</P> + +<P> +At the great entrance gate we became entangled in a medley of soldiers, +coachmen, torch-bearers and servants coming and going—such a babel of +strange oaths—I wished I were safe again in the quiet of Biloxi. I +pleaded with Jerome to turn again, but he was inexorable. +</P> + +<P> +"I expect to find out something to-night," he explained. +</P> + +<P> +Of this ball I remember nothing but that the slippery floor, in which a +man could see his own face, kept me in deadly fear lest my sword trip +me. Jerome was gay and talkative, pointing out many people of whom I +had heard, but they did not look so great after all. +</P> + +<P> +"For sake of heaven man, wear not so long a face; it is not the funeral +of thy mistress I have brought thee to." +</P> + +<P> +I marveled that so many old ladies should carry such young faces or +perchance their hair had turned gray earlier than was its wont in the +colonies. And, too, they seemed sadly disfigured with boils, for on +the chin or cheek of nearly every one there showed a patch of black +sticking-plaster. Poor things! I sorrowed for them, it was so +humiliating. Verily, I pitied them all, and speculated on the +wonderful compensations of Providence. With all their wealth and rank, +their lordly castles and their jewels, these noble dames could not +purchase that which the humblest serving-maid in Quebec had, and to +spare—a clear skin and sunny locks. +</P> + +<P> +I touched upon these matters to Jerome, but he only laughed +immoderately. He was ever a light-headed young spark who gave no +contemplation to deeper questions than present enjoyment. +</P> + +<P> +Of a sudden my wits almost left me at a terrible outcry from one end of +the great hall, a cry not of human beings but of wild beasts, muffled +and menacing. The dancing, the music, the hum of voices ceased, and a +thick silence as of direst fear fell upon them all. Then there came a +loud crackling and shattering of glass, a woman's scream, the first of +very many. This for aught I know might have been a usual happening at +a ball, I had never been to one before. +</P> + +<P> +I looked for Jerome. He was gone, speeding toward a young lady +surpassing fair, with whom he had been speaking but a few moments +since. I fain would have assisted him, for the damsel appeared wofully +beset, but the whole throng of mincing lords and screaming ladies, in +the rankest riot, over-ran me. They swept me from my feet and bore me +back to the farthest wall, where I found myself pinned tight and fast +against a window. +</P> + +<P> +What the danger was I could not see, but it must have been dolorous +from the headlong terror of their flight. Soon by the thinning of the +crowd through the doors I saw the cause. It was a motley and a moving +spectacle. For by some mischance a flock of sheep had broken into the +ball-room, and frightened out of their shallow senses by the lights and +music, they rushed pell-mell here and there, upsetting without +discrimination whatever stood in their path. +</P> + +<P> +Verily such an onset would do brave work against an enemies' ranks, for +could our knights but make a gap like that, an army of children might +march through unhindered. All went down alike before their charge, my +lord and my lady, the Prince of the Blood, and the humblest page who +bore his pouncet box. Such a slipping and a sliding across a floor +slickened with much wax and polishing, was never in a ball room before, +nor ever was again. One old ram regarded each mirror as a certain +avenue of escape, and the radiating fracture of each taught him no +greater wisdom concerning the others. +</P> + +<P> +Standing spellbound as a statue in the midst of the ruins, I caught +sight of a florid, rotund lady, speechless in her horror and her misery. +</P> + +<P> +"The Duchess does not enjoy her quaint surprise," laughed a light voice +behind me, and a slim finger directed my gaze toward the lady whom I +had just noted. +</P> + +<P> +I observed then at my back, standing upon a chair where she could see +the better, a young woman of distinguished appearance, rather more +plainly attired than the balance. She appeared greatly to enjoy the +confusion. +</P> + +<P> +"That is the reward for her romantic and pastoral tastes," and she +laughed till the tears dripped down her cheeks. Her hair was still +black, and neither paint nor sticking plaster marred the whiteness of +her skin. I asked no questions, but regarded more closely this young +woman with whom I now drifted naturally into conversation. Her manners +were strikingly free and unconstrained. There was, however, an air of +reserve, of dignity—of majesty even—-about her, despite her +frankness, which forbade anything but the utmost deference. +</P> + +<P> +"Does my lord understand—that?" and she pointed her finger to the +servants who were chasing and capturing the refractory sheep one by one. +</P> + +<P> +I shook my head, for, in all seriousness, it was a queer proceeding. +</P> + +<P> +"Well it's too merry a jest to keep long a secret. Beside I'm weary of +these eternal shackles of court which forbid me to speak to those whom +I please." A certain defiance gave an undercurrent of sadness to her +voice, a mounting rebellion to her tone. +</P> + +<P> +"And I <I>will</I> talk if I want to; there's no harm, is there?" +</P> + +<P> +I gravely assured her not, and wondered what was coming. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you see," she dried her eyes on a handkerchief of costliest +lace, "you see my—that is, the Duchess, is of such a romantic +temperament, so enamoured of rural scenes, idyllic meadows, pretty +shepherdesses, and the like—all the court makes merry at her foible. +She thought to astonish Paris to-night by a lavish display of sweet +simplicity—did Monsieur see it? That big dark place back there, +behind the glass partition, was arranged as a meadow, with a stream +winding through it, and rocks and trees, and what not. She had a flock +of sheep washed clean and white, penned up and in waiting. At a signal +from her during the ball, lights were to have been turned on, and +Mademoiselle, the pretty opera singer, was to come gracefully down a +curving pathway, dressed as a shepherdess, singing and leading her +sheep. Oh, it was to be too pure for this earth. The Duchess fretted +for the opportune time. But the sheep escaped from their keepers, and, +oh, isn't it too ludicrous?" +</P> + +<P> +Thus she chattered on with the naive freedom of any other young +demoiselle. I agreed with her, and was inwardly glad the affair turned +out an accident, for were this the custom of balls I'd go to no others. +</P> + +<P> +We continued to chat gayly together; she was of a lively wit, and +surprised me by her knowledge of dogs and horses, of the chase, of +sword play and of firearms. Odd tastes for a gentlewoman, most of all +for one of her exalted rank. Of this latter I had no doubt. I knew +none of the people she mentioned, nothing of the drawing-room gossip, +and she very naturally remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"My lord is a stranger?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only yesterday in Paris," I assented. +</P> + +<P> +"From what place comes my lord?" and for the second time in a day I was +driven to a direct lie. +</P> + +<P> +"From Normandy," I replied. +</P> + +<P> +"To live in Paris?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, unfortunately; my affairs will be finished in a few days at most. +Then I return to the country." The lady was pensive for a space, +hesitated in a pretty perplexity and then spoke doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"You can be of a service to me if you will." +</P> + +<P> +I immediately signified my willingness to render her aid, in the +courtliest speech I could muster. She looked at me long and seriously +again, then again pursued the subject of her thought. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a mere woman's whim, but <I>I</I> gratify <I>my</I> whims. Perchance it +is not a proper wish for a lady of birth, yet I have it, and if you +will but aid me, I will carry it through." +</P> + +<P> +Moved as much by curiosity as by any other motive, I inquired of her +what so weighty a matter could be. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, let us go into this ante-room that we may converse undisturbed," +she said, and led me into a quiet corner where there were seats. I +would have thoughtlessly taken a place by her side, forgetful of +Jerome's teachings, but she commanded coldly: +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur will stand." +</P> + +<P> +And I stood. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a stranger in Paris, you seem a man of honor; for those +reasons I choose you. I would not care to have one of my own gentlemen +know what I wish to do. All Paris would talk of it to-morrow. We in +the palace see naught of the common people, and I have long dreamed it +would be a brave adventure to go unknown among them, to their inns and +gathering places. I have always desired to know more of our Paris, +especially one place which I hear mentioned frequently of late. My +position will not permit me to visit it openly—you understand." +</P> + +<P> +I protested that knowing naught of the streets I should be but a blind +guide. +</P> + +<P> +"I know where I would go," she said, determinedly, brushing aside the +difficulties I would suggest, "and I will go; you will go too." +</P> + +<P> +I was vastly troubled at this, for might it not lead to such another +escapade as came so near costing me dear? Her eyes fixed full upon me, +her voice blended a command which no man dared disobey, with an +entreaty which none would willingly run counter to, and I gave +reluctant assent. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you await me here?" she demanded rather than asked. "My +apartments are in this building. I will return very briefly." +</P> + +<P> +When the lady came back she would never have been taken for a woman; +her long cloak, such as men wore, reached to her boots, identical in +all respects with my own. Her hat, plume and sword were correct and +bravely worn. Her maid, a trifle nervous over the adventure, but who +said nothing, bore a similar cloak for me, and held two masks in her +hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Will my lord throw this about him?" and without any question I assumed +the cloak. +</P> + +<P> +"Now this," and she handed me a mask while she affixed one about her +own face. +</P> + +<P> +I demurred to the mask. +</P> + +<P> +"I will not take my lady upon an errand where we can not show our +faces." +</P> + +<P> +She laughed merrily, and replied: "It is the way of Paris, my lord, +and naught is thought of it. Many lords and ladies wish to keep their +faces from the <I>canaille</I>." +</P> + +<P> +I drew a breath of resignation and put it on. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I not a comely man?" the lady asked, one touch of woman's vanity +showing through it all. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, by my faith, madame;" but such sayings were foreign to my awkward +tongue. +</P> + +<P> +She led me out of the palace by a private way, and when the street was +reached we walked along as two men would. She directed our course, and +as she gave no hint of her destination I did not inquire. It was but a +brief walk before we came to an arched door on a side street, and there +she paused and looked carefully about to see that no one watched us and +then—in we went. +</P> + +<P> +The lady seemed in highest spirits over her unaccountable prank, and +laughed girlishly. "Now I will gratify my curiosity. You know I admit +my curiosity, sometimes. These men are not alone in their thirst for +excitement. It is so tiresome at court, ever the same thing day after +day." +</P> + +<P> +We had now come into a fairly wide, well-lighted hall, and an +obsequious attendant showed us up a stair, and opening a door, pointed +out the place she asked for. Imagine my utter astonishment when we +stood together within the gaming room at Bertrand's. What an infernal +fool I had been to be tempted back into this very place of all others. +I thought at once it was some cowardly trick of Yvard's. I seized the +woman by the arm, for I supposed her then but another decoy; there was +no telling how far this Spanish intrigue had gone or what high +personages Madame du Maine might be able to enlist in furtherance of +her schemes. I seized her firmly, and had taken one step back towards +the door again, when her cold ringing voice undeceived me. +</P> + +<P> +"What means my lord; I thought him a gentleman. Shall I appeal for +protection to these low men here?" +</P> + +<P> +There was such a truth in her low tones that I cast her free, and in +some measure explained my thought. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well, we'll not quarrel here," and looking about her with eager +curiosity, she chose a table where fewest players sat, and thitherwards +we went. This table was placed rather apart from the others, against a +pillar, and no gamesters sat on the side next the wall. It left but +scant space to sit between. There we took our places, and the lady +tumbled out a purse well filled with gold pieces, handed some to me and +bade me play. She laid her wagers, and won with the glee of a child, +her face alternate flushed and pale. I could see I wronged her by +supposing her in league with the place. She played in too feverish +earnest. +</P> + +<P> +During this while I had observed the same two men who had met me on the +stair the previous night. They were walking about and carelessly +looking on at the different games. Yet for all their nonchalance there +was a well-defined method in their procedure, that attracted my +attention. The taller man scanned every person in the hall, and when +the lady and I came in he watched us intently. +</P> + +<P> +His companion—the same as on the previous night—withdrew to talk. +After some consultation they reached a decision. Together they came +our way, and the tall man clapped his hand twice. +</P> + +<P> +At the signal, for such it was, from every table rose a man or two, and +ranged themselves about him who called. I could also see a guard +suddenly stationed, as if by magic, at each point of exit. Where, here +and there, a cloak was thrown back, the gleam of a uniform showed +beneath. +</P> + +<P> +"There, my lads, is our quarry; take them," commanded the tall man, +pointing to us. +</P> + +<P> +I cursed myself for a silly fool to run again into such danger. +</P> + +<P> +The dispatches in my bosom would hang me, and I dared not explain my +possession of them. It was plain, too, that the King's officers, as +well as Serigny, had their suspicions of the place. It was too late +now for penitence, it was time to act. +</P> + +<P> +The lady arose so trembling and frightened that my courage all came +back to me. She forgot her gold pieces lying on the table in front of +her. +</P> + +<P> +"My lord," she whispered, "you must protect me; it would be the scandal +of all France were I to be discovered in such a place." +</P> + +<P> +Her appeal made me forget my own imminent danger, and I bethought +myself what best to do. They could approach me by but one side, and +while I considered a parley with the officers, heard a glad little cry +from the lady. She calmly gathered up her gold and restored it to her +purse, as if the matter were already settled, though I could see no +change in the front of those around us. As the soldiers would have +pulled the table away, she bade them wait, and said: "I would speak to +your leader." +</P> + +<P> +The tall man asked: "And what would you say? We have no time to talk." +</P> + +<P> +"It is not to you, I know you both; I would speak to my lord by your +side." +</P> + +<P> +With that, the other, who had remained rather in the background, came +forward, and she took him aside where none could hear, save myself a +word or two. The lady spoke to him in a low, quiet tone, and raised +her mask a little. The man started back, then removed his cap +deferentially. I was close enough to hear his exclamation: +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle la Princesse." +</P> + +<P> +"Hush," she placed her finger on her lips, "he does not know," +indicating me by a gesture. +</P> + +<P> +I was as astonished as he, but had no further anxiety. No officer +would dare arrest a Princess of the Blood in such a place. +</P> + +<P> +"What does Mademoiselle do in Bertrand's gaming house?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is not for you to question, my lord," she drew herself up coldly, +"I chose it. Now I would go. Provide an escort for me and the +gentleman who has the honor to accompany me." +</P> + +<P> +She came back to me smiling. "We will go in peace; It is Vauban. It +must be no trifling matter to fetch him out to-night. I wonder who it +is he seeks?" +</P> + +<P> +I thought I could enlighten her, perhaps, but kept a still tongue. +</P> + +<P> +Vauban gave a quiet order to the tall man, who, it appears, was in +command of the squad, which order he in turn communicated to them. +</P> + +<P> +"We have made a mistake. Permit these gentlemen to pass out, and none +else." +</P> + +<P> +Vauban then interrupted: +</P> + +<P> +"De Verrue, do you take ten men and escort these, these—gentlemen +where they will." +</P> + +<P> +A young officer stepped forward at the word, but seemed not pleased to +leave in face of more exciting events. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, nay, boy do not look so glum; take my word, it is an honor a +marshal of France would assume did not sterner duties bid him stay." +</P> + +<P> +My lady tossed her purse to the sergeant as she passed: +</P> + +<P> +"Divide this with your men, and drink a health to—well—the Princess +Unknown." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE HOUSE OF BERTRAND +</H3> + + +<P> +It would now have been a most simple matter for me to go out unmolested +beside the princess. And this is what I should have done had it not been +for an accident. While Vauban was talking to the princess, I glanced +round the room to see if Yvard was there, or any other person likely to +know of this business. There was one figure strolling about in the rear +which wore a familiar look, yet I could not say I had seen the man before. +</P> + +<P> +When Vauban gave the order to allow us to pass "and none else," this man +very visibly took on an air of apprehension. He looked from one door to +the other and, finding all guarded, was quite alarmed, then, without +perceiving himself observed, he manned himself with his former +unconcerned manner. There was something in the poise of his head, his +walk, which came as a well remembered thing from some secret niche of +memory. +</P> + +<P> +Now as the princess and I walked out in front of our guard, this man +fell, as if naturally, into the rear of our company, and attempted +nonchalantly to saunter out behind us. The guard at the door locked +their bayonets across, barring his exit. +</P> + +<P> +"By whose orders," he demanded with some show of haughty indignation, "do +you hold me a prisoner with this disorderly rabble?" +</P> + +<P> +"Marshal Vauban's," the sentry replied, unmoved. +</P> + +<P> +The man shrank back perceptibly; as I took a longer sight of him the +familiarity of voice and figure recurred more strongly. I stood still to +look. He turned his face. Broussard! I almost spoke the name. Yes, +beyond all peradventure it was Broussard, disguised, but still Broussard. +</P> + +<P> +What a world of vain speculation this opened on the instant, speculation +to which no answer came. How much and what had I told him during our +voyage? How had he treasured it and where repeated it? For I had now no +other thought than he was the spy who brought Yvard the packet designed +for Spain. +</P> + +<P> +"Come my lord, are you dreaming?" the princess broke in impatiently. I +had quite forgotten her. +</P> + +<P> +"No madame, I crave your patience, and beg attention a moment." +</P> + +<P> +I then asked hurriedly whether she knew the young officer in charge of +our escort, and whether she would trust him to see her to a place of +safety. She knew the lad as a gentleman of birth and reputed honor, so +with the guard and the marshal's orders felt herself safe. Despite the +effort to speak coolly my whole frame and voice quivered with excitement +at prospect of winding up the entire affair by one more stroke of luck. +Seeing which my lady icily inquired: +</P> + +<P> +"But why? Why do you fear? Surely these soldiers are sufficient to +afford protection." +</P> + +<P> +The half veiled scorn of her manner cut me to the quick, but I determined +not to be drawn aside from my purpose. My face still a-flush at her +suggestion of cowardice, I replied earnestly: +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle la Princesse—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you know me?" +</P> + +<P> +I nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"And yet are willing to relinquish the honor of my escort?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is duty, Mademoiselle la Princesse; stern and imperative duty." +</P> + +<P> +"Sh!" Placing her finger to her lips, "address me simply as Madame." +</P> + +<P> +"Madame, you wrong me; I would not desert you while in danger; now I may +give you into safer hands with honor. A most urgent matter demands my +presence there," pointing inside, "it may cost my life. Had I better not +acquaint M. de Verrue with your character? He will then be more +circumspect?" She thought a space. +</P> + +<P> +"No, you may tell him I am a woman—tell him of the stupid folly which +led me here to-night and brought a brave gentleman into danger—but not +my name." +</P> + +<P> +She would have thanked me further, but I was all impatience to be inside, +seeing which she graciously bade me go. I bethought me then of the +packet yet in my bosom, and knowing all those within were to be searched +I took a hasty resolution, born of my confidence in the Princess. It may +be said here that the lady whom I escorted on that memorable night was +known throughout the kingdom for her eccentric tastes, and noted for +never meddling with intrigues of either state or love. Her passion lay +with her dogs and horses, the hunt, and not in the trifles of a court. +</P> + +<P> +"Madame, will you not render me a service in return?" I felt my whole +attitude to be imploring, so warmly did I bespeak her grace. +</P> + +<P> +"I have here some papers of the utmost value to myself, to no one else. +My honor requires that they be delivered to M. Jerome de Greville before +to-morrow's sun arises. He keeps his lodging in Rue St. Denis, at the +sign of the Austrian Arms. Can Madame not dispatch a trusted messenger +and secure their delivery?" +</P> + +<P> +The fervor of the appeal touched her, for she listened with interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Madame, I beseech you, as I have obeyed you without question this +night, do not fail me as you love the glory of France. You may have M. +de Greville informed how and where you came by them, in case aught of ill +should happen to me this night." +</P> + +<P> +She took the packet. +</P> + +<P> +"Upon my royal word," she whispered, in such a tone of sincerity I felt +relieved of any uneasiness concerning the papers. +</P> + +<P> +I had a real regret at seeing her leave the hall. Walking so regally in +front of the guard I wondered at my thick-headedness which had not before +perceived in her every movement the princely pride of Bourbon. I threw +my cloak, which fettered me, to one of the men, and wearing still my +mask, re-entered the hall. They were already engaged in the search, +questioning closely each man in rotation. None was allowed to depart +without being questioned and examined. I immediately sought for +Broussard. He had gone over towards another small door, the same through +which I had escaped the night before. There were two guards posted here. +</P> + +<P> +Broussard dawdled about with the air of a man very much bored, who only +waited his turn to go through a disagreeable ordeal that he might leave. +I fancied his wits were actively at work beneath so impassive an +exterior. He had spoken privately to several men, one at a time, in +careless fashion, and then tapping the legs of the tables, and kicking +the chairs as he passed, he again came near the door. I managed to keep +close to him. As he stood talking to the sentries the four men came up +two by two from opposite directions, and at a sign from him, grappled +with the guard. While they were thus engaged Broussard bolted through +the door. I drew my sword and plunged after him. +</P> + +<P> +From inside, the sentries cried out: "The two spies have gone this way," +and the whole mob surged out and divided in chase. Some perhaps were in +league with Broussard, others were in the service of Vauban, I could not +tell. +</P> + +<P> +The hall was densely dark; I knew not the way, but I had Broussard but a +few feet in front to guide me; behind, some twenty or thirty stout +varlets strung out in pursuit, not a dozen paces to the rear. +</P> + +<P> +It so happened that there was a door which stood half open, and Broussard +being hard pressed doubled by this and darted in. He was but a couple of +yards ahead and I alone observed this stratagem. When he vanished to the +right, I slipped in behind, just as our foremost pursuers swept by. The +great noises they made and the resounding echoes effectually prevented +their notice of a cessation of sounds from us. Nor did they pause to +listen. Crushing through the narrow passage their pressure slammed the +door behind us. I heard the clank of a heavy bolt as it dropped into +place. Thinking Broussard had sought some secret means of escape known +to himself, and fearing he would get away, I dashed madly on, only to +fetch up with a terrific thump against a stone wall. +</P> + +<P> +The shock dazed me and I fell in a heap to the floor. Perhaps it was as +well, for I made no further noise. But I listened. +</P> + +<P> +The place was intensely dark, and not a sound save the heightened beating +of my own heart disturbed it. I was afraid to move, lest I bring upon me +the crowd outside. Had not one of the men cried "<I>two</I> spies." It did +look as if I too was a confederate of Broussard, and I could not have +explained. The echoes of the chase died away, and all was still. My +mind and ears were very busy then trying to make out what sort of a hole +this was I had so unceremoniously fallen into. And Broussard? Where had +he disappeared? I knew he could not be far, for there had been no +footsteps since the door shut. I took it that he must be in the room, +and that the reasons which enforced quiet upon me were also powerful to +him. +</P> + +<P> +He was worse off though than I, for he had doubtless heard me blunder +into the wall, and thought one of the marshal's men had followed him. +This idea suggested he would probably then lay perfectly still and wait +for the man to recover and go out. Or, the thought made me shiver—he +might steal up and finish me with the dagger. As quietly as I could I +loosened my own knife in its sheath and got it well in hand. In spite of +all the caution I used, the sheath rattled against a buckle. I knew my +position was betrayed. I thought then to reach a corner where I could +the better protect myself against a stealthy attack. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately overhead an almost indistinguishable blur marked a high, +square window, some seven feet from the floor. There was but one. In +all probability the door lay directly opposite. That being true, the +natural inclination of a man flying down the hall in the direction we +came would be to go further to the right. Reasoning in this wise, hoping +to avoid a struggle with Broussard in the dark, I edged my way along the +wall toward the left. Inch by inch I went, holding my sword extended at +arm's length in front of me, and lifting each foot carefully to avoid the +scraping. Every few feet I made a complete sweep in all directions with +my blade, to guard against approach. Proceeding in this way, I felt my +sword's point at length touch something—something soft. Before I had +time to wonder what it was, the sharp hiss of a blade cut close to my +cheek, and struck clanging against the wall. I sprang back beyond reach. +</P> + +<P> +"Broussard," and in the extreme excitement I spoke his name unwittingly, +"Broussard, stand still; I had no thought to attack you. Stay where you +are, and I will seek another place." +</P> + +<P> +There came a voice, "Who are you to call me Broussard?" but I answered +not. +</P> + +<P> +In the absence of any preparation for assault, I took it that he would +remain where he was. Thereupon I backed into the diagonal corner, and +stood stock still. +</P> + +<P> +After some period—hours or minutes, I knew not what, they were +interminable—Broussard spoke again. His voice sounded sharp, and +unnaturally loud. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you, and what do you want? I know you; is it Nortier, Lireux?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush, fool; dost not hear the tread of Vauban's men outside? You will +call them down upon us with your babble." They were stamping through the +passage as I spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" and there was a world of relief and incredulity in his lowered +tone. "Then you are not with Vauban? Who are you?" I made no reply. +</P> + +<P> +During the long period of absolute and profound silence which succeeded I +had much time to reflect. I judged myself to be in an unused chamber, +which, if square, would be about thirty feet across—calculating by the +distance from the diagonal corner—if in fact Broussard lay in the +corner. There was but one opening, for I could hear the wind stirring +outside, and no draught came in. Did the window open on the street, or +on an inner court? There was no way of telling. +</P> + +<P> +If it be true that men live in thoughts rather than in deeds, if the +changing phantoms of our brain carve deeper impressions than the petty +part we play with our hands, then, indeed, that frightful night would +form by far the longest chapter in the history of my soul. +</P> + +<P> +Darkness, darkness, darkness; quivering, soundless, hopeless night. +</P> + +<P> +I feared to move, and no sense save that of hearing bound me to the world +of living men. Living men? What place had I among them? +</P> + +<P> +A party of drunken roisterers staggered beneath the window, singing +coarse songs and bandying their brutal jests. But it no longer +interested me to know the window opened on a street. +</P> + +<P> +Hour after hour plodded in slow procession through the night. +</P> + +<P> +Outside, a clattering vehicle whipped past over the rough stones, the +driver swearing at his team. The day was coming at last. Did I wish it? +Perhaps the night were kinder, for it at least obscured my misery. I +almost prayed the darkness might last. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DAWN AND THE DUSK +</H3> + + +<P> +Gradually, so gradually the change could hardly be observed, the inner +grating of the window became visible; the chinks between the edges of +the stones assumed distinctness. A ghostly blotch grew into a fact +upon the floor. A leaden hue, less black than the pulsing sea of ink +about it, spread and spread, lighter and lighter, until it invaded the +dim recesses where I stood. My hand became once more a tangible +possession, unreal and grim, yet all my own. The opposite wall loomed +up, my utmost frontier of the domain of certainty. Dimmer, darker, +more obscure, the door, a vast unexplored cavern gathered to itself the +hobgoblins of evil and gave them shelter. As still as the creeping on +of day we two men stood, glaring at each other and watched it come. +</P> + +<P> +Exactly when I began to see him I could not say. Every impulse and +vital force of nature centered in my eyes, and they fastened themselves +upon that one irregular shadow in the opposing corner which slowly—oh! +with such agonizing slowness—assumed the outlines of a man. My +fascinated gaze wandered not nor wearied. When in the moist light of +the morning I clearly saw Broussard, haggard, pale and sunken-eyed, +watching me thirty feet away, it seemed that I had seen him all the +night. +</P> + +<P> +No detail of his dress or manner but I observed. There was a scar +across his forehead, fresh and bleeding a bit. A contusion rather. He +had probably struck the door-facing as he rushed in. Yes, it bled. A +few drops had trickled down his nose; there hung one, quite dry, from +his brow. Precisely beneath this there were some dozen or so upon the +floor. All could have been covered by my hand. Like myself Broussard +had not moved throughout that awful night. God, how I pitied him. +With such a weight of treason on his soul. And yet, looking back, the +night was less awful than the coming day, far more merciful than the +hideous night which followed it. With the sun Broussard heartened up, +and first broke the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you comrade, and what do you here?" +</P> + +<P> +I was at a loss for reply. I had no faith in him, yet even a rotten +stick might serve to get me out. +</P> + +<P> +"I am trapped like yourself, and feared you all the night. God in +Heaven what a long night it was." +</P> + +<P> +Broussard had no words, his convulsive shudder expressed more than mine. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know how to get out of here?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Not I, except by the door, or the window," looking at that. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll try the door," he continued, smiling the treacherous smile of the +tiger. I remembered so well the first day he showed his teeth aboard +ship. The man well knew I recognized him, he had heard me speak his +name, and I feared if he found the door open he would shut me up again, +and escape. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll test the door softly and see what is outside," and he moved as if +to put his thought in action. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on, not yet; methinks I'll try that door myself." I could see he +had the same idea which had occurred to me, for he demurred. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my fine sir; why you and not I?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I know you, sir, and fear to trust you." +</P> + +<P> +"Verily, you have honorable intentions yourself to suspect me so +readily." He was bent on engaging me in conversation, so he might +perhaps recognize me from my voice. The mask still hid my features, +and the entire difference in my mode of dress made recognition almost +impossible. The puzzled expression of a half recollection still rested +on his face as I continued: +</P> + +<P> +"I do not merely suspect you, I know you for a traitor—nay do not clap +your hand upon your sword until I have finished. You have now in your +possession certain traitorous dispatches which were given you by one +Carne Yvard in exchange for others which you brought over with you in a +vessel called le Dauphin. Ah, you begin to pale and shrink, and well +you may—" +</P> + +<P> +"You lie!" he shrieked, convincing me I had made a home thrust. +</P> + +<P> +"Softly, softly, have a care, lest you call the Marshal's bloodhounds +down upon us. The dispatches with the purple seals, which you brought +with such care from Biloxi, have been taken from Yvard, and are now in +safe keeping for the King. The lie, ah, well, I'll pardon that for the +while. You can not leave here, and I have ample time for avenging my +honor after I have had the pleasure of your delightful conversation." +</P> + +<P> +He leaned morosely against the wall, staring at me, as I went on. +</P> + +<P> +"Now listen to me quietly. You have those dispatches upon your person. +I want them, and by all the gods I will have them. If I have to kill +you for them, then so much the worse for you. Now listen. Give me +those dispatches. We will then get out of here together, and once +outside, I will give you full four and twenty hours. That time +elapsed, I will turn the dispatches over to the authorities. If you +can escape with your miserable life so be it. Do you agree?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have no dispatches," he sullenly replied, "and who are you to dare +charge me with treason?" +</P> + +<P> +There was no ring of real resentment in his tones, though he strove +manfully to simulate offended and indignant innocence. It was +necessary to keep him in ignorance for a while, because I feared he +might set upon me, and being really an excellent swordsman, the issue +of conflict would be doubtful. But the weightier reason lay in the +fact that the clash of steel might draw down upon us the occupants of +the house. Here I was in a much worse plight than he, though he knew +it not. For whether those occupants were the friends of Broussard or +the Marshal's men, the result would be equally fatal to me. A man must +think quickly under such straits, and I was sorely put to it for some +device. No stratagem would be too base to use against such a villain, +for he would not hesitate to knife me in the back. +</P> + +<P> +"Broussard, let us understand each other here and now. You know me. I +am Placide de Mouret," removing my mask and looking him sternly in the +eye. +</P> + +<P> +"Great God, de Mouret!" +</P> + +<P> +"The same. I am your master at the swords, and you know it. Now turn +out those papers." I had been quietly drawing my blade during this +speech, as the dazed man tried to collect his senses, so I was ready +while he still stood unprepared. +</P> + +<P> +"Throw up your hands." +</P> + +<P> +He mechanically obeyed; the discovery of his villainy had completely +unmanned him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now unbuckle your belt, and drop it to the ground." He did as he was +bid. +</P> + +<P> +"Kick it across the floor." The weapon was tossed out of his reach. +</P> + +<P> +I walked up closer to him, and forced him to loose his coat that I +might find the papers, and was rewarded by the discovery of a packet, +much similar to that dropped by Yvard. It was sealed in such a manner +it could not be opened, and bore no address. I removed the dagger from +his hip, and having, as I thought, completely disarmed him, felt no +further uneasiness. The man was thoroughly cowed, and never once +raised his eyes to mine. Verily treason doth rob the stoutest heart of +half its courage. +</P> + +<P> +"Now do as I bid you, and I will keep my promise to let you go. And +mind that you make not the slightest sound which may attract the +soldiers." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you fear the soldiers too?" he asked, vaguely trying to puzzle out +why I should be afraid of those in whose service I was. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not to our purpose to talk. I simply want the credit myself, +and do not want to share it with those fellows out there. We must work +to leave this place at once. Do you stand where you are." +</P> + +<P> +I gathered up the scattered weapons and piled them all in one corner, +farthest from the door, where I now proposed to set about getting free. +With the fearful blight of uncovered treason in his soul, Broussard +obeyed me cringingly as a servant, and worked as hard, for his safety +lay in mine. We went first to the door by which we entered, and after +a tedious examination failed to find any means by which it could be +opened or broken down. A stout latch, of some pattern we could not +tell, held it fast from the outside. There was no catch or fastening +of any sort within. The age-hardened oak, studded as it was with +heavily wrought nails, forbade the plan of cutting through. This would +require days and days of patient labor, and I was already faint from +lack of food and the exhaustion of the night. Plainly the room was +intended for a prison, and as such it served well its purpose. Baffled +and disheartened I turned my thought to the window. It looked out upon +the street; this was so much in my favor. The irons that guarded it +were close set, bending out toward the street in the shape of a bow. I +judged this was in order that archers stationed there might shoot the +more easily into the street in times of siege. +</P> + +<P> +I could have reached this without trouble, but I desired to employ +Broussard, that I might know where he was and prevent treachery. For +that double purpose I reached up and grasped the sill, commanding him +to catch me about the knees and lift so I might see out. This he did. +While in that position he made a pretense of shifting his hold, and +something impelled me to glance downward at him. He was stealthily +drawing a concealed knife from his bosom. I threw all my weight back +upon him, casting the twain of us together to the floor. Meantime he +had the knife full drawn, in his left hand held at my breast. +</P> + +<P> +I grappled with him, holding his left hand in my right, and with the +free hand clutched him by the throat, burying my thumb deep in his +wind-pipe. Instinctively he raised both hands to protect his throat, +and then we struggled to our feet. He made futile efforts to strike me +with the knife, but his strength deserted him with his wind. The blade +dropped clattering on the floor. My other hand closed about his neck, +circling it with an unyielding collar of steel. Desperately as a caged +rat might fight he squirmed and twisted in my grasp. To no avail. +</P> + +<P> +Tigerish now, as though I held a rabid dog, I thrust him back against +the wall, and there rigidly held him fast. In merciless silence I +listened to the precious breath gurgling from his body; a reddish froth +gathered at the lips. I could feel his hot blood surge and beat +against my thumb under that deadly pressure. The cold sweat stood in +clammy clusters upon his forehead; his head thrown back, the eyes +turned toward the ceiling no longer pleaded into mine. I sickened +almost at sight of the tongue swelling black, which seemed to consume +all the fleeing color from lips and face. Oh God, how he struggled! +His hands closed over mine as bars of steel to tear them from his +throat. +</P> + +<P> +Even in our mortal strife I marked the eternal harmony of the scene. +Truly death had never stage more fitting whereon to play its last stern +drama of dissolution. Hemmed in by four massive walls of granite, +ghastly grim and desolately gray, we wrestled in a stifling stillness, +while hell stood umpire at the game. No sound of trumpet, no warlike +cry, no strains of martial music were there to thrill the nerves and +taunt men on to glory. We fought to the scrape and scratch of +shuffling feet, the labored gasp, the rattle in the throat, while echo +hushed in silence and in fright. +</P> + +<P> +He grew more quiet, his muscles stiffened and relaxed—he was no longer +conscious. A few more convulsive quivers, as a serpent might writhe +and jerk, then he hung, a limp dead thing, in my hands. My +outstretched arms seemed made as a gibbet, feeling no fatigue, so +lightly did they sustain him. Cords of brass could be no more tense +than mine; his weight was as nothing. Softly I eased him down, and +composed his limbs in decent order upon the stones. +</P> + +<P> +Then I rose, and gazed complacently at my work. Yes, it <I>was</I> well +done, excellently done, in fact. The most expert strangler of the +Choctows could have done no better. Those purpling lines about the +throat, those darker clots where my thumbs had left their signs, could +not have been more intelligently placed. I smiled my satisfaction at +the job, then—then—my own overstrung nerves gave way, and I fell +unconscious across the corpse of my hands' creation. +</P> + +<P> +When I came to myself I was weeping, weeping as a child might weep, +over the dead, distorted face of him I had loved. How long this lasted +I had no means of knowing. Uncompromising necessity forced me to +action; forbade me time to dream. +</P> + +<P> +The body being in my way where it lay—for I proposed now to work in +earnest at the window—I moved it tenderly as possible across the floor +and stretched him out near the door sill. Springing up then I attacked +the bars at the window. Hours and hours I labored, impelled to greater +effort by the dread of spending another night in that room of murder. +I was patient, too, patient with the cunning of a maniac. +</P> + +<P> +The dagger made my chisel; my sword, wrapped in a cloth to muffle the +strokes, furnished me a maul. Full half the day was before me. The +rough paving stones below held out the hope of escape or death. How to +reach the street after the bars were removed, I did not suffer myself +to consider. I should go mad if I lay idle. I leaned as far out the +window as the grating would allow, and observed a guard standing in +plain view at the corner. It was very evident the Provost of Paris had +taken possession of the house, and there was little use in my trying to +make a way out the door. +</P> + +<P> +I bitterly resented the intrusion of every passenger along the street, +and scanned with hatred the few who came. For while they remained in +hearing I was obliged to cease my chipping at the masonry and leaden +cement which held my freedom. I bided my time, and, long before the +shadow of the house across the way had climbed to the window where I +worked, had the gratification of finding a bar give way in my hands, +and found I could take it out. Removing this bar, it gave me a +powerful leverage on the others, and by exerting all my strength, +succeeded in bending the two on either side to such a degree I could +force my body between. +</P> + +<P> +While thus engaged, my eyes were ever fixed anxiously upon the street, +in the hope that Jerome might pursue his plan of watching the house, +and I would catch sight of him. The passers-by were few indeed, but +somehow it struck me that the same persons passed several times, and in +something like regular order. A patrol of Jerome's? My heart bounded +at the thought. I watched more carefully; yes, it was true. I counted +five different persons; some walked fast, some walked slow, but all +looked about them and inspected the house with more than an ordinary +glance. And, no, I was not mistaken, that simple-looking countryman +yonder was Jerome. +</P> + +<P> +I was quite at a loss how to attract his attention; I feared to yell, +lest that give notice to the sentry. I took a spur from my heel and +dropped it directly in front of him; I knew he would recognize it, for +it was his own, loaned to me for my more fashionable appearance. He +heard the jingle and glanced around. His hat blew off as if by +accident and fell near the spur. In stooping to pick it up, the spur +also found its way into his hand beneath the hat. He was truly a +quick-witted gentleman, and I forgave him from my heart all his chaff +in the matter of teaching me manners. It took him not a great while to +comprehend, and taking note of the situation of my window, he sauntered +off. Thence forward only three men passed by the house, at much longer +intervals. He had taken one with him, and I was left to surmise in +what method they purposed to effect my deliverance. I made myself +almost merry. The long labor at the window had cramped my limbs to +such a degree it pained me to move. I clambered down and took a few +turns about the room as if I had naught to do but exercise. But at +every turn the hideous face and whitened eyes of Broussard dogged my +footsteps as a spectre. Look where I would, it was only that I saw. +Hour after hour crawled by. Jerome would wait for night. Night! +</P> + +<P> +Did he but know what lurking horrors filled the dismal hours for me, he +would come soon. By some fatality I had drawn the body directly to the +spot where the last fading shafts of light would hover about its face. +Not for a paradise of peace would I touch the loathsome thing again to +hide it in the shadows. I could neither take my eyes from it nor put +my hands upon it. Like the basilisk of fable it held my gaze charmed, +fixed it, bound it fast. Crouch as I might in the remotest corner, +cover my face in my mantle, still that searching, penetrating thing +pierced all obstacles, glared grisly and distinct before me. +</P> + +<P> +I tried to throw off the thought which now constantly recurred. What +if Jerome did not come? Would I starve here in company with this +corrupting flesh? No, there was the window; a headlong dash from that +would bring death and release. So I determined. Then came on the +night. To me it brought no rest, no sweet surcease of the labors +through the day. +</P> + +<P> +Somewhere, afar off in the city, there rang a tremulous bell, launching +its vibrations upon the infinite silence as a sinner's guilty soul +might trembling stand in the presence of Almighty condemnation. The +melancholy howl of a dog at first cleft through every nerve and fibre +of my being, thrilling with a creeping chill of horror. So regular did +it come, so unvaried, I grew to count the seconds under my breath, and +to note its monotonous precision. Somehow this occupation in a measure +relieved me, and when the howls came more infrequently and at less well +defined intervals, I mentally resented the change. Time had ceased to +be. I cowered in the corner with naught but death and fear and +darkness to keep me company. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FLORINE TO THE RESCUE +</H3> + + +<P> +A shroud of consuming terror now possessed me. I crouched in the dank +corner clutching my sword, listening, vainly listening, for some sound +out of which to conjure up an assassin. A rat ran across my foot. +Screaming out I bounded erect and beat about me with blind desperation. +One hand touched the other and shrank from its mate. They were as ice. +</P> + +<P> +Oh, God, the horrid silence! How weightily it bore upon me, stripping +me of voice, of courage and of hope. How many, many times I braced +myself against the wall, cold with fear at the apprehension of an +attack by some demon of the night. How many, many times I sank again +into the same dumb misery when no enemy appeared to do me hurt. +</P> + +<P> +So long it had been since the tones of human speech blessed my ears, I +almost hoped the marshal's men might come, that I might hear his stern +command, "Hang him to yonder window ledge." A rasping thirst roasted +my throat until my tongue gritted and ground as a rusted clapper in a +bell. I touched it with my hand. It was as dry as Broussard's. +</P> + +<P> +Broussard! A quiver in the musty air set me all a shudder; in every +rustle I felt again the last convulsions of the dead. Dull lights +gathered when I closed my eyes, and rested upon his swollen features, +their white eyes following me in hate. +</P> + +<P> +Coolly and logically as if it concerned someone else, the reason of it +all crept into my morbid brain. I was mad; mad from hunger, thirst and +terror. Yes, mad, and felt not one whit sorry of it; nay, rejoiced +rather, for it meant a freedom of the spirit. So insidiously this +knowledge forced itself upon me, it brought no shock, I even dimly +wondered that any other condition ever existed. Verily, men are +happier for a gentle frenzy. Then, indeed, are all things leveled, all +barriers removed. Gone were all my pigmy troubles, vanished into +nothingness. Engulfed in a common ruin lay all fragments of desire; +the search for reward, the dread of punishment—all petty figments of +the imagination were powerful now no more. The fall of reason crushed +every human hope and dulled the edge of every human fear. What cared I +now for food, for water; for honor or for shame? My mind, imperial and +free from artificial restraints, plunged riotously into forbidden +realms, I reveled in the exaltation of chainless thought, and drank +from the deepest wells of rebellion delicious draughts of secret sin, +thanking, yea thanking, this sweet madness which gave a glorious +independence. +</P> + +<P> +What repugnance had I now for yon piece of foul and rotting carrion! +What mattered if but lately a breathing man it had strangled in my +grip. By the gods, a knightly feat and most bravely done! And I +laughed at my former fear, not loud, but such as laughed the fiends of +hell when Lucifer rose against his Prince. Low I chuckled, then +shivered at my own unnatural voice. +</P> + +<P> +Dead now to every sense of physical loathing I advanced steadfastly +towards where he lay. Shorn of human companions my wretchedness sought +a lonely comradeship with the piece of mortal clay. Turning now and +again to beat back some skinny hand which snatched my garments, to slap +in the face some evil sprite which thrust its sneer upon me, I walked +in resolution across the floor. I fancied again I heard the tread of +men in the passage. Pleased at the babble of the children of my own +imagination, I stood to listen. Yes, by the wit of a fool, I'll +indulge the jest, a joyous jibe and a merry. +</P> + +<P> +The low shuffle of cautious feet came again. The latch clanked ever so +softly as if some hand without lifted it gently, oh so gently raised +it. "Ha! here you are, seeking to frighten me again, but I know you +well. No, no, you'll scare me no more; I'll play a merry game with +you." So I hid myself in the dark, and thought to play a prank upon +the evil Thing. Held my breath. +</P> + +<P> +Elated to find I owned so wondrously fertile a brain I saw the door +open little by little without a creak. A current of liberated air +brushed by my cheek. So real it was, I smiled. The door swung wider +and wider yet, in the dark I saw it. Verily the sight of a madman is +sharp. The wind blew more chill and strong. I saw a gleam peeping +beneath a cloak as from a hidden lanthorn; I bethought me I would catch +the tiny wanderer from the floor and hold it in my hand. It came +crawling and crawling, on and on, wavering to my feet. So many times +that night had I manned myself valiantly to fight a shadow, I only +laughed in silence and contempt at this. +</P> + +<P> +Behold the folly of a madman's thought. Yet the creation of it all +gave me exquisite pleasure, as a child might find delight in some +strange toy from which it could call weird shapes at will. On it moved +with a noiseless, gliding motion; now inside the door, now coming, +coming, coming—nearly to me. Now it let fall a timorous blade of +light along the floor. It reached Broussard's body. Its foot struck +him. It stooped, threw the light full upon him. Open fell the +concealing mantle, showing the barren stones, the corpse, the ghastly +upturned face of the strangled man. +</P> + +<P> +The woman—for it was a woman—dropped to her knees beside him, called +him, felt of his clammy head, and suffered but a single scream of swift +affright to leave her lips. From the unhooded lanthorn burst out a +spreading yellow glow. Her scream awoke me to a consciousness of +reality. From my own unlocked tongue of terror came its answer. I +joined my voice to hers, defied the hush of slumbering centuries and +filled that quaking room with a perfect deluge of reverberating +shrieks. Many others, men, with cloaks, some having lights, some none, +rushed in behind the woman. From that time I knew nothing. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +I awakened from a dreamy languor; a subtle essence of perfume floated +through my senses. A gentle touch of some kindly hand was bathing my +temples. Fearful lest this sweet illusion vanish with the others, I +kept my eyes firmly closed, and soon abandoned myself wholly to the +subduing influences of natural slumber. +</P> + +<P> +"Has he stirred, Florine?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Monsieur, but his head is cooler now—he sleeps, hush! Perhaps +another day he will be better. How he raved through the night. Poor, +young gentleman, he quite exhausted himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, well, Florine, he is young, and with such nurses as thou and +Nannette he will of a surety recover." +</P> + +<P> +I turned my head and smiled a feeble recognition of Jerome and Florine. +The other woman I had never seen; she was much older than Florine and +had a kind, motherly face. +</P> + +<P> +"What day is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"The morning of Sunday." +</P> + +<P> +It was Wednesday night when Jerome and I went to the ball. +</P> + +<P> +I looked about me. The lodgings were those I had taken at the Austrian +Arms, yet much changed in little things. The vase of flowers there in +the window, the neat-swept hearth, the cheerful fire, and that +indefinable something which gives a touch of womanliness to a room. +Florine, perhaps. +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh! I'm so glad to be here," and I shuddered at the remembrance of +my prison and suffering. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor dear," said the older woman in a voice full of sympathy, "don't +worry; you are in comfort now, and will soon be strong again." +</P> + +<P> +"Am I wounded in any wise?" I inquired, for I knew not the manner of my +coming there. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, my lad," broke in Jerome's hearty reassurance, "not a bit, +just worn and starved out. Truly, boy, you had a rough adventure. By +'Od's blood, I'd hate to have the like! Has he taken any food Florine?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing but the wine, and a sup or two of broth. Here is something +for him now," and she brought me a most tempting array of soup, hot +viands and victuals of which I feared to eat as I desired. +</P> + +<P> +Though Florine and Jerome would not permit me to disturb myself with +vain conversation, yet by dint of questions and listening when they +talked apart, thinking I slept, I found how it all came about. It +seems Florine saw and recognized me when I returned to the gaming room, +having left Madame la Princesse. She knew too, in some way which I did +not learn, that neither Broussard nor I had left Bertrand's that night. +This, though the Provost's men had been searching the city for us both. +She kept her knowledge to herself. When the turbulence calmed down +somewhat and sentries were placed to guard the house, she occupied +herself in slipping about looking for my hiding place. It took but a +little while for her, familiar as she was with the house, to find the +room where Broussard and I had taken refuge. Listening at the door she +heard our angry voices and the scuffle within. This may have been when +I was choking him. Horrible! horrible! +</P> + +<P> +At any rate she feared to intrude, and at once set out to seek help. +The girl throughout acted with astonishing promptness and judgment. +Florine had recognized Madame la Princesse—all Paris knew the +eccentric lady—so went straight to her. At first denied admission she +sent up a note couched in such terms as gained for her an immediate +private interview—indeed the Princess herself was careful it should be +strictly private. +</P> + +<P> +Madame knew nothing of me except the request I made concerning Jerome, +and sending the papers to the Austrian Arms. Florine went without +delay to that place. This was about midday. Meanwhile Jerome, much +troubled that I did not appear during the night, pursued our original +plan of watching the house, and arranged his men at windows, and in the +street, in such a way as not to attract attention. One of them had +seen me working at the window but never dreamed it was I. Jerome found +the house already doubly guarded by the Provost's men, to his infinite +disgust. He was a handy chap though, and not to be outdone. Dressing +himself as a clumsy lout, he found little difficulty in worming the +transactions of the night before out of one of the guard off duty. A +drink or two together at the sign of the "Yellow Flagon" fetched this +information. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome was much wearied through his long watching and anxiety when he +returned to the Austrian Arms. The hostler at the inn turned him aside +from the front door by a gesture, so that he entered by another way. +Claude acquainted him that a lady in the public room desired to speak +with M. Jerome de Greville, and would not be denied. Jerome's custom +with visitors was to see them first himself, before Claude told them +whether he was in or no. +</P> + +<P> +Peeping through an aperture he saw the lady walking impatiently up and +down the room, tapping at the window, mending the fire, and expressing +her haste in many other pettish manners so truly feminine. It was +Florine. He knew the girl well from his frequenting Bertrand's during +this piece of business. Jerome sent her word he would be in, and +changing his costume to one he usually wore, presented himself before +her in the public room. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it I you seek, M. de Greville, Mademoiselle?" he inquired, politely. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! Monsieur de Greville, it is you; I'm so glad." She came forward +with a pretty air of perplexity and surprise, for Florine had a dainty +woman's way about her, showing even through her present trouble. She +bore herself more steadily that she had not to deal with some +severe-faced stranger, but a gallant gentleman, whose mien was not that +from which timid maidens were prone to fly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Monsieur de Greville, I know not what to say, now that I am well +met with you." +</P> + +<P> +"And by my faith, Mademoiselle, I am sure no word of mine would grace +those pretty lips as well as thine own sweet syllables. So <I>I</I> can not +tell you what to say." +</P> + +<P> +Florine pouted her dissent, yet was not in earnest angered—she was a +woman. Jerome saw her business lay deeper than mere jest and badinage, +so he spoke her more seriously. +</P> + +<P> +"I pray you Mademoiselle—Florine?—am I right? Be seated." +</P> + +<P> +Florine had no thought for gallantries; she declined the proffered +seat, and, standing, proceeded at once to the point of her mission. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a young gentleman in our house," and she blushed a little, +Jerome declared to me afterwards, "in Bertrand's wine room—you know +the place? locked up, and I am not certain whether he lives or is dead. +I can not tell Monsieur his name, but you know him. Oh, he was kind to +me, and I would willingly do something to save him. It is so hard to +be only a woman. The Provost has the house guarded." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," Jerome put in drily. +</P> + +<P> +"This gentleman gave your name and lodgings to the lady who was with +him there last night, and she it was who sent you the packet." Florine +had run on hurriedly, unheeding Jerome's blank look of astonishment. +This was probably a shrewd guess on her part, yet it squarely struck +the mark. +</P> + +<P> +"Lady? Sent the papers? Who? What lady?" Jerome asked before she +could answer anything. +</P> + +<P> +"That I must not tell, Monsieur. Oh, come, quick; get him away from +there; if our people find him they may do him harm. Monsieur is a +brave gentleman, a friend of his, is it not true? Come." +</P> + +<P> +Jerome drew the facts pretty well out of the excited girl, knowing +somewhat of the circumstances and guessing the rest—all in an +exceeding short space of time. Florine told him as accurately as she +could in what room I lay, leaving him to locate the window from the +street. From this point the plan was simple enough. Jerome and +Florine arrived at Bertrand's by different routes, Florine passing in +unconcernedly, and Jerome, clad again as a stupid country knave, walked +by the house to discover my outer window. +</P> + +<P> +It was at this time that the falling of the spur conveyed to him the +intelligence of my life and place of confinement. After this Jerome +had to depend greatly upon the quick-witted woman. +</P> + +<P> +It would be a long story, and a bootless, were I to tell how it fell +out that Florine had a friend, the same kind-faced woman who helped her +watch beside my bed; the window of this friend's garret room opened +almost directly opposite Florine's own poor apartment. Only a narrow, +dingy alley lay between; so scant was the space the upper stories came +near to touching across it. Florine's friend, after some tearful +persuasion, consented to aid the rescue of such a gallant gentleman as +I was described to be. The girl could come and go at will. The friend +permitted Jerome and three of his men to hide in her room. From her +window Jerome cast a light cord into Florine's window, she drawing a +stouter rope across with it, and made fast. It now became a trifling +feat for these nimble adventurers to swing themselves across to +Florine's room, but twelve feet or so away. Once inside Bertrand's +they proceeded with abundant caution, all of which near came to naught +through Florine's sudden shriek and my own nervous clamor. It shamed +me heartily. +</P> + +<P> +"Truly, comrade, thou hast good lungs," Jerome told me days afterward. +"It took all our strength to shut thee of thy wind." +</P> + +<P> +When the four men found me a helpless body in their hands, they were +greatly troubled. However, Florine insisted that I be carried to her +room where she could conceal me. +</P> + +<P> +Once there they found means to truss me up like a bale of merchandise +and sling me across the alley again, whence I was conveyed, still +unconscious, through out-of-the-way streets to the Austrian Arms. +</P> + +<P> +And so it was I came to my strength, safe in my own lodgings in Rue St. +Denis, with Florine and her kind-hearted friend to nurse me. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GIRL OF THE WINE SHOP +</H3> + + +<P> +Youth and health do not long lie idle. Even while I lay recovering my +health, Jerome and I were busy with our plans. Not the least +unforeseen item in what had befallen, was the chance that carried me +into a house where I saw again the "black wolf's head," which brought +once more to mind the history of the d'Artins. But there was still to +come that other happening, the one which bound my whole life, heart and +soul, my love and happiness forever, in with the fortunes of that black +wolf's breed. +</P> + +<P> +As I grew stronger Jerome and I had a long talk. He told me the +morning after I left him, which was Thursday, a veiled woman had +brought him a pair of gauntlets, with the request that he preserve them +carefully. Jerome naturally wanted to know who had sent such a +present. The woman answered no questions, only impressed upon him the +importance of keeping them himself and letting no one have them. She +would not tell whence she came, and when she departed Jerome made a +sign to Claude, who followed. He returned and reported she had entered +the apartments of Mademoiselle de Chartres by a private way. +</P> + +<P> +Verily this was coming close to the King, and to Orleans; these +gauntlets coming from the house of this haughty Bourbon Princess. One +of the gauntlets, of course, contained the papers taken from Yvard, the +same I had confided to Mademoiselle la Princesse. I smiled my +satisfaction that she had been so discreet. +</P> + +<P> +The other packet Jerome found upon me when I was disrobed for bed. +</P> + +<P> +It was many days before Jerome asked me for any details of my +imprisonment, or how it came about there was a dead man in the room +with me. I related the whole circumstance briefly as possible, who +Broussard was, and all, to avoid further questioning. For I hated to +dwell upon the occurrences of that night, yet ever returned to them +with a sort of secret fascination. +</P> + +<P> +"You choked him well, comrade," was Jerome's only comment, regarding +the affair, yet I fancied I saw him shiver somewhat at the ghastly +recollection of Broussard. The matter being thus dismissed, we never +spoke of it again. +</P> + +<P> +Our fire burned warm, filling the room with a home-like glow, so with +good wine and clear consciences Jerome and I drank and talked and +stretched the lazy evening through. +</P> + +<P> +"There is just one other thing we can do, Placide, to put the finishing +touch upon our success." +</P> + +<P> +I turned an interrogative glance toward the speaker. +</P> + +<P> +"That is to find out, if possible, who is back of this scheming. That +fellow Yvard, dare-devil though he is, has not brain enough to concoct +such a plan, even if he had courage and energy to fight it through. +Depend upon it, some powerful person is behind Yvard. Most likely +Madame du Maine. What say you to an adventure?" +</P> + +<P> +My blood was in the humor for sport, the wine heated me somewhat, and +recking not of consequences I caught at his idea. +</P> + +<P> +"Willingly, comrade, but what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us to Sceaux, to Madame's court, and see what we may discover, for +two fools like ourselves might perchance stumble blindly upon what a +wise man would overlook," he continued with mock humility. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and two fools like ourselves might perchance get themselves +hanged for what a wise man would keep his skirts clear of. There's a +peril in meddling with the affairs of the great." +</P> + +<P> +"Seriously, now. I have means and ways of learning things in Madame's +family. My head has been fast set on this matter for some time. If +you agree to take the risk with me, you should know how we are to act. +Now mind you," he pursued, rising and stretching his back to the fire, +facing me, "mind you, I tell you all I want you to know, and you must +promise me to make no inquiries on your own account." +</P> + +<P> +By this time I had grown accustomed to trust de Greville, so I simply +assented. +</P> + +<P> +"A lady you know—it might get me into trouble," he further explained; +with that I made myself content. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome averted his face as if he would first frame his speech carefully +before he gave it me. Here Serigny's final remark about making friends +of the ladies recurred to me, and I wondered what this fair unknown had +to do with such a rough game as we played. Before the hand was out, +though, I understood how truly it had been said that women's wits now +swayed the destinies of France. Since this day, too, our country has +suffered much through women, when under the next, and more pliant +Louis, they ruled with even a scantier pretense at concealment or of +decency. Jerome spoke slow and guardedly, when he turned to me again. +He began in a tone subdued by the intensity of his feelings—which, as +I soon learned, were quite natural. +</P> + +<P> +"I was a mere lad; I had a sweetheart whose family lived near our own +in the vicinity of a certain small provincial town, it matters not +where. She, much younger than I, shared all my childish games. It was +the will of God that we should love. My family was rich, is rich; both +were noble. I had two older brothers who stood between me and a title +or wealth. Her parents were ambitious for her future; I was put aside. +They sent her away, away from me, and married her here in Paris to a +man she had never seen. A simple marriage of convenience, as we say +here. Her heart was numb and dead; it made no rebellion. I went to +the army; gained nothing but my rank. My brothers died, and I being +the next heir can live as it pleases me. Here I am in Paris; she is at +Sceaux, two leagues away. I love her yet, and, God forgive her, she +loves me. Her old husband who is attached to the Duc du Maine cares +nothing for her. She amuses herself half in idleness with the +intrigues of the court. Nay do not look so black, Placide, for even +this can be innocent enough. There is much excuse for her, too, my +friend. A woman must needs have love to feed upon. They can never, +like ourselves, fill their hearts entirely with ambition, with glory or +with adventure. Men may make of their lives a cloister or a camp and +be content; but women, whatever else of gaud and glitter they may have, +yet require love and tenderness and gentle sympathy beside. Happy is +she who receives all these from her husband; and that husband treads +dangerous ground who denies it to her. I see your wonder at hearing +this from me; but I have thought constantly upon such things. Peste! +this touches not our business; let us go on. Through this lady's +husband, and by another source of information, I hope to find the truth +concerning Yvard. Do you follow me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but how?" I put in. "When I run my neck into a halter, I want to +know whose hands are playing with the cord." +</P> + +<P> +"Never fear for her. Madame—that is, the lady—has a firm hold upon +the Duc du Maine himself, in fact she is quite indispensable to him. +Don't ask me for more. Once let the Duc be made Regent, and my +old-time sweetheart of those innocent days in Anjou will be the most +powerful woman in France. But with all that, Placide," and the man's +quivering voice went straight to the very tenderest core of my heart +for the depths of bitterness it contained, "in spite of it all she'd +rather be back in the country breathing the pure and peaceful air, a +guiltless and happy girl, than to live as she does, and rule the land. +God knows I wish we had never seen Paris." +</P> + +<P> +I held my tongue; there was nothing I could say. He felt his trouble +keenly enough, and I refrained from molding my undesired sympathy into +words. Directly, Jerome took heart and spoke again: +</P> + +<P> +"Those are the conditions, I merely make the best of them. There is +still another friend of mine at Sceaux, the Chevalier Charles de la +Mora, a most gallant soldier and kindly gentleman. Verily, they are +scarce now in France. He has fallen into misfortunes of late and is +about to take some command in the colonies. I love him much, and am +sorely tempted to cast my lot with his. But, you understand why I +stay," and he lifted up his hands with a gesture of perfect +helplessness. +</P> + +<P> +"His wife, Madame Agnes—almost a girl—is one of the most beautiful +and clever women in France, and who, by way of novelty, loves her own +husband. Women are queer sometimes, are they not? To-morrow we go to +Sceaux; it will at least be an experience to you, even should nothing +good come of it. Do you agree?" +</P> + +<P> +My curiosity was thoroughly aroused, and scenting sport of a rare +character I agreed to join the chase. It was judged best that we +should make all things ready for an immediate journey to Versailles +upon our return from Sceaux. +</P> + +<P> +Before we slept, my few serviceables were put in position for instant +departure. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +When I arose in the morning Jerome had already left his bed. I +supposed it was out of consideration for what he was still pleased to +consider my weak condition that he refrained from waking me. Claude +came tripping in later with the message that M. de Greville had gone to +make some last arrangements for our journey. I slept so restfully +through the night my fatigue and all unpleasant reminders of the +episode at Bertrand's had quite worn away, and I felt refreshed and +strong again. When Florine came to inquire for my health she found me +busied about the packing. I greeted her kindly, for in truth my +gratitude was deep and sincere. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur is preparing to leave?" she asked as if more than afraid of a +reply. I could see she had some purpose in the question. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I leave Paris to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"To-day?" she echoed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I would return and find you again; I could not depart from +France without finding and thanking you for all your kindness. In +truth I am glad you came, for——." I tried to say more, but the words +left my lips sounding so cold and meaningless the sentence died away +incomplete. +</P> + +<P> +Florine stood there, vaguely watching me as though she did not +understand. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave France?" she repeated, her tone expressing the hope she had not +heard aright. +</P> + +<P> +I had already said much more than I intended, for I was not fully aware +of Jerome's intentions, and desired to say nothing which would reveal +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave France?" she urged again, "Monsieur—" she halted for the word +quite naturally. +</P> + +<P> +"De Mouret," I supplied, and for the first time she knew my name; +surely it was little enough to trust one with who had given me my life. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur de Mouret is to leave France?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," I answered her truly, "but not to-day, possibly not for several +days. I would not go away without seeing you again." +</P> + +<P> +I felt my tone become warmer as I thought of all this girl had risked +for me, and so blundered on uncertainly. What was I to do? What could +I offer her in repayment? Not gold; she had refused that with the air +of a grande marquise the night she first helped me from Bertrand's. +</P> + +<P> +Heartily wishing for some of Jerome's finesse and tact, I gazed at her, +stupid and silent, watching the tears gather in her eyes. I could only +guess the thought which was passing in her mind, and even there I +wronged her. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Monsieur!" she spoke as from the fullness of her heart, while her +voice trembled with excess of emotion, "Monsieur is going back into the +great world; Monsieur has honor and fair fame; I must return to the +wine shop." +</P> + +<P> +The poor girl must have been wearied out with her watchings by my bed, +for she burst into such an uncontrollable weeping as I fain would have +prevented. I did my rough best at comfort, but had to let her sorrow +run its course. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Monsieur, think of it! I must go back to that dreadful wine shop, +to the gaming tables; must continue to draw men there to be despoiled +of their money, perhaps of their lives; must laugh and be gay, though +my heart break at its own debasement. There have been many, ah, so +many, I have lured to that place; and it came so near to costing you +your life—you who were so kind to Florine." +</P> + +<P> +She had sunk to the floor, and catching my hand poured out all the +bitterness of her heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Yet, Monsieur, what can Florine do? There is no way for a weak woman +to do anything in this wretched Paris. If I do not bring players to +the house my aunt beats me. See," she drew up her sleeve, and exposed +the welts of cruel cuts across the bare white flesh. "She denies me +food in my garret. So I must work, be merry and work—and weep all the +day for the misery of the nights." My heart went out to the girl with +all sympathy, but, every whit as helpless as she, I only wondered what +could be done. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur, it was not of my choosing, believe me, believe me, it really +was not. My father thought his sister so well off in this fine Paris, +when she offered to bring me up as her own child, and sent us presents, +he made me come with her. We were so poor, so cruelly poor. My mother +could not come for me, and now how can I go back? I dare not let her +know how I am treated. It would break her heart, and she is so old and +tottering. If I seek other employment no one will take me, no one +would give me a character for service. All the world is open to you. +You go where you please, do what pleases you. All the world is shut to +Florine. And you, Monsieur, my only friend, I hoped when you were well +again, such a rich gentleman could find me a place among his friends; +find me some quiet place where I might live and be of use, not bringing +evil to all I touch. What an evil life, what a wicked life I lead. +Oh, Monsieur, save me from it; save me! The horrible man you defended +me from that night pursues me everywhere; my aunt is jealous because of +him. She hates me now and would like to drive me out upon the +streets—ugh! the terror of it. But her husband won't let her; he is +kinder than she. See, I am pretty, I bring custom. She can not tell +her husband why she hates me. No, no. Bertrand would kill her. And I +dare not tell him. They would kill me—" +</P> + +<P> +Her speech rambled on now, disconnected and incoherent. Still by +catching sentences here and there the whole pitiful story was clear to +me. My eyes would always overflow at sight of woman's suffering, my +throat choked up; I could speak no word to her. Of a truth what a +horrible life it must be; what iron webs do sin and circumstance weave +round their victim. The cowering girl sobbed convulsively on the floor +at my feet. I laid my hand tenderly upon her head. +</P> + +<P> +"Florine, I have but two friends myself in all this land of France. +You have served one of these faithfully in helping me. I will commend +you to him, and am sure he will reward you well." +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur, I seek no reward; I served you not for money." +</P> + +<P> +She shamed me, though I persisted. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a reward, Florine, but surely you can let him send you back to +your mother. Here is money; his money, not mine; he is rich, I am +poor. He can pay you for valuable service, I can only give you my +undying gratitude." +</P> + +<P> +I bent down and kissed her pale forehead, whereat she wept afresh. +</P> + +<P> +"Claude's wife will keep you here safe until we come again. Then we +will find means to protect and provide for you." +</P> + +<P> +I bade her rise now and calm herself, for a bustle in the street +announced the noisy arrival of several horsemen. A few moments, and +Jerome's voice called me from below to make all ready. +</P> + +<P> +I called Claude's wife up and delivered the girl to her keeping, then +turned to look out into the street. There were now drawn up in front +of the door four sturdy equerries, well mounted, and leading two +excellent nags, which I took to be those Jerome had provided for our +own use. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome obliged me once more to dress with exceeding care, but I fretted +much for my own easy garments which permitted a man to use his limbs +with the freedom God had given them. Verily there would be no regret +when all this frippery could be cast aside, and by my faith, it was +much simpler to lay it off than to array one's self in. I never did +learn all the eccentricities of that remarkable rig my fashionable +friend had adorned me with. +</P> + +<P> +"Had we better not strap on our pistols?" I asked, not knowing what he +purposed. +</P> + +<P> +"No; gentlemen do not wear them. Beside, at Sceaux one sharpens one's +wits, and lets even his good blade dull and rust." +</P> + +<P> +We mustered six stout swords as we clattered away from the Austrian +Arms, and I could not but note, despite what Jerome had said, he took +good care to provide trusty fellows and swift horses. +</P> + +<P> +"A lean hound for a long race," Jerome laughingly remarked, noticing my +inspection of the not over-fed nag I bestrode. +</P> + +<P> +We took that road leading past the heights of Villejuif, which in +hardly more than an hour's brisk ride brought us to the park of Sceaux, +overlooking the beautiful Fontenay valley of which I was destined to +learn much. During this ride I had leisure to speak with de Greville +of Florine, for the girl's story had roused a real desire in my heart +to see her bettered. +</P> + +<P> +"There are thousands such in Paris," he replied, shrugging his +shoulders unconcernedly. "The few tell you truth, the many lie to you. +You know not when to believe them. If you like, though, I will see +what may be done. At least she may be placed in la Saltpeterie where +no present harm can reach her, to earn a living. It is not a pleasant +life, and no wonder young and pretty girls prefer the gay world to the +seclusion and labor of Saltpeterie. Yet we will try." +</P> + +<P> +He treated the matter lightly, as a thing of common occurrence, yet was +Jerome tender-hearted. Men who live in great cities become so hardened +to the vice and crime about them that they no longer feel keenly, as we +provincials do, the appeal of misery. +</P> + +<P> +I might say here that Florine was one of the next ship-load of girls +who were sent to the colonies. There she found a very worthy young +planter who took her to wife, and after the manner of the mistreated +girl in the fairy tales you children used to read, "lived happily ever +afterward." She became, from all accounts, a good wife and devoted +mother; her children yet live in Louisiana, happy and prosperous. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SECRETARY AND THE DUKE +</H3> + + +<P> +Those reflections which I set down at the end of the last paragraph +drifted me somewhat from the regular thread of my narrative. This, +perhaps, is not the only reason why I should stumble and shy along like +a balky palfrey when I approach one of the trifling accidents which +transpired immediately after our arrival at Sceaux. +</P> + +<P> +Thinking now this matter over, my withered cheeks lose their ashen hue, +and burn again with the hot, tumultuous blood of youth and shame. But +I may as well tell it with all the resolution a man summons before +plunging into an icy bath at midwinter. It came, the unexpected +prelude to one long, sweet song. It was in this wise: +</P> + +<P> +Jerome seemed a welcome guest at Sceaux, and from the hearty greetings, +yet respectful withal, which were accorded him, must have been a man of +more consideration in the world than I had heretofore supposed. Before +this, I received him at his own worth, and our short acquaintance had +been so filled with matters of serious moment, I made no inquiries +beyond the scant stray bits of information he had himself volunteered. +However that might be, his welcome at Sceaux was sincere. Nor did I +wonder at his being a favorite, from the jovial jests and flings he +cast at those who crowded round, which set them all a-laughing. His +familiarity with the doings of the day, and the quick repartee he used +to men of different parties, astonished me greatly. +</P> + +<P> +Having disposed of our horses, and given quiet orders to the groom, +Jerome made me acquainted with his friends. Some part of their +good-fellowship fell to my lot as a friend of Jerome's, and put me upon +my mettle to return it. +</P> + +<P> +As good luck would have it, Jerome's friend, the Chevalier Charles de +la Mora, was then at Sceaux, and came up early on learning of our +arrival. +</P> + +<P> +He was a splendid fellow of thirty-five, stalwart and unusually +graceful for a man of his inches. His frank and cordial manner was his +greatest charm to me, though a woman would doubtless have raved more +over those dark, dreamy eyes, which while mild enough, betimes gave +promise of fire and to spare. +</P> + +<P> +He spoke most affectionately to Jerome, and bade us both be sure his +wife would receive us with sincerest pleasure. Several of the +gentlemen had seen service, and with them I was immediately on easy +terms. +</P> + +<P> +Before entering the Villa I paused in a doorway at the head of a short +flight of steps, bowing and posturing through my new catalogue of +behavior, anxiously watching for Jerome's approval, or a cue. The +rascal, I could not for the life of me tell from his expression whether +he applauded my fine manners or laughed secretly at the folly of it +all. But I went on as I was taught, bending myself pretty well double, +half backing into the door which led to an inner hall. Holding this +position, which however elegant it might have appeared to those in +front, was certainly neither graceful or attractive viewed from within, +I felt a sudden jar from the rear, and being thus struck at a point of +vantage, came near to plunging forward upon my face. Before I could +recover my equilibrium and turn about, I heard the jingle of a tray of +glasses and a cool shower of spray flew about my ears. Then the dazed +and bewildered eyes of a timid girl looked full into mine; she +courageously paused and essayed to stammer out an apology. Her gaze, +though, wandered past me, and one sight of the drawn features of those +who had seen it all and now sought in vain to restrain their laughter, +was too much for this startled fawn. She turned and fled as the wind, +just when their merry peal burst out. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, my little lady had best look where she goes, and not run through +a door with her eyes behind her," roared de Virelle, when the girl had +well escaped. +</P> + +<P> +"His clothes are ruined, and so fine, ah, so fine," drawled Miron. +</P> + +<P> +"By my soul, Captain, you have flowers to spare," chimed in Le Rue. +"That's right, gather them up, for Mademoiselle is not usually so +generous with her guerdons that any should be lost. The little icicle." +</P> + +<P> +His speech was suited to my actions, for, like a fool, I had already +dropped upon my knees, busied about picking up the scattered roses and +replacing them in the vases from which they had fallen. The tray was +still rolling and rattling around on the floor. Verily, I felt my +shame must consume me, and took refuge in this humble occupation to +hide my face. There is some sort of a confused recollection now +abiding with me, that a man-servant at length came to sweep up the +fragments, while I watched him vacantly, a tangled bunch of roses in my +hand. +</P> + +<P> +In all their laughs and jests and jibes hurled at my embarrassment, +Jerome never for a moment lost sight of the main purpose of our visit. +As all roads led to Rome, so did he adroitly turn all topics of +conversation into those channels where might be supposed to run the +information we wanted. +</P> + +<P> +I felt myself, especially in my present frame of mind, ill-fitted for +such a play. The blunt and awkward directness of the camp suited +better my ways and speech. Though I might discreetly hold my tongue, I +could never use it with the credit I could my sword. Nor could I rid +my mind of the childish vision which for one short instant confronted +me at the door. Even then I pondered more on her amazed expression and +youthful innocence than upon our own chances for success or failure. +</P> + +<P> +From the comments of those about me, I gathered she was a protege of +Madame's, whose reserved manners made her no great favorite with the +dissolute throng which collected at the gay Villa of Sceaux. I took +little part in their conversation, and was glad when Jerome by a +gesture called me to follow him away. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go to see Madame," he said simply, when we were entirely out of +hearing. +</P> + +<P> +"Du Maine?" I inquired, vaguely wondering why we should venture into +the lion's den. +</P> + +<P> +"No—Madame—the other," he replied with some degree of hesitation. +</P> + +<P> +I followed him without further questioning. He led the way, which was +doubtless a familiar one, and the maid at the door, knowing him, +admitted us at once to Madame's apartment. The woman, who sat alone in +the dainty silk-hung boudoir, rose and came swiftly forward to greet +Jerome, the radiant girlish smile changing quickly when she perceived +me enter behind him. It was more the grande dame, and less the +delighted woman, who acknowledged my presentation with courtly grace. +Intuitively I felt her unvoiced inquiry of Jerome why he had not come +alone. Yet was she thoroughly polite, and chatted pleasantly with us +concerning the news of the day. +</P> + +<P> +"We are to have a fete this afternoon; you must both come. Each guest +is expected to contribute in some way to the entertainment of the +company. You Jerome—M. de Greville," she begged pardon with a sudden +glance at me, "You, M. de Greville, will doubtless favor us with a +well-turned madrigal. And you, my dear Captain de Mouret, in which +direction do your talents lie?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have no talents, Madame; a plain blunt man of the camp." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! a soldier; so interesting in these stupid times, when men are +little but women differently dressed. Ah, it has been too truly said +that 'when men were created, some of the mud which remained served to +fashion the souls of princes and lackeys.' But surely you could give +us a story?" and so she talked on, not discourteous, but heedless of my +protests. I was really alarmed, lest she seriously call upon me before +that stately company. +</P> + +<P> +The tiny clock upon her table chimed the third quarter, and she +volunteered that at eleven she expected other callers. Acting upon +this hint Jerome proceeded at once to tell her why we came, yet I noted +in all his confidences he ever kept something to himself for safety's +sake. The maid's reappearance interrupted us. She announced, "M. de +Valence." +</P> + +<P> +A gleam of anger swept across Madame's face. +</P> + +<P> +"Bid him wait my pleasure in the ante-room. He is ten minutes early. +No, the sooner he comes the sooner it is over; wait; bid him come in. +M. le Captain, de Greville, will you gentlemen please to retire in that +small room for a short space? I will speedily be free again." +</P> + +<P> +And so it came about we overheard matters which opened my mind to the +way affairs of state are managed, and I grew to learn upon what slender +threads of love, of malice, of jealousy and of hate the destinies of +nations must often hang. From our situation we could not help but hear +all that passed between Madame and her caller. The maid withdrew, in +the slow hurry of a truant on his way to school, but hastened at a sign +of annoyance from Madame. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur de Valence, you are full ten minutes early. You know I bade +you be always exactly punctual," was Madame's petulant greeting of the +handsome man who bore himself so meekly in her presence. +</P> + +<P> +No tone was ever colder, no demeanor more haughty than hers, and this +proud man who bent before no storm, who held the fortunes of many +within his grasp, bowed like an obedient child to her whim. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Celeste, I know, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Madame de Chartrain," she corrected. (I use the name de Chartrain, +though it was not her own.) +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—Madame, I know, but, it is so hard to wait; do you not understand +how I count the minutes every day until—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, I've heard all those fine excuses before. To your business. +The other can wait, business first, then—" +</P> + +<P> +"Pleasure?" he supplemented with an eagerness strangely at variance +with the rigid self-control he had hitherto shown. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not say pleasure," she gravely broke in, "your business." +</P> + +<P> +The man submitted with the patience of one quite accustomed, yet not +wholly resigned to such a reception, and spread numerous papers upon +the table before her. Selecting one he began to explain: +</P> + +<P> +"Your wishes in regard to this matter have been carried out; I had the +man detained in the city where he is at your command. He suspects +nothing, though fretful at the restraint." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good. And the other?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, here it is. You see this has been so arranged that the Duke +quite naturally selected Menezes to bear these dispatches. You may +remind him that Menezes is a brother of the man Perrault, whom he had +hanged some years ago. Here is the man's history, which you can look +over at leisure. The Duke has forgotten all this in his impatience to +remedy the Yvard fiasco. It will serve, however, to make him think you +even more clever and devoted to him." +</P> + +<P> +I listened closely at the name "Yvard." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now so far so good. And the question of finance? That is of +more importance." +</P> + +<P> +"And of more difficulty. The Madame often dabbles herself in these +dealings involving money, and she is harder to deceive. However she is +not accurate at figures, clever though she be otherwise. Look over +this; this calculation. See, there is a simple transposition of an +item, which results in a difference of near ten thousand livres. It +appears there to have been made by the money lender for his greater +gain. You can study this copy before the Duke comes. Then you will be +quite prepared to point out this error and make the correction. Here +is his copy which he will sign." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, good," she said looking over the memorandum he had given her of +the amounts, with the correct calculations all neatly carried out. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that is enough for this morning; you may go; these things weary +me." +</P> + +<P> +"Celeste, Celeste, how long is this to continue? will you never—" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Madame</I>," she corrected positively, rumpling and smoothing out again +the paper in her lap. +</P> + +<P> +"As you will," with an air of hopeless protest. "Do you mean always to +send me away when our business is completed—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Was it not our agreement?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I thought—" +</P> + +<P> +"You had no right to think." +</P> + +<P> +"A man must needs think whether he will or no, what is of life itself. +Are you a woman of ice? Do you not realize I sell all I hold most +dear, the confidence born of a life-time's honest service to my King, +my own honor, only to serve you, to be with you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am weary. It is time for you to go." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but is there nothing else? You agreed—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I know, why remind me?" She turned upon him fiercely. "Do you +wish to make me hate you? Now you are only an object of indifference, +objectionable to me as are all men who make love, and sigh, and worry +me. Do you wish me to hate and despise you more than the rest?" +</P> + +<P> +"God forbid! But—" +</P> + +<P> +"You still insist?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I must have my thirty pieces of silver, the price of my +treachery," de Valence returned bitterly; "men die in the Bastille for +lesser offenses than mine." +</P> + +<P> +"That is your affair," the woman replied, without a shade of concern. +</P> + +<P> +I thought I could perceive a growing embarrassment in her manner as de +Valence came closer to her, remembering, for so she must, that we could +hear every word through the portiere. She collected herself bravely; +de Valence must not suspect. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, I'll pay you," and she put her lips upward so coolly I wondered +he should care to touch them. Jerome raged silently, for I confess we +were both guilty of looking as well as listening. De Valence leaned +over her, but lifted his head again. +</P> + +<P> +"Celeste—Madame, so cold. I'd as lief kiss the marble lips of Diana +in the park." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, as you please; you may kiss them, too, if you like," she shrugged +her shoulders, and was not pretty for the instant. "I pay as I +promise; it is a mere barter of commodities. You may take or leave it +as you choose." +</P> + +<P> +The man's attitude of dejection touched even me, but the woman gave no +sign of feeling or compassion, only intense impatience. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Monsieur, am I to sit waiting an hour? Are you come to be a +sordid huckster to wrangle over your price?" +</P> + +<P> +De Valence bent over her again, touched the lips lightly, and strode +away, gathering up his papers from the table as he went. Two only were +left, and those Madame held listlessly in her hand. +</P> + +<P> +We felt thoroughly conscious of our guilt, Jerome and I, when we put +aside the screen and re-entered the room. There was a certain air of +resentment in his manner, as if he would call her to account, and I +heartily wished myself otherwhere. Perhaps it was all for the best; my +presence prevented, for the time, explanations, and I fancied the woman +was grateful for the respite. Her lassitude, and effort to overcome +it, smote me to the quick, and right willingly I would have aided her +had I but the power. To Jerome she spoke: +</P> + +<P> +"You heard—all?" +</P> + +<P> +He nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"And saw?" Less resolutely this question came. The words conveyed the +wish, unexpressed, that he had not heard. To me she gave no thought. +Again Jerome nodded, and looked away. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the penalty and the price of power. Oh, Jerome, how fervently I +have prayed that this all had not been," she went on oblivious of my +presence. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome's resentment faded away at her mute appeal for sympathy, and I +am very sure he would not have me chronicle all that then occurred. +Suffice it, that I employed myself by the window, some minutes perhaps, +until a hasty rap on the door, and the maid bore a message which she +delivered to her mistress in secret. +</P> + +<P> +"Bid him come in at once if it please him." +</P> + +<P> +"He is already here, madame," the girl replied. +</P> + +<P> +We had barely time to gain our former hiding place before a man richly +dressed, and limping, entered; the same I had seen in the gardens of +Versailles. I was now intensely interested in this little drama, +which, as it were, was being played for my own benefit, and gave closer +study to the Duke of Maine who hurried in. +</P> + +<P> +The weak, irresolute face bore no trace of the dignity and power which +made his royal father at times truly great; it showed, too, but little +inheritance from the proud beauty of de Montespan. Vastly inferior to +both, and to his ambitious wife whose schemes he adopted when they +succeeded and disowned when they failed, the Duke trembled now upon the +verge of a mighty intrigue which perchance would make him master of an +empire, perchance consign him to the Bastille or to the block. Well he +knew that the abandoned Philip of Orleans, though he sometimes forgot +his friends, never spared an enemy. With these thoughts haunting him, +his timid mind shrank from putting his fortunes to a decisive test, and +he looked forward, dreading to see the increasing feebleness of the +King hasten that day when a quick stroke must win or lose. +</P> + +<P> +He approached Madame at the table with a semblance of that swagger +affected by the weakling in presence of women, yet permitting the +wandering eye and uncertain gestures to betray his uneasiness. +Something had evidently gone wrong with my lord. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you heard, Celeste, of Yvard?" he inquired, dropping into a seat. +</P> + +<P> +My ears quickened at the familiar name. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what of him?" +</P> + +<P> +"He has lost the Louisiana dispatches, and I know not what they +contained." +</P> + +<P> +"What!" exclaimed the woman, as if genuinely alarmed, and learning the +bad news at first hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, the cursed fool lost them in some drunken brawl in the city. We +have had the place thoroughly searched, but—" he finished the sentence +with a shrug to express his failure. +</P> + +<P> +"What if they should reach Orleans?" he continued evenly. "My men fear +he has gone to him anyway, hoping to play in with both for pardon. I'd +feel much safer could we only lay our hands upon him. He is the one +man beside ourselves here who knows—who knows, anything," the Duke +went on with growing trepidation. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, make yourself comfort, my lord, I took the responsibility to +detain Yvard in Paris." +</P> + +<P> +"You?" he sprang from his chair in astonishment. "You? Why? How?" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought your safety demanded it. My lord is too generous, too +confiding," she threw toward him a glance of concern poor de Valance +would have periled his soul to win. "You see, when we entrusted him +with this business, it was so delicate a mission, I set a watch upon +him—some of my own people of Anjou—and when he acted negligently they +reported to me. He began drinking, too, and freely, so I feared his +discretion. I now have the man safe in Paris. What would my lord with +him?" +</P> + +<P> +Du Maine fixed his cold eyes upon her, for a short space, then, +</P> + +<P> +"It would be prudent to put him quietly out of the way," he suggested, +the thin lips closing cruelly. "No, hold him, we may have further need +for his sword. But have a care that he talks to no one." +</P> + +<P> +Madame had raised no objection to the Duke's cool command that an end +be made of Yvard, yet I did her the credit to suppose it was because +she well knew she might do as she liked, and he be none the wiser. +</P> + +<P> +He now settled himself upon a divan near Madame, with all the +complacency of a man whose own foresight has saved him a serious +trouble, and said after mature deliberation, gazing thoughtfully at the +sportive cherubs on the ceiling: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it could not have been so bad after all, for I observed the +caution to prepare a warning for our friends across the frontier, and +had arranged for a friend of ours to be entrapped by Orleans, betraying +misleading dispatches to him. A fine plan, think you? Menezes you +know is devoted to me, and I have promised him a patent." +</P> + +<P> +"Who did your grace say was to be this friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Menezes." +</P> + +<P> +"Why Menezes?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have done much for the fellow, and he is not over clever; clever +enough for the purpose, you know, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Does my lord not remember Menezes is a brother of the Perrault whom +you had hanged some years ago? I fear you have been badly advised." +</P> + +<P> +"No! I do not recall him." +</P> + +<P> +"The rogue who cast a stone at your horse?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I bring him to mind. Short, thick-set fellow, who whined +something about hunger, children, and the cold. Ugh! What concern +have I with the rabble? But how do you know this, Celeste?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have long misdoubted him, and had the rascal overlooked. He is of +Picardy, and his father was attached to St. Andre, who likes not His +Grace, the Duke of Maine." +</P> + +<P> +"No, by my faith, he hates me. Ah, I see it all. Celeste, you should +have been a man, a man's wit almost you have. Really, so much brain is +wasted in that pretty head of yours. Madame will come to comprehend +she does not know it all—yet she torments me till I give in. I think +I shall take firmer hold, and manage my own affairs to better advantage +than she. Ugh! What a scrape she was like to get me in." +</P> + +<P> +He gradually regained the expression of complete satisfaction with +himself, and prepared now to show the masterpiece of his work, the +contract with Antonio of Modena, the money-lender. +</P> + +<P> +"Here are our financial plans; the usury is high, but there is great +risk, so thinks Antonio; egad! perhaps he is right, though it is +possible we may pay him. Altogether a most excellent plan, my own +work——." +</P> + +<P> +Madame interrupted him, thinking perhaps it was wise that he should not +be committed too far that he could not throw the blame on other +shoulders. She took advantage of a pause to examine the document with +apparent care. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, excellent, but let us see. Three, seven, twelve, fourteen, +twenty-three—here is some mistake. Let us go over it again. Yes, +here it is. This is not your accounting. The miserly Lombard would +cozen you of your honor if he could but sell it again. Here is an +error of near ten thousand livres; let me correct it for you." +</P> + +<P> +And while he stared at her she deftly copied the correct amounts from +the slip she held concealed in her hand. She knew the figures were his +own, but gave no token. +</P> + +<P> +"I doubt not you would have looked over it more carefully before you +signed it, and these matters would have been detected by your own eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," he replied nervously, reaching out his hand for the paper +lest she observe—what her quick eyes had at first seen—that the +contract already bore his signature and seal. She gave it him and he +replaced it carefully in his breast. +</P> + +<P> +"I will give those careless secretaries a lesson they sorely need," and +in this disturbed condition of mind he blustered out of the apartment, +forgetting his usual gallantries, which Madame so diplomatically put +aside without giving too serious offense. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome leaned against the window-facing, his unseeing eyes resting on +the park beyond the little garden at our feet. His brow lowered, not +as of a storm, but with the murkiness of a settled and dismal day. +Perchance his thoughts wandered with his childhood's sweetheart amid +the fertile vales of far away Anjou. Nothing was more distant from him +than the gilded furnishings, the frescoes, the marble Venus at his +elbow. Beside her table, alone, and abstracted as Jerome, the woman +toyed with a dainty fan; her impassive beauty, born of rigid training, +betrayed not the inner desolation. Her face was calm and serious +enough, the skin lay smooth and glowed with all those delicate tints +that women love. +</P> + +<P> +Her quietude reminded me of the slumbering ocean, glassy and tranquil, +whose unmarred surface conveyed no hint of sunken ships beneath, of +cold dumb faces tossing in the brine, of death-abysses where wrecks +abandoned lie. +</P> + +<P> +I slipped away without rousing a protest from Jerome, and closing the +door softly left them to their meditations and to each other. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NEW HOPES +</H3> + + +<P> +Now, that I was well out of their way, it came to me to wonder what I +should do with myself until Jerome might please to seek me again, but +accident favored me with occupation. Passing through the hall I heard +a woman's shrill voice, lifted in anger, berating some unfortunate +attendant. +</P> + +<P> +"You wretched hussy, to speak rudely to a guest of mine, who did but +make to you a pretty speech. I'd have you be most charming to Monsieur +Viard. Remember, you are only a hireling, and need give yourself no +such fine and unseemly airs." +</P> + +<P> +The door just ahead of me was thrown violently open, and out strutted a +tiny lady in a most disproportionate rage. She was beautiful neither +in face nor figure; she was diminutive, and petulant of manner, but +bore herself with an air of almost regal pride. It was she whom I came +to know as Madame du Maine, a daughter of the proud and princely +Condes. Following her, weeping bitterly, came the sweet maid who had +spilled the tray of flowers on me at the door. I stepped back into an +alcove, lest, perchance, she look behind, and aimlessly I straggled out +into the gardens as best I might. The Villa being a strange ground, it +fretted me to be alone therein, with nothing to think of but this +trouble of my friends. And Madame de Chartrain, did I blame her? +Blame Jerome? Yes—no. I hardly knew. Viewed at a distance and +impartially, such things strike us with aversion, and we are quick to +condemn. But the more I thought the nearer I came to concluding it +took something more than a mere mummery to make a wife. All the +ceremonials and benedictions and lighted candles and high-sounding +phrases could not bind a woman's heart, where that heart was free, or +called some other man its lord. Yet the bare fact remained, this woman +was a wife, and to me, at least, that name had always been a sacred and +holy one. +</P> + +<P> +To what vain or wise conclusions my cogitations may have led me, I +conceive not, for another small matter now quite absorbed my whole +attention. It was the beginning of that one dear hope which speedily +banished all others. It is said the trippant tread of Fate doth leave +no print upon the sand to mark its passage, nor doth she sound a note +of warning that the waiting hand may grasp her garments as she flies. +</P> + +<P> +A gleam of white in one of the summer houses caught my roving eye, and +quite aimlessly I passed the door. A chit of a child crouched upon the +floor, and leaned forward on the benches, weeping as though each sob +were like to burst her little heart. I grant it was no affair of mine, +yet my tears were ever wont to start, and eyes play traitor to mine arm +at sight of woman's trouble. Without thinking one whit, I stepped in +beside her, and laying my hand gently upon the lassie's shoulder, +implored that she weep no more. +</P> + +<P> +Up she sprang to face me, flushed and indignant. Verily was I abashed. +Yet there was that of sympathy and sincerity in my voice and mien—or +so she told me after—which turned her wrath aside. +</P> + +<P> +"You, Monsieur; I thought it was old Monsieur Viard, he pursues me so." +</P> + +<P> +It was the same little maid I had seen in the hall, and that was why I +trembled. She wept now for the scolding she had got. I caught my +breath to inquire why she wept. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Madame, Madame—it is the humor of Madame to humiliate me of late; +she reminds me ever of my dependent position. And Monsieur," the child +straightened up proudly till she was quite a woman. "Monsieur, I come +of a race as old as her own—and as honored." "Charles is poor—the +Chevalier de la Mora, you know. But now he goes to the colonies, and +will take me with him." +</P> + +<P> +It was a silly enough thing to do, but about here I stalked most +unceremoniously off, leaving her to her sorrow and her tears. Since +that day I have often smiled to think how foolishly do the wisest men +deport themselves when they first begin to love. Their little starts +of passion, their petty angers and their sweet repentances—all were +unexplored by me, for Love to me was yet an unread book. +</P> + +<P> +At the door of the house M. Leroux hailed me graciously: +</P> + +<P> +"Well met, my dear Captain; we go to the park, and would have you bear +us company. Where is M. de Greville?" +</P> + +<P> +I explained as best I might his absence, and followed them in lieu of +better employment, forgetting for the time the threatened fete. Before +I could extricate myself, these new friends had led me into a brilliant +circle, and duly presented me to Madame, who sat on a sort of raised +platform in the center. +</P> + +<P> +She showed no traces of her recent anger and spite, vented upon that +patient girl who now claimed all my thought. Her ladies, some +languishing literary notables of the day, and officers, stood about +discussing the news, and talked of naught but some fetching style or +popular play, through all of which I struggled as bravely as my dazed +condition would permit. It seemed I would never grow accustomed to the +like, though it is said many men find great delight in such gatherings. +But one thing I searched for most eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +Behind Madame's chair, after a little, appeared the sweet shy face of +my weeping Niobe of the park. I felt she saw and recognized me, and my +face grew warmer at the thought. I made bold to ask one of the +gentlemen standing near me who the lady might be, and not desiring to +point at her, simply described her as well as possible, and as being in +attendance upon Madame. +</P> + +<P> +"That, Monsieur, is Madame Agnes, wife of the Chevalier de la Mora; the +wittiest and most beautiful woman at Sceaux, and the chilliest." +</P> + +<P> +Noting the change of countenance which I sought in vain to control, he +went on banteringly. +</P> + +<P> +"Beware M. le Capitaine, half the men at Sceaux are in love with her, +but she has the execrable taste to prefer her own husband. Such women +destroy half the zest of living. Beside, the Chevalier has a marvelous +sword and a most unpleasant temper. Bah! how ludicrous it is for men +to anger at trifles." +</P> + +<P> +"But," I faltered, "she seems a mere child." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but none the less charming," and he turned away to continue his +interrupted conversation with the daring young Arouet, the same who was +to acquire universal fame under the name Voltaire. +</P> + +<P> +Thus rudely were my new-awakened hopes of love cast down. A wife, and +the wife of a friend! She had spoken to me of "Charles," and of going +with him to the colonies. A wife, yet for all that, I knew I loved her. +</P> + +<P> +They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. My intentions +were the best that ever made excellent cobblestones toward the infernal +gate. Only a few days and I would be gone; surely those could be +passed through in peace. She was a wife—I would never let her know +that all my heart was hers. This I determined. But man is weak, and +the very atmosphere of France dried up the springs of every honest +impulse. Everywhere was scoffing, raillery and disbelief. Honor, +friendship and virtue were regarded as the vain chimeras of a fool. +Why should not I enjoy life while I might? +</P> + +<P> +Directly Madame Chartrain entered without intruding, and composedly +took her place among the ladies who made room for her near Madame. +Nothing in her manner bore evidence of her recent conflict. It was +really marvelous how the life these women led schooled them to a +stoicism any Choctaw brave daring the stake might envy. She nodded to +me gaily, and I stopped to touch her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is M. de Greville? Is he not to be with us this afternoon?" +</P> + +<P> +I looked her in the face, wondering, for could she not answer her own +question far better than I? She read my meaning, but her glance never +wavered. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! There he is, among the gentlemen. I feared he found Sceaux too +dull after Paris, and he had promised us a bit of his work. You know +he composes famous verses to some fair and distant inamorata." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, Madame, I suspected not his talents," I replied. Our +conversation lagged, for the programme had already commenced, and we +gave our attention to the reading of some curious letters, said to have +been written by two Persians of distinction then traveling in Europe, +which were being published anonymously in Paris. At first, I could not +bring myself to listen to such twaddle, dubiously moral, which, under +the guise of light, small talk, struck at the foundations of +government, religious beliefs, and all which I had before held sacred. +Listening only to contradict, I grew interested in spite of myself, and +only at some allusion more than usually out of place, as it seemed to +me, among so many ladies, did I take my eyes from the reader's +countenance, and suffer them to roam about the company. +</P> + +<P> +Feeling again the subtle influence of Agnes' gaze fixed full upon me, +it caused my cheeks to flush, my knees to quake, and verily, my legs +were as like to carry me away as to sustain me where I leaned against a +tree. The girl was looking straight at me; I dared not return her +stare which had something more than mere curiosity in it, and disturbed +me greatly. +</P> + +<P> +The reading was finished without my knowledge, a piece of buffoonery, +or play acting gone through with, which I did not see, when my own +name, called by Madame, brought me to my proper good sense again. +</P> + +<P> +I found myself, before I was quite aware, bending before Madame and +receiving her command that I should do something for the amusement of +the company. +</P> + +<P> +"M. Jerome has favored us, you know—we have no drones here," she went +on pleasantly, "and it is the rule at Sceaux that all must join our +merriment." +</P> + +<P> +"Jerome?" I answered in a bewildered fashion, for I had no recollection +of seeing aught he did; then I remembered hearing him recite some +languishing verses about a white rose, a kiss, a lady's lips—some +sighs, and such other stuff that now escapes me—but I had paid no +attention to it all. +</P> + +<P> +Jerome, the villain, seconded Madame's request so vigorously I could +not decline, though he well knew I was no carpet knight capable of +entertaining ladies fair on the tourney field of wit. +</P> + +<P> +"The Captain sings divinely, Madame, but is becomingly modest, as you +see." The wretch laughed in his sleeve; I could have strangled him. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, so rare," she retorted, "you men are vainer than my ladies." +</P> + +<P> +I knew myself the target for dozens of curious eyes, under the heat of +which I near melted away. +</P> + +<P> +"Sing, comrade, sing some sweet love ditty of a lonely forest maiden +and her lover, robed in the innocence of Eden." +</P> + +<P> +Had the fool no sense? I caught the imploring expression of interest +on the girl's sweet face behind Madame, and determined at all hazards +they should not have the laugh at me. I saw it all then; they were in +league with Jerome to play a game of "bait the bear," with me for bear. +</P> + +<P> +So I pitched in and sang, such a song I warrant as my lords and ladies +had never bent their ears to hear before, a crooning death incantation +of the Choctaws, which fell as naturally from my lips as my own mother +tongue. +</P> + +<P> +Their laughter hushed, for even in the court of France, sated as it was +with novelties, laying a world under tribute for amusements, that wild, +weird melody never rose before nor since. One stanza I sang translated +into French that they might understand; +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Yuh! Listen. Quickly you have drawn near to hearken;<BR> +Listen! Now I have come to step over your soul;<BR> +You are of the Wolf Clan;<BR> +Your name is Ayuni;<BR> +Toward the Black Coffin of the upland, in the upland of the<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Darkening Land your path shall stretch out.</SPAN><BR> +With the Black Coffin and the Black Slabs I have come to cover you<BR> +When darkness comes your spirit shall grow less and dwindle<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">away never to reappear. Listen."</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And they did listen; yea, attentively did they hearken, for a great +pall of silence lowered upon them, so new, so strange to them was the +song. +</P> + +<P> +When I had quite finished, the soft, Indian words dropping as the +splash of unknown, unseen waters, Madame besought me with earnestness +to tell her more, and the others crowded round to hear. I do not know +what evil genius of folly prompted the childish deed, but feeling safe +in having found what we wanted, and moved more than I would admit by +the now admiring eyes of the girl, I gathered up half a dozen daggers +from the gentlemen who stood about. Selecting those whose weight and +balance commended themselves most to my purpose, I cleared a small +space, and having sent a serving man for a pack of cards, chose a five +spot and pinned it to a tree. Standing back some ten to fifteen paces, +I cast the four knives at the corner pips in quick succession, piercing +them truly, then paused a minute and cast the fifth knife at the +center, striking accurately between the other four. It was an act of +idle vanity, yet I hated for Jerome to taunt me on the way home. +</P> + +<P> +By these petty means I gained a cheap applause from the belles and +gallants at Sceaux, and Jerome opened not his lips to jibe me, as I +feared, but like the rest, applauded. +</P> + +<P> +I had now quite regained my courage, but for the girl. I loved to +think of her as but a girl; that she was also a wife I barred out of +our castle in Spain. Why should I be afraid of such a timid child? +Verily, I knew not. +</P> + +<P> +My folly had one result I could not then foresee; it told some of those +present, whose hand it was had cast the hunting knife which struck +Yvard. I did not learn this for days after. +</P> + +<P> +The approving and pleased look on the little lady's face fired me with +an insane desire to further win her notice, whereat I chided myself for +a vain coxcomb, and drew imperceptibly away from the company, until I +gained a shady and secluded walk which led to a retired nook +overlooking the valley. +</P> + +<P> +The quietude of the evening's close jarred on my turbulence of spirit. +For the first time a woman's voice lingered in my ears after her speech +was done, a woman's smile played as the fitful summer's lightning +before my eyes. Oh, fool, fool! What place had women in a soldier's +life. What a discordant harmony would one angel create amid the rough +denizens of Biloxi. So I reasoned, forgetful that reasons never yet +convinced the heart. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE UNEXPECTED +</H3> + + +<P> +As one who pauses at the threshold of some fabled palace of the houri, +so did I stop, bewildered by the beauty of this virgin field of love, +by fancy decked with blossoms, now spreading all the allurements of +fetterless imaginings before me. A sudden whiff brought me the perfume +of her presence, and, turning, she appeared before me, whether in the +spirit or the flesh, I could hardly tell, so transported was I by the +swift changes of my thought, merging beauties ever new, ever sparkling, +with those scarce tasted ones but just discarded. Yet there she was, a +dainty thing in white. White of dress, white of face, white of spirit. +</P> + +<P> +In frightened tones of far-away sweetness, her voice mingled with the +air, so low, so melodious one could scarce determine when she commenced +to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur, quick, listen. You are in danger. I was in Madame de +Chartrain's chamber and overheard. You have letters. M. de Greville +will take them from you—for her sake—they compromise her. There is +other danger," she spoke breathlessly on, "other more deadly danger +lurking for you here; I beseech you to leave—at once. M. de Greville +will take those letters from you by force or guile. Oh, tarry not, +there has been so much of blood, and this place so seeming fair; the +assassin, the poison and prison houses." +</P> + +<P> +The eloquence of fear trembled in her words. Half starting forward I +drank in every syllable, not for the warning she would fain convey, but +for their sweetness. All I could realize for the moment was that she +had sought me, sought me freely. Then she was gone. Swiftly, +noiselessly as she came, she disappeared. The distant flutter of her +skirts among the sombre trees marked the path she went. Through it all +I spoke no word, returning, as one who has received an angel's visit, +to my reverie. +</P> + +<P> +I was not suffered long to spend my time alone. The old beau, de +Virelle, in his bluff and hearty way directed the attention of a party +of ladies who were with him to where I hung over a marble balustrade +enraptured at the broad expanse of valley, rosy tinted with the hues of +ebbing light, boundless as the dim horizon of my own sweet dreams. +</P> + +<P> +"By my faith, Captain, you should have heard the clamor over your +departure. Already famous, and so soon weary of your laurels. Ah! a +tryst," he exclaimed. "Verily you do better than I thought," for he +had picked up a muslin handkerchief, edged with lace, which sought in +vain to hide itself among the leaves. So busied had I been it escaped +my notice. Instinctively I reclaimed the prize and with no gentle hand +I doubt, for his touch and jeering manner desecrated the sacred relic +of my vanished saint. +</P> + +<P> +De Virelle scowled somewhat at my precipitation, but, meeting a no less +determined air, passed the matter by. His ladies affected not to see. +They in their turn plied me with inquiries about the savages in +America, asked all manner of silly questions, and completed with their +foolish simperings the disgust I already felt at such an interruption +to my thought. Yet so great is the force of novelty to women they +clung about me as if I were some strange tame animal brought to Paris +for their divertisement. +</P> + +<P> +"Zounds, Margot dear," de Virelle blurted out aside, for even his dull +senses saw I was not pleased, "our good Moliere must have had this +hermit captain in his mind when he made Alceste to rail so at the +hypocrisies of the world, and urge the telling of truth and looking of +truth at all times." +</P> + +<P> +"How brutally frank! What bad breeding," assented that young woman. +</P> + +<P> +"This captain seems so full of weariness at our coming, and lacks the +grace to veil it decently; let us go." +</P> + +<P> +Finding no hand of mine raised to hinder them, these fair dames and +demoiselles, with many pretty pouts and flutters and flounces, betook +themselves away, followed by their faithful squire. +</P> + +<P> +I began then to feel sorry at having disgraced Jerome's gentle +teachings. The light dying away across the distant fields and streams, +I resigned my solitary communion and set out slowly toward the villa. +The meaning of all the girl had said now forced itself upon my +attention. If this were true, and it seemed plausible enough in view +of all that had transpired here, I was indeed confronted by a new and +serious danger. Happily danger was not a new fellow-traveler; I merely +turned over in my mind the best means to meet it. +</P> + +<P> +Going rather out of my way, I found the grooms without much difficulty, +and telling them we were to leave Sceaux at once, ordered the horses +saddled, and made ready at a side door where I directed them to wait. +My own mind was to tell Jerome nothing of it, but simply to mount the +best horse and ride away alone—if that course became necessary. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +I will break in a bit just here to speak of an incident which occurred +that very night in the modest boudoir of Madame de la Mora. Had I but +known of it at the time, it would have saved me many weary months of +suffering. +</P> + +<P> +Madame Agnes de la Mora sat placidly, her work basket by her side, +busied about some lace she was mending. The Chevalier studied a number +of military maps of Louisiana at his table. It was a pretty picture of +domestic harmony, then quite unfashionable at Sceaux. A timid rap at +the door, and a voice: +</P> + +<P> +"Sister, may I come in?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, child," and her sister Charlotte slipped silently in and sat +herself upon the floor at Madame's feet. There was a striking +similarity between the two. Madame, for all her dignified title, being +but a year the elder, and she scant of twenty. Charlotte, somewhat +slighter and more delicately colored, was even of greater beauty than +her sister, with much promise for the years to come. To the casual +observer, though, especially when viewed apart, they seemed almost +reflections one of the other. There was something of a loving +guardianship in the attitude of the elder, of confiding trust in that +of the younger, as she leaned her head upon her sister's knee in +pensive meditation. +</P> + +<P> +"Sister, I must tell you of something; I know not that I did well or +ill," and she lifted her face with a surety of sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, dear, what weighty matter troubles you now?" +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier looked up long enough to say: +</P> + +<P> +"Have you torn your frock, or only quarreled again with the good Abbe +over your task?" The girl very evidently had nothing to fear from his +harshness. +</P> + +<P> +"No! No! Don't tease; it's really important. This day at noon Madame +Chartrain was in her chamber—you know the young man who came with M. +Jerome?" de la Mora nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"The same I ran into at the door?" and she flushed again at the memory +of our discomfiture. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, to-day noon at Madam Chartrain's I heard that danger threatened +him concerning some papers or something which he has—and Madame du +Maine, too, they mean him harm; and—and—well, I told him. Did I do +ill, sister?" +</P> + +<P> +"What is that, Charlotte? Come here." +</P> + +<P> +She crossed the room obediently and stood before him. +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier asked: "How did it happen, child? Tell me all about it, +where you saw him, who was there, and all." +</P> + +<P> +So she went on to tell of her seeking me in the park, and her hurried +warning. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what did he say to all that?" +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't say anything; I gave him no chance; I just ran up near him +and told him as quick as ever I could that he had better go off +somewhere, and then—and then—well, I just ran away again. He looked +so startled and surprised he could not say anything. When I turned +again to peep through the hedge he was still standing there with his +hands stretched out as if he would have liked to stop me, but I was +already gone." +</P> + +<P> +The girl laughed a short little laugh and tucked her hand closer into +his. +</P> + +<P> +"Did I do wrong, Charles? Tell me, was it so very, very—bold?" +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier could not quite suppress the smile already twitching at +his lips, though he soon looked grave enough. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, child, it was not well; beside, the affair is not yours, and it +is always dangerous to meddle. There, now, don't worry, it does not +matter much after all. Soon we leave here and you will never see any +of them again, I hope. This is no place for lassies fair and young as +you. I hope to take both you and Agnes to a new and purer land." +</P> + +<P> +"Soon we leave?" she repeated, "oh, I forgot; but I don't want to, I +like it here." +</P> + +<P> +"Like it? I thought you hated Sceaux?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I did—but—" +</P> + +<P> +"But, what?" +</P> + +<P> +"But, nothing, I just like it—now," she insisted illogically. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is this young man, Charles?" asked Agnes when her sister had gone. +And he told her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FLIGHT FROM SCEAUX. +</H3> + + +<P> +The responsibility brought by the possession of such valuable state +papers oppressed me greatly, to say nothing of the perils which would +beset their custodian if it became Jerome's purpose to reclaim them. I +thought it most prudent and proper under present conditions to see the +dispatches safe in de Serigny's hands—then, at least, I would be +absolved from any blame in the matter. Serigny held me responsible, +and it would perhaps be the part of wisdom to act independently of +Jerome, report fully to Serigny, and if it were then his wish that the +investigation concerning Yvard and Madame du Maine be pressed to +further discoveries, nothing would be easier than to return to Paris +almost before Jerome could miss me. I need tell Serigny nothing of my +suspicion of Jerome; even if true, his animosity would vanish with the +cause which gave it birth. +</P> + +<P> +There was much to acquaint Serigny with, much perchance he knew +already. Paris swarmed with rumors. Every lip was busy with +second-hand gossip coming, as each relator declared, from the most +reliable sources. "My cousin, who is laundress to the Countess de +Lanois, says," and upon this immaculate authority the butcher upon his +morning rounds detailed the most delightful and impossible gossip to +his customers. +</P> + +<P> +"Pierre, my son, the valet, who is in the confidence of the Duke of +Gesvres, heard His Grace say with his own lips"—and so the wine-room +stories flew, gathering strength and falsehood as they went. But the +story of to-day gave the lie to that of yesterday, and no man knew the +truth. +</P> + +<P> +War with Spain filled every mouth, yet none had a why or a wherefore. +The King said "war," and all his nation echoed. No, not all. Many +there were who gave voice to the cry with hearts that rebelled, with +clear brains questioning the right of one man to plunge a whole people +into renewed slaughter. These held their peace for the sake of their +necks. "<I>I am the State</I>," Louis had declared, and such ideas were not +for the canaille to have; they must curb their tongues to cheat the +gibbet. Being a soldier and under orders, I had no right to form +opinions, but, sobered in some degree by these reflections, paced about +until it came time to take horse and away. +</P> + +<P> +"In the name of the wandering Ulysses, Placide, where have you been +these two good hours?" said Jerome, suddenly coming toward me. +</P> + +<P> +"Has it been so long? I tired of the crowd and strolled alone through +the gardens." +</P> + +<P> +His quick eye caught sight of the handkerchief tucked snugly in my belt. +</P> + +<P> +"A lady? And so soon?" he bantered me. +</P> + +<P> +My tell-tale flush permitted no denial, nor did I care to discuss it. +As we talked we drifted into a small room just off the main hall. +</P> + +<P> +"By the way, Placide, had we better not place our dispatches in some +safe hiding until we leave here? It might be suspected we have them. +The devil only knows what that scheming de Valence and du Maine may not +unearth. Their spies are everywhere." +</P> + +<P> +I agreed with him. It was as well; anything to gain time and allay +suspicion. But I understood my lady's warning was true; his +earnestness convinced me. +</P> + +<P> +"Where do you carry them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sewn in the lining of my cloak," I replied. A lie, but pardonable. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you careless fellow; they maybe lost. Where is your cloak?" +seeing I did not have it. +</P> + +<P> +"In charge of Damien; he is trusty." +</P> + +<P> +"Better have it yourself; wait here, I will go and fetch it." +</P> + +<P> +I congratulated myself on this diplomatic stroke, for Jerome was about +to start off in all haste when Damien himself appeared, and before I +could stop him, delivered the message. +</P> + +<P> +"The horses are saddled and at the door." +</P> + +<P> +"Go and wait with them." +</P> + +<P> +Jerome had taken my cloak from the fellow's arm, for in fact he had it, +and now laid it across his knee. His blank expression showed utter +astonishment at the disclosure. +</P> + +<P> +"What does this mean? We are to rest here to-night?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; I ride to Paris." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid." +</P> + +<P> +"Of what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of everything. We are in the house of our enemies, and it is the +quality of courage to be discreet." +</P> + +<P> +During this brief dialogue Jerome was stealthily running his hands +through the lining of my cloak until he comprehended I had misled him. +I could almost put his thought in words. Together we arose, laying +each our hands upon the half-closed door, he to hold it, I to open it, +steady-eyed, and each reluctant to cause the breach we knew must come. +</P> + +<P> +"Placide, the papers are not here," he said in a quiet tone, yet full +of determination. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it." +</P> + +<P> +"Why have you deceived me then?" for he could mask his purposes no +longer, "Hand me those dispatches." +</P> + +<P> +"No. My orders are to place them in the hands of Serigny." +</P> + +<P> +"But I must have them." +</P> + +<P> +"And I tell you as firmly, you can not." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, Captain," he begged in altered tones, "those dispatches may +compromise Celeste. Let us take from them anything which implicates +her in this miserable intrigue, and deliver the rest. That is easy. I +can open and close them again so it can not be told." +</P> + +<P> +"My orders are not to open them." +</P> + +<P> +"By God, you will!" he burst out with volcanic fury, "no, no; I am too +hot. We can lose them; tell Serigny they were never found; tell him +Yvard carried them off; tell him he never had them. We can fix a tale." +</P> + +<P> +"It would be a long story, and a liar must needs have a good memory." +</P> + +<P> +I was playing for time, time to think, time to get away. +</P> + +<P> +"But I will go with you to Serigny," he insisted, "tell the lie and +make him to believe. 'Pshaw, man, you know not the ways of the world, +at least not at the Court of France." +</P> + +<P> +"Think, Jerome, of the war, of our people in the colonies, of our +honor?" +</P> + +<P> +"I care not for it all," the wild passion in his voice made me almost +fear him. "All that is as nothing to me where Celeste is concerned. +Oh, Placide, think of it! I love her, love her, love her—do you +comprehend what that means to such a man as I? I, who have loved her +almost from her birth, have seen her taken from me and sold—yes, sold +by her money-loving father, sold, sold! I, who have borne all her +husband's leers when, flushed with the insolence of rank and wine, this +shriveled bridegroom bore her as a piece of ornament to his house in +Paris. Can I bear to lose her now? +</P> + +<P> +"But, Jerome, you would not be such a coward as to permit our brethren +in the colonies to be slaughtered, while you tell your pitiful lie to +shield a woman? It can not be done. What a fool you are come to be. +Man, man, where is your courage?" +</P> + +<P> +"I care not. Love for such a woman would make of Truth a liar, and of +Jove a fool. Think, Placide, think of her, Celeste, in the Bastille, +the irons cutting into her delicate hands, those hands which I have so +fondly held within my own—the cold stones for her bed. Or, worse: The +block, the headsman and the jeering rabble. Have you no feeling, man? +Suppose there was some woman whom you loved—a guilty love, I +grant—but so strong, so deep, so overpowering, you could not master +it? Suppose <I>she</I> were threatened, would you not protect her even if +you lost your life; yea, bartered away your honor?" +</P> + +<P> +A pale little tearful face thrust itself before me as he spoke, and I +knew my own weak heart. I confess his pleading staggered me, and I +hesitated. He came closer; all the love and fear of a strong and +desperate man wove itself into his words. +</P> + +<P> +"Could you only have seen her two hours ago when you left her chamber; +have heard her sobs, felt the tremble of her heart when she threw +herself, just as when a child she used to do, into my arms pleading for +protection! Those dispatches will ruin her. She so calm, so proud, so +brave to all the world, wept like a terrified baby upon my breast. +Placide, I'd die and go to hell to save her. She so cold and pure, her +very name is a reproach to this flock of butterfly women. This woman +loves me, loves me even though that love be what men call dishonor. +Bah! I hate the word. Her father never sold her heart. No, that was +mine, forever mine. Had I but foreseen this I'd have left you rotting +in Bertrand's dungeon. No, no. Placide, I meant it not; I'm not +myself; forgive me, comrade; pity her and pity me." +</P> + +<P> +I vaguely wondered what there could be in the packet to cause him so +sincere an apprehension. But I must think of my people and be strong. +I denied him once for all. He sprang at me with the fury of a demon. +Being the cooler and stronger, I threw him off easily and reached the +door as he came again with his sword. It was a delicate predicament. +I could easily kill him. Wild with a lover's fear, he left his front +open to my blade, but I'd had enough of death. He paused to shove a +table from his path, which gave me time to open and slip through the +door. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment he rushed out behind me, pale and panting. The corridor, +deserted, echoed to our flying steps. I ran on ahead making my way +toward the horses. Meeting people outside, we had to slacken our gait, +smile, and conceal the realities of the situation, the necessity for +which he apprehended as quickly as I. +</P> + +<P> +Four horses stood ready, and choosing the one I thought best fitted for +a hard chase—it was evident we could not afford to fight it out at +Sceaux—and to fight seemed now his purpose—I vaulted lightly into the +saddle, and before Jerome could hinder, had jumped the low wall and +taken the direct road to Paris. +</P> + +<P> +Practiced horseman as Jerome was, it took him no time to follow, and +his grooms joined in the chase. +</P> + +<P> +On, on, we sped. Trees, fences, walls and people all melted into one +motley and indistinguishable stream. In the open road we strung out, +according to the speed of our mounts, one of the grooms dropping +farther and farther in the rear. The distance between Jerome and +myself, despite his frantic belaborings of his brave steed, grew +steadily greater. +</P> + +<P> +Just before we passed a crooked lane off to the left, leading whither I +knew not, Jerome turned in his saddle and called to the two grooms now +well to the rear. +</P> + +<P> +"That way quick; to the Versailles road. Cut him off." +</P> + +<P> +The fellows obeyed, reining their horses into a swinging lope, as, less +hurried, they took the lane indicated. Jerome thence rode on after me +alone. The situation was now becoming awkward. I had acted without +cool consideration heretofore, taking the Paris road because it was the +only one I knew, and trusting thereafter largely to fortune. Now, as I +caught occasional glimpses of the city spires, the towers of Notre +Dame, I must perforce remember I had no hopes from them. The crazed +man behind knew the city well, while to me it was a labyrinth of +difficulty. I had no friends, while he counted many. I must act, and +that quickly. Had I but known enough to turn down that lane into the +Versailles road I could have reached the palace without molestation, +thanks to my good luck in picking the best horse of the lot. Thinking +of the lane brought an idea which promised well. +</P> + +<P> +Moderating my speed gradually I suffered Jerome to draw nearer. I then +called over my shoulder that as we were now man to man, we might +dismount and fight it out upon a piece of level sward beside the road. +His horse was nearly spent, and inflamed to fury by the fear of my +escape, he eagerly agreed. While we parleyed, I worked myself into a +position near his horse's head, and as he prepared to alight, snatched +my sword and with a quick upper cut severed one rein near the bit. The +blade having cut his horse slightly under his throat, he reared and +plunged, and finding himself uncontrolled started madly off down the +road, Jerome cursing, screaming and clinging to his mane. +</P> + +<P> +I had to laugh at the success of my stratagem, for though it was a +scurvy trick to play an old friend, it was much the simplest way out of +the difficulty to dispose of him in this bloodless fashion. I put my +horse about now without interference. When I wheeled down the lane +toward Versailles, Jerome's clatter and dust was just dying away over +the crest of a distant hill, making most excellent time in the +direction of Paris. +</P> + +<P> +Now that this new danger was past, I rode on heavy-hearted enough, for +I had grown to love Jerome, and blamed him little for his sudden touch +of fury. For I was nearly in the same boat, borne on by the same +strong currents as Jerome. +</P> + +<P> +Verily, what will man not do for woman? Love had turned him from a +courteous nobleman of France, a brave and kindly gentleman, into the +frenzied coward who would lie to his master, slay his friend, and turn +traitor to his countrymen. A god could not love and be wise. +</P> + +<P> +I jogged along slowly, seeking to rest my horse, for I could not tell +how soon I must look to his speed for safety. It was necessary also +that I should see the two fellows who watched the Versailles road +before they caught sight of me. Possibly an artifice might avail me +where force would fail. +</P> + +<P> +Presently from a slight eminence the broad highway could be seen +winding out of Paris, glistening in the starlight, for it was now after +dusk, twisting in dusty undulations toward the distant palace of the +King. I drew rein among some trees which served for shelter, and +scanned the way to see if the watchers were in sight. The lane, before +it entered the Versailles road, branched out into two portions, one +bearing away toward Paris, while the other traversed a piece of low +ground that struck the main road several hundred yards in the other +direction. Within the irregular triangle thus formed the two grooms +had thrown themselves upon the ground, being distinctly visible in a +little clearing. +</P> + +<P> +Their position commanded quite a considerable stretch of road toward +the city, and as by going that way it would take a good hour and a half +of hard riding to get so far, it was certain they did not expect me to +pass for some time. That cut-off through the lane must have been ten +miles the shorter journey. +</P> + +<P> +This reflection gave me some hope that I might be able to slip by in a +gallop before they could take horse. Yet I could not afford to waste +much time, for Jerome might perchance find means to follow, and would +not be in a pleasant humor. There could be no accounting for the +lengths to which his desperation and folly might carry him. I had need +for both haste and caution. +</P> + +<P> +I was now at the top of a slight hillock, the grooms resting at the +foot. As ill fortune would have it, my horse's hoof loosened a stone, +and one of them looking up recognized my figure clear drawn against the +fading colors of the sky. They both jumped up with an alertness which +would have done credit to old woodsmen, and before I could dodge by, +had remounted and taken possession of the road. My more elevated +position and perhaps better hearing, too, enabled me to detect the +coming of persons along the road from Paris. Certainly as many as +three or four horsemen, perhaps a vehicle. It could hardly be possible +that Jerome had made the trip so quickly, yet I did not know what other +and shorter way he might find. At any rate every instant intensified +the danger, for if it were Jerome, then, indeed, I could not hope to +make Versailles that night. +</P> + +<P> +Listening more critically I decided they were travelling too slowly to +be Jerome's party. +</P> + +<P> +I would then most gladly have charged the insolents in front and taken +all chances, but my half hour of quiet thought had brought me the +conclusion it was too much to risk my life, at least until Serigny was +acquainted with the information we had gained. I, too, was the only +person who knew of the traitors on board le Dauphin. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you, and what do you mean stopping a gentleman's path?" I +called to the twain who had drawn a little away from the foot of the +hill seeing the disadvantage of their former position in case I charged +them, and preferring to receive me on the open ground. +</P> + +<P> +"No harm, Monsieur, we only mean to detain you until M. de Greville +comes up," the slender man spoke quite politely. +</P> + +<P> +"M. de Greville will not come up this night—may God have mercy on his +soul," I added solemnly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not, fine sir?" the gruffer fellow on the big bay questioned with +some heat. I made no quibble on his manner, but replied: +</P> + +<P> +"I doubt I have slain him. He lies back yonder in the road to Sceaux, +and I know not whether he be dead or still lives." +</P> + +<P> +They hesitated and consulted together in a low tone; I saw my +opportunity to press their indecision. +</P> + +<P> +"What excuse can you make and what authority have you for halting an +officer of the King with dispatches to the King? With M. Jerome de +Greville to stand between you and harm it was dangerous enough; now it +is a matter of hanging." +</P> + +<P> +"But M. de Greville is not dead," they protested together, "we left him +a few minutes since alive and well." I seized upon the vacillation +manifest in their voices and proceeded with confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"Then how think you I came along this road? Think you M. Jerome would +let me go so easily? You know his temper too well. Does he change his +mind like a woman? I turned about to take the nearer path, and see, +his blood is not yet dry upon my sword." +</P> + +<P> +"We do not believe you. It is some trick." +</P> + +<P> +"If you will but move this way and give me clear passage to Versailles, +I will go and say nothing. You can then return and minister to your +master." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, we'll hold the road an hour, which gives him time to come up. An +hour gone and you may pursue your journey." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, forsooth, one of you can make his peace with God. I'll shoot +your stoutest bully and try blades with the other." +</P> + +<P> +I raised the pistol which had been concealed unknown to Jerome, and to +say the truth, it looked formidable enough all a-glitter beneath the +rising moon, though I doubted much if I could strike my mark. +</P> + +<P> +As I started resolutely onward I warned them: +</P> + +<P> +"Pull your nags off in yonder level space, leave the left fork free, or +by the gods, you burly black-haired rascal, I'll take the first shot at +you, you make the fairest target. Way there, in the King's name!" +</P> + +<P> +As is ever so with low-born churls, and no gentleman to command, each +looked to the other for some act of heroism, and each sought his own +safety. +</P> + +<P> +They stood their ground only an instant, then pulled aside as I had +bidden them. As soon as I passed them a decent distance as if I had no +fear, I put spurs to my good steed, and, breathing more freely than I +had done for many days, heard the merry pounding of his hoofs upon the +open way to my mission's end. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SERIGNY'S DEPARTURE +</H3> + + +<P> +The clocks were striking, one after the other in monotonous imitative +fashion, the hour of nine when I delivered my horse to a sleepy groom +at the little tavern just outside the Versailles gate. +</P> + +<P> +Serigny was already in his rooms, intent on some business, and opened +his door himself. There was no need for concealing his gratification +and the intense impatience he felt to know results, nor did he make any +attempt at concealment. On the contrary, he was as urgent as a school +child. Everything about him, packed in boxes and traveling bags, +seemed prepared for instant journey. Upon his table a few disarranged +papers were scattered beside a leathern portfolio, through which he had +evidently been looking when I arrived. Without stopping to replace any +of the documents he hastened me to a seat, and drawing his chair close, +commanded me to begin. My coming had been so sudden I had given no +consideration to the nature of my report to Serigny, and found some +difficulty in gathering ideas together in such shape they would be +understood. I had hardly begun my statement when quick steps sounded +along the outer passage followed by an almost imperative knock on the +door. Jerome, I thought. So it was. Jerome, bespattered and soiled +from his hard ride, a raw bruise across his cheek, his clothing awry. +He was pale and determined, yet quiet withal. +</P> + +<P> +I instinctively rose and laid my hand to my hilt. A glance reassured +me. His purpose, lying deeper, I could not divine; it was plain though +he brooded not that kind of quarrel. Nor do I to this day know what he +intended when he first entered Serigny's room that night. +</P> + +<P> +"I rode after you in all haste, Captain." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed you did," I mentally agreed. +</P> + +<P> +"And met a fall, which, as you see, has somewhat disfigured me," and he +laughed, while I agreed with him again. +</P> + +<P> +Serigny, being so intent on the important transactions of the hour, +accepted his explanation without question. The welcome, though +cordial, was brief, Serigny being a man of no unnecessary words. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on, Captain," and I picked up the broken thread of my narrative +where Jerome had interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +As I went on obediently, Jerome would now and again supply some link +wherein my memory failed, or suggest something I had left unsaid, until +having so much the nimbler tongue he took the telling out of my mouth +entirely. I could not complain, for he detailed the various adventures +far better than I, and gave me more of the credit than I would have +claimed for myself. We had, by common consent, forgotten our late +strife, and becoming much interested I broke in upon a glowing account +of my heroism: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold, Jerome, by my faith, you grow more garrulous than a fish-wife of +the barriers; tell but a plain, straight tale, and leave off all that +romantic garniture of thine," and thence I reclaimed my straggling +story and brought it to a conclusion. All this while the dispatches +for which we had risked so much lay safe in my breast. I rather +hesitated to produce them, dreading what the hot-headed fellow might do +to get a hold upon that which peradventure would cause trouble to his +lady love. I could not decline when Serigny asked for them, but hauled +out both packets, one taken from Yvard, the other from Broussard, +casting them upon the table. Jerome eyed them so I that knew from the +look his late fury was not yet dead, and I watched him in readiness for +any move he might make to repossess them. +</P> + +<P> +He sat as unconcerned as if the whole affair interested him no further, +now that the main object of his solicitude was safe in the keeping of +his superior. I misdoubted whether this was not all a sham, and could +hardly believe him the same frenzied Jerome who had pleaded so hard, +and fought so desperately for this self-same packet of Yvard's, which +at this time reposed within easy reach of his hand. Once he reached +out and took it up negligently, inspected the seals and marks, then +replaced it. His examination seemed one of mere idle curiosity, or +would have so appeared had I not known that he was already perfectly +acquainted with every mark borne by our charge. The eyes, half closed +in dreamy contemplation, spoke apparently of a man who has been +relieved of some grave responsibility and enjoys the relaxation, yet, +for all of that, he was listening most intently to what Serigny and I +were talking of. Serigny was now fondling the instruments which were +to be the restoration of his own and his brother's influence. His +words were addressed to neither of us in particular. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is the seal of Spain. Cellemare again, Egad! They are bold, or +must have great confidence in their emissaries. Here, too, is Madame. +Ah, my clever little lady, you have outdone your own cleverness at +last. I fancy even the King's old love for his son's mother will not +save you now. I would I knew what was in them." +</P> + +<P> +"We can easily see, and close them snug again," ventured Jerome, but +noting Serigny's frown, he turned it off with a laugh, "or so our +friend Madame would advise." +</P> + +<P> +It thus became manifest he had not abandoned his idea of intercepting +whatever might compromise Madame de Chartrain. +</P> + +<P> +Serigny continued: "These must be placed before the King unopened by +any of us. Yes, it's a risk," he caught Jerome's knotted brow of +indecision, "I grant you it is a risk, for I know not what +complications are here contained. I will myself seek the King, and +with these am sure to gain his own ear." +</P> + +<P> +Jerome all this while uttered no other word, nervously flicking the mud +splotches off his boots, and lifting an earnest look now and anon to +Serigny. +</P> + +<P> +My own mind was busy devising means to foil any contemplated treachery +upon his part, and wondering whether it was not my duty to acquaint +Serigny with the whole truth of the matter. The test came when I least +expected it. When all our adventures had been detailed again and +again, his dozens of incisive questions answered, our conversation +naturally drifted toward the future. My mission in France completed, +there was nothing now but a return to the colonies, and the +uncertainties of a campaign which I no longer doubted was imminent. +Somehow the thought of a great and glorious war did not appeal to me so +forcibly as such a prospect would have done some few weeks agone. +</P> + +<P> +There was ever a shy little face, a brave girlish figure which stood +resolute and trembling before me in the park, that intruded between me +and the barbaric splendor of our western wars. Nor did I raise a hand +to brush the vision aside. It toned down the innate savagery of man, +softened the stern, callous impulses of the soldier, and all the +currents of my being trickled through quieter, sweeter channels of life +and love. Even the shame of it made not the thought less sweet. +</P> + +<P> +There was but trifling period to spare for such gentler musings, for +Serigny, by a gesture, called attention to his well packed luggage. +</P> + +<P> +"See, I am ready. I only waited your coming and report to put out at +once for le Dauphin. My people have already gone forward to arm and +provision her for the struggle. We must be prompt. There is much to +lose in a day. I myself will go on to-morrow and have all in complete +readiness for the voyage, and, who knows, for the fighting on the other +side. Now give heed Placide—Captain de Mouret," for he was always +particular to distinguish the man from the soldier, and in giving +orders to address me by my proper title. "The war has been decided +upon; you will remain here and watch developments"—he was proceeding +to acquaint me with what was expected of me. I knew not what he might +say, but felt impelled to throw out a silent warning, which even though +he understood it not, he was quick enough to take. He paused and +looked me inquisitively in the face. I glanced awkwardly from him to +Jerome and back again. +</P> + +<P> +The thought then dominant was a growing distrust of Jerome, and the +desire to have our movements secret. I remembered Bienville's words +"We know not who to trust," and being ignorant of what orders Serigny +meant to give, or how much information they would convey to Jerome, +deemed it best to let all the occurrences of the day come out. I could +not forget the lad's gallantry, nor must I lose sight of the fact that +as affairs now were, he might very well have gone over to the other +side for the sake of Madame; things stranger than that took place every +day, and I had learned to be discreet. He might thus come into +valuable hints and afterward cast them into the scale against +Bienville, for every means good or bad would be used by them to save +their own influence, to uplift the Duke of Maine. If Bienville were +involved in the general ruin, why, what mattered it to them? +</P> + +<P> +While I remained hesitating for a word, Jerome's ready wit had already +comprehended my purpose. He took the words from my lips. His +countenance first flushed, then became hard and fixed, compelling me +for the time into silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur de Serigny, I perhaps can speak you better our good Captain's +mind. He mistrusts me—." +</P> + +<P> +"You?" burst out Serigny greatly surprised. "Why you have ever been +our staunch and loyal friend. What is this, Captain de Mouret, surely +you are above a young man's jealousy?" +</P> + +<P> +Jerome gave me no time to explain. +</P> + +<P> +"Softly, softly, sir. The Captain has good cause. Give me heed, my +friends. To you, M. de Serigny, I will say upon my honor, which until +this day was never stained by thought or deed, I will say,—this day I +would have betrayed you. Nay, do not look so pained and unbelieving; +all men are mortal, and passions stronger even than duty, stronger than +loyalty, yea, stronger than honor itself, may tyrannize over the best +of us. I repeat, this day would I gladly have betrayed you, betrayed +my friends to save—well it boots not whom, but a woman. For the woman +I love may lose her liberty if not her life when those accursed papers +reach the hands of the King. I was mad, and at this moment doubt and +fear myself. It is better not to trust me with your plans; the Captain +is right. Jerome de Greville never yet deceived a friend, but for the +love of God, Messires, do not tempt him now," and he faced about with +unsteady step and started toward the door. Before we could detain him +he was gone, leaving Serigny staring in the most unbelieving and +bewildered fashion at me. +</P> + +<P> +"In God's name, Captain, what piece of folly is this? Tell me all, for +ofttimes the success of the most careful plans is governed by just such +undercurrents as this, of man's love or woman's spite. Go on, I +listen." +</P> + +<P> +I explained briefly Madame's position, Serigny nodding his +acquiescence; it was an old tale to him, except he did not know +Jerome's relations with Madame. Of her domination over the Duke of +Maine he was well aware. When my story was fully done he pondered for +a long while in silence. His sorrow was deep and sincere. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor fellow; poor fellow; as noble a lad as ever drew a sword, but in +his present frame of mind it is safer not to trust him; he is capable +of any act of desperation. We will do our best to protect his lady, +though. Where was I? This matter has disturbed me— Oh, yes, about +to give your orders. You see I am all ready to leave. I have but +waited your return. The war has been decided on and the news needs +only to be given out. The King hesitates and wavers; Chamillard is a +mere reflection of the royal whim. If we do not attack the Spaniard he +will attack us; it is simply a question of whether we want the war at +Biloxi or Havana. For my part I would rather see Havana in siege than +Biloxi. This matter can not be long delayed, a few days more at most. +These dispatches may decide. With these before the King he will no +longer doubt my brother, but will place the blame where it most +properly belongs—for in the main, Louis is just. I would not desire +any greater pleasure than to see the gibbet whereon these traitors of +the itching palms, these thieves who sell their King for Spanish gold, +will take their last dance. Do you remain here for as many as six +days, this room is at your disposal. Be quiet and discreet; learn all +and tell nothing. A still tongue is the safest in these times. The +moment war is declared make all speed for Dieppe and we will up anchor +and away." +</P> + +<P> +Serigny was as happy as a boy at the prospect of action; the atmosphere +of court ill agreed with his fiery temper. This was the gist of our +plan of operations, and it was so arranged in detail. +</P> + +<P> +In a few moments Serigny left me, taking the packet with him, and I in +excess of caution followed him at a little distance, locking the door +behind me and keeping the key in my pocket. I bore his tall figure +well in sight until he passed out of the unfrequented halls into that +portion of the palace where the many shuttlecocks of fortune +congregated to laugh and talk and plot and lie. Not long after he came +back, sorely nettled and disappointed. +</P> + +<P> +"It is done; the King has them in his own hands; yet he does not talk; +promises nothing; is closeted with his ministers; they must be of +considerable importance. It is all secure for us, for I told him of my +departure in the morning to the colonies, and he assented. I judge, +then, it is something of a very delicate nature, touching the royal +honor of the King's own blood. Besides much is in cipher which it will +take time to read. Louis, you know, would not admit, save to those +nearest his throne, the possession of the secret Spanish cipher." +</P> + +<P> +The night passed by dismal and uncertain enough. I must confess to a +great sinking of the heart when I saw Serigny's carriage roll away in +the gray of the early morning, leaving me absolutely alone in my +father's land of France, where in the short space of two weeks so much +had transpired; much to be ever remembered, much I would have given +worlds to forget. +</P> + +<P> +It must have been a most forlorn and dejected looking creature that +stood in the great square that sunless morning, peering into the mists +which had absorbed the carriage. The solitude of vast untrodden +forests breeds not that vacant sense of desolation which we children of +nature feel in the crowded haunts of men. Face after face, form after +form, voice after voice, yet not one familiar countenance, not one +remembered tone, not the glance of a kindly eye; all is new, all is +strange, all at seeming enmity. The defection of Jerome, my only +comrade, was indeed a cup of bitterness. I dreaded to meet him, not +knowing what tack he might cut away on. Yet I could not blame him; it +was more of pity I felt. +</P> + +<P> +I recall with great delight some of the minor occurrences of the next +three or four days. After Serigny's departure, every afternoon at +imminent risk I would take horse to Sceaux, and pursuing a by-way +through the forests and fields, through which a wood-cutter first led +me, ride hard to catch a glimpse of her who now occupied all my +thoughts. I wonder at this time how I then held so firm by the duty of +returning to the colonies, when the very thought of war and turmoil was +so distasteful to me. When I rode to Paris and clothed myself once +more in my own proper garments, their friendly folds gave me a new +courage to meet whatever Fate might send. +</P> + +<P> +It may be pertinent to chronicle here, what history has already +recorded, the result of placing those dispatches in the King's hands. +</P> + +<P> +The Duke of Maine, as all the world knows, disavowed his wife's act in +treating with Spain, and thus saved his own dainty carcass from sharing +her captivity in the Bastille. But both he and Madame were imprisoned +until he made most abject submission and apology to Orleans. +</P> + +<P> +Madame de Chartrain was sent to a provincial fortress, and bore her +incarceration with great fortitude, winning even from her enemies the +admiration always accorded to firmness and virtue. +</P> + +<P> +Philip of Orleans being once firmly established in the Regency, changed +his usual course, and pardoned many of those who had conspired against +him. Their prison doors were opened, and the Duke of Maine, becoming +reconciled to his haughty lady, forgave her and gained great credit +thereby in the vulgar mind. They spent their lives quietly at Sceaux +during the Regency, and naught else of them concerns this history. +</P> + +<P> +Philip of Orleans possessed some of the virtues of a great man, and +many of a good man, but these he kept ever locked within his own bosom. +His mother, the rigid and austere Madame, said once of him: +</P> + +<P> +"Though good fairies have gifted my son at his birth with numerous +noble qualities, one envious member of the sisterhood spitefully +decreed that he should never know how to use any of these gifts." Such +was the character of the Regent. +</P> + +<P> +Of Jerome and Madame de Chartrain I would fain tell more, but during +the troubled times in America I completely lost sight of them, and my +inquiries developed nothing of sufficient verity to give credence to +here. +</P> + +<P> +All Frenchmen know of Jerome's gallant death at Malplaquet. It is a +fireside legend now, and young French lads turn their moistened eyes +away at the hearing. Marshal Villars being sorely hurt and in peril of +capture, there fought beside his litter an unknown gentleman who, +without name or rank, yet bore himself so commandingly, the discouraged +guard rallied again and gave him willing obedience. Arrived at a +narrow bridge he urged the litter-bearers safely across, and fighting +at the rear to be himself the last to reach a place of safety, he was +struck and fell. Prince Eugene, the courteous enemy, who had himself +witnessed the incident, sent a guard of honor to the Marshal at +Valenciennes the next day with the body, deeming it that of a man of +consequence. His letter congratulated the defeated Villars upon having +such chivalric friends. +</P> + +<P> +It was poor Jerome, and no one knew him then. He rests now with his +fathers. +</P> + +<P> +I loved the lad truly. As knightly a gentleman as ever died for his +King, or lied for his lady. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CASTLE OF CARTILLON +</H3> + + +<P> +Two days, four, passed. Serigny had departed for Dieppe to arm and +equip le Dauphin, yet still there was no official declaration of war. +I was waiting, as he had ordered, for the formal declaration, on the +publication of which I was to join him on board at once and we would +set sail instantly for Biloxi. +</P> + +<P> +Another anxious day, during which I vacillated between an ignoble love +and a noble duty. Then, late in the evening, the whole court was +fanned into a blaze destined to spread throughout Europe and America, +by the announcement that the war had been formally decided upon. +</P> + +<P> +Men may long look forward to a crushing calamity, and when it comes be +surprised and unprepared. So, though I well knew I must leave France +with all speed, and possibly never see her shores again, I put it from +me as persistently as men do the certainty of death. Every day did I +ride to Sceaux, by the old wall, and catch a glimpse of her I loved. +When war was at last declared there was no time for parleying with +duty. My path lay straight and clear before me; yet for once a +soldier's duty and a soldier's adventure gave me no pleasure. All my +thoughts were otherwhere. +</P> + +<P> +Hot-foot to Sceaux again I rode on my way to Dieppe, and from the same +embrasure at the wall where my horses had trampled down the foliage +many times, I watched her coming. It was not for long. More hurriedly +than was her custom she glided, a glorified young creature, in and out +amongst the shrubbery, until the envious chapel door hid her from my +sight. No living thing was in view. The sound of no discordant voice +broke the holy peace of God. Temptation came never to our first erring +mother in more insidious guise than this. +</P> + +<P> +Where was the harm, I reasoned, it was but for an instant's speech with +her, ere the bounding seas would roll between us. So with nervous +haste I tumbled from my horse and tethered him stoutly to a tree. Over +the wall and to the chapel door took another instant, and there, +inside, at the rail, she knelt. I paused, as a sinner might, +hesitating to mar with heart profane the devotions of a saint. My foot +struck a cracking board in the entry, and drew her glance toward me. +She sprang up as I entered, with a swift cry of surprise, and, as I +fancied, some whit of gladness in the tone. +</P> + +<P> +"You, Monsieur? You here? I thought you away from Sceaux." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Madame, true; but I returned to speak with you before I leave +France forever. I came here to—to—" I could not tell her why; my +heart, so full, clogged my utterance. But women ever understand. +</P> + +<P> +As I cast about me for a word, we had drawn closer, and taking the hand +which half-hid in the folds of her dress, gleamed more white and pure, +I would have raised it to my lips. Even at such a time I noted the +device upon a ring she wore, a device grown so familiar: A wolf's head, +sable. +</P> + +<P> +"An old thing of my mother's," she explained, "Charles has one, and I." +</P> + +<P> +I eagerly seized upon a subject which might so naturally prolong our +interview. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, I know the device well; are you of the d'Artins?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my mother was; there are now none of the race. The last is a +wanderer; I know not if he lives." +</P> + +<P> +"I know, perchance, of such a man, Madame; would you tell me more of +him, of yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"I never saw him, my mother's father. Her marriage displeased him +greatly. When her first child was born, a girl, she sent it to him for +his blessing. He denied it, saying he wanted no more of women. The +child died in infancy. Of my sister's birth and mine he was never +told. Then he went away, where, none know." +</P> + +<P> +It thrilled me with a new hope. Who could guess but my relations with +Colonel d'Ortez might throw me again in her way. I took her hand +again, making pretence to examine the ring more curiously. She made +slight demur, and I pressed my first fervent kiss upon the hand of +woman. Man's fortitude could stand no more. Tossing honor, +discretion, duty to the winds, I folded her close, closer yet, and +kissed her brow, her hair, her eyes—her lips, she struggling like a +frightened nestling all the while. It was done. +</P> + +<P> +Ashamed but impenitent—it was too new, too sweet to wish undone—I +loosed her gently, and kissed her hand but once again, then left her +standing where the light from the mullioned window in halos wreathed my +saint. It was thus I ever afterward remembered her. +</P> + +<P> +She made no other sign; I withdrew swiftly as I came. From across the +wall, unobserved, I watched her leave the place, downcast of eye and +slow of step. In rebellious and uncertain mood I rode away. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Though the relish in my task was done, I made all haste toward Dieppe. +Scarcely stopping for food, changing horses as often as I could, I +pushed on without adventure until I reached the Chateau Cartillon, then +a formless ruin. +</P> + +<P> +Here my saddle girth broke and I was nearly thrown to the ground. I +scrambled off, walked to the little inn where I inquired how far I had +yet to go. +</P> + +<P> +"Three leagues yet to Dieppe," the host replied, "but Monsieur can not +go on to-night; he must wait the morrow; he can go with comfort in the +morning." +</P> + +<P> +I sent my groom for a new girth and found it would take quite an hour +to procure one from the village. +</P> + +<P> +"Probably Monsieur would visit the castle upon the hill there," +persisted the landlord, pointing across the way, "it is worth his +while. It is said to have been destroyed by the Great Henry in his +wars with the Duke of Mayenne. True it is that sounds of battle and +screams are yet heard there on stormy nights. Probably Monsieur would +rest here several days——." +</P> + +<P> +I essayed to silence the fellow, for I was in no mood to listen to his +chatter. Yet there was something in his eulogy of the locality, which +he gave as a hawker crying his wares, that fixed my unwilling attention. +</P> + +<P> +"And, Monsieur, perchance you may see old mad Michel. What! you know +naught of him? Country folk do say his grandam witnessed the murder of +the Count, and that it sent her feeble mind a-wandering. Her child +through all her life did fancy herself the Count, and made strange +speeches to the people's fear. And now this grandson of hers has grown +old in frenzy like his mother and grandam, possessed of an evil spirit +which speaks through him betimes—it is a curse of the blood, Monsieur, +a grievous curse of the blood." +</P> + +<P> +It aroused something of a curiosity within me, yet I was loath to pause +upon my journey. Forced, though, to wait an hour, I thought to walk +over to the Chateau a couple of hundred yards distant. Taking a lad +who lounged about the inn, to show me the way, I sauntered up the path, +pausing a while at a long-disused spring, and idly plucked an apple +from a branch which over-hung it. A little further up, and mounting +the steep acclivity, I stood within the ancient fortress. +</P> + +<P> +This castle, since rebuilded, you, my children, are of course familiar +with, for you were all born here. At that date the great central tower +alone stood erect amid the universal destruction. A black wolf's head +reared itself high above the portcullis. The moat was filled with +drift of crumbling years, and the walls, fallen in many places, ran +hither and thither in aimless curves and angles, much as they do to-day. +</P> + +<P> +Up to this hour my chronicle has been only of such adventures as might +befall a soldier upon any enterprise, but now a strange thing happened. +Until that moment I had never seen the Chateau Cartillon, still there +was not a corner or a passage which did not seem well known to me. My +feet fell into paths they seemed no strangers to. I seemed to know +intuitively what each building was for, and even imagined most vividly +scenes which had transpired there. The whole place had the most +intense personal interest for me, why I knew not. +</P> + +<P> +I am not superstitious, but the ruin oppressed me, made me restless and +uneasy; yet I was loath to leave. The loneliness of it all filled me +with vague apprehensions as I picked my way across the grass encumbered +court-yard toward the road again. A thousand haunting fancies of half +familiar things thronged from out each dismantled doorway. Faces I all +but recognized peered at me through the broken casements; voices I +almost knew called to me from many a silent corner. Yet all was still, +all was solitude. Heartily shamed at my quickening step I hurried on +and having consumed a quarter of my hour sat down by the spring +mentioned before, just beyond the castle's utmost boundary. +</P> + +<P> +The haze of late afternoon had deepened into night upon the peaceful +meadows and lazy sweep of river. A distant peasant's song came faintly +from the fields. +</P> + +<P> +While sitting there beside the spring, gazing listlessly into its +placid depths, an uncanny figure made its way through a breach in the +bastion, and stood before me. At first I confess I was startled, the +wild uncouth thing, bent and decrepit, with hair of long and tangled +gray, fiery sunken eyes, seemed born of another world than this. He +bent his gaze with searching scrutiny full upon me. +</P> + +<P> +The lad whispered: "It's old mad Michel; he lives up there," pointing +to a tumbled down tower, "and believes himself the Count—the Count, +and him long dead lying yonder in the well." +</P> + +<P> +The boy shuddered and crossed himself. +</P> + +<P> +The old man gazed steadily at me for some moments then bowing low, he +cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Hail! Son of d'Artin! Hast come to view thine own again? Let us +into the walls." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-210"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-210.jpg" ALT=""The old man gazed steadily at me for some moments."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="382" HEIGHT="618"> +<H3 STYLE="width: 382px"> +"The old man gazed steadily at me for some moments." +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Let us go, Monsieur, quick," urged the lad, tugging at my coat, "it is +late." +</P> + +<P> +The dusk in fact was coming on apace and climbing shadows crept round +the grotesque masonry. Unheeding the lad's fear, I was strongly +impelled to talk with the daft creature. It was an impulse born not +wholly of idle curiosity. I felt strangely moved. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want of me, old man?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Henri d'Artin, by murder's hand laid low; I would tell you much." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go, Monsieur, let us go. He speaks of unholy things," the boy +pleaded fearfully. Meeting no response he turned and fled down the +slope, away in the twilight beneath the trees. +</P> + +<P> +"Dost hear the clanking arms, the rolling drums of war? List unto the +shouts, the cries within. Dost not know it is the day after the feast +of the most Blessed Saint Bartholomew?" +</P> + +<P> +The man's wild earnestness fixed a spell upon me, and to the end of his +narrative I listened until the tale was done. I can not hope to set +down here as I heard it what the madman said, nor to have my lines +breathe forth the vigor of his speech. Carried beyond mortal energy by +his frenzy, overmastered by some mysterious Power of which we men know +naught, he threw into his strange, weird story a life and action which +entered my very soul. And as he spoke he seemed to live through the +scenes that he so vividly described. It was as though some grim drama +were being enacted for my enlightenment. So well as I can tell it, the +tale ran thus: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +On yestermorn my wife, my daughter and little boy, committed to the +charge of old Gaston, had driven into Rouen to spend the day. I rode +along after them to learn the news from Paris. We of the Reformed +Faith hoped for great things from the meeting of our leaders with the +Duke of Guise and the Queen Mother, for King Charles seemed kindly +disposed toward us. But, God of Mercy! what scenes there were in +Rouen; everywhere was slaughter, everywhere was murder. I found my +carriage overturned in the streets, covering the dead and mutilated +bodies of wife and daughter; the babe, unhurt and unnoticed in the +carriage, had escaped. Throughout the city were prowling bands wearing +the white cross in their caps, the white sash on their arms, which +designated the followers of Guise, and with cries of "Death to the +Huguenots" and "No quarter to the enemies of Holy Church," they slew +without mercy. I had now no idea but to put my boy in a place of +safety, and with him before me rode straight for the nearest gate. I +passed unmolested through the streets, and by avoiding the public +places, drawing out of the way of murdering bands, thought to evade +them and reach the river gate south of town. My whole soul revolted at +leaving the bodies of wife and daughter in Rouen, but the living child +must be considered before the dead. At the turn from out the obscure +Rue St. Croix into the open square at Vieux Marche I heard a shout, +"Here he is, this way," and saw a man at arms stationed in the square +beckoning to his comrades who came clattering down the Rue de Crosne. +This blocked the path along which I intended to leave the town. +</P> + +<P> +Riding at their head I recognized my old time enemy, my half brother, +Pedro Ortez, a man of whose prowess and cruelty terrible stories were +told. +</P> + +<P> +Right willingly would I have paused to give him fight, but for the +babe. The fellow who had raised the cry now threw himself full in my +way with the evident purpose of engaging me until the others came up. +I made straight at him, but he stood his ground bravely, and encumbered +as I was with the child, he succeeded in wounding me twice before I +could pierce him through the throat and drop him from his horse. +Verily, his courage was worthy a better quarrel. +</P> + +<P> +This, in full sight of the oncoming band, fixed their attention, and, +raising the shout of "Death to d'Artin," they spurred their horses to a +gallop. I had barely disappeared down the deserted Rue Corneille when +they debouched into the square, spreading out and circling round as +hounds hot upon a scent. Here they were at fault, not knowing whither +I had turned among so many narrow and irregular streets. Before they +found me again I was well upon the high road to Cartillon. The +superior speed of my horse gave me easily the lead. +</P> + +<P> +I soon overtook Gaston, drawn aside in the bushes, wounded and +bleeding, waiting for me. At first I upbraided him fiercely, but a +frightful gash across his head, dabbling his gray hairs in blood, +stopped my wrath. On the ride home he told me of the day's disaster. +Pedro Ortez and his cut-throats had set upon them in the name of the +church. He was soon cut down and left upon the street, recovering +consciousness only to find his murdered mistress lying dead beside him. +He had then crawled away to warn me, for the whole object of Ortez +seemed to be to take my life. +</P> + +<P> +Gaston's distress was pitiful; as his mute eyes now and again sought +mine, I could not find it in my heart to censure him. Having distanced +my poorly mounted pursuers I stopped to water my horse at the spring +before riding the few hundred yards to the gates of Cartillon. While +yet waiting by the spring I was horrified to see men struggling on top +of the great tower. Their fight was brief and decisive. Two of them, +one being Maurice my most trusted man at arms, were thrown violently to +the courtyard below. Of the others some were killed, some overpowered +and carried below again. +</P> + +<P> +All of this took only an instant, for it appeared but the end of a +desperate encounter which had been raging elsewhere. The time, +however, was long enough for me to see that those of the larger party +wore the white sash and cross which distinguished my assailants in +Rouen. +</P> + +<P> +"God in heaven, what murder's work have we at Cartillon?" I cried aloud +in my misery. Then one who could answer came running toward me from +the castle, gashed, with snapped sword in hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, master, master, the Catholics, the Catholics," was all he could +speak out before he fell a senseless mass at my horse's feet. +</P> + +<P> +Cartillon was not now a refuge. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately the distant sound of hoof beats came loud and louder yet, +from the direction of Rouen. Ortez was coming. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, Gaston, we must fly." +</P> + +<P> +My overtaxed horse failed me now. Pulling the rein he only sank slowly +to his knees, and after a few spasmodic twitches, stiffened out forever +upon the rocky road. I stood erect a moment, child in arms, +irresolute. There was short shrift to think. My blood rebelled at +flight. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, Gaston, take the boy; hide in the wood. Carry him to the Abbot +of Vaux, and conjure the good priest, by our fathers' love and ours, to +save my baby." +</P> + +<P> +Gaston had hardly passed from sight among the trees before a dozen +well-armed horsemen, bearing the same white cross in their caps, +spurred round a curve in the forest road, coming suddenly upon me +beside my fallen steed. Sword in hand, I fronted them, determined, +come what would, to fly no further. The evil face of Ortez shone with +gratification at so unexpectedly finding me alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, yield thee, sirrah," he cried, as his men surrounded me. A quick +sword thrust through the body of his horse, brought him to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, thou slayer of women; here, upon equal footing, thy life +shall pay for those of wife and child." +</P> + +<P> +I verily believed the Almighty vengeance was in my blade, and doubt not +I should have slain him despite his troopers but for a crushing pike +blow over the head, so swiftly did it all come about. +</P> + +<P> +My brain reeled; the sword dropped clanging from my nerveless hand. +When I recovered, I found myself bound upon a horse behind one of the +men. +</P> + +<P> +"On with him, men, to Cartillon; there we rest this night in the King's +name." +</P> + +<P> +In this wise we rode along; Ortez openly exultant, I silent and +scornful. +</P> + +<P> +"Aha, my fine brother," he spoke low at my saddle, "thy father's son +has thee in his power now. And shall I not revenge upon thee the wrong +our father did my mother for thine? Didst know the story?" +</P> + +<P> +I made no reply, but he went on unmindful. +</P> + +<P> +"To <I>my</I> mother he gave his love but dared not give his name; to thy +mother he gave his name but could never give his love. So thou art the +proud Lord of Cartillon, and I the outcast soldier of fortune, the +nameless adventurer, slayer of women—what thou wilt. But things are +changed now. Before many hours I will be the Count d'Artin, and thou a +dishonored corpse, sweet brother." +</P> + +<P> +"Thou! <I>Thou</I> my brother?" +</P> + +<P> +I turned upon him a look of incredulous contempt, yet, for I had heard +some such tale of my father's youth, I asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Thy mother was—?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nanon Esculas, whom thy father abducted in Spain to desert in France." +</P> + +<P> +"My heart sank; I had seen the woman, and knew her son for one of the +most courageous and unprincipled adventurers who hung about the Court +and held their swords for hire. When the noisy troop rode up to the +gates of Cartillon their leader paused, a head appeared upon the +battlements. +</P> + +<P> +"Guise," cried Ortez, giving the watchword of that day of slaughter. +The drawbridge lowered, and open swung the gates. +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome to Cartillon, d'Artin," Ortez bowed. "Here at last we find +rest and refreshment. Let a feast be spread in the great hall, ransack +the place for good cheer. We've done brave work this glorious day, my +lads, and a merry ending we'll have before the night is gone." +</P> + +<P> +Everywhere in the courtyard were evidences of bloody conflict. Singly, +in groups and in hideous crimson-splashed piles lay Catholics and +Huguenots together, peaceful enough in death. +</P> + +<P> +"By my faith, and a gallant set of gentlemen we have here," laughed +Ortez. "What think you, brother mine?" +</P> + +<P> +And even as he spoke he leaned from his saddle to strike down a half +dying wretch who lifted his head from among the slain. +</P> + +<P> +"Perez," he called to his sergeant riding behind him, "dispose of these +bodies. Throw the heretic dogs into the old well yonder. Give our +martyred friends Christian burial." +</P> + +<P> +He sat his horse idly toying with his dagger, and forced me to watch my +servants, the wounded and the dead, being cast into the yawning +darkness of the well. +</P> + +<P> +"God's blood! here is our sweet young Philip. What, not yet dead! +Why, it matters not, cast him in." This in answer to a questioning +look from the more merciful Perez. +</P> + +<P> +The men at arms had extricated from a heap of slain the limp body of my +youngest brother, a boy of twenty, his pallid face gaping open from a +cut across the cheek. He lifted his eyes languidly to mine. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh brother, you are come. Some water, water," he murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"Throw him in, men," Ortez interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +Perez yet hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we not first dispatch him, sire?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I would not harm my gentle brother; throw him in. Be not slow +about it either, thou chicken-hearted bullies; pitch him in." +</P> + +<P> +The men started to obey this savage order. +</P> + +<P> +"Hound of hell!" I screamed, tortured beyond endurance, and struggling +at my bonds. +</P> + +<P> +Ortez slapped me in the face with his gauntlet, then laying his hand +upon my shoulder said with assumed gentleness: +</P> + +<P> +"Calm yourself, my dear brother; think of your unbandaged wounds; they +may bleed afresh." +</P> + +<P> +Philip was conscious as the men bore him to the edge of the well, but +powerless to resist four stout fellows who cast him headlong amongst +the dead and dying to mingle his groans and blood with theirs. Oh, +that God should permit to men such deeds, and grant that men should +witness them! When the last body had been disposed of, Ortez led the +way to the banquet hall, inviting all his rabble to join the feast. +The banquet hall, used as it was to scenes of turbulence, never perhaps +had looked upon such a throng as that. I occupied the head of my own +table, strapped helpless in my seat. On either side were vacant +chairs. Ortez sat at the foot. Between, the soldiery ranged +themselves as they pleased. One of the troopers coming in late would +have taken his place beside me, but his Captain stopped him: +</P> + +<P> +"Not there, Gardier; we have other and fairer guests for whom those +seats are kept." +</P> + +<P> +Almost as he spoke the chairs on either side of me were slipped away, +and after awhile as silently returned to their places. +</P> + +<P> +Sacrament of passion! In one of them was bound the mutilated corpse of +my queenly wife, her fingers hacked off and her ears torn out for the +gems which had decked them. Upon my left sat little Celia. But for +one lurid stripe of crimson across her girlish breast she might well +have been asleep, so lightly death had touched her. Behind them I saw +a tall, gaunt woman, wearing a man's helm and carrying a pike. She +directed the men. This was a woman's hellish work. +</P> + +<P> +Ortez rose with studied politeness: +</P> + +<P> +"Your wife and child, d'Artin; our charming family reunion would be +incomplete without them." And the woman laughed aloud. +</P> + +<P> +My brain burned; something seemed to strain and give way. I lost all +sense of pain, all capacity to suffer. How long this lasted I know +not. When the revelry was at its height, when the wine had dulled +every human instinct of these rough "Soldiers of the Church," Ortez +raised his voice above the tumult; he knew his men were in the humor +for a diversion he was about to propose. +</P> + +<P> +"Now comrades," he said, "for the crowning joy of this most blessed +day, now for our last sacred duty to Mother Church." +</P> + +<P> +He came round the table and taking a cord from the hands of one of his +men he threw the noose over my head. With feet bound together, hands +free, I stood amongst them, this throng of butchers, each with the +white Cross of Christ in his cap, the white scarf of Guise upon his +arm, drunk and eager for blood. +</P> + +<P> +"Henri Francois Placide d'Artin, what hast thou to say why we shall not +declare thy blood attainted, thy name dishonored, thy estate forfeited, +why we shall not hang thee for a Huguenot dog, traitor to King and +church? Speak." +</P> + +<P> +All the defiance of my race burned fearless in my eyes; I felt my face +flush an instant at the shame of such a death, but replied as steadily +as might be: +</P> + +<P> +"Not a word to you, thou infamous one, thou base-born coward, murderer +of the helpless; not to you!" +</P> + +<P> +The cool, polite manner of Ortez fell from him like a mask. He seized +the cord with his own hand, jerking me prone upon the floor and +commenced to drag me from the hall. A dozen willing hands lent aid. I +clutched instinctively at everything which came in my way, being torn +from each hold by the ruthless villains at the rope. +</P> + +<P> +Desperate, I grasped the leg of a trooper, but a savage kick in the +face wrenched him free, and down the stair they started for the open +court. At the end of the cord came tumbling, rolling, bumping down the +stone steps this almost senseless heap which was yet a man. +</P> + +<P> +Arrived beside the well, whose great overhanging sweep offered a +convenient scaffold, Ortez paused to look at his victim. My breath +came slow, I could hardly hear their words. +</P> + +<P> +"Think you his senses will return?" +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly, sire," replied the man to whom this was addressed. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we will wait; my sweet brother would weep to miss so brave a +spectacle as his own hanging." +</P> + +<P> +He sat there upon the edge of the well, whence came the groans of the +dying, the hot, fresh odors of the dead, and waited, fiendish in the +patient ferocity of his more than mortal hate. +</P> + +<P> +After a little I opened my eyes and stared about me, scarcely +comprehending where I was or what had happened. Ortez called upon his +men to raise me. Being placed erect the cord was drawn just taut +enough to sustain me standing. Now the ghastly woman I had seen in the +hall pushed her way through the crowd. +</P> + +<P> +"Her son," she hissed, and savagely struck me in the mouth until blood +followed the blow. The cord instantly tightened and I felt myself +swing across the well. First only a dizziness and a parched mouth. +Then the tumultuous blood surged to my throat, beating, struggling, +gurgling like some pent-up mountain stream against the rocks. I threw +both hands up to grasp the rope—heard a laugh, not a human laugh, yet +it sounded so far, so very far away, away back upon the earth. +</P> + +<P> +A gigantic merciful hand seemed to take my head within its gripe and +press out all the pain. +</P> + +<P> +Fiery circles swam before my eyes; great crimson blotches floated about +in restless clouds of flame; then dreams, dreams, long delicious +dreams. And out of endless years of rhythmic music, the laughter of +low-voiced women, and many colored lights, came at length oblivion. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Thus the tale ended. It was the same I had heard in far away +Louisiana, told again with all the grim earnestness of desperate truth. +</P> + +<P> +I stood now in the great courtyard again, beside the ancient well, +drinking eagerly every inspired syllable. When the speaker had done, +he shrank back into the darkness, and was gone. +</P> + +<P> +It was as though I witnessed in my own person the wretched death of +Henri d'Artin, and stood within his castle's court when the ruthless +deed was done. Verily man knoweth not the rebellious vagaries of an +unhinged brain; knoweth not what be but unmeaning phantasies, or what +be solemn revelations from the very lips of God. +</P> + +<P> +In the deep gloom the ruined castle loomed darkly, a ghastly monument +of evil deeds. I looked about for the madman but saw him not. The +weirdness of the place, the horror of its secret, crept into my blood. +I became afraid. Down the bleak road I picked my way, glancing +fearsomely over my shoulder. I fain would have fled as had the lad. +</P> + +<P> +I found my horse re-equipped. Still shuddering I mounted, scarce +daring to look backwards at the cursed pile. Then, with the madman's +story surging in my brain, I dug savage spurs into my steed and +galloped desperately onward through the night. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FROM THE PATH OF DUTY +</H3> + + +<P> +It was about ten of the clock when I reached Dieppe. Soon thereafter I +was well aboard le Dauphin, Serigny himself meeting me at the vessel's +side. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo, Placide," he cried. "All goeth well, and the passing night +gives promise to us of a brighter day." +</P> + +<P> +Later, in his own cabin, he told me of a brief meeting he had with +Louis. +</P> + +<P> +"For the time we are safe. The King is restless about the safety of +the province, and he trusts Bienville as a soldier. The Spanish +intrigue keeps our enemies so busy they have not time to disturb us. +The King has no man who can take Bienville's place. Well, it's all +happily over, and I am as delighted as a child to be at sea again. We +would sail at once, now that you are come, were it not for de la Mora; +he, with his wife and another lady, are to bear us company. The +Chevalier is a thorough soldier, and I welcome him, but like not the +presence of the ladies. We may have rough work betimes." +</P> + +<P> +I knew my face grew pale, and thanked the half-light for concealment, +or he must have noted. Who that "other lady" was, possessed for me no +interest, and I never asked. +</P> + +<P> +De la Mora. This was terrible, and so unforeseen. Full well I knew I +could not spend five long weeks in daily contact with Agnes and give no +betraying sign. I must needs have time to think, and that right +speedily. +</P> + +<P> +"When do they come, sire?" +</P> + +<P> +"Any moment; they left—or should have done so—the same time as +yourself. His orders were the same." +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly as a man could think, so thought I. +</P> + +<P> +"How long will you wait for them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Until dawn, no longer. Then we sail." +</P> + +<P> +A glimmer of hope—de la Mora might be delayed. Without any clearly +defined purpose I went on and carefully gave Serigny every detail of +information which could be valuable touching the expected trouble in +the colonies. Of this my hands should, in any event, be clean. I even +handed him the King's new commission directed to Bienville, whereof I +was so proud to be the bearer. Whilst ridding my mind of these +matters, I could not have said what course I meditated. A boat grating +against the vessel's side set me all a tremble, but it was only a +letter of instructions. Making some poor excuse to Serigny for the +moment, I entered the yawl as it left the ship to go ashore. A +well-known voice hailed us ere we made the land. +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy there, the boat," and through the shadows I made out the form of +him I dreaded most to see. +</P> + +<P> +"Boatman, can you put three of us aboard yonder vessel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, sir, it is from her I have just come." +</P> + +<P> +"Is thy craft a fit one to carry ladies?" +</P> + +<P> +This dashed down the hope he had left his wife behind. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, sir, it is a safe craft, but not a fine ladies' barge. We can go +with care and run into no danger. The wind is low." +</P> + +<P> +"'Twill serve." +</P> + +<P> +I jumped ashore and would have slipped by without speaking had he not +recognized me. +</P> + +<P> +"By my soul, de Mouret, it is you; and we are to be companions on the +voyage. Bravo." +</P> + +<P> +He approached me frankly, with outstretched hand and hearty greeting. +I would fain have avoided touching his honest palm, but there was no +way for it. +</P> + +<P> +"I see you are surprised. Yes? I was suddenly ordered to sail in le +Dauphin, and report to your good Governor, Bienville. A most sturdy +soldier from all report. Heaven send us a sharp campaign, I am weary +of these puny quarrels. We will have brave days in the colonies." +</P> + +<P> +This open-hearted way about him struck a new terror to my heart; I +could face his sword but not his confidence. His cheeks glowed with +martial enthusiasm and I almost caught again the hot lust of battle. +</P> + +<P> +"And Agnes, with her little sister, is at the inn. Yes," he continued, +noting me step back a pace in protest, "it is a rude life enough for +tender women, but they come of stock that fears no danger, and it's +better there than at the Court of Louis." +</P> + +<P> +I hardly heard the man. To meet his wife day after day, to associate +on terms of cordial intimacy with this honorable gentleman, to enjoy +his confidence, my heart filled the while with guilt too strong to +conquer—the thing was torture not to be endured. +</P> + +<P> +"Come with me to the inn; let us get the ladies and their luggage +aboard. Agnes will be glad to meet you; she says she has great +curiosity to see what you are like." +</P> + +<P> +I excused myself most lamely upon the plea of some duty to be performed. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah well, on board then; she will have abundant time, aye, abundant +time." +</P> + +<P> +From a dark place near the inn door, I watched their departure. Poor +weakling that I was, I could not deny myself. The Chevalier, with +Agnes and another lady, took their way toward the waiting boat, a +flickering lanthorn being borne in their front. His words, "Agnes will +be glad to meet with you; she has great curiosity to see what you are +like," recurred again and again. +</P> + +<P> +So she had deceived him, and he knew nothing of our meetings? Ah, well +do these women manage, and we are ever dupes. And I, who all my life +had detested small deceptions, found myself heartily applauding +this—was it not for my sake. This secret was <I>ours</I>—<I>mine</I> and +<I>hers</I>; the bond which we two held in common apart from all the world. +A sweet reflection. The little weaknesses of women are very precious +to their object, and if the deluded one knows it not, why where's the +harm? Small comfort came to me, however, for all the while conscience, +like a burning nettle in the side, gave the lie to each excuse. +</P> + +<P> +All that night I paced about, and up and down. At length came gray +dawn, but not decision. An early fisherman disposed his net upon the +beach. I watched him long in silence, then abruptly asked, so fiercely +that he dropped his work: +</P> + +<P> +"Old man, do you know of any other vessel sailing soon for the American +Colonies in the South?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, sir, there's a brig fitting out at Boulogne-sur-Mer for the +Spanish seas, to sail in a week or thereabout. But, sir," the old +fellow looked cautiously about to assure himself that no one else could +hear, "they say un-Christian things of that brigand crew. She bodes no +good." +</P> + +<P> +"A freebooter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, sir, or a privateer, which, they say, is the milder term." +</P> + +<P> +My resolution was formed. +</P> + +<P> +"Await me here; I will pay your gains for the day if you will but do me +a slight service." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir," he responded, touching his surf-stained cap. +</P> + +<P> +I returned briefly from the inn bearing a note for M. de Serigny. +Therein I explained that a most important matter had transpired to +detain me until another vessel sailed, some few days at most. I would +tell him of it more at length when I joined him at Biloxi. +</P> + +<P> +I gave it, with a broad gold piece, to the old fellow, and directed +that he give it to Serigny. There I remained until I saw the man +clamber up le Dauphin's side, when I left at once, fearing further +communication from Serigny. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Entering Boulogne at daybreak, the undulating valley of the Liane +claimed not one appreciative glance. The ancient city trembled in its +slumber at my feet. Already it became restless with the promise of +another day which clad its gables in flame and burned the rough old +towers with the shining gold of God. A little beyond, the waters +glimmered in the sun's first rays, and writhing seaward tossed +themselves in anger against the dim white cliffs of our hereditary foes. +</P> + +<P> +As a picture laid away in memory this all comes back to me pure and +fresh, but on that morning I gave it no heed. From the heights I +passed along through quiet streets into the lower town, thence to the +beach, where I was soon inquiring among the sailors for the privateer. +These women looked askance at me, and regarded my unfamiliar uniform +with suspicion, but after great difficulty one of their number was +induced to carry me alongside an ominous looking craft lying in the +harbor—a black-hulled brig of probably six hundred and fifty tons +burden. Of the sentinel on deck I asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Your captain—" +</P> + +<P> +"Is here," and at the word a dark, wiry man, who had evidently been +watching my approach, appeared at the companion way. +</P> + +<P> +"A word with you, sir, if you are the captain of this craft. I am told +you are refitting for a trip to west Florida. What your errand is I +care not; I want to go with you." +</P> + +<P> +"We do not take passengers," he answered positively. +</P> + +<P> +"Then take me as a marine, a seaman, what you will. I am a soldier, +familiar with the handspike as with the sword, though knowing little of +winds or currents." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Levasseur eyed me closely, asked many questions concerning my +life and service, to which I replied, truthfully in part. He seemed +satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we do need a few more stout fellows who can handle a cutlass; +when could you come aboard?" +</P> + +<P> +"At once; I have no baggage but the weapons at my side." +</P> + +<P> +"Good. Your name?" +</P> + +<P> +"Gaspard Cambronne," I answered at random. +</P> + +<P> +The freebooter laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"We care nothing for your name so you will fight. We sail the day +after to-morrow one week." And surveying my well knit frame, for I was +a sturdy youth, "If you know any more stout young fellows like yourself +we can give them a berth apiece." +</P> + +<P> +So I scrambled aboard without more ado, and became at once a member of +the "Seamew's" crew. I hardly knew at first why I gave a false name. +But the character of the vessel was doubtful, its destination +uncertain, and knowing not what mission she was on I shirked to give my +real name and station. The chance was desperate, yet not one whit more +desperate than I. +</P> + +<P> +The Seamew sailed more than three weeks behind le Dauphin, armed with +letters of marque from the King commissioning her to prey upon Spanish +commerce in southern seas, and especially to take part in any +expedition against Havana or Pensacola. +</P> + +<P> +Our voyage wore on drearily enough to me, almost without incident. +After four weeks of sky and sea we rounded the southernmost cape of +Florida and turned into the Mexican Gulf. I grew more and more +impatient and full of dread. Le Dauphin had twenty-three days the +start of our faster vessel, and Biloxi was probably at that moment in a +fever of warlike preparation. It was just possible, too, that the +Spaniards had not yet been informed of the war, and nothing had been so +far done by them. +</P> + +<P> +Cruising by Pensacola harbor, just outside the Isle de Santa Rosa, a +pine-grown stretch of narrow sand which for twenty-five leagues +protects that coast, Levasseur called me to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know, my lad, what vessels those are at anchor in the harbor?" +</P> + +<P> +Two of them I recognized as I would my own tent, two French men-of-war +which Bienville had long been expecting from France. The rest were +Spaniards, full-rigged, four ships, and six gunboats. Levasseur put +the Seamew boldly about and entered the harbor. He signaled the +Frenchmen, lowered a boat, and sent his lieutenant aboard the flagship +with credentials and a letter signifying his readiness to engage in any +enterprise. +</P> + +<P> +From Admiral Champmeslin, in command of the squadron, he learned that +Bienville and Serigny, combined with the Choctaws, had invested +Pensacola by land, and on the morrow a simultaneous attack by land and +sea would be made. The Spanish forces consisted of four ships, six +gunboats, a strong fort on Santa Rosa Island, and the works at +Pensacola, the strength of whose garrison was unknown. +</P> + +<P> +That night on board the Seamew was spent in busy preparation and in +rest. I alone was unemployed, my awkwardness with ropes and spars +forbade it. I sat moodily upon a gun at the port, and fixing my eyes +on shore vainly endeavored to make out what the French and Choctaws +were doing there. To the left were the meager camp fires of the +Indians; further up the hills a more generous blazing line marked the +French position. +</P> + +<P> +Gradually a low wavering sound separated itself from the other noises +of the night, coming faint but clear upon the light land breeze, the +first quivering notes of a Choctaw war chant. How familiar it was. +Was I mistaken? I listened more intently. No. It was in very truth +the voice of Tuskahoma, my old friend on many marches. +</P> + +<P> +I cared nothing for the Seamew or her crew, and determined to seek my +old friends to fight out the day with them. +</P> + +<P> +What little thought I gave it justified the deed. My position as an +officer of the King would palliate deserting the ship which had brought +me over. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FALL OF PENSACOLA +</H3> + + +<P> +I slipped down the anchor chain without noise into the throbbing sea, +and swam ashore to a point some three or four cable lengths away. +Guided by the single voice which still sang of war, of glory and of +death, I pushed easily into the ring of hideously painted savages who +surrounded the singer. To unaccustomed eyes this would have been a +fearful sight. +</P> + +<P> +Two hundred warriors sat motionless as bronze idols about their chief; +two hundred naked bodies glinted back the pine knot's fitful glow. In +the center of this threatening circle moved Tuskahoma, two great +crimson blotches upon his cheeks, treading that weird suggestive +measure the Indians knew so well. Round and round a little pine-tree, +shorn of its branches and striped with red, he crept, danced and sang. +His words came wild and irregular, a sort of rhythmic medley, now soft +and low as the murmur of the summer ocean, now thrilling every ear by +their sudden ferocity and fearful energy. Now it was the gentle +lullaby, the mother's crooning, the laughter of a child; again, the +bursting of the tempest, the lightning's flash, the thunder's rumbling +roar. +</P> + +<P> +His arms raised to heaven like some gaunt priest of butchery, he +invoked the mighty Manitou of his tribe, then dropping prone upon the +ground he crawled, a sinuous serpent, among the trees. +</P> + +<P> +For awhile his listeners wandered away upon their chieftain's words to +the waiting ones at home, to hunting grounds of peace and plenty; +melodious as a maiden's sigh that song breathed of love and lover's +hopes, it wailed for departed friends, extolled their virtues, and +called down heaven's curses upon the coward of tomorrow's fight. Then +the fierce gleam of shining steel, one wild war-whoop and all again was +still. His words faded away in the echoless night till a holy hush +brooded o'er beach and forest. +</P> + +<P> +Then the solitary dancer wound about the ring as the crouching panther +steals upon her prey, while peal after peal came the frightful cries of +barbaric conflict, the shrieks of the wounded—a wild, victorious shout +blended with a hopeless dying scream. +</P> + +<P> +With a master's touch he played upon their vibrant feelings; not a key +of human emotion he left unsounded fame, pride, hate, love and +death—his song expressed them all. +</P> + +<P> +Thoroughly frenzied, warrior after warrior now began to join him in the +ring; voice after voice caught up the dread refrain which terrorized +the trained soldiery of Europe and filled their imaginations with the +nameless horrors of unrelenting war. +</P> + +<P> +High above the din Tuskahoma lifted now his ferocious battle cry; +advancing upon the blazed sapling he sank his tomahawk deep into the +soft white wood, then moved swiftly out of the circle to his own fire. +This was the act by which he announced his assumption of supreme +authority. +</P> + +<P> +Frantic with excitement the unleashed throng rushed upon this fancied +enemy, and soon but the mangled fragments and the roots marked where it +had stood. +</P> + +<P> +And the forest slumbered and the sentry paced his lonely path. +</P> + +<P> +It is not my purpose to speak in detail of those matters of history +which have been so much better described by men of learning. I would +merely mention in passing such smaller affairs as relate directly to my +own narrative. +</P> + +<P> +Short and sharp was the conflict which, under God, gave our arms the +victory at Pensacola. Swarming over the palisades or boldly tearing +them down, the Choctaws, led by Tuskahoma, swept the Spaniards from +their works. It so happened that Tuskahoma and I mounted the +fortifications together. As I essayed to drop down upon the inside my +sword belt caught upon the top of a picket, leaving me dangling in mid +air, an easy prey to those below had they only noticed my plight. +Tuskahoma paused to sever the belt with his knife, and by this accident +I was first within the Spanish works, sword and pistol in hand. Soon a +hundred were by my side. +</P> + +<P> +The Spanish troops, inured to civilized warfare, could not stand before +these yelling demons, springing here and there elusive as phantoms, +wielding torch and tomahawk with deadly effect. +</P> + +<P> +In the very forefront, shoulder to shoulder, with a laugh and a parry, +a lunge and a jest, fought the Chevalier de la Mora. Merry as a lad at +play, resolute and quick, I could but stop betimes to wonder at the +fellow. Gallant, gay and debonnair, he sang a rippling little air from +soft Provence, and whirled his blade with such dainty skill that even +the stoical Indians gazed in awe upon the laughing cavalier. Fighting +through a bye-street, he met, steel to steel, a Spanish gentleman, +within the sweep of whose sword lay half a dozen of our good fellows. +</P> + +<P> +De la Mora glanced at this silent tribute to the Spaniard's prowess; +his face lighted up with a soldier's joy. He planted one foot +staunchly across a prostrate corpse, and right jauntily rang out the +hissing music of their steel. Instinctively I paused to watch, and as +instinctively understood that though pressed to his best, de la Mora +desired to be left alone. Verily it was a gentleman's fight, and no +odds, for love and glory's sake, though the Spaniard might have had a +whit the better. As I fought on, I heard the swift hurtle of a flying +knife, and saw the Spaniard drop his sword. De la Mora glanced round +with indignant eyes to the Choctaw who had made the cast, now looking +for approval from this gentleman who sang like a woman and fought like +a fiend. The Chevalier was like to have wreaked summary vengeance for +striking so foul a blow. Through the press I could see him go up to +his late adversary, bare-headed and courteous, to extricate him from +the motley, bleeding group wherein he had fallen. Throwing his +powerful shoulder against a door, he broke it down, and tenderly +carried the wounded gentleman within. I could then see him quietly +standing guard at the door, waiting for the turmoil to cease, for it +was then quite evident that the day was ours. +</P> + +<P> +Already the Choctaws were busy tearing the reeking scalps from the +living and the dead. De la Mora's face grew deathly pale at the sight; +his cheeks did play the woman, and one might deem him my lady's dapper +page, catching his maiden whiff of blood. This generous act kept him +from being in at the close of the fray, and robbed him of the greater +meed of glory which he might have thereby won. Twice that day, as he +struck down a pike aimed at my breast, did he make me to feel in my +heart like a lying thief—I, who was weak enough to imagine his +dishonor. +</P> + +<P> +Just at the last there was a trifling incident occurred which my lads +insisted was greatly to my credit. News of this was carried straight +to the Governor, and much was made thereof. +</P> + +<P> +Bienville, with his Frenchmen, battered down the gates, and before many +minutes the proud Castilian pennon lowered to the milk-white flag of +France. On sea and land were we alike successful. +</P> + +<P> +An hour after Pensacola fell, the Spanish ships struck their colors to +Champmeslin. Our greatest loss was the total destruction of the +Seamew, blown up by a red-hot shot, which fell in her powder magazine. +</P> + +<P> +At the surrender I caught my old commander's eye. He motioned me to +draw nearer. I obeyed most reluctantly, for I expected a stern rebuke +from the rugged soldier who never forgave the slightest deviation from +his orders. Instead, Bienville overwhelmed me with praise. He grasped +my hand, and spoke loud enough for all the troops to hear: +</P> + +<P> +"Before our assembled armies I am proud to acknowledge your share in +France's triumph this day; proud and grateful for your fidelity at +Versailles and Paris. Your example of loyalty and courage is one +worthy to be emulated by all the sons of France. The King shall have +your name for further recognition." +</P> + +<P> +This was a great deal for Bienville to say, especially at such a time. +My own lips were dumb. +</P> + +<P> +"Take your proper place, sir." +</P> + +<P> +And mechanically I walked to the head of my cheering guards. I was +amazed. And Serigny? Had he made up his mind to overlook my +defection? Had the Governor forgiven my failure to return in le +Dauphin? Surely not. The noble voice of Bienville broke into my +puzzled thought: +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret, you will receive the surrender of Don Alphonso, our +knightly and courteous foe." +</P> + +<P> +It thrilled me with pride that I should receive so famous a sword, for +knightlier foeman than Alphonso never trod a deck nor tossed his +gauntlet in the lists. I stepped forward to the Spanish lines where +their vanquished admiral tendered me the insignia of his command, when +on a sudden thought I put back the proffered sword, assuring him so +noble a soldier ought never to stand disarmed, and no hand but his +should touch that valiant blade. My delighted lads cheered again like +mad, and Bienville himself seemed much pleased at my courtesy. +</P> + +<P> +"Bravo! Placide," he exclaimed, clapping his hands, his rugged face +aglow with martial joy. His countenance changed, however, when his eye +fell upon the cringing figure of Matamora, the commandant of perfidious +memory. +</P> + +<P> +"You, too, Matamora? What, not yet killed! Hast saved thy precious +skin again? More's the pity. And do you think to merit the respect +accorded manhood and good faith? By the name of honor, no. Here boy," +and he beckoned to the negro slave who stood at his elbow, "do you take +yon dishonored weapon and break it before the troops." +</P> + +<P> +And Matamora, full glad to escape with life and limb, willingly yielded +up his sword to the black who snapped it under his foot, obedient to +Bienville's nod, then cast the tainted pieces from him. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Upon the long march to Biloxi, de la Mora was the life of the command, +and drew to our camp fire every straggler who could make a fair excuse +to come. He knew good songs, and he sang them well; he knew good +cheer, and he kept us all in radiant spirits. All, save myself. I was +bitterly dejected. +</P> + +<P> +"Cheer up, lad," he'd say, "What ails you? One would think you'd met +reverse, instead of winning glory and promotion. It was a brave day, +and bravely you did bear yourself. Would that Jerome could see." +</P> + +<P> +But the consciousness of dishonor had torn elation from my soul, +though, God knows, it had before been stainless in thought or deed. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have many sweet and tranquil hours at Biloxi when days of peace +are come. My cottage can be your home after the barracks no longer +claim your care. Agnes is the sweetest of wives; her little sister, +too, a child, but fair, and clever too, beyond her years." +</P> + +<P> +Verily I cared nothing for a baby sister. But Agnes? +</P> + +<P> +He repeated his invitation to their cottage many times, and mentally I +prayed, "O God, lead not Thy children into temptation." +</P> + +<P> +When we had settled down again at Biloxi, for days I remained to myself +in the barracks, and saw no one, making pretense of being busy amongst +my men. +</P> + +<P> +De la Mora rallied me upon my ungallant conduct, in denying to the +ladies the sight of so famous a soldier. +</P> + +<P> +I had now firmly determined to make it necessary to be away from the +post for a season, either in campaign with the Choctaws against the +Natchez, or by taking part in the coming siege of Havana. Any pretext +to get away. Anything but the truth. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX +</H3> + + +<P> +One day very soon thereafter my servant presented me a box, which he +said had been brought there by an Indian from Colonel d'Ortez, with the +request that it be delivered into my own hand. And further, to beg I +would make him a visit as soon as my duties would permit. +</P> + +<P> +The evening being far advanced I could not go that night, so contented +myself with the promise I would cross the bay on the morrow. +</P> + +<P> +Later, my company being my own, I gave attention to the box, such a +metal receptacle as was commonly used for articles of value. It +responded easily to the key, and opened without difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +The reasons for d'Ortez's fear and retirement lay bare before me, if I +would but search them out. Within the box, bound together by deerskin +thongs, were many writings, some on parchment, some paper, of different +dates and degrees of preservation. Some were well worn from age and +handling, others more recent, were in better condition. Some there +were which appeared quite new and fresh; these must have been the +latest to find a resting place in his keeping. +</P> + +<P> +All were arranged in due and systematic order; of whatever age, each +bore a careful superscription, giving in brief the contents of the +paper written by his own exact hand. Beside this, each document was +numbered and placed in sequence. Verily, it was most methodically +done, so any child could read and understand. +</P> + +<P> +It was with much misgiving I approached the task of making myself +familiar with my old friend's secret. Had he committed some youthful +crime which weighed heavily upon his trembling age, and had driven him +to these savage shores, where, shut out from all companionship with his +kind, he did a lonely penance? If so, I preferred to remain in +ignorance, for his was a friendship so dear, so pure, I desired not to +taint it with the odor of guilt. +</P> + +<P> +He had, however, made his request in such urgent terms, even pathetic, +I could not disregard it, and putting aside the reluctance I felt, I +took up the paper which lay on top, directed to myself, and began its +perusal. It was as follows: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="salutation"> +My dear Placide: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +The great feebleness of my worn-out frame warns me again that time for +me is almost past. It may be, when you recross the seas, I shall have +gone to final judgment. * * * remember my request, and carry on to the +end that work which generations of cowards have left undone. * * * All +is here contained in these papers, except some recent news I have of +the Pasquiers from the northern colonies. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +Possibly if you went to Quebec and sought out the Cure of St. Martin's +(who wrote this last letter, No. 32) you may right it all, and give to +my soul its eternal peace. * * * With the strong affection which my +bodily infirmities have in no wise diminished, I am, +</P> + +<P CLASS="closing"> +Your old friend.<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">RAOUL ARMAND XAVIER D'ORTEZ.</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 4em">of Cartillon, Normandy.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Having carefully read this letter, I then proceeded to peruse the +various documents in the order he had arranged them. +</P> + +<P> +The first, written by the hand of the Benedictine, Laurent of Lorraine, +Abbot of Vaux, told of the admission to the monastery of a child, son +of Henri d'Artin, to whom the good monks gave the name Bartholomew +Pasquier. This child, though designed for orders, left the monastery, +cast his fortunes with the King of Navarre, and became a great officer +in the household of King Henri the Fourth. +</P> + +<P> +Other documents gave an account of the posterity of this child down to +one Francois Rene Alois de Pasquier, who fled to America in 1674 to +escape the vengeance of a certain great lord whose son he slew in a +duel. This was he who was reputed to have been killed in battle, and +to have left no issue. And this was he whom I afterward found to be my +own good father. +</P> + +<P> +There was also contained an account of the later life of Pedro d'Ortez, +who, profiting not by his blood-gotten gains, threw himself, while in +delirium, into the same old well whereon he had hanged his brother, +Henri d'Artin. +</P> + +<P> +Some further notes by the good abbot told of how Raoul, the second son +of Pedro, slew his own brother, before their father's eyes, in order +that he, Raoul, might be Count of Cartillon. And this same Raoul, some +years later, did have the locket made and forced his own son to swear +that he would restore the real sons of d'Artin, the true children of +the Black Wolf's Breed, to their own again. All of these accounts are +of surpassing interest, old and quaint, to a perusal of which I +recommend my children.[1] +</P> + +<P> +For the first time, in reading these manuscripts, did I begin clearly +to associate the name d'Ortez with the name used by the madman in his +story at the old Norman ruin. With this new light, link by link did +the whole knotted chain untangle. Curiously enough, the tale I had +heard at the ruined castle tallied in the main with the monkish +documents here preserved. Indeed it supplied me with knowledge of much +which otherwise I would not have comprehended so completely. The +horrible reality of that weird recital was still fresh and distinct +before me, undimmed by time and unforgotten through all my troubles. +</P> + +<P> +I had sought refuge many times from brooding over my own affairs by +turning to this for interest and occupation. Every further detail was +supplied by a number of quaint documents, which Colonel d'Ortez had +digested into this: +</P> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TABLE SHOWING THE MALE DESCENDANTS OF<BR> +</H3> + +<PRE> +HENRI d'ARTIN AND OF PEDRO ORTEZ. + +Henri Francois Placide Pedro d'Ortez, suicided 1604. + d'Artin, died Aug. 28, Charles Pedro, killed ) Sons + 1572. by Raoul 1602. ) of +Bartholomew Pasquier (son Raoul, died 1618. ) above + of above), died 1609. Charles Francis Peter (son of +Bartholomew Placide ) Raoul), died without issue. + Pasquier killed in ) Sons Pedro d'Ortez (brother to + wars of the Fronde. ) of above), died 1663 +Henri Louis John (brother ) above. Henry (son of above), killed + to above), died 1654. ) in battle. +Francois Rene Xavier de Pasquier Alphonze, killed in ) + (ennobled), killed 1650. battle. ) +Francois Rene Alois de Pasquier, Felix, died in infancy. ) Sons + fled to America. Supposed to Raoul Armand Xavier ) of + have been killed about 1681. d'Ortez, born 1641 ) above. + No known descendants. Well (myself). Died ----. ) + known to the Cure of St. No children. ) + Martin's, Quebec. She who was born my daughter I + disowned, and she died without + issue. +</PRE> + +<BR> + +<P> +It appeared that the only thing to be done was to visit the good Cure +of St. Martin's, and, enlisting him in the search, find whatever +descendants might have been left by this Francois Rene Alois de +Pasquier. The task need not be a difficult one, as many old people +should still be living who might have known of the man.[2] +</P> + +<P> +I now bethought me of this enterprise as a fair excuse whereby I could +leave Biloxi for a space. I would, therefore, call upon my old friend, +and having obtained leave, matters now being safe with the colony, make +the journey to Quebec. +</P> + +<P> +But, alas for the weakness of fallen humanity; my last act before +putting myself out of temptation's way was to run full tilt into it. +</P> + +<P> +While this came so near to causing my dishonorable death, yet it was, +under Divine Providence, the direct means of spreading before me a long +life of happiness and honor. After a hard battle with my weaker self I +lost the fight. +</P> + +<P> +Just as on the day I departed from Versailles, I determined, cost what +it would, to see Agnes once again. So I wrote her a note. Such a +blunt and clumsy billet as only a love-sick soldier or a country clown +could have written. It craved pardon for the heat and the haste +displayed by me when we parted at Sceaux; it implored one last +interview before I left the colonies forever. I had not the art to +conceal or veil my meaning, but told it out and plainly. Such a note +as an idiotic boy might pen, or a simpering school lass be set +fluttering to receive. +</P> + +<P> +I bade my man deliver this to Madame de la Mora on the morrow, charging +him minutely and repeatedly to see it safe in her own hands. So +careful was I, I did not doubt that even so stupid a lout as Jacques +understood me perfectly. +</P> + +<P> +His further instructions were to meet me at the Bay when I should +return in the evening from my visit to Colonel d'Ortez, and there +beside its rippling waters—or so I had arranged—I was to receive her +answer. +</P> + +<P> +It had now turned late of the night, and I sought repose. Sleep evaded +my bed. What with my own restless desires, my chiding sense of +ill-doing, and the d'Ortez story I had read, I tossed and tumbled +through the remaining hours of darkness. Tumbled and tossed, whilst +the sins and sufferings of men long dead passed and repassed with their +spectral admonitions. +</P> + +<P> +Early on the morrow, while the day was yet cool, I crossed the Bay, and +climbed the slope of sand before the lonely house. It looked more +deserted and desolate than I had ever seen it. The stillness of +solitary death clung as a pall about the place. Pachaco, the Indian +servant, sat beside the gate, as motionless as the post against which +he leaned. +</P> + +<P> +"How is the master, Pachaco?" I inquired, passing in. +</P> + +<P> +"Him die yesterday," came the stolid reply. +</P> + +<P> +"What? Dead! When?" +</P> + +<P> +"The shadows were at the longest," he answered, indicating by a gesture +the western horizon. +</P> + +<P> +I hurried into the master's room. In the same position he had +occupied, when, months ago, he had beckoned me to remain, he sat there, +dead in his chair. His clothing hung about him in that sharply angular +fashion in which garments cling to a corpse. Long, thin locks were +matted above his brow, awesomely disarranged. But the pose of his +head, drooped a little forward, suggested a melancholy reverie, nothing +more. +</P> + +<P> +The golden locket, which he had shown me that well-remembered night, +rested within his shrunken palm. I noted that the side was open which +revealed the blazing bar of red. As if absorbed in that same +unpleasant thought, there sat the master, dead; dead, and I alone knew +his story. How vividly the old man's sorrow came back; how it +oppressed me. +</P> + +<P> +I bent down in tender sympathy to look again upon his wasted features, +and kneeling, gazed into his wide-open eyes. The calm of promised +peace upon his brow was distorted by the unsatisfied expression of one +who has left his work undone. +</P> + +<P> +So are the sins of the fathers visited upon their children, for I was +no longer in doubt but that the murderer, Pedro Ortez, was the sinning +ancestor of my old-time friend. Even in his presence my thoughts flew +to Agnes; had she not spoken of her grandsire as being such a man? The +stiffening body at my side was speedily forgotten in the music of this +meditation. +</P> + +<P> +I gained my feet again and looked down upon him, fascinated by the +changeless features of the dead. It was probably natural that standing +there I should revolve the whole matter over and over again, from the +first I knew of it until the last. A young man's plans, though, work +ever with the living; the dead he places in their tomb, covers them +with earth, bids them "God-speed," and banishes the recollection. I +was already busy with my contemplated search for the last d'Artin, and +stood there leaning against the oaken table pondering over the +question, "Where is the last d'Artin?" +</P> + +<P> +My mind wandered, returning with a dogged persistence to that one +thought, "Where is the last d'Artin?" "Where could <I>I</I> find him?" My +restless eyes roamed round the cheerless room, coming always back to +rest upon a long dust-covered mirror set in the wall across the way. +</P> + +<P> +As wind-driven clouds gather and group themselves in fantastic shapes, +so, deep in that mirror's shadowy depths, a vague figure gradually took +form and character—myself. +</P> + +<P> +With the vacant glance of a man whose mind is intensely preoccupied, I +studied minutely the reflection, my own bearing, my dress, my weapons. +I even noted a button off my coat, and tried dimly to remember where I +had lost it, until—great God—this chamber of death and revelation had +turned my brain. +</P> + +<P> +What face was that I saw? My own, assuredly, but so like another. +</P> + +<P> +Aghast, powerless to move or cry out, I stared helplessly into the +glass. Every other sensation vanished now before this new-born terror +which held my soul enslaved. I closed my eyes, I dared not look. +</P> + +<P> +My body seemed immovable with horror, but a trembling hand arose and +pointed at the mirror. Scant need there was to call attention to that +dim, terrible presence; my whole soul shrank from the ghostly face +reflected in the glass. For there, there was the same pallid +countenance, death-distorted and drawn, which I had conjured up in many +a frightened dream as that of the murdered Count—there was Henri +d'Artin. +</P> + +<P> +How long I stood transfixed, pointing into the mirror, I know not. As +men think of trifles even in times of deadly fear, so did my lips frame +over and over again the last question I had in mind before all sense +forsook me, "Where is the last d'Artin? Where is the last d'Artin? +Where—?" +</P> + +<P> +And in answer to my question, that long, rigid finger pointed <I>directly +at me</I> from out the dusty glass. It was as if the hand of the dead had +told me who I was. +</P> + +<P> +It had been no blind chance, then, which led me to the Paris house of +the "Black Wolf's Head;" the girl's ring with the same device, and the +grewsome narrative beneath the shadow of the Wolf at the Norman +ruin—nothing less than fate had brought these lights to me. +</P> + +<P> +Verily some more logical power than unreasoning accident must direct +the steps of men. A God of justice perhaps had placed these tokens in +my path. And soldiers call this "Fortune." +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +I dispatched Pachaco to Biloxi with the news of death, and long before +the afternoon our few simple arrangements for his funeral had been made. +</P> + +<P> +"Bury me here, Placide, beneath this great oak," he had said to me one +day. "The Infinite Mercy will consecrate the grave of penitence, +wherever it may be." +</P> + +<P> +He had his wish. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] These documents have been included in an appendix to this volume. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] A very slight investigation showed that this last named Francois +Rene Alois de Pasquier was none other than my own good father, who +assumed the name de Mouret to avoid the consequences of a fatal duel in +France. This I learned from the pious Cure of St. Martin's, who knew +him well. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NOTE WHICH WENT ASTRAY. +</H3> + + +<P> +Meanwhile Jacques had undertaken to manage my little affair at Biloxi +with tact and discretion. And this is how the fellow did it: +</P> + +<P> +It seems that Jacques thought no harm of the note, and when he took it +first to the house my lady was out. The honest fellow, doing his best +to carry out my instructions, refused to leave it. When he returned, +my lady worked, bent down amongst her flowers, in the little garden +beside their cottage. The Chevalier stood some distance off, busied +someway, Jacques knew not how, but with his face turned away from my +messenger as he came up. Jacques handed the note to my lady through +the fence, and she took it gently by the corner, fearing to soil it. +She held it up to look at the name written upon it, and seeing it was +her own, looked again more curiously at the writing. She did not know +the hand. Then she gaily called to the Chevalier: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Charles, come here; see what I have; it is a missive to your wife, +and from some gay gallant, too. I do not know the writing. Do you +come here and read it to me. My hands are so—" She held up two small +white hands dabbled in the dirt. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps some invitation to a court ball. We'll go, eh, Agnes?" +</P> + +<P> +He came like the fine, strong gentleman he was, across the garden, +taking the note from her and tearing it open. He began straightway to +read, my lady on tip-toe behind him reading over his shoulder, and +holding her contaminated hands away from his coat. His face grew +puzzled at the first, then as he seemed to finish, he stood a pace +apart from my lady and read again. There was murder in his face—yet +so white and quiet. +</P> + +<P> +He threw down the note and ground it into the soft earth beneath his +heel. Then he caught my lady firmly by both her shoulders and held her +fast, at full arm's length, gazing steadily into her face. +</P> + +<P> +"God in heaven," as Jacques said to me; "Master, what eyes has that +Chevalier de la Mora! No man could lie to him with those eyes reading +what a fellow thought." Jacques could not make himself to leave; he +stood rigid and watched. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Madame?" +</P> + +<P> +"She tried to laugh, but her husband's face forbade that this could be +a spark of lover's play. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Madame?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Charles, what is the matter with you, you behave so strangely?" +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier had grown an older man, his face stern and resolute, eyes +a-glitter, and mouth drawn in tense, determined lines. A most +dangerous man. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Charles, what is the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"When did you meet him at Sceaux? What did you do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Meet who?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't lie to me, woman, I am in no mood for subterfuge." +</P> + +<P> +She besought him with one frightened look, one step forward to him as +if for protection, which he repelled; then she looked as though she +might weep. +</P> + +<P> +"Neither do you weep. Tell me how many notes like this have you +received?" +</P> + +<P> +"Like what? I could not read it, you held it so high," she sobbed. +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier stooped down, picked up the crumpled paper from the +earth, and smoothed it out. He then handed it to her, and regarded her +face intently as she read it. +</P> + +<P> +"Read this, Madame, and see how careless you have been." +</P> + +<P> +And my lady read the note; she, too, read it again, the first reading +not sufficing her to understand. Then she looked at her husband with +great wide-open eyes; she was now calm, and as quiet as he. +</P> + +<P> +"Truly, Charles, I know nothing of this." +</P> + +<P> +"It was always said, Madame, at Sceaux, you could take the stage and +play the parts of distressed and virtuous damosels," he answered her, +coldly curling his lip. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me, Madame, as you value your soul, what is this Captain de +Mouret to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"As I value my soul," my lady answered him direct and steadily, looking +straight into his eye, her own hands folded across her heaving breast. +"As I value my soul, Charles, I know nothing of him." +</P> + +<P> +"What does he mean when he says here 'I was hasty and too impulsive +when we parted in the chapel at Sceaux'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Upon my honor, Charles, I do not know. I never saw the man in all my +life—to know him." +</P> + +<P> +"Upon your <I>honor</I>," the Chevalier repeated. +</P> + +<P> +And my lady's cheek flushed fire. But her form straightened up, and +her eyes met his unflinching, without guilt or fear. The Chevalier +turned and caught sight of Jacques, for the lout, according to his +story, had grown to the spot as firm as one of the oaks. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, you fellow, come here, <I>come here</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +And Jacques dared not disobey him. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, fellow, how many notes like this have you brought to my wife?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only that one, my lord." Jacques started in by telling the truth, and +he followed it up religiously. According to his account of it, the +Chevalier looked him straight through and through until he dared not +tell a lie. +</P> + +<P> +"Mind that you tell me the truth. Who gave you this note?" +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret." +</P> + +<P> +"When?" +</P> + +<P> +"Last night." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"At his quarters." +</P> + +<P> +"To whom did he say you should deliver it?" +</P> + +<P> +"To Madame Agnes de la Mora." +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier stooped, picked up the envelope, and re-read the +superscription, handing it over to my lady, who took it unseeing. +</P> + +<P> +"Did he expect a reply?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my lord." +</P> + +<P> +"And where did he say to bring it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bring it to him when he returned from across the Bay this afternoon. +I was to await him upon the shore." +</P> + +<P> +"At what hour?" +</P> + +<P> +"None was named, my Lord; he said it would be late, perchance." +</P> + +<P> +Verily, as Jacques told it me, he must have drained the stupid fellow +dry. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Chevalier turned to my lady with the utmost courtesy: +</P> + +<P> +"What say you, Madame, shall I bear your reply to this gentle captain? +For by my faith, Madame, you require a more careful go-between than +this, one more discreet and less glib of tongue." +</P> + +<P> +"Charles, upon my honor, I know nothing of all this; I have never seen +this Captain de Mouret." +</P> + +<P> +He looked as if he did not hear her. He glanced at the sun, full two +hours high, drew his sword and started to leave the garden. +</P> + +<P> +He paused to doff his cap, and say, "I bear your message for you, +Madame; verily, I am honored." +</P> + +<P> +My lady neither screamed nor fainted during his questioning of Jacques; +she stood and listened as one dazed, or who but dimly understood. The +Chevalier strode out sword in hand. +</P> + +<P> +"For shame, Charles," she called to him calmly enough, though she was +deadly pale, "here is some wretched mistake—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there does appear to have been a mistake—in the delivery of this +precious billet. I will speedily make that right." +</P> + +<P> +"Charles, Charles!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned. Her bearing was full as proud as his. He looked from the +woman to the paper in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if you know not this man, then he has wantonly insulted you. I +shall await this Captain de Mouret by the water, and there I shall know +the truth. He shall explain what means this pretty letter to my wife." +</P> + +<P> +Jacques watched her proudly erect figure enter the door. He saw her +sway a moment in indecision, then sink beside the bed to pray. She +came shortly to the door again and called him. The fellow's brain +worked slowly, and he had not yet comprehended the extent of mischief +he had done. That he had done something amiss, though, he began to +understand. +</P> + +<P> +"You had that note from Monsieur le Capitaine de Mouret?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Madame." +</P> + +<P> +"And he said deliver it to me?" +</P> + +<P> +"To Madame Agnes de la Mora. Am I not right?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I am Madame Agnes de la Mora, but that note was not intended for +me." +</P> + +<P> +She came closer to Jacques, so close indeed she laid her trembling hand +upon his sleeve. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me—you know this Captain de Mouret well—tell me if you would +save an innocent woman, has this Captain de Mouret a love affair here? +Answer me, answer me truly, has he a love affair, or—or a mistress?" +</P> + +<P> +Her innocence and direct question abashed Jacques sorely and set him a +wondering what manner of escapade was this his master had got into. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go to her, be she what she may, go to anybody; my husband must +not kill this innocent man. No; and here I disturb myself about my own +reputation, while two lives are in jeopardy. I must think, I must +act—but how?" +</P> + +<P> +And she broke down to weep again, showing the woman in her that was +behind so brave a front. Her tears were not for long. Jacques felt it +was his turn now to say something, so he blundered out, "See the +Governor;" then one whit better he went, "<I>I</I> will see the Governor for +you." +</P> + +<P> +The good fellow had in that moment for the first time realized that he +could stop the affair, and do it he would if he had to quit the colony. +And she such a lovely lady, so gentle with the poor. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you not fear to speak with him of such as this?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Madame, Bienville's soldiers do not fear him; they leave that for +his enemies." +</P> + +<P> +And so it fell out that Jacques told the Governor. And he told him all. +</P> + +<P> +It was ever Bienville's wont to act with quick decision. +</P> + +<P> +"Order Major Boisbriant to report to me at once." And off posted +Jacques upon his errand. +</P> + +<P> +That officer attended with military promptitude. +</P> + +<P> +"Major Boisbriant, do you seek on the instant the Chevalier de la Mora, +and bear him company wherever he may go until you are relieved. Put +upon him no restraint, and say nothing of your having such orders from +me if you can avoid it. There is trouble brewing here, which I want to +prevent; an affair of honor, you understand. He has gone toward the +landing on the Bay. Be discreet and delicate." +</P> + +<P> +Boisbriant nodded his comprehension, saluted, and was gone. Bienville +turned to Jacques. +</P> + +<P> +"Saddle my horse at once and bring him here." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was much later than I had hoped before I could with decency return +to Biloxi. Impatient, childish and excited I recrossed the bay, +leaving a little detail of soldiers to watch beside the body of my +friend. As soon as I saw Jacques on the other shore I knew something +had gone wrong. That senseless knave was pacing uncertainly about the +beach, stopping here and there to dig great holes in the sand with his +toe, and carefully filling them up again. The fellow, ever on the +watch for me, was at the same time watching the path from Biloxi, and +seemed to dread my coming. Instead of meeting me at the water, he +waited for me to approach him, thus leaving the two boatmen out of +hearing. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, give me the note; why stand there like a driveling fool," for +the fellow's hesitant manner angered and frightened me. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no note, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"No reply?" +</P> + +<P> +"The lady sent none." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +Under my questions Jacques turned red and pale, then he blundered out: +</P> + +<P> +"The Chevalier de la Mora said he would bring the answer to you +himself—at the shore." +</P> + +<P> +He kept his eyes fast riveted upon another hole he was digging in the +sand. +</P> + +<P> +"The—Chevalier?" I knew what that meant. Great God! and this was the +end of it all. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me, you bungling fool, what knows he of this?" +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon, Master; I thought no harm of it; you had never before employed +me on such an errand." +</P> + +<P> +It was now my own turn to seek the ground with my eyes, so just, so +humble was the rebuke. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought no harm of it, sir, and gave it to Madame in the garden; she +called upon the Chevalier to read it for her." +</P> + +<P> +"What said he? To her? Was he violent?" +</P> + +<P> +"No sir, most polite; terribly polite, and cool; but, master, you must +not meet him; he will kill you." +</P> + +<P> +Of this I had scant doubt. +</P> + +<P> +"Did he make no sign as if he would do her harm?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir, not then, but he looked so queer one could hardly say what he +meditated. I would not care to have him look at me like that." +</P> + +<P> +I was paralyzed by the suddenness of the ill-fortune which had +befallen, but I was to be allowed no day of grace in which to plan a +line of conduct. My face had been turned all this while toward the +sea, there being something soothing to me about the long, even sweep of +those bright, blue waters in the south. +</P> + +<P> +Jacques faced the town. I noted a deprecatory gesture, and following +his gaze saw the Chevalier himself coming our way at a good round pace. +My knees did quake, and the veriest poltroon might have well been +ashamed of the overweening fear which possessed me. In defense of +which I may say, I believe it was due in large part to my great respect +and fondness for de la Mora, as well as a deep consciousness of the +justice of his cause. From long habit I looked first to my weapons, +but for once felt no joy in them. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret," he greeted me with a soldier's formal courtesy. +</P> + +<P> +"Chevalier de la Mora." +</P> + +<P> +"Captain, I have the honor to return to you a note which I believe +bears your name," and he handed me the unfortunate billet. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I right? Is that your hand?" +</P> + +<P> +I scorned to lie, and answered him evenly; +</P> + +<P> +"It is." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that note properly directed? To Madame de la Mora?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any explanation, sir, to offer?" +</P> + +<P> +For the life of me I could think of nothing to say; I could not tell +him the truth, neither could I lie to him with grace. So I simply said: +</P> + +<P> +"It was not her fault," probably the worst remark I could have made. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, this note is true? You did meet my wife by appointment in the +ruined chapel at Sceaux?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, by my honor, there was no appointment; I came upon her by chance, +and through no consent of hers." +</P> + +<P> +"And so you presumed to meet my wife in a lonely place—which she +denies to me upon her honor, as you now swear; you were there 'hot, +impulsive and hasty' which this <I>honorable</I> missive of yours craves +pardon for. Now you seek another private interview which you say you +can not live without?" +</P> + +<P> +I nodded moodily, wishing only to have the matter over, and avoid his +further questioning. +</P> + +<P> +"By my soul, Captain, I am rejoiced to find you so frank—rejoiced that +you do not lie. The other, God knows, is bad enough." +</P> + +<P> +I winced, but held my tongue. +</P> + +<P> +"Our business, then, is plain enough; and there is no time like the +present." +</P> + +<P> +So saying he cast off his coat and began to roll his sleeves back, +leaving bare that magnificent forearm of his, supple and dexterous. +Imitating him we were both soon stripped for action. +</P> + +<P> +I had only my light rapier, worn about the garrison, while he was armed +with his heavy campaign blade. I was already a dead man, or so I felt, +for there was no spirit in me for the fight. Our blades crossed, and +immediately he noted the disparity of arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain," he remarked, composedly, drawing back a pace. "This is a +bad business; I shall surely kill you, but wish to do so as a +gentleman. Permit me to exchange our weapons, so you fence not at such +great disadvantage." +</P> + +<P> +And he offered me the hilt of his own reversed sword. +</P> + +<P> +"Chevalier de la Mora, you are a gallant gentleman, will you believe a +man who has not yet lied to you, and who feels a word is your due?" +</P> + +<P> +"Be quick," he replied, "we maybe interrupted." +</P> + +<P> +"I have wronged you and will render full atonement. But it has only +been a wrong of the heart; one of which I had no control, no choice. +Your sweet wife has never, by word or deed, dishonored the noble name +she bears." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, Captain, it is a gentleman's part to make such +protestations. It is fruitless for us to discuss this matter further, +except as we had so well begun." +</P> + +<P> +So intent were we both that neither had seen Jacques leave us, nor had +either heard the swift hoof beats of a horse upon the deadening sand, +until the rider was full upon us. +</P> + +<P> +Bienville. Behind him, on foot, just emerging from the brush some +distance away, Boisbriant and Jacques. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen, gentlemen, put by your weapons. What does this mean?" He +had flung himself from his horse and stood between. +</P> + +<P> +De la Mora sullenly dropped his point. +</P> + +<P> +"A mere private matter of honor, sire." +</P> + +<P> +"Are there so few enemies of France with whom to fight that you must +needs turn your swords at each other to rob me of a good soldier when I +need every one?" +</P> + +<P> +By this time Boisbriant and Jacques had come up, and Bienville +commanded: +</P> + +<P> +"Major, do you accompany the Chevalier de la Mora to his quarters. You +will take his parole to remain there during the night, and he will +report to me at ten to-morrow. Placide, do you come with me." +</P> + +<P> +He gave up his horse to Jacques, and taking me by the arm led me in the +direction of the garrison. Truly, I was in no better plight, for I +feared reproof from the Governor more than the steel of de la Mora. +During all this time I said no word. We returned to Biloxi in absolute +silence. Bienville, with all a gentleman's instinct, recognized the +delicacy of my position. +</P> + +<P> +The Governor took me at once to his own room, and sat me down at the +table. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Placide, tell me all about this miserable affair," +</P> + +<P> +"I can not, sire; believe me, I can not. I beg of you not to put upon +me a command I must disobey. This wretched matter is not for me to +tell, even to you." +</P> + +<P> +"A woman?" +</P> + +<P> +I held my peace. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I thought as much. Is it your fault or his, Placide?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mine." +</P> + +<P> +He drummed on the table with his fingers a while before he spoke again. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, my lad, there is but one thing I can do, that is to send you +away from here at once. You can leave this place to-night, seek out +Tuskahoma, make your way to Pensacola, thence to Havana, where I +warrant you will find other occupation. Or, if you so desire, I will +accredit you to Governor Frontenac in the north." +</P> + +<P> +I chose Havana, there being the greater prospect of active service +there. It took the methodical Governor but brief space to give me such +letters as would insure me fitting reception from our brave fellows at +Pensacola. He placed them in my hand, and I quietly rose to bid him +good-night, and good-bye. I would not have ventured upon anything more +than a formal word of parting, for I had the consciousness of having +done much to forfeit his regard. But the old man came over and put his +arms about me as he might a beloved son. +</P> + +<P> +"Placide," he said, "it grieves me to the soul for you to leave me. I +love you, boy, as I do my own flesh. You have served me truly, always +with affection and honor. I respect your silence now, and ask you for +no confidences not your own. Serigny has told me how faithful you were +in Paris, and what he heard from others of your interview with the +King. Placide, my lad, even now it fires my blood to think of a boy of +mine standing before the mighty Louis, surrounded by our enemies, and +daring to tell the truth. It was glorious, glorious, and it saved your +Governor. I had minded me in an idle day to hear it all from your own +lips. Perhaps, some day, who knows, it may yet come. You will lose +not an hour in leaving Biloxi, and I have your word to engage in no +encounter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, sire, you have my word." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by, Placide." +</P> + +<P> +I had dropped upon my knee, and, taking his hand, kissed it gently. He +turned back into his room, shut the door, and left me alone in the +hall. I walked thence straightway to my own quarters, put on hastily +the garb of the forest and made all readiness. My toilet was not +elaborate, and a short half hour found me completely equipped for the +journey. +</P> + +<P> +Leaving Biloxi, unaccompanied, like a thief in the night, I set out, +and having reached the Bay winded a horn until Pachaco heard, then sat +me down to wait for his boat. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHILDREN OF THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED +</H3> + + +<P> +According to the Governor's recollection, I had been gone only a short +space when a peremptory knock came upon his door. He opened it, and +there stood the Chevalier de la Mora, dishevelled and with evidences of +haste, but courteous as was his wont. +</P> + +<P> +"I desire to speak with Captain de Mouret, at once, at once." +</P> + +<P> +"That you can not do; he has gone. Chevalier, I am astonished. Had I +not a gentleman's parole that you should remain in your house this +night?" +</P> + +<P> +"You had, sire, but the conditions were urgent, and see, I have sought +Captain de Mouret without arms, so no breach could occur between us." +</P> + +<P> +"Fortunately, M. le Chevalier, Captain de Mouret has consented to leave +this colony to-night, and before the day dawns he will doubtless be +many miles away." +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier heard like one dumb and undecided, a great doubt tugging +at his heart. He departed unsteadily in the direction of the barracks. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, my good fellow, hast seen Captain de Mouret?" he inquired of a +straggler. +</P> + +<P> +The man saluted. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sire, he but lately went the path towards the Bay." +</P> + +<P> +"How long since?" +</P> + +<P> +"A bare quarter of an hour. He was dressed for the forest and went +alone." +</P> + +<P> +During this while I, Placide de Mouret, stranger and outcast, sat upon +a grassy hillock awaiting Pachaco with his boat. The echoes of my horn +had died away in the night, and soon after I caught the sound of +running feet, and heard a man's voice calling my name as he ran. To my +utter astonishment it was the Chevalier, breathless from his speed. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it you—Captain de Mouret?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is—Chevalier," I replied, uncertain at the first who the man could +be. +</P> + +<P> +Seeing him in such a state of mind I knew the struggle had come. There +be times in every man's life when he recks lightly of consequences, and +this was not my night for caring. I had, in a measure, run away thus +far from him, and he, not content with this, had pursued me past the +limit of forbearance. So anticipating his own action, I began +carefully to take off my own coat, and remembered with pleasure that it +was not a slight rapier which now hung confidently by my side. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Captain, not that. I have sought you this time in peace. See, I +have no weapons." +</P> + +<P> +Suiting the gesture to the speech, he flung wide his arms, and showed +himself unprepared for battle. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain, you and I have fought side by side. You are a man of +courage, and if you have injured me you will render me due account upon +my demand. I do demand this of you now, that you return with me to +Biloxi at once, upon my assurance as a soldier that no harm will there +befall you. This, sir, upon a soldier's honor." +</P> + +<P> +It was a most unexpected outcome to such an interview. I hesitated +warily at his request, and then thinking it could make matters no +worse, inquired: +</P> + +<P> +"How long will you require me, and for what purpose?" +</P> + +<P> +"The time will be most brief, a moment should suffice. The purpose I +can not give, but it will bring you into no danger. I repeat, upon the +word of a man of honor, that you will be permitted to return safely as +you came, and no one will follow." +</P> + +<P> +I must say, in spite of these protests, I did not want to go. But he +pressed his wish so earnestly that I followed the Chevalier down the +winding path back to Biloxi, not without great trepidation, however. +He walked rapidly in front, and not a word was exchanged between us. +We passed the barracks and the Governor's house, where I thought to +stop, but he led me on. Leaving the thicker portions of the little +town, he soon paused before his own gate and swung it open. The wild +thought now entered my brain that perhaps he had planned some terrible +revenge upon his wife, and desired to torture me by forcing me to +witness it. I hung back at the gate. My own good sword re-assured me, +and he mounted the step to throw open the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in, Captain. I regret that I can not give you a more sincere +welcome." +</P> + +<P> +Truly, there was nothing in the aspect of the room to cause alarm. Two +ladies were inside, one at either end of a simple working table—Agnes +and another lady, about her own figure, whom I did not know. The elder +woman looked straight in my face with an anxious air. +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier did not formally present me. Agnes drooped her head +somewhat, and never raised her eyes at my entrance. It was a most +awkward situation. As to what de la Mora contemplated I could not +venture the wildest guess; certainly no violence in the presence of +this other lady who looked so cool while yet so pale. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret, as you hope for your soul's salvation, I conjure +you to tell me the whole truth. I do solemnly promise you, upon a +soldier's honor, at the very worst which may come, I will only leave +this colony, and will not injure any one." +</P> + +<P> +I had seen de la Mora on many a field, but never did he look stronger +or nobler than on that night. His voice sounded full and clear despite +the intensity of his suffering. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret, you are a soldier, a brave one, as my own eyes have +witnessed, reputed a man of untarnished honor. Will you truly answer +me one question upon the sacred Blood of Christ?" +</P> + +<P> +His earnestness appealed to every better instinct of my nature, so I +replied to him: +</P> + +<P> +"I will." +</P> + +<P> +"Have I your oath?" +</P> + +<P> +"You have." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, sir, to which of these ladies, if either, did you intend this +note should be delivered; and which, if either, did you meet at the +ruined chapel at Sceaux? Speak, in God's name, and do not spare me! +Suspicion is more terrible than truth." +</P> + +<P> +The very worst had come, and I felt my resolution waver. I knew not +what story Agnes had told her husband, nor did I know who that other +lady was. She looked enough like Agnes to have afforded shallow +pretext for an evasion. Verily here was a strong temptation for a lie, +and I was almost minded to tell it and relieve Agnes. Agnes, though, +would give me no cue; never once did she lift her eyes to mine. I +might even then have told the lie, but for the reflection it would +compromise an innocent woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain, in God's name, speak! do you not see that I am quiet and +self-controlled?" +</P> + +<P> +"Chevalier de la Mora, I shall tell you the exact truth, and hold you +to your promise that there shall be no violence—now. What I did was +through my fault alone, nor did your lady give me the slightest +encouragement—she is blameless. It is a sore strait you have placed +me in, but <I>this</I> is the lady who has all a soldier's love, and a +soldier's respect, which she has done nothing to forfeit." +</P> + +<P> +As I spoke, I indicated the shrinking figure of Agnes, and turned to +meet the storm. Verily the storm did come, but from a different source. +</P> + +<P> +The elder lady rose with a fervent "Thank God!" which I could find no +reason for her saying. Agnes nervously twisted at the table cover, her +cheeks crimson with the shame. I could not resist a long look down +upon her, and do what I might, my love showed full and strong in my +face and mien. +</P> + +<P> +De la Mora keenly watched us all. That other lady, for whom I had no +thought, to my utter surprise, moved toward him with hands +outstretched, and cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Charles." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment he hesitated, then: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Agnes, Agnes, a lifetime's love and service can not compensate you +for what I've made you suffer—the doubt I bore my loyal wife." +</P> + +<P> +He fell upon his knee before her and carried her hand to his lips as +though she were a goddess, and then sprang toward me with the gladdest +of glad smiles, thrust his hand at me, and came near to cracking mine +by the vigor of his grasp. His throat choked up, and he said nothing. +</P> + +<P> +And all this while I looked from one to the other with a most dull and +stupid stare. +</P> + +<P> +Agnes looked up at me once, radiant and confused, then lowered her eyes +again. +</P> + +<P> +The Chevalier broke a silence which was becoming intolerable, to me at +least, who did not understand it all. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Mouret, you have been in error, and have done me no wrong. +This lady here is my worshiped wife, Madame Agnes de la Mora." I +looked upon her incredulously, while that gracious woman took one hand +from her husband long enough to extend to me her greeting. +</P> + +<P> +Thoroughly perplexed by this most unlooked for denouement, I asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Who, then, is <I>this</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"This chit," he replied, walking round the table, happy as a boy, and +almost lifting her bodily, "this is Madame's little sister, Charlotte. +She confessed this evening to having spoken with you once in the Chapel +at Sceaux—and I, may God forgive me, doubted but she had done it to +shield her sister. I knew the little minx had warned you in the Park, +but thought nothing of it. Charlotte, come here!" +</P> + +<P> +And Charlotte de Verges laid her warm little hand in mine. For thirty +years it has rested there in peace. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +Thus, through many strange perils and purifying sorrows came the +abiding happiness which blessed these last two children of the "Black +Wolf's Breed." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +FINIS +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap250"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +APPENDIX +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H3> +Note by the Author +</H3> + +<P CLASS="report"> +I have included here the full text of the documents contained in the +iron box, sent to Placide de Mouret by Colonel D'Ortez, just prior to +his death. One of these papers, that showing the male descendants of +Henri d'Artin and of Pedro Ortez, which proved that Francois Rene Alois +de Pasquier was the father of Placide and which indicated that the wife +of the Chevalier de la Mora and her sister were the grandchildren of +Colonel D'Ortez, was set out in the body of the narrative and will be +found in Chapter XXII. These supplementary documents (which are +historically accurate) confirm, not only the story related by Colonel +D'Ortez to Placide, but also the strange story told by mad Michel under +the shadow of the Castle of Cartillon. While they may add little to +the narrative interest of the main story, these documents serve to +confirm some of the least credible incidents of the tale, and it was +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap251"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DOCUMENT No. 1 +</H3> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Document No. 1, indorsed on back, "Notes chiefly written by the Abbot +of Vaux." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="report"> +<I>In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Sanctus Spiritus. Amen.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +I, Laurent of Lorraine, Benedictine, by Divine permission Abbot of +Vaux, do make these writings and divers memoranda, partly from my own +unworthy knowledge, and partly from facts openly notorious and resting +on the testimony of witnesses as credible as there be in this world of +falsehood and vanity. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +All of which latter portion, concerning one Pedro d'Ortez and his +descendants, is here set down at the special prayer and persuasion of +said d'Ortez, a profane and sacrilegious lord, yet whose past service +to the Holy Church should not be forgotten, though his late riotous and +ungodly life hath much grieved the faithful brotherhood. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +THEREFORE, I, Laurent, Abbot, as above stated, do make and inscribe +this chronicle, beginning this, the 29th day of June, in the year of +grace, one thousand five hundred and seventy-six, according to the +eccleciastical computation. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +And herein: +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +ITEM the first—(Being a copy of entries made by my own hand upon the +register of the monastery, now preserved in the archives of the same.) +Aug. 26, 1572. Admitted to the sanctuary and protection of the +monastery this day a certain suckling babe, aged about two years. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The infirm servitor by whom said babe was tended, dying the same day, +despite all efforts and prayers. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +August 28th, 1572. Died August 26th, 1572, at Cartillon, Henri +Francois Placide d'Artin, Count of Cartillon, Seigneur de Massignac, +etc., a heretic and apostate, falling before the wrath of God on +occasion of the pious stratagem of the Feast of the Blessed +Bartholomew, arranged by Her Most Gentle Majesty, and the dutiful son +of Church, Henri, duc de Guise. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Note. The babe aforementioned being the son and heir of above, was +admitted to communion of the church and baptized Bartholomew Pasquier. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Further note. Sept. 9th, 1589. Bartholomew Pasquier being designed +for orders, but unruly and rebellious in spirit, ran away upon the +murder of our good King Henri, third of that name, and joined himself +with the armies of the heretic Henri, Prince of Bearne, self-styled +King of France and Navarre. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Afterward, when the said Henri, repenting of his errors, reunited with +the true Church, said Bartholomew appears again as a major in his +guards, holding a firm place, it was said, in the King's favor. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap252"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DOCUMENT No. 2 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +(Abbot Laurent's writing) +</H3> + + +<P CLASS="report"> +Statement of Brothers Anselmo and Jehan, touching the rites of exorcism +by them administered, <I>contra daemonios</I>, to the temporal and +seigneural lord, Pedro d'Ortez, Count of Cartillon—fourteenth of said +lordship—a man of profane blood, dying in grievous torment of soul, +possessed of foul and wicked fiends—may God protect all true +Christians from the same. AMEN. +<BR><BR> +ANSELMO DI NAPOLI.<BR> +JEHAN DE TOURS.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="report"> +<I>In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Sanctus Spiritus. Amen.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +It was come the early part of the night when there arose at the outer +gate such an unseemly clattering of hoofs and rattle of worldly weapons +as greatly terrified our humble-minded brethren, engaged at their +devotions. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The holy Abbot, being retired at his prayer and pious meditations, +Brother Jehan, worthy and devout, in humility of spirit inquired of +their errand. Being informed in hot haste that the puissant and mighty +Lord of Cartillon lay dying in sin, possessed of frenzies and fiends, +and stood in need most urgent of extreme unction, we deliberated +thereupon together. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Hurry, haste, good fathers, ere it be too late; we have here two stout +palfreys to bear you to his couch." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The Abbot having in due season come forth from his closet, we were +commanded to go forthwith to minister to the needs of the noble Count. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Provided with holy oil, and the ritual for casting out demons, bearing +a piece of the true cross, before which no evil being can prevail, we +rode away at so rough a pace withal, through constant urging and +imprecations of the men at arms, as caused us to be sorely shaken and +disturbed, both in mind and body. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Arrived at Cartillon, we made great speed to repair to his bedside, +where, of a truth, the man lay flat of his back, weak in flesh, but +stout and rebellious of soul, contrary to the doctrines of our most +blessed religion. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Before he caught sight of us, he moaned and heaved, pointing his +fingers ever out of the window, and uttering strange heathen +blasphemies—whereat we crossed ourselves piously. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Following the direction of his gaze we saw naught save the starlit dome +of heaven. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The eyes of the demon gave him power to see diabolical and unclean +forms. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Sorely distracted thereat, he cried out in direst fear: +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Hence! Hence! Seek my mother in Hell, for it was her doing. I would +have spared the women." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The man being clearly possessed of an evil demon, we immediately made +ready the sacred offices of the church for the casting out of such. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Believing from the demon voice issuing through the possessed man's lips +that it was the woman fiend, Lilith, who in female guise doth walk the +earth in darkness, we resorted with much speed to the office specially +prepared for that evil and depraved being. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The holy ritual was being devoutly read by Brother Anselmo, when the +man, turning in his couch, caught sight of us at our sacred labors. He +thereupon, with many profane and blasphemous oaths, bade us cease and +begone. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Out! Out upon you, thou shaveling hypocrites! Thinkest thou I am +become a helpless woman to profit of thy mummeries? No, by the body of +Jupiter. Get out! get out!" +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Oh, weak and rebellious son of Holy Church, calm thy troubled spirit +and take unto thyself the most blessed peace of God. Repent thine +errors, and prepare thy mind for the Paradise of the just." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Verily, it was an evil and malignant demon which controlled him, for +the words but struck a pagan madness to his heart, and he sprang from +his couch. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Hush! Hush your priestly lies, which sink a new terror in my soul. +It can not, can not be, this other world where men receive the reward +or punishment drawn upon themselves in this. Thou liest, thou canting +monk-faced coward; it is all a lie of priestcraft. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"There is no God, no Hell; no, I will not, will not believe it. Get +thee hence before I drive thee to the gibbet and fling thy quarters to +hawk and hound." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +We crossed ourselves in horror, kissing the piece of the true cross, +fearing his presence and terrible blasphemy would draw a bolt from +Heaven. But there he stood, for some divine purpose secure in his body +from the vengeance of God. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +So fierce a fire consumed his strength he sank again in mortal weakness +on his couch. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +We watched him long. He gazed as one fixed by an evil eye, through the +open window straight toward an ancient well across the court-yard. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +He mumbled words whereof we could only guess the import. He raised a +long, thin finger, knotted at the joints, and pointed to the well: +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Do you hear it? Oh, mother, mother, it was your doing! Listen now. +Dost hear their cries in Hell? See, see, the body turns and swings, +softly, softly," and he covered his face, uttering the most plaintive +cries. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +He started up again and went to the window, stretching out his arm as +before. We could see nothing but the court and old well, long dry of +water. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"See, there she is; see, see; I come, I come." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +And regarding not our sacred relics or adjurations, he passed out the +door, down the stair of winding stone, through the men who, palsied by +craven fears, put not forth their hands to stay; staring before him +with wide-open eyes which saw not, d'Ortez strode through them all into +the vacant court-yard. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +No pause he made, but straightway went toward the well, whither—at +some distance be it humbly confessed—we followed. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +At first he but peered within and listened; then he stood quiet for a +space, as if he waited, for what we could not tell. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +None of us being sufficiently near to prevent, and the power of the +demon prevailing over weak and mortal flesh, he mounted the curb, and, +amid the most horrid shrieks, cursings and revilings proceeding from +the foul demon Lilith, he plunged himself bodily in the darkness below, +wherefrom came only faint groans for a short space. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Thus died Pedro d'Ortez, Lord of Cartillon. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Leaving the task of getting out his body to those vassals who, greatly +perturbed in spirit, gathered at the spot, we hastened away horrified +at such abominations of Beelzebub as we had witnessed, being for our +fear and little faith made culpable before God, and hoping to +repurchase peace by great penitence. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Report made and rendered to the Most Reverend and Illustrious Father in +God, Laurent, Abbot of the Monastery of Vaux, this the tenth day of +July in the year of grace one thousand five hundred and ninety-six. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +(Signed) ANSELMO DI NAPOLI, +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3.5em">JEHAN DE TOURS.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap253"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DOCUMENT No. 3 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +(Concerning Raoul d'Ortez) +</H3> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Indorsed on back, "Further notes by Abbot of Vaux." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +<I>In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Sanctus Spiritus. Amen.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Further facts having come to my knowledge, in this, the year of grace +one thousand five hundred and eighty nine, which do most gloriously +illustrate the dispensations of a just God, and His visitation of the +sins of the father upon the children of them who hate Him, it is deemed +meet and proper that they be here set down and perpetuated for that +future generations may know the truth; Therefore: +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Be it held in everlasting memory, that Pedro d'Ortez, the same who has +been by me beforementioned as of a profane, carnal and blood-guilty +life, living not with the fear of God before his eyes, but filled with +evil at the instigation of the devil:—The said Pedro having at this +period two sons, desired that the elder should, according to secular +law, inherit his title and lands. He desired also, that the younger, +Raoul, might enter the armies of the King. But Raoul, nothing loath, +in so far as the fighting there was concerned, lusted yet for the gold +and acres which were his father's. Pedro, the elder brother, being of +a mild and amiable temper, designed more for the cloister than the +camp, Raoul jested and jibed at him alway for his gentle disposition +and meekness of spirit. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +All of these facts being stated and related to me by Brother Julian, +who went betimes to the castle for alms and tithes—which same were +frequent denied and withheld, to the great detriment of our just dues. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +One day, after a more than usually violent quarrel between Pedro and +Raoul, their father came suddenly upon them in a retired portion of the +castle grounds. The sight was enough to startle even a man so used to +shedding human blood as had been the Lord of Cartillon. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Pedro was slowly sinking to the ground, easing himself down somewhat +upon his knees and elbows. His brother stood near watching, and calmly +wiping the red drippings from his sword upon the grass. Not a +semblance of regret did he show for the deed of blood. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The father gazed transfixed with horror from one son to the other, +until the slow comprehension came to him. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"How now, Raoul, what hast thou done?" the older man demanded of Raoul. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Canst thou not see? He stood between me and the lordship of this fair +domain," the younger replied full as sturdily, hot and scornful, with +lowering brow and unrepenting glare. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Thou foul and unnatural murderer, and thinkest thou to profit by thy +brother's death? No; I swear—" +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Hold, old man; swear not and taint not thy soul with perjury. Have a +care for thine own safety. It is now but the feeble barrier of thy +tottering age which prevents all these acres, these fighting men, these +towers from being my own. Have a care, I say, that thou dost not lie +as low as he, and by my hand." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +The old man fell back a pace affrighted, feeling for the first time in +his life a fear, fear of his own son. Yet the scornful and defiant +face before him was that of his true child. Therein he saw reflected +his own turbulent and reckless youth. The wretched old man covered his +face from the sight of Pedro, his first born, who had settled down upon +his back in the repose of death, and moaned aloud in his agony. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Nay, sorrow not, my father," Raoul commanded harshly, "it was but a +weakling who stood next thy seat of power. Behold! I, too, am thy +son; I am stronger, of a stouter heart, abler and more courageous than +he, and will make thee a fitter heir. Didst thou not slay thy brother +to sit in his hall? Didst not thou hang him to drink his wine, to +command his servants? Have I done aught but follow thy example?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Heedless of his father's sobs Raoul pursued his unrelenting purpose. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"What the sword did for thee it has done for me, all glory to the +sword," and he raised the reeking blade to his lips to kiss. The elder +man shrank away from him as he approached. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Nay, as I tell thee, draw not thy hand away, turn not from me, or by +the blood of Christ, by thine own gray hairs, I'll lay thee beside thy +woman-son, the puny changeling whose face now is scarce paler than his +blood was thin. Now, by the God who made ye, swear 'twill be given out +as but an accident, and no man will ever know from thee the truth." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"I swear, I swear," the old man repeated piteously after his son. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +And so it came to be that Raoul, the second son, succeeded his father +as Lord of Cartillon. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +And thus is the promise of the Lord God made true. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap254"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DOCUMENT No. 4 +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +(Concerning the making of the locket) +</H3> + + +<P CLASS="report"> +Extracts from the statement of Miguel Siliceo, goldsmith, of San +Estevan de Gormaz, as given in presence of Brothers Jehan and Hubert, +only such portions being here set out as have relation hereto, for the +sake of greater brevity and perspicuity. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Said Miguel Siliceo, Spaniard, sojourning in the town of Rouen, having +come to the Monastery of Vaux to unburthen his soul of certain +diabolical knowledge and happenings which preyed thereon, to his great +distress and distraction of mind, having first solemnly sworn upon the +name of St. Iago of Compostella, his patron, to speak truth, did +say: * * * +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +I came to Chateau Cartillon in the year of grace one thousand six +hundred and forty-two, upon the solicitation of its lord, he having +known me upon the banks of the Douro for a master workman, well skilled +in rare and curious devices, both of metals and precious stones. For +more than two years I rested in and about the castle, seeing much +whereof my soul hath need of ease and God's forgiveness. * * * +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +* * * One day Count Raoul, being vexed and much disturbed, commanded my +attendance upon him. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"My good Miguel," he spake in voice much softer than was his wont, "I +do require of you a proof of utmost skill." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +I bowed my willingness to undertake a commission. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"I require a golden locket, such as man never saw before, of rare and +cunning device. Do you forthwith make it for me, showing upon the one +side the black wolf's head of d'Artin, and quarterings, in fairest +inlaid work. Upon the other and hidden side, let it appear the black +wolf's head as before, but surcharged with the bar sinister. You know. +And let it be concealed by so secretly a hidden spring, no hand but +mine can touch or find," and as he spoke on, his tongue flew the +taster, his eyes roved about, he kept tight grip upon his sword as if +he feared. He, Raoul of Cartillon, the man whose headlong courage was +an army's byword, he feared in his own hall. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Even so, for proceeding further, his speech grew more wild, and I fain +would have fled. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"You know my oath to my father." I of course knew naught of the +matter, nor do I know it yet, though I have diligent inquired. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"My oath to forego the hall, give up my place with my fighting men. +Yea, upon my father's sword I swore, recking light of an oath, and the +old man, dying, would have it so. That oath torments me now. The evil +demons of the air haunt my bed; fiends leer at me through the day and +whisper all the night. I see my father's soul writhing in the fires of +Hell, and there he lays and beckons me to him. But no, by the heart of +Mars I'll be no craven fool to give up my castle and my name. Perhaps +my son may, I'll make him swear to me to do so. Yet I fear; I fear; I +like not that pit of scorching flame where my father suffers because he +did lay his hand upon his brother." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +I could not but look him in the face, and he thought there was wisdom +in my glance, for he clutched me at the throat. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Ah, thou prying hound, what dost thou know? Speak! Speak!" +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +But speak I could not, though a soul's salvation hung on my glib and +nimble tongue. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Count Raoul soon loosed me, seeing my ignorance. Yet some dark story +had I heard and repeated not—the crimes of the great are too dangerous +morsels for a poor man to mouth. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"Go now to thy shop, and mark ye, sirrah, that no man sees thy work." +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +I had hardly gotten well to my forge before three stout varlets came in +on a pretense of seeing a golden bracelet which I showed them without +suspecting aught. When, my back well turned, they slipped gyves upon +my wrists, bound me by a great band of iron at the waist, and made all +fast to the huge stone pillar. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Thenceforward, all through the days and nights which followed, one of +these men stood ever at my window to see I worked with speed, worked on +the locket and not upon my chains. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Count Raoul came many times as the work progressed, but the guards were +alway at too great a distance to tell in what quaint form my beaten +gold was fashioned. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Many, many lockets I made of cunning workmanship and design, of curious +chasings and most marvelous wrought intertwinings, yet none suited my +lord. One after one they returned to the melting pot and my labors +re-commenced. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +During the long months I was thus engaged, I saw the Count often, nay, +more than daily, for his whole feverish life seemed in-woven with the +yellow and white metals I was busy interlacing and rounding and +polishing up. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +At times an abject fear sat upon his countenance, and he mumbled of +strange sights he saw, of communings with the Prince of Darkness, of +specters gaunt and hideous that glided through the deserted court-yard, +and stood beside his chair even in the noisy banquet chamber. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +For that the Count was mad I could not doubt. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Yea, of all these things he spake as he urged me on as a lazy horse +under whip and goad, to finish, finish. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +I inquired of this at great risk of one of the men who stood guard; he +tapped his forehead, and replied: +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +"He does all things so. It is so in camp, on the field, in the hall. +Aye, but he's a very fiend in battle," and the fellow's eye brightened +with a fierce pleasure at the thought of his lord's well-known +prowess—for Count Raoul had wandered much in foreign lands, and deeds +of blood followed in whispers to his door. +</P> + +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em; letter-spacing: 2em">*************</SPAN><BR> + +<P CLASS="report"> +It is of these dealings with the evil lord, and close association with +one possessed, I seek cleansing. * * * Too often did I pass the names +of Rusbel, Ashtaroth, Beelzebub, Satan and others trippingly upon my +tongue—may the Saints defend—to keep my lord's temper smooth, for I +verily believe he meant to slay me when my task was done. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> +It was for this I made my work long and tedious, that the acid I was +daily using on my chains might have due season to eat them through, and +I could be free. +</P> + +<P CLASS="report"> + * * * finished at length to his satisfaction, and slipped off through +the night. +</P> + +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em; letter-spacing: 2em">*************</SPAN><BR> + +<P CLASS="report"> +Stated and subscribed in presence of Brothers Jehan and Hubert, on this +the morrow of All Saints', in the year of grace one thousand six +hundred and forty-six. +<BR><BR> +MIGUEL SILICEO. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Black Wolf's Breed, by Harris Dickson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED *** + +***** This file should be named 20330-h.htm or 20330-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/3/3/20330/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Black Wolf's Breed + A Story of France in the Old World and the New, happening + in the Reign of Louis XIV + +Author: Harris Dickson + +Illustrator: C. M. Relyea + +Release Date: January 11, 2007 [EBook #20330] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "Come, fellow, thou art trapped; give me up my purse."] + + + + + + +The Black Wolf's Breed + + + _A Story of France + In the Old World and the New, happening + in the Reign of Louis XIV_ + + +BY + +HARRIS DICKSON + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. M. RELYEA + + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +Publishers -:- New York + + + + +Copyright 1899 + +by + +The Bowen-Merrill Company + + +_All rights reserved_ + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF + +_BIENVILLE_ + +THE SOLDIER-GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA + +OUT OF WHOSE + +MIGHTY PROVINCE HAS GROWN NEARLY ONE-HALF + +OF THE + +WORLD'S GREATEST + +REPUBLIC + + + + +CONTENTS + + +FOREWORD + + I The Master + II Bienville + III Aboard Le Dauphin + IV The Road to Versailles + V The Decadence of Versailles + VI Louis XIV + VII At the Austrian Arms + VIII A New Friend + IX Mademoiselle + X In the House of Bertrand + XI The Dawn and the Dusk + XII Florine to the Rescue + XIII The Girl of the Wine Shop + XIV The Secretary and the Duke + XV New Hopes + XVI The Unexpected + XVII The Flight From Sceaux + XVIII Serigny's Departure + XIX The Castle of Cartillon + XX From the Path of Duty + XXI The Fall of Pensacola + XXII The Contents of the Box + XXIII A Note Which Went Astray + XXIV The Children of the Black Wolf's Breed + +APPENDIX + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +LOI +"Come, fellow, thou art trapped; give me up my purse." . . +_Frontispiece_ + +"What is it; what device is there?" + +"The old man gazed steadily at me for some moments." +ELOI + + + +_FRANCE--In the old world and in the new!_ + +_The France of romance and glory under Henry of Navarre; of pride and +glitter under Louis XIV, in whose reign was builded, under the silver +lilies, that empire--Louisiana--in the vague, dim valley of the +Mississippi across the sea: these are the scenes wherein this drama +shall be played. Through these times shall run the tale which follows. +Times when a man's good sword was ever his truest friend, when he who +fought best commanded most respect. It was the era of lusty men----the +weak went to the wall._ + +_King and courtier; soldier and diplomat; lass and lady; these are the +people with whom this story deals. If, therefore, you find brave +fighting and swords hanging too loosely in their sheaths; if honor +clings round an empty shadow and the women seem more fair than honest, +I pray you remember when these things did happen, who were the actors, +and the stage whereon they played._ + +_THE AUTHOR._ + + + + +THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED + + +FOREWORD + +_It is fitting that old men, even those whose trade is war, should end +their days in peace, yet it galls me grievously to sit idly here by the +fire, in this year of grace 1746, while great things go on in the world +about me._ + +_The feeble hound at my feet, stretching his crippled limbs to the +blaze, dreams of the chase, and bays delighted in his sleep. Nor can I +do more than dream and meditate and brood._ + +_News of Fontenoy and the glory of Prince Maurice thrills my sluggish +blood; again I taste the wild joys of conflict; the clashing steel, the +battle shouts, the cries of dying men---yea, even the death scream of +those sorely stricken comes as a balm to soothe my droning age. But +the youthful vigor is gone. This arm could scarcely wield a bodkin; +the old friend of many campaigns rusts in its scabbard, and God knows +France had never more urgent need of keen and honest swords._ + +_Thus run my thoughts while I sit here like some decrepit priest, +bending over my task, for though but an indifferent clerk I desire to +leave this narrative for my children's children._ + +_My early life was spent, as my children already know, for the most +part in the American Colonies. Of my father I knew little, he being +stationed at such remote frontier posts in the savage country that he +would not allow my mother and myself to accompany him. So we led a +secluded life in the garrison at Quebec. After the news came of his +death somewhere out in the wilderness, my brave mother and I were left +entirely alone. I was far too young then to realize my loss, and the +memory of those peaceful years in America with my patient, accomplished +mother remains to me now the very happiest of my life._ + +_From her I learned to note and love the beauties of mountain and of +stream. The broad blue St. Lawrence and the mighty forests on its +banks were a constant source of delight to my childish fancy, and those +memories cling to me, ineffaceable even by all these years of war and +tumult._ + +_When she died I drifted to our newer stations in the south, down the +great river, and it is of that last year in Louisiana, while I was yet +Captain de Mouret of Bienville's Guards, that I would have my children +know._ + +_Along the shore of Back Bay, on the southern coast of our Province of +Louisiana, the dense marsh grass grows far out into the water, +trembling and throbbing with the ebb and flow of every tide._ + +_Thicker than men at arms, it stands awhile erect where the shallow sea +waves foam and fret; then climbing higher ground, it straggles away, +thinner and thinner, in oaken-shaded solitudes long innocent of sun._ + +_Beginning on the slopes, a vast mysterious forest, without village, +path, or white inhabitant, stretches inland far and away beyond the +utmost ken of man. There the towering pines range themselves in +ever-receding colonnades upon a carpet smooth and soft as ever hushed +the tread of Sultan's foot. Dripping from their topmost boughs the +sunlight's splendor flickers on the floor, as if it stole through +chancel window of some cool cathedral where Nature in proud humility +worshiped at the foot of Nature's God._ + +_It was in those wilds, somewhere, the fabled El Dorado lay; there +bubbled the fountain of eternal youth: through that endless wilderness +of forest, plain and hill flowed on in turbid majesty the waters of De +Soto's mighty grave._ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE MASTER + +It was late one clear moonlight night in the spring of 17--, when three +silent figures emerged from the woodland darkness and struck across the +wide extent of rank grass which yet separated us from the bay. +Tuskahoma led the way, a tall grim Choctaw chieftain, my companion on +many a hunt, his streaming plumes fluttering behind him as he strode. +I followed, and after me, Le Corbeau Rouge, a runner of the Choctaws. +We were returning to Biloxi from a reconnaissance in the Chickasaw +country. + +Each straight behind the other, dumb and soundless shadows, we passed +along the way, hardly bruising a leaf or brushing the rustling reeds +aside. + +"See, there is the light," grunted Tuskahoma, pointing to a glimmer +through the trees. "Yes, the White Prophet never sleeps," assented Le +Corbeau Rouge. + +The light which marked our almost ended journey came from a window in +one of those low, square log houses, fortress-dwellings, so common in +the provinces. + +Here, however, the strong pine palisades were broken down in many +places; the iron-studded gate hung unhinged and open, the accumulated +sand at its base showed it had not been closed in many years. + +But the decay and neglect everywhere manifest in its defenses extended +no further, for inside the enclosure was a garden carefully tended; a +trailing vine clung lovingly to a corner of the wide gallery, and even +a few of the bright roses of France lent their sweetness to a place it +seemed impossible to associate with a thought of barbaric warfare. + +I loved this humble home, for in such a one my mother and I had spent +those last years of sweet good-comradeship before her death--the roses, +the rude house, all reminded me of her, of peace, of gentler things. + +The character of its lone occupant protected this lowly abode far +better than the armies of France, the chivalry of Spain, or the +Choctaw's ceaseless vigilance could possibly have done. He came there +it was said, some fifteen years before, a Huguenot exile, seemingly a +man of education and birth. He built his castle of refuge on a knoll +overlooking the sheltered bay, hoping there to find the toleration +denied him in his native land. The edict of Nantes had been revoked by +King Louis, and thousands of exiled Frenchmen of high and low degree +sought new fortunes in newer lands. + +Many had reached America, and strove with energetic swords and +rapacious wallets to wrest blood and gold and fame from whatsoever +source they might. + +This man alone of all those first explorers had shown no disposition to +search out the hidden treasures of the wilderness, to prey upon the +natives. He became their friend and not their plunderer. + +His quiet life, his kindness, his charity, his knowledge of the simple +arts of healing, so endeared him to every warring faction that at his +house the Choctaw and the Chickasaw, the Frenchman, Spaniard and the +Englishman met alike in peace. So the needless fortifications fell +into unrepaired decay. + +Many an afternoon I had paddled across the bay and spent a quiet hour +with him, as far from the jars and discord at Biloxi as if we were in +some other world. + +As, this night, we drew nearer the house we saw no signs of life save +the chinks of light creeping beneath the door. I rapped, and his voice +bade me enter. + +The master sat at his table in the center of a great room, about which +were a number of surgical and scientific instruments, all objects of +mistrust to my Indian friends. + +These curious weapons of destruction or of witchcraft, for so the +Indians regarded them, contributed to make him an object of fear, which +doubtless did much to strengthen his influence among the tribes. + +He was at this time somewhat more than sixty, slender and rather above +the medium height. With his usual grave courtesy he welcomed us and +readily loaned the small pirogue necessary to carry our party across +the bay. + +The Indians were restless and the governor waited, so I only thanked +our host and turned to go. + +He rose, and laying his hand upon my arm detained me. "Wait, Placide; +I am glad you returned this way, for I have long wished to speak with +you; especially do I wish it on this night--on this night. Sit down." + +Mechanically I obeyed, for I could see there was something of more than +usual import on his mind. The Indians had withdrawn, and the master, +pacing uncertainly about the room, paused and regarded me intently, as +if he almost regretted his invitation to stay. After several efforts +he abruptly began: + +"I fear I have not very long to live, and dread to meet death, leaving +a solemn duty unperformed. It is of this I would speak." + +I listened in silence. He spoke hurriedly as though he doubted his +resolution to tell it all. + +"You, and every one in these colonies, know me only as Colonel d'Ortez, +the Huguenot refugee. So I have been known by the whites ever since I +came here to escape persecution at home, and to get forever beyond the +sound of a name which has become hateful to me--my own. + +"The Counts d'Artin have been a proud race in France for centuries, yet +I, the last d'Artin, find the name too great a burden to bear with me +in shameful silence to my grave. See this," and he took from his +throat a pearl-studded locket, swung by a substantial golden chain, +which he opened and handed to me. Inside were the arms of a noble +family exquisitely blazoned upon a silver shield. + +"What is it; what device is there?" + +[Illustration: "What is it; what device is there?"] + +I knew something of heraldry and read aloud without hesitation the +bearings upon the shield, prominent among which were three wolves' +heads, chevroned, supported by two black wolves, rampant, the coronet +and motto "Praeclare factum." + +"Aye," he mused half coherently, "the wolf; 'tis the crest of the +d'Artins, quartered with those of many of the most ancient houses of +France. So do those arms appear to men. But see." + +He took the locket quickly from me and with a swift forceful movement +turned the plate in its place, exposing the reverse side. + +"What is this? Look!" + +I glanced at it and started, looking inquiringly into my old friend's +face. He avoided my eye. + +I saw now upon the plate the same arms, the same quarterings, but over +all there ran diagonally across the scutcheon a flaming bar of red +which blazed evilly upon the silver ground. I understood. + +"What is it?" he demanded impatiently. I still could find no word to +answer. + +"Speak out boy, what is it?" + +"The same, but here, overall, is the bendlet sinister." I scarcely +dared to look up into his face. + +"Aye," he replied, his countenance livid with shame. "It is the bar +sinister, the badge of dishonor. So do those proud arms appear in the +sight of God, and so shall they be seen of men. And for generations +each Lord of Cartillon has added to that crimson stripe the indelible +stain of cowardice." + +The master, his features working convulsively with humbled pride, his +eyes never leaving the floor, continued resolutely. + +"The story is short. Over a hundred years ago the Count d'Artin was +murdered in his castle by the son of a peasant woman, his half brother, +who assumed the title and seized the estates. This was easy in those +times, for the murdered man was a Huguenot, his slayer a Catholic in +the service of Guise, and it was the day after St. Bartholomew's. The +count had sent his infant son for safety to an old friend, the abbott +of a neighboring monastery. This child was brought up in the Catholic +faith, and in him and his descendants resided the true right of the +Counts d'Artin. Of this they have always been ignorant. The usurper +on his death bed repented, and calling his own son to him, told him the +whole story, exacting a solemn oath that he would find the disinherited +one and restore to him his own. This oath was kept in part. His son, +Raoul d'Ortez, found the child, then an officer in the army, but lacked +the courage to declare his own shame, and relinquish the price of his +father's crime. By that Raoul d'Ortez this locket was made, and the +same vow and the same tradition were handed down to me. I have no +child. God knows I would give up the accursed heritage if I could. + +"During all these years a careful record has been kept of the true +lineage, which was only broken in my father's time. Here in this +packet are the papers which prove it; I confide them to you upon my +death. After I am gone I want you to find the last d'Artin." + +He was silent now a long time, then continued in a lower tone: "My +mother was of the reformed religion and I embraced her faith. It seems +like a judgment of God that I, a Huguenot, should lose under King Louis +what my Catholic ancestor gained under King Charles. Now go, lad." + +I could say nothing, but touching his hand in mute sympathy turned away +without a word. + +I had almost reached the door when he sprang after and again detained +me. His glance searched apprehensively into the shadowy corners of the +room, his voice wavered, the look of a hunted animal crept into his +eyes. + +"'Tis said," he whispered, "the restless spirits of my fathers yet +haunt our castle in Normandy--oh, merciful God, do you believe it? Oh +no, no, after all these troubled years I fain would find a dreamless +slumber in my grave." + +I soothed him as I would a frightened child, and left him standing at +the door. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BIENVILLE + +Musing on this strange story, and the old man's unwonted fear, I walked +on down to the water's edge where my Indian friends, already in the +pirogue, awaited me. Another half hour and we were in Biloxi. + +When we reached the barracks I found orders to attend the governor at +once. + +Bienville stood before his fire alone, quiet, but in a very different +mood from any in which I had theretofore seen him. + +"Captain de Mouret," the rough old warrior began, without any prelude +or indirection, "I desire to send you at once to Paris on an errand of +the utmost importance to myself and to this colony. I select you for +this task, though I can ill spare you here, because it is a delicate +matter. I believe you to be honest, I know you are courageous." + +I bowed, and he went on. Something had evidently occurred to vex and +irritate him. + +"You know the people who surround me here, the weak, the vicious, the +licentious of all the earth. A band of unprincipled adventurers, vile +Canadians and half-breeds, all too lazy to work, or even to feed +themselves out of the bountiful earth which would give everything we +need almost for the asking. The air is full now of rumors of a Spanish +war, and a Natchez-Chickasaw alliance. If these things are true we +would find ourselves entirely cut off from French supplies, and this +colony would literally starve to death. Yes, starve to death with +untold millions of fruitful acres all about us. Had we strength to +fight I would not care so much. With but two companies of +undisciplined troops, a mere straggling handful, officered by +drunkards, we could not defend this post a day against any organized +attack." + +All this I knew to be true, so I made no comment. He pursued the +conversation and evidently relieved his mind of much that had troubled +him for months. + +"Then this beggarly commissary of mine, and the trafficking priest, de +la Vente, they are constantly stirring up strife against me here, and +putting lies in the hands of my enemies at court. The king, too, is +wearied out with this endless drain upon his treasury for money and +supplies, and is now, so I am informed, almost ready to accede to +Crozat's proposition, and turn over to him the revenues and government +of the colonies." + +The old man grew earnest and eloquent. + +"What! turn over an empire such as this to a miserable trading +huckster, the son of a peasant--permit him to name the governors and +officers! Why, under his rule, such cattle as la Salle and de la Vente +would feed fat upon the miseries of the people! Great God, Placide, do +you appreciate what that means? To create this peddler of silks and +laces lord of a boundless domain, more magnificent than Louis in his +wildest schemes of conquest ever dreamed? Why, boy, the day will come +when for a thousand leagues the silver lilies will signal each other +from every hill top; marts of commerce will thrive and flourish; the +land will smile with farms and cities, with proud palaces and with +granite castles. The white sails of our boats will fleck every lake +and sea and river with their rich burdens of trade, pouring a fabulous +and a willing wealth into the coffers of the king. Gold and silver +mines will yield their precious stores, while from these niggard +natives we will wrest with mighty arm the tribute they so +contemptuously deny the weakling curs who snap and snarl at my heels. +Grey tower and fortress will guard every inlet, and watch this +sheltered coast. In every vale the low chant of holy nuns will breathe +their benediction upon a happy people. And hordes of nations yet +unknown and races yet unborn, in future legends, in song, in story and +in rhyme, will laud the name of Bourbon and the glory of the French. +Oh lad! lad! 'tis an ambition worthy a god." + +The governor had risen, and waving his long arms this way and that, +pointed out the confines of his mighty dreamland empire with as much +assurance as if cities and towns would spring up at his bidding. + +His whole frame spoke the most intense emotion. The face, glorified +and transfigured by the allurement of his brilliant mirage, seemed that +of another man. + +"Ah, Placide! Placide! it stings me that this chivalrous king of ours, +this degenerate grandson of Henry the Great, should think of selling +for a few paltry livres such an heritage as this. Shame to you Louis, +shame!" + +His tone had grown so loud, so peremptory, I interrupted. + +"Caution, sire; who knows what tattler's ears are listening, or where +your thoughtless words may be repeated." + +He stood moodily with hands behind him gazing into the fire. For years +I had known Bienville the soldier, the stern and unyielding governor, +with the hand of iron and the tongue of suasion. + +Now I saw for the first time Bienville the man, Bienville the +visionary, Bienville the enthusiast, the dreamer of dreams and the +builder of castles. I watched him in amazement. + +"Then these miserable women whom our good father, the Bishop of Quebec, +was so kind as to send us, bringing from their House of Correction all +the airs and graces of a court. Bringing hither their silly romances +of a land of plenty; they vow they came not here to work, and by the +grace of God, work they will not. They declare they are not horses to +eat of the corn of the fields, and clamor for their dear Parisian +dainties. Against such a petticoat insurrection the governor is +helpless. Bah! it sickens me. I wonder not that our men prefer the +Indian maidens, for they at least have common sense. But by my soul, +Captain, here I stand and rant like some schoolboy mouthing his speech. +Tush, it is forgotten." + +"Tell me, Captain de Mouret, what have you learned of the Chickasaws, +for our time grows short." + +Glad to change the current of his thought I went on in detail to give +the results of my reconnaissance. Everywhere we found preparations +among the allied tribes, and felt sure we saw signs of a secret +understanding between them and the Spaniard. + +The governor made many notes, and carefully examined the charts I had +drawn of the Chickasaw towns, systematically marking down the strength +and fortifications of each. When I had finished my report we sat for +quite a while, he silent and thoughtful, watching the thin blue smoke +eddy round and round then dart up the capacious chimney. + +"And they charge me at the court of France," he soliloquized, giving +half unconscious expression to the matter uppermost in his mind, "they +charge me at the court of France, what no man save my king dare say to +me--that I divert the public funds to my own use. I, a Le Moyne, who +spend my own private fortune in protecting and feeding these ungrateful +people. But we waste time in words, like two chattering old women. We +need ships and money and men--men who fight like gentlemen for glory, +not deserters and convicts who fight unwillingly under the lash for +gold. + +"What can I do with troops who would as gladly spoil Biloxi as Havana? + +"Captain de Mouret, you will sail on le Dauphin to-morrow at daylight. +Place these dispatches in my brother Serigny's hands immediately upon +your arrival. From that time forward act under his instructions. +Remember, sir, your mission is a secret one." + +I knew well the name he gave me, for next to Iberville, Serigny was +reputed the most accomplished of all the Le Moyne's. To his fame as a +soldier, his attainments as a scholar, he added the easy grace of the +courtier. His position at the court of Louis gave him great prestige +throughout the colonies; he being a sort of adviser to the King on +colonial affairs, or so we all then thought him. Little did I then +know how scant was the heed paid by power and ambition to real merit +and soldierly virtues. + +This while we sat without passing a word. Truth to tell I was loath to +leave the Governor, for I knew even better than he how much of +treachery there was in those about him. Besides that I had no +confidence in my lieutenant, and yet hated to acquaint Bienville with +the fact for fear he might mistrust my motives. I was heavy at heart +and dreaded the future. + +When, somewhat after midnight, I arose to go, he came around the table +and taking me by both shoulders gazed steadily into my face. I met his +glance frankly and quailed not. + +"Forgive me, Placide, these are such days of distrust I doubt every one +about me. Forgive me, lad, but your old commander's reputation, aye, +his honor even, depends now so much upon your fidelity." + +I could say nothing. I felt a stealthy tear tremble in my eye, yet was +not ashamed, for its mate glistened in his own, and he was a man not +given to over-weeping. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ABOARD LE DAUPHIN. + +The morning dawned moist and cold, with a stiff westerly wind. Just +before daylight a small boat pushed off the low beach, scraped along +the shallows, skirted the western edge of the island which there lies +endwise across the harbor, and put me aboard le Dauphin. + +I alone had no part in all the noisy preparation for departure, but sat +absorbed in thought near an open port listening to the straining of the +masts, the flapping sails, the low complaining beat of the +wind-tormented waters. + +Above the creak of the windlass raising anchor, I could catch snatches +of whispered conversation just outside the port. The two men were +beyond my range of vision. One seemed to be tossing in a boat, the +other hung down the vessel's side by a ladder. I made out, +disjointedly: + +"Along in September--as soon as you return--all will be in +readiness--two thousand Creeks, Chickasaws, Natchez--we ought to have +no difficulty--Yvard--Spanish ships. The fall of Biloxi will be a +great thing for us." And much more that I could not hear clearly. + +But I had heard enough to know there was some truth in the rumor of a +Spanish-Indian alliance, and an attack on Biloxi. And the name Yvard, +being unusual, clung somewhat to my memory. + +I immediately ran on deck and sauntered over towards that side, seeking +to discover the traitor. No one was there, only a little group of +officers walking about; towards the shore were the retreating outlines +of a light boat. I knew none of these officers, any one of whom might +have been the man I overheard, and so I durst ask no questions. I +could therefore confide in no one on board for fear of making a +mistake, but must rely upon giving Bienville prompt warning upon my +return, and I must needs hide my reluctance and mingle with officers +and men, for perchance by this means I might uncover the scoundrel. + +Although I made free with the men, pitched quoits, and joined in their +rough play, I trusted none, suspected all. No, not all. There were +two young fellows whom I was many times on the point of calling to my +confidence, but, thinking it wiser, kept my own counsel. Treason could +ever wear a smiling front and air of frankness. + +Levert was a man much older than myself, of gloomy and taciturn +manners, yet something there was so masterful about him men obeyed him +whether they would or no. A more silent man I never knew, yet +courteous and stately withal, and well liked by the men. But it was to +Achille Broussard my heart went out in those days of loneliness. His +almost childish lightness of disposition and his friendly ways won me +completely, and we became fast comrades. A noble looking lad, with the +strength of a young Titan, and the blonde curls of a woman. During the +long idle hours of the afternoon it was his custom to banter me for a +bout at swords, and Levert generally acted as our master of the lists. +At first he was much my superior with the foils, for during his days +with the Embassy at Madrid, and in the schools at Paris, he had learned +those hundreds of showy and fancy little tricks of which we in the +forests knew nothing. However, I doubted not that on the field our +rougher ways and sterner methods would count for quite as much. + +With all the five long weeks of daily practice, I gathered many things +from him, until one day we had an experience which made us lay the +foils aside for good. + +We had been sitting after the dinner hour, discussing his early life in +Paris. He wound up with his usual declaration, "As for myself, give me +the gorgeous plays, the fetes and smiles of the Montespan, rather than +the prayers, the masses and the sober gowns of de Maintenon. And now +it is your turn, comrade; let us know something of your escapades, your +days of folly in dear old Paris." + +"I have never seen Paris," I answered simply. + +"What! Never been to Paris? Then, man, you have never lived. But +where have you spent all your days?" + +"In the colonies--Quebec, Montreal, Biloxi. But now I will have an +opportunity, for I am going--" + +I had almost told something of my mission, ere I checked a too fluent +confidence. + +Levert, who had been pacing up and down the deck in his absorbed and +inattentive way, dropped his blade across my shoulder and challenged me +to the foils. + +"No, it is too early yet," Achille replied, "besides, we were talking +of other things. As you were saying, comrade, you go--?" + +"Oh, you two talk too much," Levert broke in again, "let us have a +bout; I'm half a mind I can handle a foil myself. A still tongue, a +clear head and a sharp blade are the tools of Fortune." + +It seemed almost that he had twice interrupted purposely to keep me +from talking. I thought I read that deeper meaning in his eyes. +Somehow I grew to distrust him from that moment. What consequence was +it to him of what I spoke? + +It was not Levert's business to govern my tongue for roe, so I only +said: + +"Nay, we'll try our skill somewhat later; not now," and resumed my +conversation with Achille. + +While his manner showed a concern I deemed the matter little to +warrant, yet it did make me consider, so I determined not to speak +truly of myself. + +"Well, now, comrade, of your own intrigues. You were saying--?" + +"Nay, nothing of that kind. I journey to Paris simply for my own +pleasure." Levert, who half listened at a distance knew I was going to +heed his advice, though I misdoubted his motive, and again took up his +pacing to and fro. + +"Aye, my dear Captain, but 'tis a long trip for such an errand?" + +"Yes, quite a long trip, but I weary of the life at Biloxi, and would +amuse myself for a while in France." + +"But the garrison at Biloxi; is that strong enough to spare so good a +soldier? then the Indians, do you not fear them?" + +I glanced at him quickly, only half betraying my thought, but replied +nonchalantly: + +"No, the Indians are quiet, at least so our scouts tell us, and as for +the state of the garrison, you were long enough ashore to know we are +strong." + +"Ah, then, there is another motive; a woman. Come, is it not true? +Confess?" + +I blushed in spite of myself; it was an idle way I had, for I had seen +little of women. My confusion threw him completely off the track; had +I only guessed it, would have taken refuge in that device sooner. + +"No, no, comrade; you are wrong"--but still somehow my color came and +went like a novice out of the convent. His good-humored raillery +continued until I became annoyed in earnest, yet was glad he took the +matter so seriously. When Levert passed us again on his walk I spoke +to him. + +"Now, my dear Levert, we will try our fortune with the foils if it +pleases you." + +"No, my humor is past. Do you try with Broussard; methinks he had +rather the better of you yesterday. You agree, Broussard?" + +"Yes, yes," he replied, eagerly, "let us at it." + +He fenced rather worse than usual, so I had no trouble in touching him +as I pleased. This begat an irritation of manner, and noticing it I +suggested we leave off. + +He would not hear to it; I saw the color slowly leave his face; his +thin lips curled back and showed his teeth, until, fearing a serious +outbreak, I stepped back as if I would lay aside the foil. He pressed +me close, so close indeed I could not if I would drop my guard. He +touched me once or twice. + +"I call the bout a draw," declared Levert, who had himself observed +Broussard's unusual energy. + +"Nay, not so, not so; he gives back. I've much the better," and he +lunged at me so vigorously I was forced to act with more aggression. +The button snapped from the point of his foil; I cared not, and he +affected not to see it, though something made me sure he realized his +advantage. I determined now to show him a trick of my own. + +From my youth I had the peculiar faculty of using one hand quite as +well as the other, and had often practiced changing my sword swiftly +from right to left. It was a simple feat, much more showy than +difficult, yet exceedingly bewildering to an adversary. In this +instance it afforded me an easy means of reaching his undefended side. +So I feigned to be driven back, and watching for a more headlong and +careless rush, my weapon was apparently twisted from my hand and for an +instant seemed to hang suspended in the air. I caught it in my left +and before he recovered his footing had thrown his foil from him, +sending it whizzing overboard. It took but an instant to press my +point firmly against his chest, as he stood panting and disarmed. +Never was man more surprised. + +"Bravely done," cried Levert. + +"A most foul and dishonorable trick," Achille snarled. + +"Not so," Levert corrected him gravely, looking at me to observe the +effect of the insult. I stood still at guard, but made no move. + +"Broussard, you are angry now, and I'll take no heed of your heated +words. But to-morrow you must make a gentleman's amends." + +"Tush, tush," Levert interposed, "'tis the quarrel of a child. He +means nothing." + +Broussard said no more, but looked surly and ill pleased. I was +secretly elated at the success of my coup against such a skilled +swordsman, and only remarked quietly: + +"Broussard, when your anger has passed I trust you will do me the honor +of an apology." + +Behind it all I cared little, for I felt myself his master with his +chosen weapon and could afford to be generous. He came up in very +manly fashion, after a time, and craved my forgiveness, but we played +at foils no more. + +The lookouts were beginning to watch for land, I growing more and more +impatient as the end of our voyage drew near. And now I had much +leisure to contemplate, and wonder at the strange turn of fortune which +had called upon me to play a part in the affairs of state, though what +the drama was, and what my lines might be, I could only guess. The +story of Colonel D'Ortez, too, furnished me much food for reflection +these long starlit nights, when I sat in my favorite seat in the very +prow of the vessel. There would I sit night after night, watching the +phosphorescent waves rippling against the vessel, gleaming fitful in +the gloom; there observe the steadfast stars, and seem alone with +darkness and with God. + +One wet morning, pacing the slippery deck, the sailing master called to +me: + +"See, sir, yonder dim outline to the nor'east? 'Tis the Norman coast; +this night, God willing, we sleep in Dieppe." + +My errand now consumed my entire attention, so I thought no more of my +companions of the voyage, bidding them both good-night before we had +yet landed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ROAD TO VERSAILLES + +At the break of day, rumbling out of the little fishing village, I was +surprised to see both Broussard and Levert astir as early as myself, +each in a separate coach, traveling the same direction. I thought it +strange that they chose to go separately, and that neither had told me +of his expected journey. However that might be, as it suited my +purpose well to be alone, I disturbed not myself with pondering over +it. Yet I wondered somewhat. + +The King and Court were at Versailles; so judging to find Serigny there +I turned aside from my first intention and proceeded thither. I was +shocked by the universal desolation of the country through which I +passed. Was this the reverse side to all the _Grand Monarque's_ glory? +I had pictured _la belle_ France as a country of wine, of roses and of +happy people. These ravaged fields, these squalid dens of misery, the +sullen, despairing faces of the peasantry, all bore silent protest to +the extravagances of Versailles. For the wars, the ambition and the +mistresses of Louis had made of this fair land a desert. Through the +devastated country roamed thousands of starving people, gaunt and +hungry as the wild beasts of the forest; they subsisted upon such +berries as they found, but durst not touch a stick of their lord's wood +to thaw out their frozen bodies. + +Young as I was, and a soldier, the sight of this wide-spread suffering +appalled me, though being no philosopher I reasoned not to the cause. +Yet this was the real France, the foundation upon which the King had +reared the splendid structure of his pride. + +It was some time during the second day, I think, when we passed a few +scattering hovels which marked the approach to a village where we were +to stop for dinner. At the foot of a little incline the horses shied +violently, and passed beyond the man's control. My driver endeavored +in vain to quiet them, and then jumped from his box and ran to their +heads. I looked out to see what the matter was, and observing a squad +of soldiers, followed by quite a concourse of villagers, I sprang to +the ground. + +Down the hill they marched, some ten or fifteen fellows in a dirty half +uniform, I knew not what it was, while straggling out behind them +seemed to follow the entire population of the hamlet. The old and +gray-haired fathers, the mothers, the stalwart children and toddling +babies, all came to stand and gape. In the lead there strode a burly +ruffian, proud of his low authority, who shouted at intervals: + +"So-with-the-H-u-g-u-e-n-o-t-s!" + +Behind him skulked four stout varlets, bearing between them a rude +plank, on which was stretched a naked body, the limbs being not yet +stiffened in death. I hardly credited my sight. Before they came +abreast of us I inquired of the driver what it all meant. He only +shrugged his shoulders, "A dead Huguenot, I suppose," and gave his care +to the horses. Verily this was past belief. + +I placed myself in the road and bade the leader of the procession +pause. He stopped, staring stupidly at my dress. + +"What is here my good fellow? what crime hath he committed?" + +He, like the driver, answered carelessly: + +"None; she is a Huguenot." + +"_She_," I echoed, and stopped the bearers who laid their ghastly +burden down, having little relish in the task. Yes, it was in very +truth a woman. + +"For the sake of decency, comrade, why do you not cover her and give +her Christian burial?" + +"It is the law," he replied stolidly. + +"Yes, yes, it is the law," eagerly assented the people who gathered +about the corpse, not as friends, not as mourners, but as spectators of +the horrid scene. Among them, unrebuked, were many white-faced +children, half afraid and wholly curious. I looked at them all in +disgust. They went their way and came to the outskirts of the village, +where they contemptuously tossed the woman from the plank across a +ditch into the open field. In spite of my loathing I had followed. + +I perceived now a feeble old woman hobble up toward the body and try +with loud wailings to make her way through the guard which surrounded +it. They shoved her back with their pikes, and finally one of them +struck her for her persistence. + +"Pierre, look at her old mother; ah, Holy Virgin, what a stubborn lot +are these heretics." + +Her mother! Great powers of heaven, could it be possible? My +indignation blazed out against the inhuman guard. + +"Why do ye this most un-Christian thing?" and to the crowd: + +"Do you call yourselves men to stand by and witness this?" + +At my words one sturdy young fellow, of the better, peasant-farmer +class, broke from those who held him and would have thrown himself +unarmed against the mail-clad guard. Many strong arms kept him back. +He struggled furiously for a while, then sank in the sheer desperation +of exhaustion upon the road. As soon as he was quiet the mob, +gathering about the more attractive spectacle, left him quite alone. I +went up to him, laid my hand upon his shoulder, and spoke to him +kindly. He looked up, surprised that one wearing a uniform should show +him human sympathy. He had a good, honest face, blue-eyed and frank, +yet such an expression of utter hopelessness as never marred a mortal +countenance. It haunts me to this day. + +I was touched by the man's sullen apathy, succeeding so quickly to the +desperate energy I had seen him display, and asked concerning his +trouble. + +"Oh, God, Monsieur, my wife, Celeste, my young wife! Only a year +married, Monsieur." He raised upon his elbow, taking my hand in both +of his, "We tried to go; tried to reach England, America, anywhere but +France; they brought us back, put us in prison; she died--died, +Monsieur, of cruelty and exposure, then they cast her out like some +unclean thing; she, so pure, so good. Only look, lying there. Holy +Mother of Christ, look down upon her." + +He turned his gaze to where his wife lay and sprang up. + +"She shall not--shall not," and cast himself again towards the guard. +A dozen men seized him. + +Deeply pained by his misery and the horror of the thing, I made my way +to the front, near where the body lay. + +"What is this foul law of which you spoke? Tell me?" + +My tone had somewhat of authority and anger in it, so the fellow gave +me civil answer. + +"The law buries a Huguenot as you see--such unholy flesh could never +sleep in holy earth. The beasts and birds will provide her proper +sepulcher." + +"Nay, but compose her fittingly; here is my cloak." + +"It is not the order of the King," he sullenly replied. The brutal +throng again gave assent. + +"'Tis not the law, 'tis not the law," and bowed their heads at very +name of law. + +I remembered the Governor's errand, and could waste no time in quarrel +which was not mine, yet willingly would I have cast my cloak about her. +I inquired of the man: + +"And what is the penalty should the hand of charity take this woman +from the highway?" + +"On pain of death." + +"Then death let it be," screamed her husband, and breaking through the +line of guard, he threw himself upon his wife, protecting her with his +pitying garments. + +Whilst I had been talking to the officer, no one observed the man come +stealthily to the front, coat in hand, until, seeing his chance, he +broke through their line. But these staunch upholders of the law would +not have it so. They tore him viciously away, and I, sickened, turned +from a revolting struggle I could do nothing to prevent. All these +long years have not dimmed the memory of that barbarous scene. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE DECADENCE OF VERSAILLES + +It was nearly noon on the fourth day when I alighted at the Place +d'Armes, the grand court-yard of Versailles, and I fear I cut but a +sorry figure for a governor's messenger. It appeared that my dress at +best was unlike that worn at the court; my fringed leather leggings, +hunting knife and long sword differed much from the wigs and frizzes +worn by the officers of the guard. However, I made bold to seem at +ease and accustomed to court as I addressed the officer of the watch. + +"Can you direct me, sir, to M. de Serigny? I have business with him." + +The man smiled, I knew not at what, and regarded me curiously. I felt +my face flush, but repeated the question. + +"M. de Serigny," he replied, "is with the court. Seek him at his +apartments. Pass through yonder great gate, turn to the left and +inquire of the guard at the door." + +I walked on hastily, glad to be quit of his inspection. Such a throng +of fine gentlemen in silks, satins and ribbons I never dreamed of; even +the soldiers seemed dressed more for bridals than for battles. I held +my peace though, walking steadily onward as directed, yet itching to +stick my sword into some of their dainty trappings. At the door I came +upon a great throng of loungers playing at dice, some throwing and +others laying their wagers upon those who threw. + +Standing somewhat aloof was a slender young fellow who wore the slashed +silver and blue of the King's own guard:--I knew the colors well from +some of our older officers in the Provincial army. They had told me of +men, soldiers and hard fighters, too, wearing great frizzled wigs +outside their natural hair, with ruffles on their sleeves and perfumed +laces at their throats--but I had generally discredited such tales. +Here was a man dressed more gaily than I had ever seen a woman in my +childhood--and he seemed a fine, likely young fellow, too. I fear I +examined him rather critically and without proper deference to his +uniform, for he turned upon me angrily, catching my glance. + +"Well, my good fellow, didst never see the King's colors before? Where +hast thou lived then all these years?" + +He seemed quite as much amused at my plain forest garb, leggings and +service cap, as I had been at his silken trumpery. I replied to him as +quietly as might be: + +"In our parts beyond the seas we hear often of the King's Guard, but +never have my eyes rested upon their uniform before." + +Observing my shoulder straps he unbent somewhat and inquired: + +"Thou bearest the rank of captain?" + +"Aye, comrade, in the service of the King in his province of Louisiana. +I pray you direct me to the apartments of M. de Serigny, I would have +speech with him." + +He was a manly young lad, of soldierly bearing, too, despite his +effeminate dress; he turned and himself guided me through the many +intricate halls and passages until we reached a door which he pointed +out as Serigny's, where, with polite speeches, he left me alone. + +Monsieur was out, at what business the servant did not know, but would +return at two of the clock. In the meantime I sought to amuse myself +strolling about the place. I knew I could find my way along the bayou +paths of Louisiana the darkest night God ever sent, for there at least +I would have through the trees the glimmer of a friendly star to guide +me. But here in the King's palace of Versailles, with the winding +passages running hither and yonder, each as like the other as twin +gauntlets, I lost myself hopelessly. + +Clanking about alone over the tiles in great deserted corridors I grew +almost frightened at my own noise until I passed out into an immense +gallery, gaily decorated, and thronged with the ladies and gentlemen of +the court. I could not make much sense of it all except it seemed +greatly painted up, especially overhead, and nearly every figure bore +the face of the King. + +From the windows I could see a strange forest where every tree grew in +the shape of some odd beast or bird, being set in long rows, and among +them were white images of some substance like unto the Holy Mother at +the shrine in Montreal. Some of these graven stones were in semblance +of men with horns and goats' legs, and some of warrior women with +plumed helms upon their heads. Verily I marveled much at these strange +sights. + +The pert little lads who idled about the hall began to make sport of me +concerning my dress, and laughed greatly at their own wit. I paid no +heed to their foolish gibes, there being no man among them. It irked +me more than good sense would admit, and I left the hall, and after +many vain endeavors made my way out into the open air--being right glad +to breathe again without a roof above my head. + +I was ill at ease among all these gay gallants who minced and paced +along like so many string-halted nags. It was said the King walked +much in that way, and so, forsooth, must all his lords and ladies go. +Perhaps it was the fashion of the court, but I stuck to the only gait I +knew, a good, honest, swinging stride which could cover fifteen leagues +a day at a pinch. + +Off to one side the water kept leaping up into the air as I am told the +spouting springs do in the Dacotah country. I walked that way and was +soon lost in wonderment at the contemplation of a vast bronze basin +filled with curious brazen beasts, half men half fishes, the like of +which I had never seen. Some had horns from which they blew sparkling +streams; others astride of strange sea monsters plunged about and cast +up jets of water. It all made so much noise I scarcely heard a voice +behind me say: + +"I'll lay a golden Louis his coat is of as queer a cut as his nether +garment--whatever its outlandish name maybe." + +"Done," said another voice. + +I gave no heed, thinking they meant not me, until a dapper little chap, +all plumed and belaced, stepped in front of me with a most lordly air. + +"Hey, friend, who is thy tailor?" and behind me rang out the merry +laugh at such a famous jest. + +I turned and there being a party of fine ladies at my back full gladly +would I have retired, had not the young braggart swaggered to my front +again and persisted: + +"Friend, let us see the cut of thy coat." + +We men of the forest accustomed to the rough ways of a camp, and +looking not for insult, are slow to anger, so I only asked as politely +as might be, because of the ladies: + +"And wherefore?" + +"Because I say so, sir," he replied, most arrogantly and stamping his +foot, "cast off thy cloak that we may see." + +I still stood undecided, scarce knowing what to think, and being +ignorant of fashions at court. De Brienne--for that was his +name--mistaking my hesitation, advanced and laying his hand upon my +cloak would have torn it off, had I not brushed him aside so vigorously +he stumbled and fell to the ground. + +I had no thought of using strength sufficient to throw him down. He +sprang up instantly, and, furious, drew his sword. I felt my own wrath +rise at sight of cold steel--it was ever a way of mine beyond +control--and asked him hotly: + +"How is it affair of thine what manner of coat I wear?" + +He made no reply, but, raising his arm, said, menacingly; + +"Now, clown, show thy coat, or I'll spit thee like a dog." + +I glanced around the circle at the blanched faces of the ladies, seeing +such a serious turn to their jest, and would not even then have drawn, +but the men made no effort to interfere, so I only answered him, "Nay, +I'll wear my cloak," when he made a quick lunge at me. I know not that +he meant me serious injury, but taking no risk my blade came readily, +and catching his slenderer weapon broke it short off, leaving him +raging and defenceless--a simple trick, yet not learned in a day. It +was a dainty little jewel-hilted toy, and I hated to spoil it. + +"Now, sir, thank the King's uniform for thy life," my blood was up, and +I ached to teach him a lesson, "I can not turn the King's sword against +one of his servants." + +The ladies laughed now, and the hot flush mounted to my cheeks, for I +feared a woman, but their merriment quickly died away at sound of an +imperious voice saying: + +"For shame de Brienne, brawler!" "And thou, my young coxcomb of +Orleans," he continued, addressing that dissolute Prince: "How dare +you, sir, lead such a throng of revellers into the King's own gardens? +Is not your own house of debauchery sufficient for Your Grace? Have a +care, young sir, I am yet the King, and thou mayest never be the +Regent." + +The Duke simulated his profound regret, but when Louis' back was turned +made a most unprincely and most uncourtly grimace at his royal uncle, +which set them all a-laughing. Whereat all these noble lords and +ladies made great pretense of gravity, and ostentatiously held their +handkerchiefs before their mouths to hide their mirth. + +Already these satellites began to desert the sinking to attach their +fortunes to those of the rising sun. I marvelled at this, for the name +of Louis had been held in almost Godlike reverence by us in the +colonies. Meanwhile he had turned to me: + +"Well said, young man; thou hast a loyal tongue." + +"And a loyal master, sire," for it needed not the mention of his name +to tell me I faced the King. That face, stamped on his every golden +namesake, had been familiar to me since the earliest days of my +childhood. + +"Thy name, sir?" + +Kingly still, though a little bent, for he was now well past sixty, +Louis stood in his high-heeled shoes tapping the ground impatiently +with a long cane, his flowing coat fluttering in the wind. For a +period I completely lost my tongue, could see nothing but the blazing +cross of the Holy Ghost, the red order of St. Louis, upon the Monarch's +breast, could hear nothing but the grating of his cane against the +gravel. Yet I was not ashamed, for a brave soldier can proudly fear +his God, his conscience and his King. + +"Thy name," he sharply demanded, "dost hear?" + +"Placide de Mouret, Captain of Bienville's Guards, Province of +Louisiana, may it please you, sire," I stammered out. + +"Attend me at the morning hour to-morrow," and he strutted away from +the giggling crowd. + +I too would have turned off, had not my late antagonist proven himself +a man at heart. He quickly moved toward me holding out his hand in +reconciliation. + +"I ask thy pardon, comrade; I too am a soldier, though but an +indifferent one in these peaceful times. We mistook thee, and I humbly +ask thy pardon." + +Of course I could bear no malice against the fellow, and he seeming +sincere, I suffered him to present me to his friends. First among +these, de Brienne presented me to His Royal Highness, the Duke of +Orleans, "First Prince of the Blood, and the coming Regent of France." + +This latter speech was given with decided emphasis, and a malicious +glance toward a pale, studious looking man, a cripple, who, the center +of a more sedate group, was well within hearing. The deformed Duke of +Maine, I thought, rival of Orleans for the Regency. The ladies I would +have willingly escaped, but they would not hear of it, and soon I was +surrounded by a chattering group, asking a thousand questions about the +fabled land of gold and glory beyond the seas. Right glad was I when +one of the gallants pointed out a thoughtful looking gentleman who +walked slowly through the eastern gate. + +"There is M. de Serigny, a brother of Bienville, your Governor." + +"That de Serigny?" I repeated, "then I must leave you, for I would +speak with him," and I bowed myself off with what grace I could muster, +knowing naught of such matters. A brisk walk fetched me to Serigny's +side. In a few words I communicated my mission. His quick, incisive +glance took in every detail of my dress and appearance, but his +features never changed. + +"Wait, my dear Captain," he drawled out, with a polite wave of his +perfumed handkerchief, "time for business after a while. Let us enjoy +the beauties of the garden." + +My spirits fell. Could this be a brother of the stern Bienville, this +the man upon whom my governor's fortunes now so largely depended? His +foppish manner impressed me very disagreeably, and, in no pleasant +frame of mind, I stalked along by his side listening to the senseless +gossip of the court. We soon passed out of the gardens into the great +hall, and reached his own apartments. + +No sooner was the valet dismissed and the key turned in the lock than +his face showed the keenest interest. After satisfying himself of my +identity and glancing through the packet which I now handed him, he +gave vent to an exclamation of intense relief. + +"Not a day too soon, my dear Captain, not a day, not a day, not a day," +he kept repeating over and over, looking at the different documents. +"The King promises to act on this matter in a few days, to-morrow, +probably. Chamillard is against us; he seems all powerful now; the +King loves him for his truculence. But these will help, yes, these +will help." And again he ran through the various papers with +business-like swiftness. His fashionable air and the perfumed +handkerchief were alike laid aside. Now I could see the resemblance +between him and his sturdy brother. + +"To-morrow, yes, to-morrow, my lad--pardon me the familiarity, Captain +de Mouret," he apologized, waiving aside my hand raised in protest. +"To-morrow we must act. We must gain the King's own ear. These must +not go through the department of war. Chamillard will poison the +King's mind against us. Most likely they would never reach the King at +all. Louis will hardly listen to me even now." + +"Then let me speak to the King," I blurted out before I thought. + +"You?" he repeated in unconcealed astonishment. + +"Yes, I," I replied, for I was now well into it, and determined to wade +through; besides I loved my old commander, and would venture much in +his service. + +Then I told Serigny of the occurrence in the garden, or enough to let +him understand why I was summoned to the morning audience. + +"Thou art lucky, lad; here half a day and already have an appointment +with the King." "Yes," he roused half aloud, "Louis likes such things. +He grows suspicious with age, and doubts even his ministers. It is +quite possible he may question you of affairs in the colonies. If so, +speak out, and freely, too, my lad; Louis loves the plain truth when it +touches not his princely person or his vanities. God grant that we may +win." + +Serigny then told me much of the petty trickery of the court in order +that I might understand how the land lay. + +"It may be of service to you to know something of the many webs which +ambition, cupidity and malice have woven about us here in this great +government of France," he went on, speaking bitterly. "We never dare +speak our thoughts, for blindness, silence, flattery and fawning seem +surer passports to favor than are gallant deeds and honest service. +The King grows old, and it is feared his end is near. Of this, men +scarcely whisper. His death, as you know, would leave all France to +the frail little Duke of Anjou. Looking to this, the court here is +already divided in interest between the rivals for the regency, Philip +of Orleans, and the Duke of Maine. The Orleans party is the stronger, +though the Duke stands accused in the vulgar mind of poisoning all who +may come between himself and the throne, save this Anjou child, who +will probably die of sheer weakness. The King has recently had his de +Montespan children legitimated and rendered capable of inheriting the +crown, though the legality of this action is bitterly contested by the +Orleanists. He has also, it is said, left a will in favor of the Duke +of Maine, giving him all real power, while nominally making Orleans the +Regent. And strange as it may seem, it is said this will was made at +the persistent request of de Maintenon, so viciously hated by the proud +de Montespan. But you know she was the teacher of this little Duke, +and they are very much attached to each other. Were the Duke of Maine +a more vigorous man, there would be no doubt of his success. If 'that +little wasp of Sceaux,' as Madame Orleans calls the wife of the Duke of +Maine, were the man of the family, she would surely be the Regent. +She's a wonderful woman. Madame du Maine hates Bienville because she +can not use him in her dealings with Spain. She has duped the Bretons +by the promise of an independent provincial government, but Bienville +stands true to his King. So they seek by every means to discredit him. +You may surmise from this how unfortunately our affairs here are +complicated in the affairs of great personages, where lesser men lose +their lives at the first breath of suspicion." + +After a little I had ample opportunity to observe the man more closely, +for he kept his seat to examine at leisure the dispatches I had +brought. He was evidently not entirely pleased with this inspection, +giving vent at times to low expressions of annoyance. + +"Always the same trouble, la Salle and de la Vente, spies in +Biloxi--Ah, here is the fine hand of Madame du Maine, currying favor +with the Spaniard in aid of her cripple husband. If we could only make +this plain to Louis; this stirring up of strife. Fancy a son of de +Montespan on the throne of France. Yes, yes, yes, here is the awkward +work of our old friend Crozat, the tradesman, who would purchase an +empire of the King. See how clumsily he throws out his golden bait." + +I could but listen and observe. Now, more than ever, in the sternness +and decision of his countenance he resembled his famous brothers, +Iberville, Sauvolle and Bienville--and yet beyond them all he possessed +the faculties of a courtier. + +"Captain, are you acquainted with the nature of these dispatches?" he +asked directly. + +"No, sire, only in general, and from my knowledge of affairs at Biloxi." + +"My brother tells me I may trust you." My face flushed hotly with the +blood of anger. + +"Oh, my dear Captain, I meant no offense; I speak plainly, and there +are few men about this court whom you can trust. There is an adventure +of grave importance upon which I wish to employ you. Your being +unknown in Paris may assist us greatly." + +I signified my attention. + +"It is supposed we are on the eve of war with Spain, and it is my +belief the colonies will be the first objects of attack. Some person, +and one who is in our confidence, is now carrying on a secret +correspondence with the Spanish agent at Paris. Cellamare, the Spanish +Ambassador, is concerned in the intrigue. This much we know from +letters which have fallen into my hands, and I have permitted them to +be delivered rather than interrupt a correspondence which will +eventually lead to a discovery of the traitor. We have now good reason +to believe that dispatches of a very serious nature are expected daily +by Yvard--Yvard is the Spanish spy--" + +"Yvard, Yvard," I mentally repeated, where had I heard that name? + +"These papers are to give our exact strength at Biloxi, the plans of +our fortifications, and a chart of all the navigable waters of +Louisiana. We can not afford to let the Spaniards have this +information, even if thereby we should capture their agent." + +I maintained a strict silence. + +"You understand le Dauphin is the last vessel over, and no other is +expected for months, so we think all this information came over with +you." + +When he began I instinctively thought of Levert, who set out alone for +Paris just behind me. As he proceeded, the name "Yvard" again fixed my +attention. The very name I had heard mentioned by one of the men the +morning I left Biloxi. Serigny was right in his surmise, but I let him +go on without interruption. + +"If I am correct, these plans will be perfected in Paris before le +Dauphin sails again. The spy, whoever he may be, will perhaps want to +return in her. Now you can see what I want. You can understand what a +help you may possibly be in this matter. You doubtless know every +person who came over in le Dauphin, yet you must avoid notice yourself, +for they would suspect you instantly." + +I still said nothing to him of the conversation I had overheard, or of +my own suspicions, childishly thinking I would gain the greater credit +by unearthing the whole affair and divulging it at one time. + +"We have some reliable fellows in Paris, and I will send such letters +as will put you in possession of all the information they have. You +and they, I trust, can do the work satisfactorily, but in no event +shall my name, or that of Bienville, be connected with the enterprise. +If the matter should come to the King, we would lose what little hold +we now have upon him. It is not an easy or an agreeable task. The +Spanish spy bears the name of Carne Yvard, a man of good birth, but a +gambler and a profligate. He is known throughout Paris as a reckless +gamester, but no man dare question him, because of his marvellous skill +with the sword. He spends much of his time at Bertrand's wine and card +rooms, though he has the _entree_ at some of the most fashionable +houses in the city, even at Madame du Maine's exclusive Villa of +Sceaux. But thereby hangs his employment; we do not know how far +Madame is involved in this intrigue with Spain and the Bretons." + +Verily I felt encouraged as Serigny unfolded his charming plans for my +entertainment. In a strange city to hunt up and dispossess a man like +this of papers which would hang him. A delightful undertaking forsooth! + +"But we plan in advance, my dear Captain. We must wait the pleasure of +the King concerning you. We will renew this subject to-morrow." + +That night I lodged with Serigny. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +LOUIS XIV + +Even at this time I remember how nervous I was when I dressed for my +interview with the King. What it was for, or how it might result, I +could form no idea, so I did not trouble myself with vain thinking. + +Promptly at ten I presented myself at that famous door which led to the +room where Louis held his morning levee. Already the approaches were +crowded, and the officer on watch was busy examining passes and requests +for admission. Some there were who passed haughtily in without even so +much as a glance at the guard or the crowd which parted obsequiously to +let them through. Most probably favorites of the King, or perchance his +ministers. When he reached me the officer of the guard, noting my +uniform, inquired: + +"Captain de Mouret of Louisiana?" + +"Yes." + +"You are to be admitted, sir," and I found myself ushered immediately +through the opening ranks of Swiss mercenaries into the audience chamber +of the King. + +Louis no longer held his levees in the great vaulted chamber into which I +was first shown, but in a smaller and more sombre room, that of de +Maintenon. The character and dress of those present reflected with a +chameleon's fidelity the change in His Majesty's habits. Madame sat near +the King, working upon a piece of tapestry which, when she was interested +in what went on, lay idle in her lap. Behind her chair stood the +sour-visaged Jesuit confessor, Letellier. + +Death, which spared not even the Bourbon, had taken away the Dauphin and +his son; leaving as the King's successor an infant yet in his cradle. +This embittered every thought of the King's declining years, made him +gloomy, petulant and querulous. And yet there were many men still about +him capable of upholding the dignity of the throne. I heard announced, +one after the other, Grand Marshal Villars, lately placed in command of +all the armies of France; the Duke of Savoy, a famous soldier, but a +deserter from the English; the brothers de Noailles, one bearing a +Marshal's baton, the other, cold, cynical, austere, robed in churchly +garments, Archbishop of Paris. There were Villeroi, de Tourville, the +admiral; and Marshal Tallard--he who lost the bloody field of Blenheim to +the Englishman Churchill. + +I confess I was abashed at the sound of so many great names, and advanced +in hesitating fashion across the floor, to kneel before the King. + +"Tut, tut, Captain de Mouret," he said, kindly, "Rise, we would hear +somewhat from you touching matters in our Province of Louisiana, and +particularly of their safety in case of war--say, with Spain." + +He then asked a few questions about things familiar to me, which put me +quite at ease. What I said I can scarce at this time recollect, but I +know I spoke with all a soldier's enthusiasm of my beloved commander, of +his diplomacy in peace, of his war-won successes. + +It did not pass unnoticed that many a venomous glance was shot towards me +from that little group behind the King, but in the King's presence I +feared nothing, and spoke on, unrestrained. + +Once a tall man whom I took to be Chamillard interrupted; the King +motioned me to proceed, and I told him all the strength and resources of +the colonies, their weakness and their needs. When I thought I had +finished, the King's face hardened, and looking me straight in the eye, +he inquired: + +"What is this I hear of Bienville's presuming to criticise me--me, Louis, +his King--for contemplating such a disposition of the colonies as suits +my royal pleasure? Can you tell me that as glibly, sir?" + +For the moment I was astounded and had no word to say. I could see a +faint smile run round the circle as they exchanged glances of +intelligence. Serigny was right. The spy had already arrived. His +eavesdropping news had reached the King. In my indignation I forgot the +man I addressed was the Imperial Louis. Defending my master I spoke +vigorously the truth, and that right earnestly. + +"Your Majesty is a soldier, and will forgive a soldier's blunt speech. I +beg you, Sire, to consider the services and the sorrows of Bienville's +people, the loyal le Moynes. Where rests his father? Where his valiant +brothers, Ste. Helene and Mericourt? Dead, and for the silver lilies! +Where's Iberville, the courteous, the brave; he who ravaged the frozen +ocean and the tropic seas in his royal master's name? Dead, Sire, of the +pestilence in San Domingo. Does the King not remember his good ship +Pelican? Has the King forgotten Iberville? Hast forgotten thine own +white flag cruising on thine enemy's coast, borne down by four vessels of +superior weight? Did the Eagle stretch her wings to escape the Lion? + +"Did the Silver Lilies flee before St. George's Cross? No, by the +deathless glory of the Bourbon, no! And who was he that dared--following +the example of his King, the Conqueror of the Rhine--who was he that +dared meet such enemies and engage such odds? Whose was that boyish face +of thirty, waving his curls upon the quarter deck, with the noble front +of a very God of War? Iberville! Who is he that brushes away a tear to +gaze upon his stripling brother beside the guns, soon to be exposed by +his command to such a fearful danger? Iberville, again! Who is that +fiery soldier, recking nothing save his duty, who seeth without a tremor +that beloved brother lying mangled at his post, where the storms of hell +do rage, and flames consume the dead? Who, when the enemy lay +dismantled, their hulks afire, their colors struck, their best ships +sunk, when the glorious standard of France triumphant dallied with the +breeze--who is that dauntless gentleman who kneels upon his battle-riven +but victorious deck and sobs aloud in agony above his writhing brother? +Who is this stricken gentleman, who, having won that most heroic fight +for his King, now prints a kiss, as a tender maiden might, upon the pale +lips of a dying lad? Ah, Sire, it was Iberville, it was Iberville, my +King, Iberville the gentle, Iberville the true! Hast thou forgotten that +wounded lad who lived to serve his King so well on other fields? Dost +remember his name? Let me remind you, Sire, that lad was Bienville de la +Chaise, your loyal governor of Louisiana. Did the King but know the +trials and sufferings of my master in upholding the royal authority, he +would forgive him much. Nor do I fear to say it even here, that those +men who seek his downfall would as lief line their wallets with Spanish +doubloons as with honest Louis d'or. De la Vente, the renegade priest, +the center of strife and discontent in the colonies, traffics with the +Indians and brings opprobrium upon your Majesty's name. It is he or la +Salle who sends this idle tale--la Salle, who, from your Majesty's +commissary, supplies this de la Vente with his merchandise. Who their +friends are here to tell your Majesty these tales, I care not. Saving +the royal presence, I would be pleased to discuss the matter with them +elsewhere." + +"Thou art a bold lad," observed the King. + +I had noted his eyes flash, and the thin nostrils dilate at mention of +the passage of the Rhine; so, emboldened by the surety of success, I kept +my own courage up. + +"Aye, Sire, truth need have no fear from the greatest of all the +Bourbons. Bienville is a soldier, not a courtier, and stung beyond +endurance by the threat of his enemies that they would yet beguile your +Majesty to sell your fair Province of Louisiana, and turn the royal +barracks into a peddler's shop--mayhap he did use some such hot and +thoughtless expressions to me. These, some spy may have overheard and +forwarded here to his hurt. If it please you to hear the words, I will +repeat them upon the oath of an officer." + +"Go on," he commanded drily. + +"Bienville did say it was a matter of shame to forego such abroad domain +wherein lay so much wealth, because of present troubles. It is his +ambition to found there a new empire in the west, to add a brighter glory +to the name of Bourbon, to plant the silver lilies upon the remotest +boundaries of the earth, calling it all Louisiana, a mighty continent, +without a rival and without a frontier. Ah! Your Majesty has in +Bienville a strong heart and a firm hand, a man who prefers to devote his +life to your service, rather than live at ease in France; a man who +carries more scars for his King than your Majesty has fingers--poorer +to-day than when he entered your service, though others about him have +grown rich." + +I told him, too, without reserve, of the contemplated Indian attack in +the spring, of my own haste to return. His face lighted up with the fire +of his thought: + +"Then, by my faith," he broke in, "you need a bold, ambitious soldier for +your Governor. What think you, Villars, Chamillard--gentlemen?" + +None dared oppose the King. + +"I overheard you, Captain, in the gardens yesterday, and think the master +who has taught you such sentiments is a man the King of France can trust. +Convey to the trusty and well beloved Governor of our Province of +Louisiana our renewed confidence, with our assurance he is not to be +disturbed. We make you our royal messenger for the purpose." + +Then he gravely inclined his head to signify the interview was done. + +As soon as I decently could I left the royal presence and repaired at +once to Serigny. I found him still in his apartments waiting me with +every appearance of intense impatience. Almost as I rapped he had opened +the door himself. The valet had been dismissed. My face--for I was yet +flushed with excitement--told of our victory. He grasped my hand in both +his own and asked: + +"We have won? Tell me, how was it?" + +"Aye, sir, and nobly. I have the King's own warrant that our Governor is +not to be disturbed." + +Every shade of anxiety vanished, and he laughed as unaffectedly as a girl. + +"Thou art a clever lad; but tell me of it, tell me of it!" + +I told him then of the audience, neglecting not the minutest detail, not +even the black looks of those who thronged about the King. + +"Chamillard's doing, and Crozat. Crozat the parvenu--Marquis du Chatel, +forsooth, with his scissors and yardstick for device." + +He questioned me closely concerning the personages present, and what they +said. After having heard on to the end he was quite composed and +broached again the subject of the previous night. + +"Well, Captain," he commenced, half banteringly, "if thou hast done thy +conferences with the King, we will talk of your next adventure. Time +presses, and you see from what Louis said, our enemies are already at +work." + +I hearkened with many misgivings, for I felt of a truth uncertain of +myself in this new character--and shall I confess it--a trifle ill at +ease concerning this bravo, Carne Yvard, the duelist of the iron hand, +and the gamester with the luck of the devil. However, I put upon myself +a steadfast front and listened. + +"We have a fine lad at Paris in our service," said Serigny, "and with him +four as staunch fellows as ever dodged a halter. De Greville--Jerome de +Greville--has his lodgings in Rue St. Denis, at the sign of the Austrian +Arms. The host is a surly, close-mouthed churl who will give you little +information until he knows you well. Then you may rely upon him. Jerome +has been watching our quarry these many weeks; we hold him in easy reach, +as a bait to catch his accomplice. Then we will put them both where they +can spy upon us no longer. I desire them to be taken alive if possible, +and by all the gods, they shall hang." + +Verily, this was a pleasant adventure for me to contemplate, taking alive +such a desperado, who handled his sword like a hell-born imp. + +"I would not expose you to this," continued Serigny, "but for the stern +necessity that those papers should reach me unopened. They are to be +delivered to you, and I hold you responsible. You understand?" + +I bowed my acquiescence. + +Then he went on, talking more at ease, though I was far from placid at +the prospect. He told me of the different streets, the lay of the town, +and the various men with whom I would be thrown. + +"Beyond all," and in this I afterward acknowledged his foresight, "do not +neglect the women, for their hands now wield the real power in France." + +I must own I thought more on the nature of my new errand than on what he +was saying. I felt no small degree of distrust, yet, for my honor's +sake, kept it to myself. + +"And when shall I set out for Paris?" I asked. + +"To-day; at once. Le Dauphin has already lain four days at anchorage, +and we know for a surety that the expected spy has come. We can not act +too promptly." + +And so it came about that I left within the hour. + +A carriage had been made ready, and I bade Serigny good-bye in his own +rooms. He feared our being seen together too frequently about the palace. + +"But one other thing, my lad," he stopped me as I would go, "you must +need have other garb than that. Your harness of the wilderness but ill +befits a gay gallant in Paris--for such you must now appear. You visit +the capital to see the sights, understand; a country gentleman--Greville +will instruct you, the rascal has naturally a turn for intrigue and +masquerading. A dress like yours would mark you apart from the throng +and perchance draw upon you the scathe of idle tongue. Here is gold to +array yourself as becomes a well-to-do gentleman, and gold to spend at +wine and on the games withal--for, thank Providence, the ancient House of +Lemoyne is not yet bankrupt." + +I fain would not take his proffered coins, but he urged them upon me with +such insistency that I, seeing the good sense of doing as I was bid, +placed them in my meager purse, and with a light heart I set out upon my +doubtful journey. + +The fear of which I spoke died away, for since our success with the King, +my spirits rose, and I deemed all things possible. Besides, was I not in +the personal service of my beloved commander who never knew a fear? + + * * * * * * + +The postilion whipped up his horses, and we turned towards the old city +of Paris, that treasure-house of varied fortunes whence every man might +draw his lot--of poverty or riches, of fame or obscurity, of happiness or +misery--as chance and strength directs. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +AT THE AUSTRIAN ARMS + +It was well into the night when the first dim lights of Paris came into +view, and perhaps some two good hours afterwards before we drew up in +front of the "Austrian Arms." + +It was not a new or prepossessing place, yet much better than those I +had seen along the road from Dieppe. + +The host well deserved Serigny's appellation of a churl, for he looked +suspiciously at me, and when I asked for de Greville replied he knew +nothing of him. I could get no satisfaction from him, so I determined +to take up my abode and wait. In I went and heeded not the surly host +who regarded me askance. + +The small public room was vacant, and I possessed myself of it with the +settled air of a man who has come to stay. Verily the fire felt most +grateful, and it did me much comfort to stretch as I listed, after the +tedious confinement of the coach. Mine host busied himself about +mending the fire, but whenever I raised my eyes I caught his gaze fixed +doubtingly upon me. Evidently the man knew more than he told, and I +planned to test his loyalty. + +"Here, my good man," I called to him, "dost know anything of this +Jerome de Greville? Where is he?" + +"By our Lady, noble sir, I know him not. Paris is a great city, and +many noble gentlemen come and go at their will." + +"But M. de Greville lodges with you, I am told. My business is urgent." + +"I do not recall such a name? Jerome de Greville?" and the rascal +turned his eyes to the ceiling in the attitude of deep contemplation. +I smiled inwardly. + +"If it please you, sir, to write your name in my guest book, should +Monsieur de Greville call I will show it him. You may tell me where +you can be found." + +He fetched out a worn and greasy book from a chest in the rear, and +handed me a pen, watching, as I thought, with some interest, what name +I would write, though I much questioned if he could read it. I pushed +the book aside. + +"Oh, it matters not, my name; it is an obscure one, and M. de Greville +would not recall it. See here my good fellow, here is a gold piece to +aid thy memory. At what hour will M. de Greville return?" + +He took the coin, and turning it over and over in his palm, said, as if +to it: + +"If Monsieur will write a note and leave it, I will send to other inns +and see if such a man be in Paris. Monsieur is of Gascony?" he +ventured. + +The Gascons were at this time regarded with distrust, it was such an +easy matter for them to carry news into Spain, being on the border. + +I soon found there was nothing to be gained from the fellow, and +becoming convinced of his steadfastness was willing he should keep the +coin as earnest money for future services. De Greville not coming in, +I grew restive, and concluded I would stroll about the city. Claude, +for so the landlord styled himself, directed me to the principal +thoroughfare, and I thought by walking straight along one street I +could easily return. There was nothing unusual in the neighboring +buildings to make a landmark of, so I chose a great round tower not far +away, and carefully laid my bearings from that. + +The landlord watched me taking my observations and felt sure I would +shortly return; the more so that my few articles of apparel and +necessity were left stowed in the corner by his hearth. These I had +purposely so arranged that I could detect any meddling. Throwing my +cloak about me I took the way he indicated, and soon passed into a +wider and more handsome street, which I came afterward to know. +Walking idly on, without thought of distance or direction, I tired +after a while, and began to think of getting back to the inn fireside. +I retraced my steps perfectly, I thought, and if my calculations were +right should have stood where the broad, well-lighted street I had +traversed corners on Rue St. Denis. But the locality was entirely +strange, and I had lost sight of the great tower which I thought would +guide me home, when a squad of the watch halted me and questioned my +errand. + +"I am a gentleman, and officer of the King," I replied with such an air +they passed on. + +"I pray you, gentlemen, direct me to the Rue St. Denis, thence I can +find my way." + +The man gave me directions which simply confused me, and, ashamed to +confess my ignorance, I blundered on to where five or six narrow, +crooked streets ran together, branching out like the fingers from my +palm. I paused now uncertain which way to go amid so many devious +courses, and deciding almost at hazard, turned down the best paved of +all those dingy streets. I had hardly gone past more than two cross +streets, when there stood at a corner, looking timidly this way and +that, a slight girl, with blonde hair and eyes of Breton blue. She +seemed so brave, yet so out of place and helpless at that hour of the +night, on such an unfrequented road, I almost made so bold as to +address her, thinking I might be of service to a lady in distress. But +my tongue was not formed for such well chosen words and polite phrases, +so I merely held to one side, she standing to the outer edge to admit +of my passage. + +At the moment I got opposite her, it seems she had misjudged the width +of the pavement, for I heard her give a slight ejaculation, and one +foot slipped off the paved way as if she would fall into the muddy +street. I passed my arm quickly about her, and raised her to a place +of safety, but even then could bring no word of courtly elegance to my +assistance. + +She thanked me prettily and daintily, and as I pursued my course, I +could but turn and give yet another glance in her direction. She +caught my eye, and again looking each way, bent her steps down a by-way +leading off to the left, which we were that instant nearest. There was +that in her manner, I could not say exactly what, which led me to +follow her at a respectful distance, seeing which she turned her head, +and I fancied I could observe a thankful little smile playing about her +lips. At any rate she quickened her pace and walked with more +assurance, no longer in doubt about her movements. + +For many rods at times she would be lost to view in the dark, and her +tread was so light it scarcely made a sound--or the great, clumsy +clattering I created drowned it entirely. Just at the time I thought I +had lost her, I could catch a glimpse of a flitting skirt beneath one +of the flambeaux, which, stuck in niches of the wall here and there, +lighted old Paris. + +In a very pleasant frame of mind, I strode along behind her. It was +wonderful, I thought, how readily a woman's intuition recognizes a +protector. And I--for I must admit I was young then; in the ways of +women, far younger than my years--I amused myself with many conjectures +concerning what manner of errand had taken this young woman abroad +alone on such a night. A lady she plainly seemed. Disguised a little, +that might be, for her quiet dignity did not fully comport with the +style of her dress. + +A thousand airy castles I built for my fair heroine to live in, and I, +like the knightly heroes of the Crusades, was ever her defender, ever +her champion in the lists. + +Busied with these fancies and romantic thoughts, I lost count of +streets and passages, turning this way, that and the other, through +many narrow and tortuous byways and alleys, until I realized I was +hopelessly lost. With my fair guide in front and my good sword by my +side, lightly I recked of streets or houses. Yet I dared not forget I +was on an errand for the Governor and must not expose myself to +bootless peril. + +At last, and somewhat to my relief, she stopped before a great oaken +iron-studded gate, possibly of five good paces width, in one corner of +which was cut a smaller door so low a man must stoop to pass. Upon +this smaller door she rapped and stood in the attitude of waiting. + +I had a moment now to look about me. It was in a quarter of the town +that was forbidding. Here were two huge, dismal, gray-stone mansions, +separated by a court-yard of probably forty paces across; a high wall +fronted the street, flanked by a tower on either side the gate. On +top, this wall was defended by bits of broken glass and spikes of +steel, stuck into the masonry while it was yet soft. More than this +the flickering brazier would not permit me to see. All of this I took +in at a glance; across the street the murkiness of the night shut out +my view. She rapped again, impatiently, but in the same manner as +before. A trifling space thereafter the smaller door was opened, +whoever was inside having first peeped out through a round hole, which +closed itself with a shutter no bigger than his eye. + +The lady looked first to me, then stepped inside and stood back as if +she bade me enter. + +This was an adventure I had not bargained for. Thinking only to see +that the lady reached her destination in safety, here was a +complication of which I had never dreamed. What her singular errand +was, or wherein she desired my assistance, I could not even hazard a +guess. Yet there she stood and beckoned me to enter, and I moved +forward a pace or two so I could see within the door. + +The _concierge_ held the door ajar, and a more repulsive, deformed +wretch I never laid eyes upon. His left arm hung withered by his side; +at his girdle he swung a bunch of keys, with any one of which a strong +man might have brained an ox. Every evil passion which curses the race +of men had left its imprint upon his lowering countenance. Yet for a +moment, when his gaze rested upon the girl, it was as though some spark +of her loveliness drove the villainy from his face. He was hardly so +tall as she who stood beside him watching me, the semblance of a +mocking sneer about her lips. Looking past them both I could see what +manner of place it was. A smoky oil-lamp sputtered in the rear, +sufficiently distinct to disclose the paved court-yard, covered with +the green slime which marks the place where no sun ever shines. +Further than this I could see nothing except the tall gray buildings +which shut in every side and this wall in front. That door once locked +upon the intruder there would be no easy egress. Instinctively I held +back. + +"Monsieur is afraid?" she inquired, then tossed back her head, and +laughed such a low, disdainful, mean laugh, as fired my every nerve to +hear. I hesitated no longer. Let come what will, let the Governor's +errand look to itself, for no man or no woman could ever laugh at me +like that. + +Holding my blade at easy command, I stepped inside. Immediately the +door closed, and the rasping of the key told me it was securely locked +as before. Then came regret, but came too late. What I had so +foolishly commenced, I must now see finished. The cup had been taken +in hand and the dice must be thrown. + +As we came, I followed her again, though at much closer range. We +crossed the yard diagonally, across the broken panes, bits of casks, +wine bottles and other refuse scattered about. I liked not the aspect +of the place. As the girl was about to enter a door leading inside the +building, a man came down the inner stairs and passed out, coming in +our direction. For the moment he was under the light I had good sight +of him. + +A rather low, dark fellow, dressed in the height of the fashion, yet +somewhat flashily withal; not too foppish, he was evidently a young +gallant of the better class. He staggered somewhat from wine, and +carried a magnificent breadth of shoulder, denoting considerable +strength. This was my mental catalogue from the glimpse I caught. + +By this time, the lady had got rather within the range of the light; +the man came straight at her, and, to my amazement, despite her +struggles, seized and kissed her. This was before I could reach them. + +I was upon him in an instant. Another, and he had reeled back against +the wall, drawing his weapon as he fell. He recovered his feet, my +blade met his, yet each paused, well knowing the deadly lottery of such +a duel in the dark. + +The lady ran up as nearly between us as she dared, and besought: + +"Oh, Messires, Messires," she plucked me by the sleeve, "do not fight; +there is no need of it." + +"Get out of the way you impudent hussy," he commanded, "I'll kill your +meddling lover, like the varlet hound he is." + +I went at him in earnest. His further insult to her made every muscle +a cord of steel. I soon found this no mere sport, for the fellow was a +thorough master of his weapon. I was a trifle the taller and had a +longer reach; this, with my heavier blade, gave me well the vantage. +Besides I had touched no wine, and my nerves were steady. + +However, I had the light full in my face, and he was not slow to see +the annoyance it caused me. I knew I could not maintain such a fight +for long, so I pressed him sternly and the bright sparks flew. +Backwards, step by step he retreated, until he had almost reached the +door out of which he came. I durst not withdraw my eyes from his, yet +I had seen the lady run swiftly up the inner stairs, whether for help +or for other assassins I could not guess. + +Still back, ever pressing him desperately back, the fight went, and he +stood again inside the door, at the very foot of the stair. Now every +advantage was mine, for he was well within the glow of the lamp, every +movement distinctly visible, while I yet stood in darkness. + +"For the sake of mercy, my lord, come quick." It was the girl's voice +at the head of the stairs; "there they are. They will desist if you +command it." And I heard the heavy tread of two men coming down the +stairs, a lighter step behind them. My foot touched something which +lay in the dense shadow of the doorstep. It felt soft, a package of +some kind. Then I remember seeing something fall from the cloak of my +adversary forgotten in the heat of the fray. I placed my foot upon it. + +"What quarrel is this, gentlemen? Put by your swords?" + +The voice was that of a man accustomed to obedience. My antagonist +stood entirely upon the defensive; I stepped back a pace and we rested +at ease. He leaned heavily against the balustrade; his breath came +hard; I could see he was nearly spent, so furious had been our short +contest. His face showed, besides, the flush of too much wine, or +perchance I had not been so fortunate. + +"What mean you, gentlemen? Your quarrel?" + +"I did but kiss the wench, and this fellow set upon me in the dark." + +"Aye, my lord," I replied stoutly, according to the stranger the +respect he seemed to command. "A wanton insult to this lady whom I met +unprotected in the streets, and saw her safely to her gate. Who she +is, or what, I know not." + +The two men looked at each other, from the girl to me, then burst into +such peals of incredulous laughter as roused my anger again. Even my +late foe joined in, but faintly. + +"Would either of you, my lords, be pleased to take the matter up?" for +I was hot now indeed. + +But they only laughed the more. The lady looked much confused. + +"Thou art not of Paris?" the taller man asked. + +"No, this is my first night in Paris." + +"I thought as much. This _lady_," the tall man continued in a +sarcastic tone, "permit me to present you to Mademoiselle Florine, +waitress and decoy pigeon for Betrand's wine rooms, where gentlemen +sometimes play at dice." + +He laughed again, and even the girl could muster up a smile now that +the danger had blown over. + +"That is true, Mademoiselle?" I asked. She nodded. + +"Then, good sirs, I'll fight no more in such a matter." + +"And by my soul, comrade, right glad I am to hear you say it; for you +fight like a very devil of hell, and Carne Yvard knows a swordsman." + +Carne Yvard! The very fellow I had been sent out to find, now by a +queer chance thrown full in my way. Verily, I was relieved to know I +could hold my own against this famous--or infamous--bravo. Another +thing gained; I knew my man while yet a stranger to him. And further, +I stumbled on the very place which of all others I desired to find. +Truly the chance was odd. + +The two gentlemen upon the stair had not yet staunched their merriment, +while these thoughts coming so unexpectedly had swept from me every +recollection of the fight. + +"Thou art not of Paris?" the spokesman asked again. + +I heard him as a man hears something afar off, for my foot resting upon +the package which had been dropped, sent my mind a wandering again. +Could it be that this was a paper of importance, or possibly the very +one I desired? Why not? I resolved to possess it at every hazard. +Yet were I to stoop and pick it up now, and they saw me, I knew of no +means by which I might leave the place in safety. So I carelessly +shoved it with my foot farther into the shadow of the step. I answered +the question asked me so long before. + +"No, my lord, the city is a strange one to me." + +"Of what place, did you say?" + +Now I had purposely refrained from saying, and did not know what reply +to give. I hated to appear boorish, besides it would not serve my +purpose. My father being of Normandy, I deemed I would have nearly the +accent of those people, so I made a venture to say: + +"Of Normandy, sir," in such a way he did not pursue the subject further. + +"We thought you no Parisian, or this lady would not have made so easy a +conquest," and they laughed again. + +"Do you play?" he queried. + +"But rarely, my lord," the fact was I knew little of the dice. + +They put about and ascended the stair, the two together, then Yvard, I +coming on behind, but not until the packet, from which I hoped so much, +was safely in my bosom. This was easily accomplished when Yvard had +turned his back. + +We climbed the stair, and after some forty or fifty paces stood inside +the room of which Serigny had spoken to me. I could recognize the +place from his description. + +The gaming tables were ranged about in the center of the room, and +about them sat many men--and women, too--at play. On three sides of +the place a row of columns ran some four or five yards from the wall. +These pillars formed convenient alcoves for those who would sit and sip +their wine. Some were curtained, the better to screen their occupants. +Others stood broadly open. + +The four of us walked over to a table well out of view and sat down to +wine. It was then I regretted not having already heeded Serigny's +admonition to provide myself with garments more suited to my character, +for I felt I attracted some attention as we passed through the room, +and this was most to be avoided. + +We seated ourselves about the table and ordered wine; mine remained +untasted while the others drank. I determined to touch no wine that +night. + +"Comrade, you do not drink," Yvard remarked, "is your blood still hot +with the clash of steel?" + +"No, by my honor, that is long forgotten; it is my oath, an oath, too, +that can not be broken." + +"Ah, to a lady?" + +I nodded, and he smiled. + +We talked indifferent gossip, and after awhile the Spanish troubles +were mentioned; I think the tall man first spoke of it. Somehow I felt +Yvard's carelessness to be assumed, and that he very much desired to +hear what these two gentlemen would say on a matter so important. His +manner made it plain to me he knew the two gentlemen, and also that +they were men of rank. However, they were quite discreet; while they +talked much, yet they said nothing which was not common talk on the +streets. After a bit they arose to leave, and I was sorely perplexed +whether it were better that I depart with them, now that papers which +might be valuable rested safely against my breast, or had I better stay +and endeavor to learn more from Yvard, who was beginning to drink +heavily. Perhaps a little more liquor might loosen his tongue, and I +might even capture him or his confederate. Discretion would have taken +me away, for that these two gentlemen were powerful enough to protect +me in case of trouble in the house I did not doubt. The bearing of the +elder man especially was such as to inspire confidence. + +The adventure, though, was too enticing, and the hotter counsels of +youth prevailed. I bade the gentlemen good night, and remained sitting +at table with Yvard. It was but a few moments before I regretted my +unwise decision. + +Yvard leaned forward, the edge of the table pressing against his +breast, and in so doing noticed the absence of the paper which he had +forgotten in the fight. His face changed instantly, the drunken leer +vanished. At first there was merely a puzzled expression, as of an +intense effort to remember. He looked swiftly at me. I gave no sign. +The two men were gone. His anxiety convinced me of the importance of +the papers. He thought for a moment, then excused himself and went out +the way we came. As he passed through the room, I saw him stoop and +whisper a word to one of the men at the dice table. In a minute the +fellow shifted his seat, and though he continued to play, he had taken +a position where, as I imagined, he could watch me that I did not +leave. I became uneasy now, for I could not tell how many there were, +and my principal thought was how to get out of the house. Assuredly +not by the way I entered. + +Looking about more carefully to note the different means of egress, my +attention was attracted by a carven shield above the main door. The +arms were the same as those graven on the locket shown me by Colonel +d'Ortez the night I left Biloxi. There, standing out boldly above the +door, was the same sable wolf, the crest of the d'Artins. For a moment +his story filled my mind again but I had no time then for such +reflections, and dismissed them to a future period of leisure. The +question how to leave the house on that particular night gave me +infinitely more concern than the idle speculation as to who had +probably owned it long years before. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A NEW FRIEND + +I rapped on the table, called a waitress, and ordered a bottle of light +wine, which I knew would not hurt me. + +"Send for Mademoiselle Florine," and before many seconds were gone that +lady presented herself, and perched upon the edge of the table where I +sat. Her humor was gay, her laugh was keen; she smiled and asked, "Has +Monsieur forgiven?" with such a penitent little look I bade her be at +ease. + +"Mademoiselle, sit down, I pray you," and she saw by my serious face I +was in no mood for chaffing, so she seated herself with a pretty air of +attention. I could see the fellow at the dice watching, but now he +appeared quite satisfied I intended to stay and drink with the girl. +She was evidently a great favorite with the habitues of the place. He +looked at me less frequently than at the door, and I guessed he +expected Yvard's return. + +Now I grew certain. Yvard had merely gone down the stair to see if he +had dropped the papers in the fight. As soon as he found they were not +there I felt morally certain he would come and demand them of me. I +had begun the game, and must play out the hand. So I reached across +the table, filled the glasses for myself and Florine, raising mine high +as if I would propose a toast. I tapped her banteringly on the cheek, +for the benefit of him who watched, and said in a low tone, trying to +maintain my nonchalant manner. + +"Listen to me a minute, and I beseech you smile, do not look so +serious. You brought me here, and now I trust you to get me out alive. +Is there any other way than that I came?" + +She looked about her apprehensively, so I cautioned her again. + +"For heaven's sake smile; I am closely watched, and you must laugh and +be merry as if I drank with you and made love." + +She comprehended, and well did she play her part. The tones of her +voice were light and playful; she lifted the glass to her lips, tasting +as a connoisseur, and said between her sips: + +"Yes, Monsieur, there is--another way leading out--on an alley--in the +rear." + +"How do you reach it?" + +"The door behind the table--where they play for highest stakes--leads +to the passage. Do but cast--your eyes that way--and you will see." + +"Then let us--" + +"Wait, Monsieur, not yet. If Monsieur would go and seat himself at +that table, as if he desired to play, I will slip around and make ready +the door for him. Monsieur was kind to me, and Florine is grateful. +Even we women here respect a gentleman." + +I pitied the woman from the bottom of my heart. I took out my purse, +paid the reckoning, and together we wandered aimlessly toward that +table, laughing and looking on at the various games. The fellow +watched us as we went, but was pleased, and seemed satisfied the woman +but carried out the purposes of her employment. + +I took a seat at the table, laid a wager or two and made myself intent +upon the game. Florine stood behind my chair for awhile, watched my +play, then disappeared. After a little she returned and again took her +place behind me. Directly she laughed out merrily, and in a tone loud +enough to be heard by the man who listened as well as watched, cried: + +"Monsieur plays the stakes too low. Fortune favors the brave," and +reaching over she took several gold pieces from my store, laid them out +and leaned close beside me to watch the throw. In this position she +whispered: + +"I have the key to the outer door. The inner door will be unlocked. +Monsieur will play twice more, and by that time I will be in the +passage. Arise, and when you lay your hand upon the door I will open +it from the other side." I lost the throw. + +"Double the wager, and better luck next time," she laughed as she moved +off, and joking lightly to different men she knew, made her way beyond +my range of vision. During the play I saw Yvard come in hurriedly and +question the man at the door. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his +head. Yvard evidently asked who had passed out or in. + +The doorkeeper then recollected, and I imagined he was telling of the +two gentlemen who had just gone down the stair. Yvard stood an instant +as if uncertain what to do. He was much agitated and perfectly sober. +He glanced toward the table where he had left me. I was gone. He +strode over to his confederate, yet engaged in play, and made no +pretense of concealing the abruptness of his question. The man, in +reply, indicated my position at the other table. Yvard appeared +somewhat relieved. Again he spoke, and this time the man at the table +gathered up the money in front of him and replaced it in his purse. +Then he cried loud enough for me to hear: + +"What?" + +And sprang up instantly. They both looked at me and held a hurried +consultation, then separated, and one going one way, one the other, +came over toward where I sat. By this time my second throw was made, +and I felt if Florine played me false the game was lost. Yet hoping +for everything I rose quietly, and thrusting my winnings in a +wallet--for I had been fortunate--stepped back and laid my hand upon +the knob. It was locked. + +I had no time to think, but saw the whole trick; lured to my +destruction, hemmed in beyond hope of escape. Bitterly I repented my +folly. + +I have heard men say they faced death without a tremor, and so for that +matter have I, yea, many times, but it was upon an honest field in +lawful fight for honor's sake or duty's. My cheek paled in spite of +me, at sight of the men who now came on. Three others with blades half +drawn pressed close behind Yvard. How many more there were I had no +knowledge. + +It was a sore test to my courage thus to meet the ugly chill of death +in a Parisian gambling hell--in a place of such ill-repute. But there +was no escape, and even if I fell in fight, they would brand me as a +thief. Should the papers be found on my body, then honorable men would +execrate my memory as a traitor to country and to King, for had not +Serigny told me he could not avow my connection with him? The lust of +life still surging strong within me, I drew my sword. Its point +effectually guarded the narrow space in front from post to post. They +parleyed a time, and I rested firm against the door. + +"Come, fellow, thou art trapped; give me up my purse." + +"Spit the thief, run him through," came from one of those behind--for +the rear guard, beyond the reach of steel, was ever loud and brave. +But Yvard, being in front, was more cautious. He well knew the first +man who came against me would be badly hurt. And, I rather fancied, he +respected my blade. + +As they took counsel together, dozens of voices from the hall swelled +the din, yet above it all I caught a light step without. My heart +bounded to my throat; I felt the door give way at my back, and before +they understood what had happened, I was safe on the other side, with +the stout oaken boards well locked between. + +I heard Yvard yell: "To the great gate, my bullies, and I will follow +here," and at once a great pressure was cast against the door, but it +bravely bore the strain. + +"Come," Florine said; and taking me by the hand together we sped +through many dark and devious windings, until I stood once more in the +open street. + +"Hurry, Monsieur, take that street; it leads to Rue St. Antoine, whence +Monsieur can find his way." + +I would have paused a moment to thank the girl, but she bade me haste. +I pressed a piece of gold into her hand; she would not have it. + +"No, Monsieur, not for your gold," and the woman of the wine shop +shamed my thought. "Good-night, Monsieur." She kissed my hand, and +drew back into the darkness. + +I turned hastily down the street, but had not made more than the +distance of three rods when I heard a scream, and looking back saw two +men dragging Florine back into the street. + +"Which way did he go?" Yvard demanded fiercely. + +She made no reply. + +"Speak quick or I'll kill you as I would a hare." + +Still she kept her tongue. + +"She makes time for her lover, Carne," the other man suggested, and as +I feared he would strike, I called out loudly to them: + +"Here he is," to draw them off from the girl. + +They dropped her at once and started in my direction. I ran on ahead, +yet at a disadvantage, for I knew not where to go, knowing, too, that I +could not fight them both. Yet more than all I dreaded falling into +the hands of the city guard with the papers I had upon me. I ran under +a street lamp, and taking up a position some twenty feet beyond in the +dark, waited. The knife for one, the sword for the other, was my +thought. Holding my long sword in my left hand, I swung my right free, +and catching my knife by its point, stood my ground. The younger man +was swifter, yet seemed afraid to lead Yvard. So they passed under the +lamp side by side. + +Selecting Yvard as my mark, I made a quick cast, and had the +satisfaction of seeing my knife glitter as it struck him full in the +shoulder, and bury itself well to the hilt. It was a trick I had +learned from the Indians, and it had not been lost. + +"A million devils, who was that?" screamed the stricken man, tugging to +free the knife. Out it came, followed by a widening dark stain upon +his doublet. + +"He had others with him--hidden in the dark," and at his companion's +suggestion, they stood back to back, in readiness for their imaginary +foes. + +This gave me an opportunity to slip away, they pursuing no further. I +dodged round the next corner and took my way up a street running +parallel to the one I left. + +When they no longer came I slackened my pace to a walk, trying in vain +to recall how I came and how to reach Rue St. Denis. There was nothing +for it but to keep straight on. The streets grew broader and travelers +were not so few. I questioned several, and for a coin secured an +honest-looking idler to guide me. It was not so very far after all to +my inn, yet right joyful I was to see the place again and to find a +cheerful fire blazing on the hearth. I stood before the homelike +warmth and chuckled to myself at the success of my adventure. + +The host and some crony of his sat at table with their cards and ale. +I overlooked the game. They exchanged glances and prepared to leave +off, whereat I apologized and begged them not to let me disturb them. +Claude declared he had only waited for me, and being tired he would +shut the house. He went on up to bed and his friend took a seat beside +me at the fire. + +He was a simple-looking young fellow, dressed after the fashion of a +peasant farmer, with mild blue eyes, and straggling yellow whiskers on +his chin. I thought to question him about the city. + +"Well, friend, how goes the world in Paris?" + +"Much the same as ever, yet your Paris is new to me." + +"Indeed? You are not of the city; of what place, then?" + +"Of Languedoc, in the south, where the skies are bluer and the wind +does not cut you through as it does in this damp Paris of yours." + +"Yes, I thought you of Languedoc, from your speech. So the climate is +with us in our parts beyond the seas. Beneath our southern sun ice is +a thing almost unknown, and the snow never comes." + +"And where do you live, my lord?" his eyes wide open and shallow. + +I felt somewhat flattered at his artless recognition of the difference +In our stations. + +"In Biloxi; the Southern Provinces, Louisiana," I explained, "whereof +Bienville is governor." + +Afterward I thought I could remember a knowing twinkle in the fellow's +eye, which passed unnoticed at the moment. + +"Ah, I hear much of the colonies; it must be a goodly land to dwell in, +but for the savages and the cannibals." + +I laughed outright. + +"Verily, friend, we have no cannibals worse than the barbarous +Spaniards who wait but the chance to slaughter our garrison," and +before I was aware, I had told him of my voyage from Biloxi, and of +going to Versailles, stopping short only of giving the purpose of my +visit to Paris. I was sore ashamed of the indiscretion. When I looked +I found him laughing silently to himself, laughing at me. + +"Then you are Captain de Mouret?" he asked with purest Parisian +intonation, and the courtesy of a gentleman. + +"How do you know?" I attempted to be stern, but somehow my effort fell +flat. "How do you know?" + +"Well, I've been expecting you," and he brushed his hand across his +chin, wiping the yellow whiskers away before my astonished eyes. + +"I am Jerome de Greville. Claude told me of your coming, but I wished +to make sure. We have examined your baggage," he went on frankly, +unmindful of my ill-concealed disapproval, "but found nothing in the +way of identification. You see," he apologized, "these things are +necessary here, in affairs of this nature, if a fellow would preserve +the proper connection between his head and his body." + +He rolled up his whiskers, laid aside a yellow wig, and I could see he +was as Serigny had described. He was not as tall as I, but strongly +built, and some two good years my senior. + +"Captain, if you will allow me I will take these traps of yours to our +apartments. You lodge with me." + +I was nettled that I should have spoken so freely to a stranger, and +felt ill-disposed to be pleasant, but he soon drove away any lingering +animosity. + +When we had settled in our rooms, which adjoined, de Greville threw +himself across his couch and said: + +"Look here, de Mouret, we have a hard task before us, and you may as +well know it. M. de Serigny tells me he has instructed you himself, +but details he would leave to me. What's your name?" + +"Placide," I replied as simply as a lad of ten. + +"Well, I'm Jerome. We are to stand together now, and men engaged in +business like ours have no time for extra manners." + +His _bon camaraderie_ was contagious, and I gladly caught it. "Agreed, +Jerome; so be it. Go on." + +"First we must locate our friend Carne Yvard, the very fiend of a +fellow, who stops at nothing. Then to catch him with the papers, take +them, cost what it will. For that work we have strong lads enough and +true. Above all we must make no mistake when we strike, for if he +scents our suspicions of him he'll whisk them off to Spain before you +could bat your eye." + +I listened to him intently, yet enjoying to the utmost my prospective +triumph. He went on: + +"Then there is that other fellow; we don't know who he is, the one that +came over with you. He will probably exchange dispatches with Yvard, +then off to the colonies again. There is not so much trouble about +him, for he can be captured aboard ship. It is Yvard we want, and his +dispatches." + +I said very quietly, still looking into the fire: + +"That much is already done." + +Jerome raised up on his elbow and stared at me as if he thought me mad. + +"I have taken those dispatches from your friend. Here they are." + +"The devil you have," he cried out, reaching the middle of the floor at +a single bound. "How and when?" + +He would not leave off until I had related the whole of my adventure +beginning with meeting the girl, and ending when I found him, at the +inn. He was as happy as a school-boy, and laughed heartily at my being +so readily made a victim of by the girl Florine. + +"Such tender doves to pluck she does not often find, and I warrant you +she lets not many go so easily." + +I thought it unnecessary to tell him of my encounter with Yvard, only +that I had found the packet where he dropped it. + +"You lucky dog; it's well he did not see you, or you might not now be +talking to me with a whole skin." + +It was better though to let him know of Yvard's wound, for that would +perhaps assist us in a measure to determine upon our future course. So +that part of the affair I detailed in full. + +"Verily, lad, your savage accomplishment stood you in good stead." + +He recognized the description I gave of the fellow with Yvard, but said +he was a bully, hired merely to fight, and perhaps knew nothing of +consequence. Then we examined very closely the envelope containing the +papers. It had, from all appearance, come over from the colonies, and +bore traces of having long been carried about a man's person. This +settled one matter. The go-betweens had met, and the traitor on le +Dauphin was most likely in possession of the instructions from Spain. +This made his capture the more important. + +De Greville well merited all Serigny had said of his shrewdness, and +more. Now see what a simple scheme he laid. + +We were first to find where Yvard was hidden. He would certainly go +into hiding until his wound was healed; the finding of the papers upon +him making it necessary he should not be seen in Paris. + +Where would he be likely to secrete himself? Ah, trust a woman for +that; so reasoned Jerome. What woman? L'Astrea, of course. Of her +intrigue with Yvard, de Greville, who was a handsome gallant with a +smooth tongue, had learned from a waitress at Bertrand's. This was the +more probable because, Bertrand's being a public place, the confederate +could seek him there without suspicion. This confederate being unknown +and unsuspected could come and go unchallenged. Jerome's deductions +were plain enough when he told me these things and the wherefore. + +It was agreed our plan would be to watch L'Astrea; she at least would +enable us to find Yvard, or his accomplice whom we most wished to +discover. + +Who would do this? Why I, of course, for no one knew me, or would know +me when I had wrought the miracle of shining boots, blue coat, curly +wig, laces at throat, in all which small matters Jerome was a +connoisseur, and so it was laid out with much care; run the quarry to +earth, then continue the chase as needs demanded. + +Yet folly of follies; how lightly are such well arranged plans broken +into. Through a woman came all this scheming, by a woman's hand it was +all swept into naught. Both innocent of intention, both ignorant of +effect. Yet it was true. Jerome and I, as we then thought, disposed +our pieces with great care and circumspection, advanced the pawns, +guarded the king, and made ready for the final checkmate. Yet a +woman's caprice overturned the board, scattered our puppets far and +wide, and by the tyranny of an accident recast our game on other lines, +without rule or rhyme or reason. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MADEMOISELLE + +In the morning of the following day we were engaged about a business +which troubled me no little. Had it not been for Jerome I fear I had +never come through it at all with credit. + +First, we repaired to another house which Jerome possessed in a more +fashionable quarter, and thither by his directions came a fawning swarm +of tailors, boot-makers, barbers, wig-makers; vendors of silken hose +and men with laces, jaunty caps, perfumes--it was a huge task, this +making a gentlemen of me--as Jerome phrased it. + +I worried over it grievously in the beginning, but at length sullenly +delivered myself into his hands, murmuring an abject prayer for the +salvation of my soul. That, at least, was not to be remodeled by all +their fashionable garniture. These heated discussions concerning what +I was to wear were not for me to put a voice in. Verily, I knew +nothing and cared naught for the cut of a shoe my Lord of Orleans had +made the style, nor did it matter whether my coat was slashed with +crimson or braided with golden furbelows. Like some wretch a-quivering +of the palsy I heard the learned doctors wrangling over my medicine, +which they must needs hold my nose to make me swallow. For all their +biases and twistings I knew full well they could carve no sprig of +fashion from so rough a block as I. Certes, I must now have a squire +to fasten this new harness well upon me, for by my word, I knew not one +garment from the other by sight of it. Jerome went off into fits of +laughter seeing me trying to struggle into things I could not even +guess the use of. + +When the worst was over, late in the afternoon, I felt like a +play-actor, dressed for his part, but who, for the life of him, could +not recall one syllable of his speech, nor breathe because of his wig. +Jerome surveyed me with a half-critical, half-approving scrutiny, until +I essayed to buckle on my sword. + +"By my lady, fine sir, that dingy old cutlass will never do for a +drawing-room. As well a miller's dusty cap to cover those glorious +borrowed curls of thine; we must get thee one shaped in the mode." +This quip exterminated my patience. + +"To the foul fiend with all this everlasting style of thine. I know +this blade, have tested it on many fields, and by all the gods at once +I'll not replace it with a silly toy." + +"A most virtuous resolution, a most godly oath, but my mettlesome +friend, I'll point out thy error." + +To his insinuating argument, even in this matter, at length I yielded; +surrendered with the better grace perhaps, that he provided a most +excellent piece of steel, which he said had seen good service. I tried +its temper, and the edge being keen, I laid my own aside with sore +misdoubtings, casting off an old friend to strap on a new. He now +added a touch of rouge here and there, a black line to my brows and in +the corners of my eyes, stepping back ever and anon to observe the +effect. It galled me raw, yet I must perforce submit. When the whole +job was finished, and I was allowed to sit, I gained no comfort. My +clothes were too tight in some places, while in others I rocked about +as loose as a washerwoman's arm in her scrubbing tub. + +Jerome must now give me some lessons in deportment, he called it. It +was but another name for a smirking and a-bowing and a-grimacing, what +was denominated the "etiquette of the court." Jerome sat himself +contented down, and put me through my paces like some farrier showing +off a foundered nag. I more than half believed he was all the while +making game of me, yet I knew no better. At any rate it was the +veriest nonsense. + +After a series of rehearsals Jerome withdrew to make himself ready, +leaving me to practice my new acquirements of gait, of gesture, and of +speech. What had taken me the better part of a laborious day he +accomplished in a short half hour. Coming back unannounced he caught +me bowing and scraping before a mirror, like a man stricken with +idiocy. I felt as shamed as though I had been detected hiding in face +of the enemy. + +Jerome mocked and taunted me into a fine rage, which he deftly pacified +in wonderment at himself. I should never have known him again for the +plain Jerome. Arrayed in much the same character of finery which +bedecked me, I could give no accurate description of his dress, except +that with glossy wig and a bit of color in his cheeks he strutted +valiantly as a crowing cock in his own barnyard. + +"Come, Placide, we are going to a ball; we can do nothing in our quest +to-night." + +"To a what?" + +"A ball. I thought it might be well to have you look in upon Madame +M--'s and recite your lessons. It is to be a famous gathering and well +worth your seeing." + +I was in a whirl, a stupor, by this time, and obeyed implicitly; +beside, it required such an infinite skill to keep my sword from +swinging between my legs and throwing me down, I had no time to +consider of minor matters. He led the way and I followed meekly as a +lap-dog. + +At the great entrance gate we became entangled in a medley of soldiers, +coachmen, torch-bearers and servants coming and going--such a babel of +strange oaths--I wished I were safe again in the quiet of Biloxi. I +pleaded with Jerome to turn again, but he was inexorable. + +"I expect to find out something to-night," he explained. + +Of this ball I remember nothing but that the slippery floor, in which a +man could see his own face, kept me in deadly fear lest my sword trip +me. Jerome was gay and talkative, pointing out many people of whom I +had heard, but they did not look so great after all. + +"For sake of heaven man, wear not so long a face; it is not the funeral +of thy mistress I have brought thee to." + +I marveled that so many old ladies should carry such young faces or +perchance their hair had turned gray earlier than was its wont in the +colonies. And, too, they seemed sadly disfigured with boils, for on +the chin or cheek of nearly every one there showed a patch of black +sticking-plaster. Poor things! I sorrowed for them, it was so +humiliating. Verily, I pitied them all, and speculated on the +wonderful compensations of Providence. With all their wealth and rank, +their lordly castles and their jewels, these noble dames could not +purchase that which the humblest serving-maid in Quebec had, and to +spare--a clear skin and sunny locks. + +I touched upon these matters to Jerome, but he only laughed +immoderately. He was ever a light-headed young spark who gave no +contemplation to deeper questions than present enjoyment. + +Of a sudden my wits almost left me at a terrible outcry from one end of +the great hall, a cry not of human beings but of wild beasts, muffled +and menacing. The dancing, the music, the hum of voices ceased, and a +thick silence as of direst fear fell upon them all. Then there came a +loud crackling and shattering of glass, a woman's scream, the first of +very many. This for aught I know might have been a usual happening at +a ball, I had never been to one before. + +I looked for Jerome. He was gone, speeding toward a young lady +surpassing fair, with whom he had been speaking but a few moments +since. I fain would have assisted him, for the damsel appeared wofully +beset, but the whole throng of mincing lords and screaming ladies, in +the rankest riot, over-ran me. They swept me from my feet and bore me +back to the farthest wall, where I found myself pinned tight and fast +against a window. + +What the danger was I could not see, but it must have been dolorous +from the headlong terror of their flight. Soon by the thinning of the +crowd through the doors I saw the cause. It was a motley and a moving +spectacle. For by some mischance a flock of sheep had broken into the +ball-room, and frightened out of their shallow senses by the lights and +music, they rushed pell-mell here and there, upsetting without +discrimination whatever stood in their path. + +Verily such an onset would do brave work against an enemies' ranks, for +could our knights but make a gap like that, an army of children might +march through unhindered. All went down alike before their charge, my +lord and my lady, the Prince of the Blood, and the humblest page who +bore his pouncet box. Such a slipping and a sliding across a floor +slickened with much wax and polishing, was never in a ball room before, +nor ever was again. One old ram regarded each mirror as a certain +avenue of escape, and the radiating fracture of each taught him no +greater wisdom concerning the others. + +Standing spellbound as a statue in the midst of the ruins, I caught +sight of a florid, rotund lady, speechless in her horror and her misery. + +"The Duchess does not enjoy her quaint surprise," laughed a light voice +behind me, and a slim finger directed my gaze toward the lady whom I +had just noted. + +I observed then at my back, standing upon a chair where she could see +the better, a young woman of distinguished appearance, rather more +plainly attired than the balance. She appeared greatly to enjoy the +confusion. + +"That is the reward for her romantic and pastoral tastes," and she +laughed till the tears dripped down her cheeks. Her hair was still +black, and neither paint nor sticking plaster marred the whiteness of +her skin. I asked no questions, but regarded more closely this young +woman with whom I now drifted naturally into conversation. Her manners +were strikingly free and unconstrained. There was, however, an air of +reserve, of dignity--of majesty even---about her, despite her +frankness, which forbade anything but the utmost deference. + +"Does my lord understand--that?" and she pointed her finger to the +servants who were chasing and capturing the refractory sheep one by one. + +I shook my head, for, in all seriousness, it was a queer proceeding. + +"Well it's too merry a jest to keep long a secret. Beside I'm weary of +these eternal shackles of court which forbid me to speak to those whom +I please." A certain defiance gave an undercurrent of sadness to her +voice, a mounting rebellion to her tone. + +"And I _will_ talk if I want to; there's no harm, is there?" + +I gravely assured her not, and wondered what was coming. + +"Well, you see," she dried her eyes on a handkerchief of costliest +lace, "you see my--that is, the Duchess, is of such a romantic +temperament, so enamoured of rural scenes, idyllic meadows, pretty +shepherdesses, and the like--all the court makes merry at her foible. +She thought to astonish Paris to-night by a lavish display of sweet +simplicity--did Monsieur see it? That big dark place back there, +behind the glass partition, was arranged as a meadow, with a stream +winding through it, and rocks and trees, and what not. She had a flock +of sheep washed clean and white, penned up and in waiting. At a signal +from her during the ball, lights were to have been turned on, and +Mademoiselle, the pretty opera singer, was to come gracefully down a +curving pathway, dressed as a shepherdess, singing and leading her +sheep. Oh, it was to be too pure for this earth. The Duchess fretted +for the opportune time. But the sheep escaped from their keepers, and, +oh, isn't it too ludicrous?" + +Thus she chattered on with the naive freedom of any other young +demoiselle. I agreed with her, and was inwardly glad the affair turned +out an accident, for were this the custom of balls I'd go to no others. + +We continued to chat gayly together; she was of a lively wit, and +surprised me by her knowledge of dogs and horses, of the chase, of +sword play and of firearms. Odd tastes for a gentlewoman, most of all +for one of her exalted rank. Of this latter I had no doubt. I knew +none of the people she mentioned, nothing of the drawing-room gossip, +and she very naturally remarked. + +"My lord is a stranger?" + +"Only yesterday in Paris," I assented. + +"From what place comes my lord?" and for the second time in a day I was +driven to a direct lie. + +"From Normandy," I replied. + +"To live in Paris?" + +"No, unfortunately; my affairs will be finished in a few days at most. +Then I return to the country." The lady was pensive for a space, +hesitated in a pretty perplexity and then spoke doubtfully. + +"You can be of a service to me if you will." + +I immediately signified my willingness to render her aid, in the +courtliest speech I could muster. She looked at me long and seriously +again, then again pursued the subject of her thought. + +"It is a mere woman's whim, but _I_ gratify _my_ whims. Perchance it +is not a proper wish for a lady of birth, yet I have it, and if you +will but aid me, I will carry it through." + +Moved as much by curiosity as by any other motive, I inquired of her +what so weighty a matter could be. + +"Come, let us go into this ante-room that we may converse undisturbed," +she said, and led me into a quiet corner where there were seats. I +would have thoughtlessly taken a place by her side, forgetful of +Jerome's teachings, but she commanded coldly: + +"Monsieur will stand." + +And I stood. + +"You are a stranger in Paris, you seem a man of honor; for those +reasons I choose you. I would not care to have one of my own gentlemen +know what I wish to do. All Paris would talk of it to-morrow. We in +the palace see naught of the common people, and I have long dreamed it +would be a brave adventure to go unknown among them, to their inns and +gathering places. I have always desired to know more of our Paris, +especially one place which I hear mentioned frequently of late. My +position will not permit me to visit it openly--you understand." + +I protested that knowing naught of the streets I should be but a blind +guide. + +"I know where I would go," she said, determinedly, brushing aside the +difficulties I would suggest, "and I will go; you will go too." + +I was vastly troubled at this, for might it not lead to such another +escapade as came so near costing me dear? Her eyes fixed full upon me, +her voice blended a command which no man dared disobey, with an +entreaty which none would willingly run counter to, and I gave +reluctant assent. + +"Will you await me here?" she demanded rather than asked. "My +apartments are in this building. I will return very briefly." + +When the lady came back she would never have been taken for a woman; +her long cloak, such as men wore, reached to her boots, identical in +all respects with my own. Her hat, plume and sword were correct and +bravely worn. Her maid, a trifle nervous over the adventure, but who +said nothing, bore a similar cloak for me, and held two masks in her +hands. + +"Will my lord throw this about him?" and without any question I assumed +the cloak. + +"Now this," and she handed me a mask while she affixed one about her +own face. + +I demurred to the mask. + +"I will not take my lady upon an errand where we can not show our +faces." + +She laughed merrily, and replied: "It is the way of Paris, my lord, +and naught is thought of it. Many lords and ladies wish to keep their +faces from the _canaille_." + +I drew a breath of resignation and put it on. + +"Am I not a comely man?" the lady asked, one touch of woman's vanity +showing through it all. + +"Yes, by my faith, madame;" but such sayings were foreign to my awkward +tongue. + +She led me out of the palace by a private way, and when the street was +reached we walked along as two men would. She directed our course, and +as she gave no hint of her destination I did not inquire. It was but a +brief walk before we came to an arched door on a side street, and there +she paused and looked carefully about to see that no one watched us and +then--in we went. + +The lady seemed in highest spirits over her unaccountable prank, and +laughed girlishly. "Now I will gratify my curiosity. You know I admit +my curiosity, sometimes. These men are not alone in their thirst for +excitement. It is so tiresome at court, ever the same thing day after +day." + +We had now come into a fairly wide, well-lighted hall, and an +obsequious attendant showed us up a stair, and opening a door, pointed +out the place she asked for. Imagine my utter astonishment when we +stood together within the gaming room at Bertrand's. What an infernal +fool I had been to be tempted back into this very place of all others. +I thought at once it was some cowardly trick of Yvard's. I seized the +woman by the arm, for I supposed her then but another decoy; there was +no telling how far this Spanish intrigue had gone or what high +personages Madame du Maine might be able to enlist in furtherance of +her schemes. I seized her firmly, and had taken one step back towards +the door again, when her cold ringing voice undeceived me. + +"What means my lord; I thought him a gentleman. Shall I appeal for +protection to these low men here?" + +There was such a truth in her low tones that I cast her free, and in +some measure explained my thought. + +"Well, well, we'll not quarrel here," and looking about her with eager +curiosity, she chose a table where fewest players sat, and thitherwards +we went. This table was placed rather apart from the others, against a +pillar, and no gamesters sat on the side next the wall. It left but +scant space to sit between. There we took our places, and the lady +tumbled out a purse well filled with gold pieces, handed some to me and +bade me play. She laid her wagers, and won with the glee of a child, +her face alternate flushed and pale. I could see I wronged her by +supposing her in league with the place. She played in too feverish +earnest. + +During this while I had observed the same two men who had met me on the +stair the previous night. They were walking about and carelessly +looking on at the different games. Yet for all their nonchalance there +was a well-defined method in their procedure, that attracted my +attention. The taller man scanned every person in the hall, and when +the lady and I came in he watched us intently. + +His companion--the same as on the previous night--withdrew to talk. +After some consultation they reached a decision. Together they came +our way, and the tall man clapped his hand twice. + +At the signal, for such it was, from every table rose a man or two, and +ranged themselves about him who called. I could also see a guard +suddenly stationed, as if by magic, at each point of exit. Where, here +and there, a cloak was thrown back, the gleam of a uniform showed +beneath. + +"There, my lads, is our quarry; take them," commanded the tall man, +pointing to us. + +I cursed myself for a silly fool to run again into such danger. + +The dispatches in my bosom would hang me, and I dared not explain my +possession of them. It was plain, too, that the King's officers, as +well as Serigny, had their suspicions of the place. It was too late +now for penitence, it was time to act. + +The lady arose so trembling and frightened that my courage all came +back to me. She forgot her gold pieces lying on the table in front of +her. + +"My lord," she whispered, "you must protect me; it would be the scandal +of all France were I to be discovered in such a place." + +Her appeal made me forget my own imminent danger, and I bethought +myself what best to do. They could approach me by but one side, and +while I considered a parley with the officers, heard a glad little cry +from the lady. She calmly gathered up her gold and restored it to her +purse, as if the matter were already settled, though I could see no +change in the front of those around us. As the soldiers would have +pulled the table away, she bade them wait, and said: "I would speak to +your leader." + +The tall man asked: "And what would you say? We have no time to talk." + +"It is not to you, I know you both; I would speak to my lord by your +side." + +With that, the other, who had remained rather in the background, came +forward, and she took him aside where none could hear, save myself a +word or two. The lady spoke to him in a low, quiet tone, and raised +her mask a little. The man started back, then removed his cap +deferentially. I was close enough to hear his exclamation: + +"Mademoiselle la Princesse." + +"Hush," she placed her finger on her lips, "he does not know," +indicating me by a gesture. + +I was as astonished as he, but had no further anxiety. No officer +would dare arrest a Princess of the Blood in such a place. + +"What does Mademoiselle do in Bertrand's gaming house?" + +"It is not for you to question, my lord," she drew herself up coldly, +"I chose it. Now I would go. Provide an escort for me and the +gentleman who has the honor to accompany me." + +She came back to me smiling. "We will go in peace; It is Vauban. It +must be no trifling matter to fetch him out to-night. I wonder who it +is he seeks?" + +I thought I could enlighten her, perhaps, but kept a still tongue. + +Vauban gave a quiet order to the tall man, who, it appears, was in +command of the squad, which order he in turn communicated to them. + +"We have made a mistake. Permit these gentlemen to pass out, and none +else." + +Vauban then interrupted: + +"De Verrue, do you take ten men and escort these, these--gentlemen +where they will." + +A young officer stepped forward at the word, but seemed not pleased to +leave in face of more exciting events. + +"Nay, nay, boy do not look so glum; take my word, it is an honor a +marshal of France would assume did not sterner duties bid him stay." + +My lady tossed her purse to the sergeant as she passed: + +"Divide this with your men, and drink a health to--well--the Princess +Unknown." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +IN THE HOUSE OF BERTRAND + +It would now have been a most simple matter for me to go out unmolested +beside the princess. And this is what I should have done had it not been +for an accident. While Vauban was talking to the princess, I glanced +round the room to see if Yvard was there, or any other person likely to +know of this business. There was one figure strolling about in the rear +which wore a familiar look, yet I could not say I had seen the man before. + +When Vauban gave the order to allow us to pass "and none else," this man +very visibly took on an air of apprehension. He looked from one door to +the other and, finding all guarded, was quite alarmed, then, without +perceiving himself observed, he manned himself with his former +unconcerned manner. There was something in the poise of his head, his +walk, which came as a well remembered thing from some secret niche of +memory. + +Now as the princess and I walked out in front of our guard, this man +fell, as if naturally, into the rear of our company, and attempted +nonchalantly to saunter out behind us. The guard at the door locked +their bayonets across, barring his exit. + +"By whose orders," he demanded with some show of haughty indignation, "do +you hold me a prisoner with this disorderly rabble?" + +"Marshal Vauban's," the sentry replied, unmoved. + +The man shrank back perceptibly; as I took a longer sight of him the +familiarity of voice and figure recurred more strongly. I stood still to +look. He turned his face. Broussard! I almost spoke the name. Yes, +beyond all peradventure it was Broussard, disguised, but still Broussard. + +What a world of vain speculation this opened on the instant, speculation +to which no answer came. How much and what had I told him during our +voyage? How had he treasured it and where repeated it? For I had now no +other thought than he was the spy who brought Yvard the packet designed +for Spain. + +"Come my lord, are you dreaming?" the princess broke in impatiently. I +had quite forgotten her. + +"No madame, I crave your patience, and beg attention a moment." + +I then asked hurriedly whether she knew the young officer in charge of +our escort, and whether she would trust him to see her to a place of +safety. She knew the lad as a gentleman of birth and reputed honor, so +with the guard and the marshal's orders felt herself safe. Despite the +effort to speak coolly my whole frame and voice quivered with excitement +at prospect of winding up the entire affair by one more stroke of luck. +Seeing which my lady icily inquired: + +"But why? Why do you fear? Surely these soldiers are sufficient to +afford protection." + +The half veiled scorn of her manner cut me to the quick, but I determined +not to be drawn aside from my purpose. My face still a-flush at her +suggestion of cowardice, I replied earnestly: + +"Mademoiselle la Princesse--" + +"Ah, you know me?" + +I nodded. + +"And yet are willing to relinquish the honor of my escort?" + +"It is duty, Mademoiselle la Princesse; stern and imperative duty." + +"Sh!" Placing her finger to her lips, "address me simply as Madame." + +"Madame, you wrong me; I would not desert you while in danger; now I may +give you into safer hands with honor. A most urgent matter demands my +presence there," pointing inside, "it may cost my life. Had I better not +acquaint M. de Verrue with your character? He will then be more +circumspect?" She thought a space. + +"No, you may tell him I am a woman--tell him of the stupid folly which +led me here to-night and brought a brave gentleman into danger--but not +my name." + +She would have thanked me further, but I was all impatience to be inside, +seeing which she graciously bade me go. I bethought me then of the +packet yet in my bosom, and knowing all those within were to be searched +I took a hasty resolution, born of my confidence in the Princess. It may +be said here that the lady whom I escorted on that memorable night was +known throughout the kingdom for her eccentric tastes, and noted for +never meddling with intrigues of either state or love. Her passion lay +with her dogs and horses, the hunt, and not in the trifles of a court. + +"Madame, will you not render me a service in return?" I felt my whole +attitude to be imploring, so warmly did I bespeak her grace. + +"I have here some papers of the utmost value to myself, to no one else. +My honor requires that they be delivered to M. Jerome de Greville before +to-morrow's sun arises. He keeps his lodging in Rue St. Denis, at the +sign of the Austrian Arms. Can Madame not dispatch a trusted messenger +and secure their delivery?" + +The fervor of the appeal touched her, for she listened with interest. + +"Oh, Madame, I beseech you, as I have obeyed you without question this +night, do not fail me as you love the glory of France. You may have M. +de Greville informed how and where you came by them, in case aught of ill +should happen to me this night." + +She took the packet. + +"Upon my royal word," she whispered, in such a tone of sincerity I felt +relieved of any uneasiness concerning the papers. + +I had a real regret at seeing her leave the hall. Walking so regally in +front of the guard I wondered at my thick-headedness which had not before +perceived in her every movement the princely pride of Bourbon. I threw +my cloak, which fettered me, to one of the men, and wearing still my +mask, re-entered the hall. They were already engaged in the search, +questioning closely each man in rotation. None was allowed to depart +without being questioned and examined. I immediately sought for +Broussard. He had gone over towards another small door, the same through +which I had escaped the night before. There were two guards posted here. + +Broussard dawdled about with the air of a man very much bored, who only +waited his turn to go through a disagreeable ordeal that he might leave. +I fancied his wits were actively at work beneath so impassive an +exterior. He had spoken privately to several men, one at a time, in +careless fashion, and then tapping the legs of the tables, and kicking +the chairs as he passed, he again came near the door. I managed to keep +close to him. As he stood talking to the sentries the four men came up +two by two from opposite directions, and at a sign from him, grappled +with the guard. While they were thus engaged Broussard bolted through +the door. I drew my sword and plunged after him. + +From inside, the sentries cried out: "The two spies have gone this way," +and the whole mob surged out and divided in chase. Some perhaps were in +league with Broussard, others were in the service of Vauban, I could not +tell. + +The hall was densely dark; I knew not the way, but I had Broussard but a +few feet in front to guide me; behind, some twenty or thirty stout +varlets strung out in pursuit, not a dozen paces to the rear. + +It so happened that there was a door which stood half open, and Broussard +being hard pressed doubled by this and darted in. He was but a couple of +yards ahead and I alone observed this stratagem. When he vanished to the +right, I slipped in behind, just as our foremost pursuers swept by. The +great noises they made and the resounding echoes effectually prevented +their notice of a cessation of sounds from us. Nor did they pause to +listen. Crushing through the narrow passage their pressure slammed the +door behind us. I heard the clank of a heavy bolt as it dropped into +place. Thinking Broussard had sought some secret means of escape known +to himself, and fearing he would get away, I dashed madly on, only to +fetch up with a terrific thump against a stone wall. + +The shock dazed me and I fell in a heap to the floor. Perhaps it was as +well, for I made no further noise. But I listened. + +The place was intensely dark, and not a sound save the heightened beating +of my own heart disturbed it. I was afraid to move, lest I bring upon me +the crowd outside. Had not one of the men cried "_two_ spies." It did +look as if I too was a confederate of Broussard, and I could not have +explained. The echoes of the chase died away, and all was still. My +mind and ears were very busy then trying to make out what sort of a hole +this was I had so unceremoniously fallen into. And Broussard? Where had +he disappeared? I knew he could not be far, for there had been no +footsteps since the door shut. I took it that he must be in the room, +and that the reasons which enforced quiet upon me were also powerful to +him. + +He was worse off though than I, for he had doubtless heard me blunder +into the wall, and thought one of the marshal's men had followed him. +This idea suggested he would probably then lay perfectly still and wait +for the man to recover and go out. Or, the thought made me shiver--he +might steal up and finish me with the dagger. As quietly as I could I +loosened my own knife in its sheath and got it well in hand. In spite of +all the caution I used, the sheath rattled against a buckle. I knew my +position was betrayed. I thought then to reach a corner where I could +the better protect myself against a stealthy attack. + +Immediately overhead an almost indistinguishable blur marked a high, +square window, some seven feet from the floor. There was but one. In +all probability the door lay directly opposite. That being true, the +natural inclination of a man flying down the hall in the direction we +came would be to go further to the right. Reasoning in this wise, hoping +to avoid a struggle with Broussard in the dark, I edged my way along the +wall toward the left. Inch by inch I went, holding my sword extended at +arm's length in front of me, and lifting each foot carefully to avoid the +scraping. Every few feet I made a complete sweep in all directions with +my blade, to guard against approach. Proceeding in this way, I felt my +sword's point at length touch something--something soft. Before I had +time to wonder what it was, the sharp hiss of a blade cut close to my +cheek, and struck clanging against the wall. I sprang back beyond reach. + +"Broussard," and in the extreme excitement I spoke his name unwittingly, +"Broussard, stand still; I had no thought to attack you. Stay where you +are, and I will seek another place." + +There came a voice, "Who are you to call me Broussard?" but I answered +not. + +In the absence of any preparation for assault, I took it that he would +remain where he was. Thereupon I backed into the diagonal corner, and +stood stock still. + +After some period--hours or minutes, I knew not what, they were +interminable--Broussard spoke again. His voice sounded sharp, and +unnaturally loud. + +"Who are you, and what do you want? I know you; is it Nortier, Lireux?" + +"Hush, fool; dost not hear the tread of Vauban's men outside? You will +call them down upon us with your babble." They were stamping through the +passage as I spoke. + +"Ah!" and there was a world of relief and incredulity in his lowered +tone. "Then you are not with Vauban? Who are you?" I made no reply. + +During the long period of absolute and profound silence which succeeded I +had much time to reflect. I judged myself to be in an unused chamber, +which, if square, would be about thirty feet across--calculating by the +distance from the diagonal corner--if in fact Broussard lay in the +corner. There was but one opening, for I could hear the wind stirring +outside, and no draught came in. Did the window open on the street, or +on an inner court? There was no way of telling. + +If it be true that men live in thoughts rather than in deeds, if the +changing phantoms of our brain carve deeper impressions than the petty +part we play with our hands, then, indeed, that frightful night would +form by far the longest chapter in the history of my soul. + +Darkness, darkness, darkness; quivering, soundless, hopeless night. + +I feared to move, and no sense save that of hearing bound me to the world +of living men. Living men? What place had I among them? + +A party of drunken roisterers staggered beneath the window, singing +coarse songs and bandying their brutal jests. But it no longer +interested me to know the window opened on a street. + +Hour after hour plodded in slow procession through the night. + +Outside, a clattering vehicle whipped past over the rough stones, the +driver swearing at his team. The day was coming at last. Did I wish it? +Perhaps the night were kinder, for it at least obscured my misery. I +almost prayed the darkness might last. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE DAWN AND THE DUSK + +Gradually, so gradually the change could hardly be observed, the inner +grating of the window became visible; the chinks between the edges of +the stones assumed distinctness. A ghostly blotch grew into a fact +upon the floor. A leaden hue, less black than the pulsing sea of ink +about it, spread and spread, lighter and lighter, until it invaded the +dim recesses where I stood. My hand became once more a tangible +possession, unreal and grim, yet all my own. The opposite wall loomed +up, my utmost frontier of the domain of certainty. Dimmer, darker, +more obscure, the door, a vast unexplored cavern gathered to itself the +hobgoblins of evil and gave them shelter. As still as the creeping on +of day we two men stood, glaring at each other and watched it come. + +Exactly when I began to see him I could not say. Every impulse and +vital force of nature centered in my eyes, and they fastened themselves +upon that one irregular shadow in the opposing corner which slowly--oh! +with such agonizing slowness--assumed the outlines of a man. My +fascinated gaze wandered not nor wearied. When in the moist light of +the morning I clearly saw Broussard, haggard, pale and sunken-eyed, +watching me thirty feet away, it seemed that I had seen him all the +night. + +No detail of his dress or manner but I observed. There was a scar +across his forehead, fresh and bleeding a bit. A contusion rather. He +had probably struck the door-facing as he rushed in. Yes, it bled. A +few drops had trickled down his nose; there hung one, quite dry, from +his brow. Precisely beneath this there were some dozen or so upon the +floor. All could have been covered by my hand. Like myself Broussard +had not moved throughout that awful night. God, how I pitied him. +With such a weight of treason on his soul. And yet, looking back, the +night was less awful than the coming day, far more merciful than the +hideous night which followed it. With the sun Broussard heartened up, +and first broke the silence. + +"Who are you comrade, and what do you here?" + +I was at a loss for reply. I had no faith in him, yet even a rotten +stick might serve to get me out. + +"I am trapped like yourself, and feared you all the night. God in +Heaven what a long night it was." + +Broussard had no words, his convulsive shudder expressed more than mine. + +"Do you know how to get out of here?" I asked. + +"Not I, except by the door, or the window," looking at that. + +"I'll try the door," he continued, smiling the treacherous smile of the +tiger. I remembered so well the first day he showed his teeth aboard +ship. The man well knew I recognized him, he had heard me speak his +name, and I feared if he found the door open he would shut me up again, +and escape. + +"I'll test the door softly and see what is outside," and he moved as if +to put his thought in action. + +"Hold on, not yet; methinks I'll try that door myself." I could see he +had the same idea which had occurred to me, for he demurred. + +"No, my fine sir; why you and not I?" + +"Because I know you, sir, and fear to trust you." + +"Verily, you have honorable intentions yourself to suspect me so +readily." He was bent on engaging me in conversation, so he might +perhaps recognize me from my voice. The mask still hid my features, +and the entire difference in my mode of dress made recognition almost +impossible. The puzzled expression of a half recollection still rested +on his face as I continued: + +"I do not merely suspect you, I know you for a traitor--nay do not clap +your hand upon your sword until I have finished. You have now in your +possession certain traitorous dispatches which were given you by one +Carne Yvard in exchange for others which you brought over with you in a +vessel called le Dauphin. Ah, you begin to pale and shrink, and well +you may--" + +"You lie!" he shrieked, convincing me I had made a home thrust. + +"Softly, softly, have a care, lest you call the Marshal's bloodhounds +down upon us. The dispatches with the purple seals, which you brought +with such care from Biloxi, have been taken from Yvard, and are now in +safe keeping for the King. The lie, ah, well, I'll pardon that for the +while. You can not leave here, and I have ample time for avenging my +honor after I have had the pleasure of your delightful conversation." + +He leaned morosely against the wall, staring at me, as I went on. + +"Now listen to me quietly. You have those dispatches upon your person. +I want them, and by all the gods I will have them. If I have to kill +you for them, then so much the worse for you. Now listen. Give me +those dispatches. We will then get out of here together, and once +outside, I will give you full four and twenty hours. That time +elapsed, I will turn the dispatches over to the authorities. If you +can escape with your miserable life so be it. Do you agree?" + +"I have no dispatches," he sullenly replied, "and who are you to dare +charge me with treason?" + +There was no ring of real resentment in his tones, though he strove +manfully to simulate offended and indignant innocence. It was +necessary to keep him in ignorance for a while, because I feared he +might set upon me, and being really an excellent swordsman, the issue +of conflict would be doubtful. But the weightier reason lay in the +fact that the clash of steel might draw down upon us the occupants of +the house. Here I was in a much worse plight than he, though he knew +it not. For whether those occupants were the friends of Broussard or +the Marshal's men, the result would be equally fatal to me. A man must +think quickly under such straits, and I was sorely put to it for some +device. No stratagem would be too base to use against such a villain, +for he would not hesitate to knife me in the back. + +"Broussard, let us understand each other here and now. You know me. I +am Placide de Mouret," removing my mask and looking him sternly in the +eye. + +"Great God, de Mouret!" + +"The same. I am your master at the swords, and you know it. Now turn +out those papers." I had been quietly drawing my blade during this +speech, as the dazed man tried to collect his senses, so I was ready +while he still stood unprepared. + +"Throw up your hands." + +He mechanically obeyed; the discovery of his villainy had completely +unmanned him. + +"Now unbuckle your belt, and drop it to the ground." He did as he was +bid. + +"Kick it across the floor." The weapon was tossed out of his reach. + +I walked up closer to him, and forced him to loose his coat that I +might find the papers, and was rewarded by the discovery of a packet, +much similar to that dropped by Yvard. It was sealed in such a manner +it could not be opened, and bore no address. I removed the dagger from +his hip, and having, as I thought, completely disarmed him, felt no +further uneasiness. The man was thoroughly cowed, and never once +raised his eyes to mine. Verily treason doth rob the stoutest heart of +half its courage. + +"Now do as I bid you, and I will keep my promise to let you go. And +mind that you make not the slightest sound which may attract the +soldiers." + +"Ah, you fear the soldiers too?" he asked, vaguely trying to puzzle out +why I should be afraid of those in whose service I was. + +"It is not to our purpose to talk. I simply want the credit myself, +and do not want to share it with those fellows out there. We must work +to leave this place at once. Do you stand where you are." + +I gathered up the scattered weapons and piled them all in one corner, +farthest from the door, where I now proposed to set about getting free. +With the fearful blight of uncovered treason in his soul, Broussard +obeyed me cringingly as a servant, and worked as hard, for his safety +lay in mine. We went first to the door by which we entered, and after +a tedious examination failed to find any means by which it could be +opened or broken down. A stout latch, of some pattern we could not +tell, held it fast from the outside. There was no catch or fastening +of any sort within. The age-hardened oak, studded as it was with +heavily wrought nails, forbade the plan of cutting through. This would +require days and days of patient labor, and I was already faint from +lack of food and the exhaustion of the night. Plainly the room was +intended for a prison, and as such it served well its purpose. Baffled +and disheartened I turned my thought to the window. It looked out upon +the street; this was so much in my favor. The irons that guarded it +were close set, bending out toward the street in the shape of a bow. I +judged this was in order that archers stationed there might shoot the +more easily into the street in times of siege. + +I could have reached this without trouble, but I desired to employ +Broussard, that I might know where he was and prevent treachery. For +that double purpose I reached up and grasped the sill, commanding him +to catch me about the knees and lift so I might see out. This he did. +While in that position he made a pretense of shifting his hold, and +something impelled me to glance downward at him. He was stealthily +drawing a concealed knife from his bosom. I threw all my weight back +upon him, casting the twain of us together to the floor. Meantime he +had the knife full drawn, in his left hand held at my breast. + +I grappled with him, holding his left hand in my right, and with the +free hand clutched him by the throat, burying my thumb deep in his +wind-pipe. Instinctively he raised both hands to protect his throat, +and then we struggled to our feet. He made futile efforts to strike me +with the knife, but his strength deserted him with his wind. The blade +dropped clattering on the floor. My other hand closed about his neck, +circling it with an unyielding collar of steel. Desperately as a caged +rat might fight he squirmed and twisted in my grasp. To no avail. + +Tigerish now, as though I held a rabid dog, I thrust him back against +the wall, and there rigidly held him fast. In merciless silence I +listened to the precious breath gurgling from his body; a reddish froth +gathered at the lips. I could feel his hot blood surge and beat +against my thumb under that deadly pressure. The cold sweat stood in +clammy clusters upon his forehead; his head thrown back, the eyes +turned toward the ceiling no longer pleaded into mine. I sickened +almost at sight of the tongue swelling black, which seemed to consume +all the fleeing color from lips and face. Oh God, how he struggled! +His hands closed over mine as bars of steel to tear them from his +throat. + +Even in our mortal strife I marked the eternal harmony of the scene. +Truly death had never stage more fitting whereon to play its last stern +drama of dissolution. Hemmed in by four massive walls of granite, +ghastly grim and desolately gray, we wrestled in a stifling stillness, +while hell stood umpire at the game. No sound of trumpet, no warlike +cry, no strains of martial music were there to thrill the nerves and +taunt men on to glory. We fought to the scrape and scratch of +shuffling feet, the labored gasp, the rattle in the throat, while echo +hushed in silence and in fright. + +He grew more quiet, his muscles stiffened and relaxed--he was no longer +conscious. A few more convulsive quivers, as a serpent might writhe +and jerk, then he hung, a limp dead thing, in my hands. My +outstretched arms seemed made as a gibbet, feeling no fatigue, so +lightly did they sustain him. Cords of brass could be no more tense +than mine; his weight was as nothing. Softly I eased him down, and +composed his limbs in decent order upon the stones. + +Then I rose, and gazed complacently at my work. Yes, it _was_ well +done, excellently done, in fact. The most expert strangler of the +Choctows could have done no better. Those purpling lines about the +throat, those darker clots where my thumbs had left their signs, could +not have been more intelligently placed. I smiled my satisfaction at +the job, then--then--my own overstrung nerves gave way, and I fell +unconscious across the corpse of my hands' creation. + +When I came to myself I was weeping, weeping as a child might weep, +over the dead, distorted face of him I had loved. How long this lasted +I had no means of knowing. Uncompromising necessity forced me to +action; forbade me time to dream. + +The body being in my way where it lay--for I proposed now to work in +earnest at the window--I moved it tenderly as possible across the floor +and stretched him out near the door sill. Springing up then I attacked +the bars at the window. Hours and hours I labored, impelled to greater +effort by the dread of spending another night in that room of murder. +I was patient, too, patient with the cunning of a maniac. + +The dagger made my chisel; my sword, wrapped in a cloth to muffle the +strokes, furnished me a maul. Full half the day was before me. The +rough paving stones below held out the hope of escape or death. How to +reach the street after the bars were removed, I did not suffer myself +to consider. I should go mad if I lay idle. I leaned as far out the +window as the grating would allow, and observed a guard standing in +plain view at the corner. It was very evident the Provost of Paris had +taken possession of the house, and there was little use in my trying to +make a way out the door. + +I bitterly resented the intrusion of every passenger along the street, +and scanned with hatred the few who came. For while they remained in +hearing I was obliged to cease my chipping at the masonry and leaden +cement which held my freedom. I bided my time, and, long before the +shadow of the house across the way had climbed to the window where I +worked, had the gratification of finding a bar give way in my hands, +and found I could take it out. Removing this bar, it gave me a +powerful leverage on the others, and by exerting all my strength, +succeeded in bending the two on either side to such a degree I could +force my body between. + +While thus engaged, my eyes were ever fixed anxiously upon the street, +in the hope that Jerome might pursue his plan of watching the house, +and I would catch sight of him. The passers-by were few indeed, but +somehow it struck me that the same persons passed several times, and in +something like regular order. A patrol of Jerome's? My heart bounded +at the thought. I watched more carefully; yes, it was true. I counted +five different persons; some walked fast, some walked slow, but all +looked about them and inspected the house with more than an ordinary +glance. And, no, I was not mistaken, that simple-looking countryman +yonder was Jerome. + +I was quite at a loss how to attract his attention; I feared to yell, +lest that give notice to the sentry. I took a spur from my heel and +dropped it directly in front of him; I knew he would recognize it, for +it was his own, loaned to me for my more fashionable appearance. He +heard the jingle and glanced around. His hat blew off as if by +accident and fell near the spur. In stooping to pick it up, the spur +also found its way into his hand beneath the hat. He was truly a +quick-witted gentleman, and I forgave him from my heart all his chaff +in the matter of teaching me manners. It took him not a great while to +comprehend, and taking note of the situation of my window, he sauntered +off. Thence forward only three men passed by the house, at much longer +intervals. He had taken one with him, and I was left to surmise in +what method they purposed to effect my deliverance. I made myself +almost merry. The long labor at the window had cramped my limbs to +such a degree it pained me to move. I clambered down and took a few +turns about the room as if I had naught to do but exercise. But at +every turn the hideous face and whitened eyes of Broussard dogged my +footsteps as a spectre. Look where I would, it was only that I saw. +Hour after hour crawled by. Jerome would wait for night. Night! + +Did he but know what lurking horrors filled the dismal hours for me, he +would come soon. By some fatality I had drawn the body directly to the +spot where the last fading shafts of light would hover about its face. +Not for a paradise of peace would I touch the loathsome thing again to +hide it in the shadows. I could neither take my eyes from it nor put +my hands upon it. Like the basilisk of fable it held my gaze charmed, +fixed it, bound it fast. Crouch as I might in the remotest corner, +cover my face in my mantle, still that searching, penetrating thing +pierced all obstacles, glared grisly and distinct before me. + +I tried to throw off the thought which now constantly recurred. What +if Jerome did not come? Would I starve here in company with this +corrupting flesh? No, there was the window; a headlong dash from that +would bring death and release. So I determined. Then came on the +night. To me it brought no rest, no sweet surcease of the labors +through the day. + +Somewhere, afar off in the city, there rang a tremulous bell, launching +its vibrations upon the infinite silence as a sinner's guilty soul +might trembling stand in the presence of Almighty condemnation. The +melancholy howl of a dog at first cleft through every nerve and fibre +of my being, thrilling with a creeping chill of horror. So regular did +it come, so unvaried, I grew to count the seconds under my breath, and +to note its monotonous precision. Somehow this occupation in a measure +relieved me, and when the howls came more infrequently and at less well +defined intervals, I mentally resented the change. Time had ceased to +be. I cowered in the corner with naught but death and fear and +darkness to keep me company. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FLORINE TO THE RESCUE + +A shroud of consuming terror now possessed me. I crouched in the dank +corner clutching my sword, listening, vainly listening, for some sound +out of which to conjure up an assassin. A rat ran across my foot. +Screaming out I bounded erect and beat about me with blind desperation. +One hand touched the other and shrank from its mate. They were as ice. + +Oh, God, the horrid silence! How weightily it bore upon me, stripping +me of voice, of courage and of hope. How many, many times I braced +myself against the wall, cold with fear at the apprehension of an +attack by some demon of the night. How many, many times I sank again +into the same dumb misery when no enemy appeared to do me hurt. + +So long it had been since the tones of human speech blessed my ears, I +almost hoped the marshal's men might come, that I might hear his stern +command, "Hang him to yonder window ledge." A rasping thirst roasted +my throat until my tongue gritted and ground as a rusted clapper in a +bell. I touched it with my hand. It was as dry as Broussard's. + +Broussard! A quiver in the musty air set me all a shudder; in every +rustle I felt again the last convulsions of the dead. Dull lights +gathered when I closed my eyes, and rested upon his swollen features, +their white eyes following me in hate. + +Coolly and logically as if it concerned someone else, the reason of it +all crept into my morbid brain. I was mad; mad from hunger, thirst and +terror. Yes, mad, and felt not one whit sorry of it; nay, rejoiced +rather, for it meant a freedom of the spirit. So insidiously this +knowledge forced itself upon me, it brought no shock, I even dimly +wondered that any other condition ever existed. Verily, men are +happier for a gentle frenzy. Then, indeed, are all things leveled, all +barriers removed. Gone were all my pigmy troubles, vanished into +nothingness. Engulfed in a common ruin lay all fragments of desire; +the search for reward, the dread of punishment--all petty figments of +the imagination were powerful now no more. The fall of reason crushed +every human hope and dulled the edge of every human fear. What cared I +now for food, for water; for honor or for shame? My mind, imperial and +free from artificial restraints, plunged riotously into forbidden +realms, I reveled in the exaltation of chainless thought, and drank +from the deepest wells of rebellion delicious draughts of secret sin, +thanking, yea thanking, this sweet madness which gave a glorious +independence. + +What repugnance had I now for yon piece of foul and rotting carrion! +What mattered if but lately a breathing man it had strangled in my +grip. By the gods, a knightly feat and most bravely done! And I +laughed at my former fear, not loud, but such as laughed the fiends of +hell when Lucifer rose against his Prince. Low I chuckled, then +shivered at my own unnatural voice. + +Dead now to every sense of physical loathing I advanced steadfastly +towards where he lay. Shorn of human companions my wretchedness sought +a lonely comradeship with the piece of mortal clay. Turning now and +again to beat back some skinny hand which snatched my garments, to slap +in the face some evil sprite which thrust its sneer upon me, I walked +in resolution across the floor. I fancied again I heard the tread of +men in the passage. Pleased at the babble of the children of my own +imagination, I stood to listen. Yes, by the wit of a fool, I'll +indulge the jest, a joyous jibe and a merry. + +The low shuffle of cautious feet came again. The latch clanked ever so +softly as if some hand without lifted it gently, oh so gently raised +it. "Ha! here you are, seeking to frighten me again, but I know you +well. No, no, you'll scare me no more; I'll play a merry game with +you." So I hid myself in the dark, and thought to play a prank upon +the evil Thing. Held my breath. + +Elated to find I owned so wondrously fertile a brain I saw the door +open little by little without a creak. A current of liberated air +brushed by my cheek. So real it was, I smiled. The door swung wider +and wider yet, in the dark I saw it. Verily the sight of a madman is +sharp. The wind blew more chill and strong. I saw a gleam peeping +beneath a cloak as from a hidden lanthorn; I bethought me I would catch +the tiny wanderer from the floor and hold it in my hand. It came +crawling and crawling, on and on, wavering to my feet. So many times +that night had I manned myself valiantly to fight a shadow, I only +laughed in silence and contempt at this. + +Behold the folly of a madman's thought. Yet the creation of it all +gave me exquisite pleasure, as a child might find delight in some +strange toy from which it could call weird shapes at will. On it moved +with a noiseless, gliding motion; now inside the door, now coming, +coming, coming--nearly to me. Now it let fall a timorous blade of +light along the floor. It reached Broussard's body. Its foot struck +him. It stooped, threw the light full upon him. Open fell the +concealing mantle, showing the barren stones, the corpse, the ghastly +upturned face of the strangled man. + +The woman--for it was a woman--dropped to her knees beside him, called +him, felt of his clammy head, and suffered but a single scream of swift +affright to leave her lips. From the unhooded lanthorn burst out a +spreading yellow glow. Her scream awoke me to a consciousness of +reality. From my own unlocked tongue of terror came its answer. I +joined my voice to hers, defied the hush of slumbering centuries and +filled that quaking room with a perfect deluge of reverberating +shrieks. Many others, men, with cloaks, some having lights, some none, +rushed in behind the woman. From that time I knew nothing. + + * * * * * * + +I awakened from a dreamy languor; a subtle essence of perfume floated +through my senses. A gentle touch of some kindly hand was bathing my +temples. Fearful lest this sweet illusion vanish with the others, I +kept my eyes firmly closed, and soon abandoned myself wholly to the +subduing influences of natural slumber. + +"Has he stirred, Florine?" + +"No, Monsieur, but his head is cooler now--he sleeps, hush! Perhaps +another day he will be better. How he raved through the night. Poor, +young gentleman, he quite exhausted himself." + +"Ah, well, Florine, he is young, and with such nurses as thou and +Nannette he will of a surety recover." + +I turned my head and smiled a feeble recognition of Jerome and Florine. +The other woman I had never seen; she was much older than Florine and +had a kind, motherly face. + +"What day is it?" + +"The morning of Sunday." + +It was Wednesday night when Jerome and I went to the ball. + +I looked about me. The lodgings were those I had taken at the Austrian +Arms, yet much changed in little things. The vase of flowers there in +the window, the neat-swept hearth, the cheerful fire, and that +indefinable something which gives a touch of womanliness to a room. +Florine, perhaps. + +"Ugh! I'm so glad to be here," and I shuddered at the remembrance of +my prison and suffering. + +"Poor dear," said the older woman in a voice full of sympathy, "don't +worry; you are in comfort now, and will soon be strong again." + +"Am I wounded in any wise?" I inquired, for I knew not the manner of my +coming there. + +"No, no, my lad," broke in Jerome's hearty reassurance, "not a bit, +just worn and starved out. Truly, boy, you had a rough adventure. By +'Od's blood, I'd hate to have the like! Has he taken any food Florine?" + +"Nothing but the wine, and a sup or two of broth. Here is something +for him now," and she brought me a most tempting array of soup, hot +viands and victuals of which I feared to eat as I desired. + +Though Florine and Jerome would not permit me to disturb myself with +vain conversation, yet by dint of questions and listening when they +talked apart, thinking I slept, I found how it all came about. It +seems Florine saw and recognized me when I returned to the gaming room, +having left Madame la Princesse. She knew too, in some way which I did +not learn, that neither Broussard nor I had left Bertrand's that night. +This, though the Provost's men had been searching the city for us both. +She kept her knowledge to herself. When the turbulence calmed down +somewhat and sentries were placed to guard the house, she occupied +herself in slipping about looking for my hiding place. It took but a +little while for her, familiar as she was with the house, to find the +room where Broussard and I had taken refuge. Listening at the door she +heard our angry voices and the scuffle within. This may have been when +I was choking him. Horrible! horrible! + +At any rate she feared to intrude, and at once set out to seek help. +The girl throughout acted with astonishing promptness and judgment. +Florine had recognized Madame la Princesse--all Paris knew the +eccentric lady--so went straight to her. At first denied admission she +sent up a note couched in such terms as gained for her an immediate +private interview--indeed the Princess herself was careful it should be +strictly private. + +Madame knew nothing of me except the request I made concerning Jerome, +and sending the papers to the Austrian Arms. Florine went without +delay to that place. This was about midday. Meanwhile Jerome, much +troubled that I did not appear during the night, pursued our original +plan of watching the house, and arranged his men at windows, and in the +street, in such a way as not to attract attention. One of them had +seen me working at the window but never dreamed it was I. Jerome found +the house already doubly guarded by the Provost's men, to his infinite +disgust. He was a handy chap though, and not to be outdone. Dressing +himself as a clumsy lout, he found little difficulty in worming the +transactions of the night before out of one of the guard off duty. A +drink or two together at the sign of the "Yellow Flagon" fetched this +information. + +Jerome was much wearied through his long watching and anxiety when he +returned to the Austrian Arms. The hostler at the inn turned him aside +from the front door by a gesture, so that he entered by another way. +Claude acquainted him that a lady in the public room desired to speak +with M. Jerome de Greville, and would not be denied. Jerome's custom +with visitors was to see them first himself, before Claude told them +whether he was in or no. + +Peeping through an aperture he saw the lady walking impatiently up and +down the room, tapping at the window, mending the fire, and expressing +her haste in many other pettish manners so truly feminine. It was +Florine. He knew the girl well from his frequenting Bertrand's during +this piece of business. Jerome sent her word he would be in, and +changing his costume to one he usually wore, presented himself before +her in the public room. + +"Is it I you seek, M. de Greville, Mademoiselle?" he inquired, politely. + +"Oh! Monsieur de Greville, it is you; I'm so glad." She came forward +with a pretty air of perplexity and surprise, for Florine had a dainty +woman's way about her, showing even through her present trouble. She +bore herself more steadily that she had not to deal with some +severe-faced stranger, but a gallant gentleman, whose mien was not that +from which timid maidens were prone to fly. + +"Oh, Monsieur de Greville, I know not what to say, now that I am well +met with you." + +"And by my faith, Mademoiselle, I am sure no word of mine would grace +those pretty lips as well as thine own sweet syllables. So _I_ can not +tell you what to say." + +Florine pouted her dissent, yet was not in earnest angered--she was a +woman. Jerome saw her business lay deeper than mere jest and badinage, +so he spoke her more seriously. + +"I pray you Mademoiselle--Florine?--am I right? Be seated." + +Florine had no thought for gallantries; she declined the proffered +seat, and, standing, proceeded at once to the point of her mission. + +"There is a young gentleman in our house," and she blushed a little, +Jerome declared to me afterwards, "in Bertrand's wine room--you know +the place? locked up, and I am not certain whether he lives or is dead. +I can not tell Monsieur his name, but you know him. Oh, he was kind to +me, and I would willingly do something to save him. It is so hard to +be only a woman. The Provost has the house guarded." + +"I know it," Jerome put in drily. + +"This gentleman gave your name and lodgings to the lady who was with +him there last night, and she it was who sent you the packet." Florine +had run on hurriedly, unheeding Jerome's blank look of astonishment. +This was probably a shrewd guess on her part, yet it squarely struck +the mark. + +"Lady? Sent the papers? Who? What lady?" Jerome asked before she +could answer anything. + +"That I must not tell, Monsieur. Oh, come, quick; get him away from +there; if our people find him they may do him harm. Monsieur is a +brave gentleman, a friend of his, is it not true? Come." + +Jerome drew the facts pretty well out of the excited girl, knowing +somewhat of the circumstances and guessing the rest--all in an +exceeding short space of time. Florine told him as accurately as she +could in what room I lay, leaving him to locate the window from the +street. From this point the plan was simple enough. Jerome and +Florine arrived at Bertrand's by different routes, Florine passing in +unconcernedly, and Jerome, clad again as a stupid country knave, walked +by the house to discover my outer window. + +It was at this time that the falling of the spur conveyed to him the +intelligence of my life and place of confinement. After this Jerome +had to depend greatly upon the quick-witted woman. + +It would be a long story, and a bootless, were I to tell how it fell +out that Florine had a friend, the same kind-faced woman who helped her +watch beside my bed; the window of this friend's garret room opened +almost directly opposite Florine's own poor apartment. Only a narrow, +dingy alley lay between; so scant was the space the upper stories came +near to touching across it. Florine's friend, after some tearful +persuasion, consented to aid the rescue of such a gallant gentleman as +I was described to be. The girl could come and go at will. The friend +permitted Jerome and three of his men to hide in her room. From her +window Jerome cast a light cord into Florine's window, she drawing a +stouter rope across with it, and made fast. It now became a trifling +feat for these nimble adventurers to swing themselves across to +Florine's room, but twelve feet or so away. Once inside Bertrand's +they proceeded with abundant caution, all of which near came to naught +through Florine's sudden shriek and my own nervous clamor. It shamed +me heartily. + +"Truly, comrade, thou hast good lungs," Jerome told me days afterward. +"It took all our strength to shut thee of thy wind." + +When the four men found me a helpless body in their hands, they were +greatly troubled. However, Florine insisted that I be carried to her +room where she could conceal me. + +Once there they found means to truss me up like a bale of merchandise +and sling me across the alley again, whence I was conveyed, still +unconscious, through out-of-the-way streets to the Austrian Arms. + +And so it was I came to my strength, safe in my own lodgings in Rue St. +Denis, with Florine and her kind-hearted friend to nurse me. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE GIRL OF THE WINE SHOP + +Youth and health do not long lie idle. Even while I lay recovering my +health, Jerome and I were busy with our plans. Not the least +unforeseen item in what had befallen, was the chance that carried me +into a house where I saw again the "black wolf's head," which brought +once more to mind the history of the d'Artins. But there was still to +come that other happening, the one which bound my whole life, heart and +soul, my love and happiness forever, in with the fortunes of that black +wolf's breed. + +As I grew stronger Jerome and I had a long talk. He told me the +morning after I left him, which was Thursday, a veiled woman had +brought him a pair of gauntlets, with the request that he preserve them +carefully. Jerome naturally wanted to know who had sent such a +present. The woman answered no questions, only impressed upon him the +importance of keeping them himself and letting no one have them. She +would not tell whence she came, and when she departed Jerome made a +sign to Claude, who followed. He returned and reported she had entered +the apartments of Mademoiselle de Chartres by a private way. + +Verily this was coming close to the King, and to Orleans; these +gauntlets coming from the house of this haughty Bourbon Princess. One +of the gauntlets, of course, contained the papers taken from Yvard, the +same I had confided to Mademoiselle la Princesse. I smiled my +satisfaction that she had been so discreet. + +The other packet Jerome found upon me when I was disrobed for bed. + +It was many days before Jerome asked me for any details of my +imprisonment, or how it came about there was a dead man in the room +with me. I related the whole circumstance briefly as possible, who +Broussard was, and all, to avoid further questioning. For I hated to +dwell upon the occurrences of that night, yet ever returned to them +with a sort of secret fascination. + +"You choked him well, comrade," was Jerome's only comment, regarding +the affair, yet I fancied I saw him shiver somewhat at the ghastly +recollection of Broussard. The matter being thus dismissed, we never +spoke of it again. + +Our fire burned warm, filling the room with a home-like glow, so with +good wine and clear consciences Jerome and I drank and talked and +stretched the lazy evening through. + +"There is just one other thing we can do, Placide, to put the finishing +touch upon our success." + +I turned an interrogative glance toward the speaker. + +"That is to find out, if possible, who is back of this scheming. That +fellow Yvard, dare-devil though he is, has not brain enough to concoct +such a plan, even if he had courage and energy to fight it through. +Depend upon it, some powerful person is behind Yvard. Most likely +Madame du Maine. What say you to an adventure?" + +My blood was in the humor for sport, the wine heated me somewhat, and +recking not of consequences I caught at his idea. + +"Willingly, comrade, but what?" + +"Let us to Sceaux, to Madame's court, and see what we may discover, for +two fools like ourselves might perchance stumble blindly upon what a +wise man would overlook," he continued with mock humility. + +"Yes, and two fools like ourselves might perchance get themselves +hanged for what a wise man would keep his skirts clear of. There's a +peril in meddling with the affairs of the great." + +"Seriously, now. I have means and ways of learning things in Madame's +family. My head has been fast set on this matter for some time. If +you agree to take the risk with me, you should know how we are to act. +Now mind you," he pursued, rising and stretching his back to the fire, +facing me, "mind you, I tell you all I want you to know, and you must +promise me to make no inquiries on your own account." + +By this time I had grown accustomed to trust de Greville, so I simply +assented. + +"A lady you know--it might get me into trouble," he further explained; +with that I made myself content. + +Jerome averted his face as if he would first frame his speech carefully +before he gave it me. Here Serigny's final remark about making friends +of the ladies recurred to me, and I wondered what this fair unknown had +to do with such a rough game as we played. Before the hand was out, +though, I understood how truly it had been said that women's wits now +swayed the destinies of France. Since this day, too, our country has +suffered much through women, when under the next, and more pliant +Louis, they ruled with even a scantier pretense at concealment or of +decency. Jerome spoke slow and guardedly, when he turned to me again. +He began in a tone subdued by the intensity of his feelings--which, as +I soon learned, were quite natural. + +"I was a mere lad; I had a sweetheart whose family lived near our own +in the vicinity of a certain small provincial town, it matters not +where. She, much younger than I, shared all my childish games. It was +the will of God that we should love. My family was rich, is rich; both +were noble. I had two older brothers who stood between me and a title +or wealth. Her parents were ambitious for her future; I was put aside. +They sent her away, away from me, and married her here in Paris to a +man she had never seen. A simple marriage of convenience, as we say +here. Her heart was numb and dead; it made no rebellion. I went to +the army; gained nothing but my rank. My brothers died, and I being +the next heir can live as it pleases me. Here I am in Paris; she is at +Sceaux, two leagues away. I love her yet, and, God forgive her, she +loves me. Her old husband who is attached to the Duc du Maine cares +nothing for her. She amuses herself half in idleness with the +intrigues of the court. Nay do not look so black, Placide, for even +this can be innocent enough. There is much excuse for her, too, my +friend. A woman must needs have love to feed upon. They can never, +like ourselves, fill their hearts entirely with ambition, with glory or +with adventure. Men may make of their lives a cloister or a camp and +be content; but women, whatever else of gaud and glitter they may have, +yet require love and tenderness and gentle sympathy beside. Happy is +she who receives all these from her husband; and that husband treads +dangerous ground who denies it to her. I see your wonder at hearing +this from me; but I have thought constantly upon such things. Peste! +this touches not our business; let us go on. Through this lady's +husband, and by another source of information, I hope to find the truth +concerning Yvard. Do you follow me?" + +"Yes, but how?" I put in. "When I run my neck into a halter, I want to +know whose hands are playing with the cord." + +"Never fear for her. Madame--that is, the lady--has a firm hold upon +the Duc du Maine himself, in fact she is quite indispensable to him. +Don't ask me for more. Once let the Duc be made Regent, and my +old-time sweetheart of those innocent days in Anjou will be the most +powerful woman in France. But with all that, Placide," and the man's +quivering voice went straight to the very tenderest core of my heart +for the depths of bitterness it contained, "in spite of it all she'd +rather be back in the country breathing the pure and peaceful air, a +guiltless and happy girl, than to live as she does, and rule the land. +God knows I wish we had never seen Paris." + +I held my tongue; there was nothing I could say. He felt his trouble +keenly enough, and I refrained from molding my undesired sympathy into +words. Directly, Jerome took heart and spoke again: + +"Those are the conditions, I merely make the best of them. There is +still another friend of mine at Sceaux, the Chevalier Charles de la +Mora, a most gallant soldier and kindly gentleman. Verily, they are +scarce now in France. He has fallen into misfortunes of late and is +about to take some command in the colonies. I love him much, and am +sorely tempted to cast my lot with his. But, you understand why I +stay," and he lifted up his hands with a gesture of perfect +helplessness. + +"His wife, Madame Agnes--almost a girl--is one of the most beautiful +and clever women in France, and who, by way of novelty, loves her own +husband. Women are queer sometimes, are they not? To-morrow we go to +Sceaux; it will at least be an experience to you, even should nothing +good come of it. Do you agree?" + +My curiosity was thoroughly aroused, and scenting sport of a rare +character I agreed to join the chase. It was judged best that we +should make all things ready for an immediate journey to Versailles +upon our return from Sceaux. + +Before we slept, my few serviceables were put in position for instant +departure. + + * * * * * * + +When I arose in the morning Jerome had already left his bed. I +supposed it was out of consideration for what he was still pleased to +consider my weak condition that he refrained from waking me. Claude +came tripping in later with the message that M. de Greville had gone to +make some last arrangements for our journey. I slept so restfully +through the night my fatigue and all unpleasant reminders of the +episode at Bertrand's had quite worn away, and I felt refreshed and +strong again. When Florine came to inquire for my health she found me +busied about the packing. I greeted her kindly, for in truth my +gratitude was deep and sincere. + +"Monsieur is preparing to leave?" she asked as if more than afraid of a +reply. I could see she had some purpose in the question. + +"Yes, I leave Paris to-day." + +"To-day?" she echoed. + +"Yes, but I would return and find you again; I could not depart from +France without finding and thanking you for all your kindness. In +truth I am glad you came, for----." I tried to say more, but the words +left my lips sounding so cold and meaningless the sentence died away +incomplete. + +Florine stood there, vaguely watching me as though she did not +understand. + +"Leave France?" she repeated, her tone expressing the hope she had not +heard aright. + +I had already said much more than I intended, for I was not fully aware +of Jerome's intentions, and desired to say nothing which would reveal +them. + +"Leave France?" she urged again, "Monsieur--" she halted for the word +quite naturally. + +"De Mouret," I supplied, and for the first time she knew my name; +surely it was little enough to trust one with who had given me my life. + +"Monsieur de Mouret is to leave France?" + +"Yes," I answered her truly, "but not to-day, possibly not for several +days. I would not go away without seeing you again." + +I felt my tone become warmer as I thought of all this girl had risked +for me, and so blundered on uncertainly. What was I to do? What could +I offer her in repayment? Not gold; she had refused that with the air +of a grande marquise the night she first helped me from Bertrand's. + +Heartily wishing for some of Jerome's finesse and tact, I gazed at her, +stupid and silent, watching the tears gather in her eyes. I could only +guess the thought which was passing in her mind, and even there I +wronged her. + +"Oh, Monsieur!" she spoke as from the fullness of her heart, while her +voice trembled with excess of emotion, "Monsieur is going back into the +great world; Monsieur has honor and fair fame; I must return to the +wine shop." + +The poor girl must have been wearied out with her watchings by my bed, +for she burst into such an uncontrollable weeping as I fain would have +prevented. I did my rough best at comfort, but had to let her sorrow +run its course. + +"Oh, Monsieur, think of it! I must go back to that dreadful wine shop, +to the gaming tables; must continue to draw men there to be despoiled +of their money, perhaps of their lives; must laugh and be gay, though +my heart break at its own debasement. There have been many, ah, so +many, I have lured to that place; and it came so near to costing you +your life--you who were so kind to Florine." + +She had sunk to the floor, and catching my hand poured out all the +bitterness of her heart. + +"Yet, Monsieur, what can Florine do? There is no way for a weak woman +to do anything in this wretched Paris. If I do not bring players to +the house my aunt beats me. See," she drew up her sleeve, and exposed +the welts of cruel cuts across the bare white flesh. "She denies me +food in my garret. So I must work, be merry and work--and weep all the +day for the misery of the nights." My heart went out to the girl with +all sympathy, but, every whit as helpless as she, I only wondered what +could be done. + +"Monsieur, it was not of my choosing, believe me, believe me, it really +was not. My father thought his sister so well off in this fine Paris, +when she offered to bring me up as her own child, and sent us presents, +he made me come with her. We were so poor, so cruelly poor. My mother +could not come for me, and now how can I go back? I dare not let her +know how I am treated. It would break her heart, and she is so old and +tottering. If I seek other employment no one will take me, no one +would give me a character for service. All the world is open to you. +You go where you please, do what pleases you. All the world is shut to +Florine. And you, Monsieur, my only friend, I hoped when you were well +again, such a rich gentleman could find me a place among his friends; +find me some quiet place where I might live and be of use, not bringing +evil to all I touch. What an evil life, what a wicked life I lead. +Oh, Monsieur, save me from it; save me! The horrible man you defended +me from that night pursues me everywhere; my aunt is jealous because of +him. She hates me now and would like to drive me out upon the +streets--ugh! the terror of it. But her husband won't let her; he is +kinder than she. See, I am pretty, I bring custom. She can not tell +her husband why she hates me. No, no. Bertrand would kill her. And I +dare not tell him. They would kill me--" + +Her speech rambled on now, disconnected and incoherent. Still by +catching sentences here and there the whole pitiful story was clear to +me. My eyes would always overflow at sight of woman's suffering, my +throat choked up; I could speak no word to her. Of a truth what a +horrible life it must be; what iron webs do sin and circumstance weave +round their victim. The cowering girl sobbed convulsively on the floor +at my feet. I laid my hand tenderly upon her head. + +"Florine, I have but two friends myself in all this land of France. +You have served one of these faithfully in helping me. I will commend +you to him, and am sure he will reward you well." + +"Monsieur, I seek no reward; I served you not for money." + +She shamed me, though I persisted. + +"Not a reward, Florine, but surely you can let him send you back to +your mother. Here is money; his money, not mine; he is rich, I am +poor. He can pay you for valuable service, I can only give you my +undying gratitude." + +I bent down and kissed her pale forehead, whereat she wept afresh. + +"Claude's wife will keep you here safe until we come again. Then we +will find means to protect and provide for you." + +I bade her rise now and calm herself, for a bustle in the street +announced the noisy arrival of several horsemen. A few moments, and +Jerome's voice called me from below to make all ready. + +I called Claude's wife up and delivered the girl to her keeping, then +turned to look out into the street. There were now drawn up in front +of the door four sturdy equerries, well mounted, and leading two +excellent nags, which I took to be those Jerome had provided for our +own use. + +Jerome obliged me once more to dress with exceeding care, but I fretted +much for my own easy garments which permitted a man to use his limbs +with the freedom God had given them. Verily there would be no regret +when all this frippery could be cast aside, and by my faith, it was +much simpler to lay it off than to array one's self in. I never did +learn all the eccentricities of that remarkable rig my fashionable +friend had adorned me with. + +"Had we better not strap on our pistols?" I asked, not knowing what he +purposed. + +"No; gentlemen do not wear them. Beside, at Sceaux one sharpens one's +wits, and lets even his good blade dull and rust." + +We mustered six stout swords as we clattered away from the Austrian +Arms, and I could not but note, despite what Jerome had said, he took +good care to provide trusty fellows and swift horses. + +"A lean hound for a long race," Jerome laughingly remarked, noticing my +inspection of the not over-fed nag I bestrode. + +We took that road leading past the heights of Villejuif, which in +hardly more than an hour's brisk ride brought us to the park of Sceaux, +overlooking the beautiful Fontenay valley of which I was destined to +learn much. During this ride I had leisure to speak with de Greville +of Florine, for the girl's story had roused a real desire in my heart +to see her bettered. + +"There are thousands such in Paris," he replied, shrugging his +shoulders unconcernedly. "The few tell you truth, the many lie to you. +You know not when to believe them. If you like, though, I will see +what may be done. At least she may be placed in la Saltpeterie where +no present harm can reach her, to earn a living. It is not a pleasant +life, and no wonder young and pretty girls prefer the gay world to the +seclusion and labor of Saltpeterie. Yet we will try." + +He treated the matter lightly, as a thing of common occurrence, yet was +Jerome tender-hearted. Men who live in great cities become so hardened +to the vice and crime about them that they no longer feel keenly, as we +provincials do, the appeal of misery. + +I might say here that Florine was one of the next ship-load of girls +who were sent to the colonies. There she found a very worthy young +planter who took her to wife, and after the manner of the mistreated +girl in the fairy tales you children used to read, "lived happily ever +afterward." She became, from all accounts, a good wife and devoted +mother; her children yet live in Louisiana, happy and prosperous. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SECRETARY AND THE DUKE + +Those reflections which I set down at the end of the last paragraph +drifted me somewhat from the regular thread of my narrative. This, +perhaps, is not the only reason why I should stumble and shy along like +a balky palfrey when I approach one of the trifling accidents which +transpired immediately after our arrival at Sceaux. + +Thinking now this matter over, my withered cheeks lose their ashen hue, +and burn again with the hot, tumultuous blood of youth and shame. But +I may as well tell it with all the resolution a man summons before +plunging into an icy bath at midwinter. It came, the unexpected +prelude to one long, sweet song. It was in this wise: + +Jerome seemed a welcome guest at Sceaux, and from the hearty greetings, +yet respectful withal, which were accorded him, must have been a man of +more consideration in the world than I had heretofore supposed. Before +this, I received him at his own worth, and our short acquaintance had +been so filled with matters of serious moment, I made no inquiries +beyond the scant stray bits of information he had himself volunteered. +However that might be, his welcome at Sceaux was sincere. Nor did I +wonder at his being a favorite, from the jovial jests and flings he +cast at those who crowded round, which set them all a-laughing. His +familiarity with the doings of the day, and the quick repartee he used +to men of different parties, astonished me greatly. + +Having disposed of our horses, and given quiet orders to the groom, +Jerome made me acquainted with his friends. Some part of their +good-fellowship fell to my lot as a friend of Jerome's, and put me upon +my mettle to return it. + +As good luck would have it, Jerome's friend, the Chevalier Charles de +la Mora, was then at Sceaux, and came up early on learning of our +arrival. + +He was a splendid fellow of thirty-five, stalwart and unusually +graceful for a man of his inches. His frank and cordial manner was his +greatest charm to me, though a woman would doubtless have raved more +over those dark, dreamy eyes, which while mild enough, betimes gave +promise of fire and to spare. + +He spoke most affectionately to Jerome, and bade us both be sure his +wife would receive us with sincerest pleasure. Several of the +gentlemen had seen service, and with them I was immediately on easy +terms. + +Before entering the Villa I paused in a doorway at the head of a short +flight of steps, bowing and posturing through my new catalogue of +behavior, anxiously watching for Jerome's approval, or a cue. The +rascal, I could not for the life of me tell from his expression whether +he applauded my fine manners or laughed secretly at the folly of it +all. But I went on as I was taught, bending myself pretty well double, +half backing into the door which led to an inner hall. Holding this +position, which however elegant it might have appeared to those in +front, was certainly neither graceful or attractive viewed from within, +I felt a sudden jar from the rear, and being thus struck at a point of +vantage, came near to plunging forward upon my face. Before I could +recover my equilibrium and turn about, I heard the jingle of a tray of +glasses and a cool shower of spray flew about my ears. Then the dazed +and bewildered eyes of a timid girl looked full into mine; she +courageously paused and essayed to stammer out an apology. Her gaze, +though, wandered past me, and one sight of the drawn features of those +who had seen it all and now sought in vain to restrain their laughter, +was too much for this startled fawn. She turned and fled as the wind, +just when their merry peal burst out. + +"Well, my little lady had best look where she goes, and not run through +a door with her eyes behind her," roared de Virelle, when the girl had +well escaped. + +"His clothes are ruined, and so fine, ah, so fine," drawled Miron. + +"By my soul, Captain, you have flowers to spare," chimed in Le Rue. +"That's right, gather them up, for Mademoiselle is not usually so +generous with her guerdons that any should be lost. The little icicle." + +His speech was suited to my actions, for, like a fool, I had already +dropped upon my knees, busied about picking up the scattered roses and +replacing them in the vases from which they had fallen. The tray was +still rolling and rattling around on the floor. Verily, I felt my +shame must consume me, and took refuge in this humble occupation to +hide my face. There is some sort of a confused recollection now +abiding with me, that a man-servant at length came to sweep up the +fragments, while I watched him vacantly, a tangled bunch of roses in my +hand. + +In all their laughs and jests and jibes hurled at my embarrassment, +Jerome never for a moment lost sight of the main purpose of our visit. +As all roads led to Rome, so did he adroitly turn all topics of +conversation into those channels where might be supposed to run the +information we wanted. + +I felt myself, especially in my present frame of mind, ill-fitted for +such a play. The blunt and awkward directness of the camp suited +better my ways and speech. Though I might discreetly hold my tongue, I +could never use it with the credit I could my sword. Nor could I rid +my mind of the childish vision which for one short instant confronted +me at the door. Even then I pondered more on her amazed expression and +youthful innocence than upon our own chances for success or failure. + +From the comments of those about me, I gathered she was a protege of +Madame's, whose reserved manners made her no great favorite with the +dissolute throng which collected at the gay Villa of Sceaux. I took +little part in their conversation, and was glad when Jerome by a +gesture called me to follow him away. + +"Let us go to see Madame," he said simply, when we were entirely out of +hearing. + +"Du Maine?" I inquired, vaguely wondering why we should venture into +the lion's den. + +"No--Madame--the other," he replied with some degree of hesitation. + +I followed him without further questioning. He led the way, which was +doubtless a familiar one, and the maid at the door, knowing him, +admitted us at once to Madame's apartment. The woman, who sat alone in +the dainty silk-hung boudoir, rose and came swiftly forward to greet +Jerome, the radiant girlish smile changing quickly when she perceived +me enter behind him. It was more the grande dame, and less the +delighted woman, who acknowledged my presentation with courtly grace. +Intuitively I felt her unvoiced inquiry of Jerome why he had not come +alone. Yet was she thoroughly polite, and chatted pleasantly with us +concerning the news of the day. + +"We are to have a fete this afternoon; you must both come. Each guest +is expected to contribute in some way to the entertainment of the +company. You Jerome--M. de Greville," she begged pardon with a sudden +glance at me, "You, M. de Greville, will doubtless favor us with a +well-turned madrigal. And you, my dear Captain de Mouret, in which +direction do your talents lie?" + +"I have no talents, Madame; a plain blunt man of the camp." + +"Ah! a soldier; so interesting in these stupid times, when men are +little but women differently dressed. Ah, it has been too truly said +that 'when men were created, some of the mud which remained served to +fashion the souls of princes and lackeys.' But surely you could give +us a story?" and so she talked on, not discourteous, but heedless of my +protests. I was really alarmed, lest she seriously call upon me before +that stately company. + +The tiny clock upon her table chimed the third quarter, and she +volunteered that at eleven she expected other callers. Acting upon +this hint Jerome proceeded at once to tell her why we came, yet I noted +in all his confidences he ever kept something to himself for safety's +sake. The maid's reappearance interrupted us. She announced, "M. de +Valence." + +A gleam of anger swept across Madame's face. + +"Bid him wait my pleasure in the ante-room. He is ten minutes early. +No, the sooner he comes the sooner it is over; wait; bid him come in. +M. le Captain, de Greville, will you gentlemen please to retire in that +small room for a short space? I will speedily be free again." + +And so it came about we overheard matters which opened my mind to the +way affairs of state are managed, and I grew to learn upon what slender +threads of love, of malice, of jealousy and of hate the destinies of +nations must often hang. From our situation we could not help but hear +all that passed between Madame and her caller. The maid withdrew, in +the slow hurry of a truant on his way to school, but hastened at a sign +of annoyance from Madame. + +"Monsieur de Valence, you are full ten minutes early. You know I bade +you be always exactly punctual," was Madame's petulant greeting of the +handsome man who bore himself so meekly in her presence. + +No tone was ever colder, no demeanor more haughty than hers, and this +proud man who bent before no storm, who held the fortunes of many +within his grasp, bowed like an obedient child to her whim. + +"Yes, Celeste, I know, but--" + +"Madame de Chartrain," she corrected. (I use the name de Chartrain, +though it was not her own.) + +"Yes--Madame, I know, but, it is so hard to wait; do you not understand +how I count the minutes every day until--" + +"Yes, yes, I've heard all those fine excuses before. To your business. +The other can wait, business first, then--" + +"Pleasure?" he supplemented with an eagerness strangely at variance +with the rigid self-control he had hitherto shown. + +"I did not say pleasure," she gravely broke in, "your business." + +The man submitted with the patience of one quite accustomed, yet not +wholly resigned to such a reception, and spread numerous papers upon +the table before her. Selecting one he began to explain: + +"Your wishes in regard to this matter have been carried out; I had the +man detained in the city where he is at your command. He suspects +nothing, though fretful at the restraint." + +"Very good. And the other?" + +"Yes, here it is. You see this has been so arranged that the Duke +quite naturally selected Menezes to bear these dispatches. You may +remind him that Menezes is a brother of the man Perrault, whom he had +hanged some years ago. Here is the man's history, which you can look +over at leisure. The Duke has forgotten all this in his impatience to +remedy the Yvard fiasco. It will serve, however, to make him think you +even more clever and devoted to him." + +I listened closely at the name "Yvard." + +"Well, now so far so good. And the question of finance? That is of +more importance." + +"And of more difficulty. The Madame often dabbles herself in these +dealings involving money, and she is harder to deceive. However she is +not accurate at figures, clever though she be otherwise. Look over +this; this calculation. See, there is a simple transposition of an +item, which results in a difference of near ten thousand livres. It +appears there to have been made by the money lender for his greater +gain. You can study this copy before the Duke comes. Then you will be +quite prepared to point out this error and make the correction. Here +is his copy which he will sign." + +"Ah, good," she said looking over the memorandum he had given her of +the amounts, with the correct calculations all neatly carried out. + +"Well, that is enough for this morning; you may go; these things weary +me." + +"Celeste, Celeste, how long is this to continue? will you never--" + +"_Madame_," she corrected positively, rumpling and smoothing out again +the paper in her lap. + +"As you will," with an air of hopeless protest. "Do you mean always to +send me away when our business is completed--?" + +"Was it not our agreement?" + +"Yes, but I thought--" + +"You had no right to think." + +"A man must needs think whether he will or no, what is of life itself. +Are you a woman of ice? Do you not realize I sell all I hold most +dear, the confidence born of a life-time's honest service to my King, +my own honor, only to serve you, to be with you?" + +"I am weary. It is time for you to go." + +"Yes, but is there nothing else? You agreed--" + +"Oh, I know, why remind me?" She turned upon him fiercely. "Do you +wish to make me hate you? Now you are only an object of indifference, +objectionable to me as are all men who make love, and sigh, and worry +me. Do you wish me to hate and despise you more than the rest?" + +"God forbid! But--" + +"You still insist?" + +"Yes, I must have my thirty pieces of silver, the price of my +treachery," de Valence returned bitterly; "men die in the Bastille for +lesser offenses than mine." + +"That is your affair," the woman replied, without a shade of concern. + +I thought I could perceive a growing embarrassment in her manner as de +Valence came closer to her, remembering, for so she must, that we could +hear every word through the portiere. She collected herself bravely; +de Valence must not suspect. + +"Come, I'll pay you," and she put her lips upward so coolly I wondered +he should care to touch them. Jerome raged silently, for I confess we +were both guilty of looking as well as listening. De Valence leaned +over her, but lifted his head again. + +"Celeste--Madame, so cold. I'd as lief kiss the marble lips of Diana +in the park." + +"Oh, as you please; you may kiss them, too, if you like," she shrugged +her shoulders, and was not pretty for the instant. "I pay as I +promise; it is a mere barter of commodities. You may take or leave it +as you choose." + +The man's attitude of dejection touched even me, but the woman gave no +sign of feeling or compassion, only intense impatience. + +"Well, Monsieur, am I to sit waiting an hour? Are you come to be a +sordid huckster to wrangle over your price?" + +De Valence bent over her again, touched the lips lightly, and strode +away, gathering up his papers from the table as he went. Two only were +left, and those Madame held listlessly in her hand. + +We felt thoroughly conscious of our guilt, Jerome and I, when we put +aside the screen and re-entered the room. There was a certain air of +resentment in his manner, as if he would call her to account, and I +heartily wished myself otherwhere. Perhaps it was all for the best; my +presence prevented, for the time, explanations, and I fancied the woman +was grateful for the respite. Her lassitude, and effort to overcome +it, smote me to the quick, and right willingly I would have aided her +had I but the power. To Jerome she spoke: + +"You heard--all?" + +He nodded. + +"And saw?" Less resolutely this question came. The words conveyed the +wish, unexpressed, that he had not heard. To me she gave no thought. +Again Jerome nodded, and looked away. + +"It is the penalty and the price of power. Oh, Jerome, how fervently I +have prayed that this all had not been," she went on oblivious of my +presence. + +Jerome's resentment faded away at her mute appeal for sympathy, and I +am very sure he would not have me chronicle all that then occurred. +Suffice it, that I employed myself by the window, some minutes perhaps, +until a hasty rap on the door, and the maid bore a message which she +delivered to her mistress in secret. + +"Bid him come in at once if it please him." + +"He is already here, madame," the girl replied. + +We had barely time to gain our former hiding place before a man richly +dressed, and limping, entered; the same I had seen in the gardens of +Versailles. I was now intensely interested in this little drama, +which, as it were, was being played for my own benefit, and gave closer +study to the Duke of Maine who hurried in. + +The weak, irresolute face bore no trace of the dignity and power which +made his royal father at times truly great; it showed, too, but little +inheritance from the proud beauty of de Montespan. Vastly inferior to +both, and to his ambitious wife whose schemes he adopted when they +succeeded and disowned when they failed, the Duke trembled now upon the +verge of a mighty intrigue which perchance would make him master of an +empire, perchance consign him to the Bastille or to the block. Well he +knew that the abandoned Philip of Orleans, though he sometimes forgot +his friends, never spared an enemy. With these thoughts haunting him, +his timid mind shrank from putting his fortunes to a decisive test, and +he looked forward, dreading to see the increasing feebleness of the +King hasten that day when a quick stroke must win or lose. + +He approached Madame at the table with a semblance of that swagger +affected by the weakling in presence of women, yet permitting the +wandering eye and uncertain gestures to betray his uneasiness. +Something had evidently gone wrong with my lord. + +"Have you heard, Celeste, of Yvard?" he inquired, dropping into a seat. + +My ears quickened at the familiar name. + +"Well, what of him?" + +"He has lost the Louisiana dispatches, and I know not what they +contained." + +"What!" exclaimed the woman, as if genuinely alarmed, and learning the +bad news at first hand. + +"Yes, the cursed fool lost them in some drunken brawl in the city. We +have had the place thoroughly searched, but--" he finished the sentence +with a shrug to express his failure. + +"What if they should reach Orleans?" he continued evenly. "My men fear +he has gone to him anyway, hoping to play in with both for pardon. I'd +feel much safer could we only lay our hands upon him. He is the one +man beside ourselves here who knows--who knows, anything," the Duke +went on with growing trepidation. + +"Well, make yourself comfort, my lord, I took the responsibility to +detain Yvard in Paris." + +"You?" he sprang from his chair in astonishment. "You? Why? How?" + +"I thought your safety demanded it. My lord is too generous, too +confiding," she threw toward him a glance of concern poor de Valance +would have periled his soul to win. "You see, when we entrusted him +with this business, it was so delicate a mission, I set a watch upon +him--some of my own people of Anjou--and when he acted negligently they +reported to me. He began drinking, too, and freely, so I feared his +discretion. I now have the man safe in Paris. What would my lord with +him?" + +Du Maine fixed his cold eyes upon her, for a short space, then, + +"It would be prudent to put him quietly out of the way," he suggested, +the thin lips closing cruelly. "No, hold him, we may have further need +for his sword. But have a care that he talks to no one." + +Madame had raised no objection to the Duke's cool command that an end +be made of Yvard, yet I did her the credit to suppose it was because +she well knew she might do as she liked, and he be none the wiser. + +He now settled himself upon a divan near Madame, with all the +complacency of a man whose own foresight has saved him a serious +trouble, and said after mature deliberation, gazing thoughtfully at the +sportive cherubs on the ceiling: + +"Well, it could not have been so bad after all, for I observed the +caution to prepare a warning for our friends across the frontier, and +had arranged for a friend of ours to be entrapped by Orleans, betraying +misleading dispatches to him. A fine plan, think you? Menezes you +know is devoted to me, and I have promised him a patent." + +"Who did your grace say was to be this friend?" + +"Menezes." + +"Why Menezes?" + +"I have done much for the fellow, and he is not over clever; clever +enough for the purpose, you know, but--" + +"Does my lord not remember Menezes is a brother of the Perrault whom +you had hanged some years ago? I fear you have been badly advised." + +"No! I do not recall him." + +"The rogue who cast a stone at your horse?" + +"Ah, I bring him to mind. Short, thick-set fellow, who whined +something about hunger, children, and the cold. Ugh! What concern +have I with the rabble? But how do you know this, Celeste?" + +"I have long misdoubted him, and had the rascal overlooked. He is of +Picardy, and his father was attached to St. Andre, who likes not His +Grace, the Duke of Maine." + +"No, by my faith, he hates me. Ah, I see it all. Celeste, you should +have been a man, a man's wit almost you have. Really, so much brain is +wasted in that pretty head of yours. Madame will come to comprehend +she does not know it all--yet she torments me till I give in. I think +I shall take firmer hold, and manage my own affairs to better advantage +than she. Ugh! What a scrape she was like to get me in." + +He gradually regained the expression of complete satisfaction with +himself, and prepared now to show the masterpiece of his work, the +contract with Antonio of Modena, the money-lender. + +"Here are our financial plans; the usury is high, but there is great +risk, so thinks Antonio; egad! perhaps he is right, though it is +possible we may pay him. Altogether a most excellent plan, my own +work----." + +Madame interrupted him, thinking perhaps it was wise that he should not +be committed too far that he could not throw the blame on other +shoulders. She took advantage of a pause to examine the document with +apparent care. + +"Yes, excellent, but let us see. Three, seven, twelve, fourteen, +twenty-three--here is some mistake. Let us go over it again. Yes, +here it is. This is not your accounting. The miserly Lombard would +cozen you of your honor if he could but sell it again. Here is an +error of near ten thousand livres; let me correct it for you." + +And while he stared at her she deftly copied the correct amounts from +the slip she held concealed in her hand. She knew the figures were his +own, but gave no token. + +"I doubt not you would have looked over it more carefully before you +signed it, and these matters would have been detected by your own eyes." + +"Yes, yes," he replied nervously, reaching out his hand for the paper +lest she observe--what her quick eyes had at first seen--that the +contract already bore his signature and seal. She gave it him and he +replaced it carefully in his breast. + +"I will give those careless secretaries a lesson they sorely need," and +in this disturbed condition of mind he blustered out of the apartment, +forgetting his usual gallantries, which Madame so diplomatically put +aside without giving too serious offense. + +Jerome leaned against the window-facing, his unseeing eyes resting on +the park beyond the little garden at our feet. His brow lowered, not +as of a storm, but with the murkiness of a settled and dismal day. +Perchance his thoughts wandered with his childhood's sweetheart amid +the fertile vales of far away Anjou. Nothing was more distant from him +than the gilded furnishings, the frescoes, the marble Venus at his +elbow. Beside her table, alone, and abstracted as Jerome, the woman +toyed with a dainty fan; her impassive beauty, born of rigid training, +betrayed not the inner desolation. Her face was calm and serious +enough, the skin lay smooth and glowed with all those delicate tints +that women love. + +Her quietude reminded me of the slumbering ocean, glassy and tranquil, +whose unmarred surface conveyed no hint of sunken ships beneath, of +cold dumb faces tossing in the brine, of death-abysses where wrecks +abandoned lie. + +I slipped away without rousing a protest from Jerome, and closing the +door softly left them to their meditations and to each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +NEW HOPES + +Now, that I was well out of their way, it came to me to wonder what I +should do with myself until Jerome might please to seek me again, but +accident favored me with occupation. Passing through the hall I heard +a woman's shrill voice, lifted in anger, berating some unfortunate +attendant. + +"You wretched hussy, to speak rudely to a guest of mine, who did but +make to you a pretty speech. I'd have you be most charming to Monsieur +Viard. Remember, you are only a hireling, and need give yourself no +such fine and unseemly airs." + +The door just ahead of me was thrown violently open, and out strutted a +tiny lady in a most disproportionate rage. She was beautiful neither +in face nor figure; she was diminutive, and petulant of manner, but +bore herself with an air of almost regal pride. It was she whom I came +to know as Madame du Maine, a daughter of the proud and princely +Condes. Following her, weeping bitterly, came the sweet maid who had +spilled the tray of flowers on me at the door. I stepped back into an +alcove, lest, perchance, she look behind, and aimlessly I straggled out +into the gardens as best I might. The Villa being a strange ground, it +fretted me to be alone therein, with nothing to think of but this +trouble of my friends. And Madame de Chartrain, did I blame her? +Blame Jerome? Yes--no. I hardly knew. Viewed at a distance and +impartially, such things strike us with aversion, and we are quick to +condemn. But the more I thought the nearer I came to concluding it +took something more than a mere mummery to make a wife. All the +ceremonials and benedictions and lighted candles and high-sounding +phrases could not bind a woman's heart, where that heart was free, or +called some other man its lord. Yet the bare fact remained, this woman +was a wife, and to me, at least, that name had always been a sacred and +holy one. + +To what vain or wise conclusions my cogitations may have led me, I +conceive not, for another small matter now quite absorbed my whole +attention. It was the beginning of that one dear hope which speedily +banished all others. It is said the trippant tread of Fate doth leave +no print upon the sand to mark its passage, nor doth she sound a note +of warning that the waiting hand may grasp her garments as she flies. + +A gleam of white in one of the summer houses caught my roving eye, and +quite aimlessly I passed the door. A chit of a child crouched upon the +floor, and leaned forward on the benches, weeping as though each sob +were like to burst her little heart. I grant it was no affair of mine, +yet my tears were ever wont to start, and eyes play traitor to mine arm +at sight of woman's trouble. Without thinking one whit, I stepped in +beside her, and laying my hand gently upon the lassie's shoulder, +implored that she weep no more. + +Up she sprang to face me, flushed and indignant. Verily was I abashed. +Yet there was that of sympathy and sincerity in my voice and mien--or +so she told me after--which turned her wrath aside. + +"You, Monsieur; I thought it was old Monsieur Viard, he pursues me so." + +It was the same little maid I had seen in the hall, and that was why I +trembled. She wept now for the scolding she had got. I caught my +breath to inquire why she wept. + +"Oh, Madame, Madame--it is the humor of Madame to humiliate me of late; +she reminds me ever of my dependent position. And Monsieur," the child +straightened up proudly till she was quite a woman. "Monsieur, I come +of a race as old as her own--and as honored." "Charles is poor--the +Chevalier de la Mora, you know. But now he goes to the colonies, and +will take me with him." + +It was a silly enough thing to do, but about here I stalked most +unceremoniously off, leaving her to her sorrow and her tears. Since +that day I have often smiled to think how foolishly do the wisest men +deport themselves when they first begin to love. Their little starts +of passion, their petty angers and their sweet repentances--all were +unexplored by me, for Love to me was yet an unread book. + +At the door of the house M. Leroux hailed me graciously: + +"Well met, my dear Captain; we go to the park, and would have you bear +us company. Where is M. de Greville?" + +I explained as best I might his absence, and followed them in lieu of +better employment, forgetting for the time the threatened fete. Before +I could extricate myself, these new friends had led me into a brilliant +circle, and duly presented me to Madame, who sat on a sort of raised +platform in the center. + +She showed no traces of her recent anger and spite, vented upon that +patient girl who now claimed all my thought. Her ladies, some +languishing literary notables of the day, and officers, stood about +discussing the news, and talked of naught but some fetching style or +popular play, through all of which I struggled as bravely as my dazed +condition would permit. It seemed I would never grow accustomed to the +like, though it is said many men find great delight in such gatherings. +But one thing I searched for most eagerly. + +Behind Madame's chair, after a little, appeared the sweet shy face of +my weeping Niobe of the park. I felt she saw and recognized me, and my +face grew warmer at the thought. I made bold to ask one of the +gentlemen standing near me who the lady might be, and not desiring to +point at her, simply described her as well as possible, and as being in +attendance upon Madame. + +"That, Monsieur, is Madame Agnes, wife of the Chevalier de la Mora; the +wittiest and most beautiful woman at Sceaux, and the chilliest." + +Noting the change of countenance which I sought in vain to control, he +went on banteringly. + +"Beware M. le Capitaine, half the men at Sceaux are in love with her, +but she has the execrable taste to prefer her own husband. Such women +destroy half the zest of living. Beside, the Chevalier has a marvelous +sword and a most unpleasant temper. Bah! how ludicrous it is for men +to anger at trifles." + +"But," I faltered, "she seems a mere child." + +"Yes, but none the less charming," and he turned away to continue his +interrupted conversation with the daring young Arouet, the same who was +to acquire universal fame under the name Voltaire. + +Thus rudely were my new-awakened hopes of love cast down. A wife, and +the wife of a friend! She had spoken to me of "Charles," and of going +with him to the colonies. A wife, yet for all that, I knew I loved her. + +They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. My intentions +were the best that ever made excellent cobblestones toward the infernal +gate. Only a few days and I would be gone; surely those could be +passed through in peace. She was a wife--I would never let her know +that all my heart was hers. This I determined. But man is weak, and +the very atmosphere of France dried up the springs of every honest +impulse. Everywhere was scoffing, raillery and disbelief. Honor, +friendship and virtue were regarded as the vain chimeras of a fool. +Why should not I enjoy life while I might? + +Directly Madame Chartrain entered without intruding, and composedly +took her place among the ladies who made room for her near Madame. +Nothing in her manner bore evidence of her recent conflict. It was +really marvelous how the life these women led schooled them to a +stoicism any Choctaw brave daring the stake might envy. She nodded to +me gaily, and I stopped to touch her hand. + +"Where is M. de Greville? Is he not to be with us this afternoon?" + +I looked her in the face, wondering, for could she not answer her own +question far better than I? She read my meaning, but her glance never +wavered. + +"Ah! There he is, among the gentlemen. I feared he found Sceaux too +dull after Paris, and he had promised us a bit of his work. You know +he composes famous verses to some fair and distant inamorata." + +"Indeed, Madame, I suspected not his talents," I replied. Our +conversation lagged, for the programme had already commenced, and we +gave our attention to the reading of some curious letters, said to have +been written by two Persians of distinction then traveling in Europe, +which were being published anonymously in Paris. At first, I could not +bring myself to listen to such twaddle, dubiously moral, which, under +the guise of light, small talk, struck at the foundations of +government, religious beliefs, and all which I had before held sacred. +Listening only to contradict, I grew interested in spite of myself, and +only at some allusion more than usually out of place, as it seemed to +me, among so many ladies, did I take my eyes from the reader's +countenance, and suffer them to roam about the company. + +Feeling again the subtle influence of Agnes' gaze fixed full upon me, +it caused my cheeks to flush, my knees to quake, and verily, my legs +were as like to carry me away as to sustain me where I leaned against a +tree. The girl was looking straight at me; I dared not return her +stare which had something more than mere curiosity in it, and disturbed +me greatly. + +The reading was finished without my knowledge, a piece of buffoonery, +or play acting gone through with, which I did not see, when my own +name, called by Madame, brought me to my proper good sense again. + +I found myself, before I was quite aware, bending before Madame and +receiving her command that I should do something for the amusement of +the company. + +"M. Jerome has favored us, you know--we have no drones here," she went +on pleasantly, "and it is the rule at Sceaux that all must join our +merriment." + +"Jerome?" I answered in a bewildered fashion, for I had no recollection +of seeing aught he did; then I remembered hearing him recite some +languishing verses about a white rose, a kiss, a lady's lips--some +sighs, and such other stuff that now escapes me--but I had paid no +attention to it all. + +Jerome, the villain, seconded Madame's request so vigorously I could +not decline, though he well knew I was no carpet knight capable of +entertaining ladies fair on the tourney field of wit. + +"The Captain sings divinely, Madame, but is becomingly modest, as you +see." The wretch laughed in his sleeve; I could have strangled him. + +"Ah, so rare," she retorted, "you men are vainer than my ladies." + +I knew myself the target for dozens of curious eyes, under the heat of +which I near melted away. + +"Sing, comrade, sing some sweet love ditty of a lonely forest maiden +and her lover, robed in the innocence of Eden." + +Had the fool no sense? I caught the imploring expression of interest +on the girl's sweet face behind Madame, and determined at all hazards +they should not have the laugh at me. I saw it all then; they were in +league with Jerome to play a game of "bait the bear," with me for bear. + +So I pitched in and sang, such a song I warrant as my lords and ladies +had never bent their ears to hear before, a crooning death incantation +of the Choctaws, which fell as naturally from my lips as my own mother +tongue. + +Their laughter hushed, for even in the court of France, sated as it was +with novelties, laying a world under tribute for amusements, that wild, +weird melody never rose before nor since. One stanza I sang translated +into French that they might understand; + + "Yuh! Listen. Quickly you have drawn near to hearken; + Listen! Now I have come to step over your soul; + You are of the Wolf Clan; + Your name is Ayuni; + Toward the Black Coffin of the upland, in the upland of the + Darkening Land your path shall stretch out. + With the Black Coffin and the Black Slabs I have come to + cover you. + When darkness comes your spirit shall grow less and dwindle + away never to reappear. Listen." + + +And they did listen; yea, attentively did they hearken, for a great +pall of silence lowered upon them, so new, so strange to them was the +song. + +When I had quite finished, the soft, Indian words dropping as the +splash of unknown, unseen waters, Madame besought me with earnestness +to tell her more, and the others crowded round to hear. I do not know +what evil genius of folly prompted the childish deed, but feeling safe +in having found what we wanted, and moved more than I would admit by +the now admiring eyes of the girl, I gathered up half a dozen daggers +from the gentlemen who stood about. Selecting those whose weight and +balance commended themselves most to my purpose, I cleared a small +space, and having sent a serving man for a pack of cards, chose a five +spot and pinned it to a tree. Standing back some ten to fifteen paces, +I cast the four knives at the corner pips in quick succession, piercing +them truly, then paused a minute and cast the fifth knife at the +center, striking accurately between the other four. It was an act of +idle vanity, yet I hated for Jerome to taunt me on the way home. + +By these petty means I gained a cheap applause from the belles and +gallants at Sceaux, and Jerome opened not his lips to jibe me, as I +feared, but like the rest, applauded. + +I had now quite regained my courage, but for the girl. I loved to +think of her as but a girl; that she was also a wife I barred out of +our castle in Spain. Why should I be afraid of such a timid child? +Verily, I knew not. + +My folly had one result I could not then foresee; it told some of those +present, whose hand it was had cast the hunting knife which struck +Yvard. I did not learn this for days after. + +The approving and pleased look on the little lady's face fired me with +an insane desire to further win her notice, whereat I chided myself for +a vain coxcomb, and drew imperceptibly away from the company, until I +gained a shady and secluded walk which led to a retired nook +overlooking the valley. + +The quietude of the evening's close jarred on my turbulence of spirit. +For the first time a woman's voice lingered in my ears after her speech +was done, a woman's smile played as the fitful summer's lightning +before my eyes. Oh, fool, fool! What place had women in a soldier's +life. What a discordant harmony would one angel create amid the rough +denizens of Biloxi. So I reasoned, forgetful that reasons never yet +convinced the heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE UNEXPECTED + +As one who pauses at the threshold of some fabled palace of the houri, +so did I stop, bewildered by the beauty of this virgin field of love, +by fancy decked with blossoms, now spreading all the allurements of +fetterless imaginings before me. A sudden whiff brought me the perfume +of her presence, and, turning, she appeared before me, whether in the +spirit or the flesh, I could hardly tell, so transported was I by the +swift changes of my thought, merging beauties ever new, ever sparkling, +with those scarce tasted ones but just discarded. Yet there she was, a +dainty thing in white. White of dress, white of face, white of spirit. + +In frightened tones of far-away sweetness, her voice mingled with the +air, so low, so melodious one could scarce determine when she commenced +to speak. + +"Monsieur, quick, listen. You are in danger. I was in Madame de +Chartrain's chamber and overheard. You have letters. M. de Greville +will take them from you--for her sake--they compromise her. There is +other danger," she spoke breathlessly on, "other more deadly danger +lurking for you here; I beseech you to leave--at once. M. de Greville +will take those letters from you by force or guile. Oh, tarry not, +there has been so much of blood, and this place so seeming fair; the +assassin, the poison and prison houses." + +The eloquence of fear trembled in her words. Half starting forward I +drank in every syllable, not for the warning she would fain convey, but +for their sweetness. All I could realize for the moment was that she +had sought me, sought me freely. Then she was gone. Swiftly, +noiselessly as she came, she disappeared. The distant flutter of her +skirts among the sombre trees marked the path she went. Through it all +I spoke no word, returning, as one who has received an angel's visit, +to my reverie. + +I was not suffered long to spend my time alone. The old beau, de +Virelle, in his bluff and hearty way directed the attention of a party +of ladies who were with him to where I hung over a marble balustrade +enraptured at the broad expanse of valley, rosy tinted with the hues of +ebbing light, boundless as the dim horizon of my own sweet dreams. + +"By my faith, Captain, you should have heard the clamor over your +departure. Already famous, and so soon weary of your laurels. Ah! a +tryst," he exclaimed. "Verily you do better than I thought," for he +had picked up a muslin handkerchief, edged with lace, which sought in +vain to hide itself among the leaves. So busied had I been it escaped +my notice. Instinctively I reclaimed the prize and with no gentle hand +I doubt, for his touch and jeering manner desecrated the sacred relic +of my vanished saint. + +De Virelle scowled somewhat at my precipitation, but, meeting a no less +determined air, passed the matter by. His ladies affected not to see. +They in their turn plied me with inquiries about the savages in +America, asked all manner of silly questions, and completed with their +foolish simperings the disgust I already felt at such an interruption +to my thought. Yet so great is the force of novelty to women they +clung about me as if I were some strange tame animal brought to Paris +for their divertisement. + +"Zounds, Margot dear," de Virelle blurted out aside, for even his dull +senses saw I was not pleased, "our good Moliere must have had this +hermit captain in his mind when he made Alceste to rail so at the +hypocrisies of the world, and urge the telling of truth and looking of +truth at all times." + +"How brutally frank! What bad breeding," assented that young woman. + +"This captain seems so full of weariness at our coming, and lacks the +grace to veil it decently; let us go." + +Finding no hand of mine raised to hinder them, these fair dames and +demoiselles, with many pretty pouts and flutters and flounces, betook +themselves away, followed by their faithful squire. + +I began then to feel sorry at having disgraced Jerome's gentle +teachings. The light dying away across the distant fields and streams, +I resigned my solitary communion and set out slowly toward the villa. +The meaning of all the girl had said now forced itself upon my +attention. If this were true, and it seemed plausible enough in view +of all that had transpired here, I was indeed confronted by a new and +serious danger. Happily danger was not a new fellow-traveler; I merely +turned over in my mind the best means to meet it. + +Going rather out of my way, I found the grooms without much difficulty, +and telling them we were to leave Sceaux at once, ordered the horses +saddled, and made ready at a side door where I directed them to wait. +My own mind was to tell Jerome nothing of it, but simply to mount the +best horse and ride away alone--if that course became necessary. + + * * * * * * + +I will break in a bit just here to speak of an incident which occurred +that very night in the modest boudoir of Madame de la Mora. Had I but +known of it at the time, it would have saved me many weary months of +suffering. + +Madame Agnes de la Mora sat placidly, her work basket by her side, +busied about some lace she was mending. The Chevalier studied a number +of military maps of Louisiana at his table. It was a pretty picture of +domestic harmony, then quite unfashionable at Sceaux. A timid rap at +the door, and a voice: + +"Sister, may I come in?" + +"Yes, child," and her sister Charlotte slipped silently in and sat +herself upon the floor at Madame's feet. There was a striking +similarity between the two. Madame, for all her dignified title, being +but a year the elder, and she scant of twenty. Charlotte, somewhat +slighter and more delicately colored, was even of greater beauty than +her sister, with much promise for the years to come. To the casual +observer, though, especially when viewed apart, they seemed almost +reflections one of the other. There was something of a loving +guardianship in the attitude of the elder, of confiding trust in that +of the younger, as she leaned her head upon her sister's knee in +pensive meditation. + +"Sister, I must tell you of something; I know not that I did well or +ill," and she lifted her face with a surety of sympathy. + +"What is it, dear, what weighty matter troubles you now?" + +The Chevalier looked up long enough to say: + +"Have you torn your frock, or only quarreled again with the good Abbe +over your task?" The girl very evidently had nothing to fear from his +harshness. + +"No! No! Don't tease; it's really important. This day at noon Madame +Chartrain was in her chamber--you know the young man who came with M. +Jerome?" de la Mora nodded. + +"The same I ran into at the door?" and she flushed again at the memory +of our discomfiture. + +"Well, to-day noon at Madam Chartrain's I heard that danger threatened +him concerning some papers or something which he has--and Madame du +Maine, too, they mean him harm; and--and--well, I told him. Did I do +ill, sister?" + +"What is that, Charlotte? Come here." + +She crossed the room obediently and stood before him. + +The Chevalier asked: "How did it happen, child? Tell me all about it, +where you saw him, who was there, and all." + +So she went on to tell of her seeking me in the park, and her hurried +warning. + +"Well, what did he say to all that?" + +"He didn't say anything; I gave him no chance; I just ran up near him +and told him as quick as ever I could that he had better go off +somewhere, and then--and then--well, I just ran away again. He looked +so startled and surprised he could not say anything. When I turned +again to peep through the hedge he was still standing there with his +hands stretched out as if he would have liked to stop me, but I was +already gone." + +The girl laughed a short little laugh and tucked her hand closer into +his. + +"Did I do wrong, Charles? Tell me, was it so very, very--bold?" + +The Chevalier could not quite suppress the smile already twitching at +his lips, though he soon looked grave enough. + +"Yes, child, it was not well; beside, the affair is not yours, and it +is always dangerous to meddle. There, now, don't worry, it does not +matter much after all. Soon we leave here and you will never see any +of them again, I hope. This is no place for lassies fair and young as +you. I hope to take both you and Agnes to a new and purer land." + +"Soon we leave?" she repeated, "oh, I forgot; but I don't want to, I +like it here." + +"Like it? I thought you hated Sceaux?" + +"Yes, I did--but--" + +"But, what?" + +"But, nothing, I just like it--now," she insisted illogically. + +"Who is this young man, Charles?" asked Agnes when her sister had gone. +And he told her. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE FLIGHT FROM SCEAUX. + +The responsibility brought by the possession of such valuable state +papers oppressed me greatly, to say nothing of the perils which would +beset their custodian if it became Jerome's purpose to reclaim them. I +thought it most prudent and proper under present conditions to see the +dispatches safe in de Serigny's hands--then, at least, I would be +absolved from any blame in the matter. Serigny held me responsible, +and it would perhaps be the part of wisdom to act independently of +Jerome, report fully to Serigny, and if it were then his wish that the +investigation concerning Yvard and Madame du Maine be pressed to +further discoveries, nothing would be easier than to return to Paris +almost before Jerome could miss me. I need tell Serigny nothing of my +suspicion of Jerome; even if true, his animosity would vanish with the +cause which gave it birth. + +There was much to acquaint Serigny with, much perchance he knew +already. Paris swarmed with rumors. Every lip was busy with +second-hand gossip coming, as each relator declared, from the most +reliable sources. "My cousin, who is laundress to the Countess de +Lanois, says," and upon this immaculate authority the butcher upon his +morning rounds detailed the most delightful and impossible gossip to +his customers. + +"Pierre, my son, the valet, who is in the confidence of the Duke of +Gesvres, heard His Grace say with his own lips"--and so the wine-room +stories flew, gathering strength and falsehood as they went. But the +story of to-day gave the lie to that of yesterday, and no man knew the +truth. + +War with Spain filled every mouth, yet none had a why or a wherefore. +The King said "war," and all his nation echoed. No, not all. Many +there were who gave voice to the cry with hearts that rebelled, with +clear brains questioning the right of one man to plunge a whole people +into renewed slaughter. These held their peace for the sake of their +necks. "_I am the State_," Louis had declared, and such ideas were not +for the canaille to have; they must curb their tongues to cheat the +gibbet. Being a soldier and under orders, I had no right to form +opinions, but, sobered in some degree by these reflections, paced about +until it came time to take horse and away. + +"In the name of the wandering Ulysses, Placide, where have you been +these two good hours?" said Jerome, suddenly coming toward me. + +"Has it been so long? I tired of the crowd and strolled alone through +the gardens." + +His quick eye caught sight of the handkerchief tucked snugly in my belt. + +"A lady? And so soon?" he bantered me. + +My tell-tale flush permitted no denial, nor did I care to discuss it. +As we talked we drifted into a small room just off the main hall. + +"By the way, Placide, had we better not place our dispatches in some +safe hiding until we leave here? It might be suspected we have them. +The devil only knows what that scheming de Valence and du Maine may not +unearth. Their spies are everywhere." + +I agreed with him. It was as well; anything to gain time and allay +suspicion. But I understood my lady's warning was true; his +earnestness convinced me. + +"Where do you carry them?" + +"Sewn in the lining of my cloak," I replied. A lie, but pardonable. + +"Why, you careless fellow; they maybe lost. Where is your cloak?" +seeing I did not have it. + +"In charge of Damien; he is trusty." + +"Better have it yourself; wait here, I will go and fetch it." + +I congratulated myself on this diplomatic stroke, for Jerome was about +to start off in all haste when Damien himself appeared, and before I +could stop him, delivered the message. + +"The horses are saddled and at the door." + +"Go and wait with them." + +Jerome had taken my cloak from the fellow's arm, for in fact he had it, +and now laid it across his knee. His blank expression showed utter +astonishment at the disclosure. + +"What does this mean? We are to rest here to-night?" + +"No; I ride to Paris." + +"Why?" + +"I am afraid." + +"Of what?" + +"Of everything. We are in the house of our enemies, and it is the +quality of courage to be discreet." + +During this brief dialogue Jerome was stealthily running his hands +through the lining of my cloak until he comprehended I had misled him. +I could almost put his thought in words. Together we arose, laying +each our hands upon the half-closed door, he to hold it, I to open it, +steady-eyed, and each reluctant to cause the breach we knew must come. + +"Placide, the papers are not here," he said in a quiet tone, yet full +of determination. + +"I know it." + +"Why have you deceived me then?" for he could mask his purposes no +longer, "Hand me those dispatches." + +"No. My orders are to place them in the hands of Serigny." + +"But I must have them." + +"And I tell you as firmly, you can not." + +"Listen, Captain," he begged in altered tones, "those dispatches may +compromise Celeste. Let us take from them anything which implicates +her in this miserable intrigue, and deliver the rest. That is easy. I +can open and close them again so it can not be told." + +"My orders are not to open them." + +"By God, you will!" he burst out with volcanic fury, "no, no; I am too +hot. We can lose them; tell Serigny they were never found; tell him +Yvard carried them off; tell him he never had them. We can fix a tale." + +"It would be a long story, and a liar must needs have a good memory." + +I was playing for time, time to think, time to get away. + +"But I will go with you to Serigny," he insisted, "tell the lie and +make him to believe. 'Pshaw, man, you know not the ways of the world, +at least not at the Court of France." + +"Think, Jerome, of the war, of our people in the colonies, of our +honor?" + +"I care not for it all," the wild passion in his voice made me almost +fear him. "All that is as nothing to me where Celeste is concerned. +Oh, Placide, think of it! I love her, love her, love her--do you +comprehend what that means to such a man as I? I, who have loved her +almost from her birth, have seen her taken from me and sold--yes, sold +by her money-loving father, sold, sold! I, who have borne all her +husband's leers when, flushed with the insolence of rank and wine, this +shriveled bridegroom bore her as a piece of ornament to his house in +Paris. Can I bear to lose her now? + +"But, Jerome, you would not be such a coward as to permit our brethren +in the colonies to be slaughtered, while you tell your pitiful lie to +shield a woman? It can not be done. What a fool you are come to be. +Man, man, where is your courage?" + +"I care not. Love for such a woman would make of Truth a liar, and of +Jove a fool. Think, Placide, think of her, Celeste, in the Bastille, +the irons cutting into her delicate hands, those hands which I have so +fondly held within my own--the cold stones for her bed. Or, worse: The +block, the headsman and the jeering rabble. Have you no feeling, man? +Suppose there was some woman whom you loved--a guilty love, I +grant--but so strong, so deep, so overpowering, you could not master +it? Suppose _she_ were threatened, would you not protect her even if +you lost your life; yea, bartered away your honor?" + +A pale little tearful face thrust itself before me as he spoke, and I +knew my own weak heart. I confess his pleading staggered me, and I +hesitated. He came closer; all the love and fear of a strong and +desperate man wove itself into his words. + +"Could you only have seen her two hours ago when you left her chamber; +have heard her sobs, felt the tremble of her heart when she threw +herself, just as when a child she used to do, into my arms pleading for +protection! Those dispatches will ruin her. She so calm, so proud, so +brave to all the world, wept like a terrified baby upon my breast. +Placide, I'd die and go to hell to save her. She so cold and pure, her +very name is a reproach to this flock of butterfly women. This woman +loves me, loves me even though that love be what men call dishonor. +Bah! I hate the word. Her father never sold her heart. No, that was +mine, forever mine. Had I but foreseen this I'd have left you rotting +in Bertrand's dungeon. No, no. Placide, I meant it not; I'm not +myself; forgive me, comrade; pity her and pity me." + +I vaguely wondered what there could be in the packet to cause him so +sincere an apprehension. But I must think of my people and be strong. +I denied him once for all. He sprang at me with the fury of a demon. +Being the cooler and stronger, I threw him off easily and reached the +door as he came again with his sword. It was a delicate predicament. +I could easily kill him. Wild with a lover's fear, he left his front +open to my blade, but I'd had enough of death. He paused to shove a +table from his path, which gave me time to open and slip through the +door. + +In a moment he rushed out behind me, pale and panting. The corridor, +deserted, echoed to our flying steps. I ran on ahead making my way +toward the horses. Meeting people outside, we had to slacken our gait, +smile, and conceal the realities of the situation, the necessity for +which he apprehended as quickly as I. + +Four horses stood ready, and choosing the one I thought best fitted for +a hard chase--it was evident we could not afford to fight it out at +Sceaux--and to fight seemed now his purpose--I vaulted lightly into the +saddle, and before Jerome could hinder, had jumped the low wall and +taken the direct road to Paris. + +Practiced horseman as Jerome was, it took him no time to follow, and +his grooms joined in the chase. + +On, on, we sped. Trees, fences, walls and people all melted into one +motley and indistinguishable stream. In the open road we strung out, +according to the speed of our mounts, one of the grooms dropping +farther and farther in the rear. The distance between Jerome and +myself, despite his frantic belaborings of his brave steed, grew +steadily greater. + +Just before we passed a crooked lane off to the left, leading whither I +knew not, Jerome turned in his saddle and called to the two grooms now +well to the rear. + +"That way quick; to the Versailles road. Cut him off." + +The fellows obeyed, reining their horses into a swinging lope, as, less +hurried, they took the lane indicated. Jerome thence rode on after me +alone. The situation was now becoming awkward. I had acted without +cool consideration heretofore, taking the Paris road because it was the +only one I knew, and trusting thereafter largely to fortune. Now, as I +caught occasional glimpses of the city spires, the towers of Notre +Dame, I must perforce remember I had no hopes from them. The crazed +man behind knew the city well, while to me it was a labyrinth of +difficulty. I had no friends, while he counted many. I must act, and +that quickly. Had I but known enough to turn down that lane into the +Versailles road I could have reached the palace without molestation, +thanks to my good luck in picking the best horse of the lot. Thinking +of the lane brought an idea which promised well. + +Moderating my speed gradually I suffered Jerome to draw nearer. I then +called over my shoulder that as we were now man to man, we might +dismount and fight it out upon a piece of level sward beside the road. +His horse was nearly spent, and inflamed to fury by the fear of my +escape, he eagerly agreed. While we parleyed, I worked myself into a +position near his horse's head, and as he prepared to alight, snatched +my sword and with a quick upper cut severed one rein near the bit. The +blade having cut his horse slightly under his throat, he reared and +plunged, and finding himself uncontrolled started madly off down the +road, Jerome cursing, screaming and clinging to his mane. + +I had to laugh at the success of my stratagem, for though it was a +scurvy trick to play an old friend, it was much the simplest way out of +the difficulty to dispose of him in this bloodless fashion. I put my +horse about now without interference. When I wheeled down the lane +toward Versailles, Jerome's clatter and dust was just dying away over +the crest of a distant hill, making most excellent time in the +direction of Paris. + +Now that this new danger was past, I rode on heavy-hearted enough, for +I had grown to love Jerome, and blamed him little for his sudden touch +of fury. For I was nearly in the same boat, borne on by the same +strong currents as Jerome. + +Verily, what will man not do for woman? Love had turned him from a +courteous nobleman of France, a brave and kindly gentleman, into the +frenzied coward who would lie to his master, slay his friend, and turn +traitor to his countrymen. A god could not love and be wise. + +I jogged along slowly, seeking to rest my horse, for I could not tell +how soon I must look to his speed for safety. It was necessary also +that I should see the two fellows who watched the Versailles road +before they caught sight of me. Possibly an artifice might avail me +where force would fail. + +Presently from a slight eminence the broad highway could be seen +winding out of Paris, glistening in the starlight, for it was now after +dusk, twisting in dusty undulations toward the distant palace of the +King. I drew rein among some trees which served for shelter, and +scanned the way to see if the watchers were in sight. The lane, before +it entered the Versailles road, branched out into two portions, one +bearing away toward Paris, while the other traversed a piece of low +ground that struck the main road several hundred yards in the other +direction. Within the irregular triangle thus formed the two grooms +had thrown themselves upon the ground, being distinctly visible in a +little clearing. + +Their position commanded quite a considerable stretch of road toward +the city, and as by going that way it would take a good hour and a half +of hard riding to get so far, it was certain they did not expect me to +pass for some time. That cut-off through the lane must have been ten +miles the shorter journey. + +This reflection gave me some hope that I might be able to slip by in a +gallop before they could take horse. Yet I could not afford to waste +much time, for Jerome might perchance find means to follow, and would +not be in a pleasant humor. There could be no accounting for the +lengths to which his desperation and folly might carry him. I had need +for both haste and caution. + +I was now at the top of a slight hillock, the grooms resting at the +foot. As ill fortune would have it, my horse's hoof loosened a stone, +and one of them looking up recognized my figure clear drawn against the +fading colors of the sky. They both jumped up with an alertness which +would have done credit to old woodsmen, and before I could dodge by, +had remounted and taken possession of the road. My more elevated +position and perhaps better hearing, too, enabled me to detect the +coming of persons along the road from Paris. Certainly as many as +three or four horsemen, perhaps a vehicle. It could hardly be possible +that Jerome had made the trip so quickly, yet I did not know what other +and shorter way he might find. At any rate every instant intensified +the danger, for if it were Jerome, then, indeed, I could not hope to +make Versailles that night. + +Listening more critically I decided they were travelling too slowly to +be Jerome's party. + +I would then most gladly have charged the insolents in front and taken +all chances, but my half hour of quiet thought had brought me the +conclusion it was too much to risk my life, at least until Serigny was +acquainted with the information we had gained. I, too, was the only +person who knew of the traitors on board le Dauphin. + +"Who are you, and what do you mean stopping a gentleman's path?" I +called to the twain who had drawn a little away from the foot of the +hill seeing the disadvantage of their former position in case I charged +them, and preferring to receive me on the open ground. + +"No harm, Monsieur, we only mean to detain you until M. de Greville +comes up," the slender man spoke quite politely. + +"M. de Greville will not come up this night--may God have mercy on his +soul," I added solemnly. + +"Why not, fine sir?" the gruffer fellow on the big bay questioned with +some heat. I made no quibble on his manner, but replied: + +"I doubt I have slain him. He lies back yonder in the road to Sceaux, +and I know not whether he be dead or still lives." + +They hesitated and consulted together in a low tone; I saw my +opportunity to press their indecision. + +"What excuse can you make and what authority have you for halting an +officer of the King with dispatches to the King? With M. Jerome de +Greville to stand between you and harm it was dangerous enough; now it +is a matter of hanging." + +"But M. de Greville is not dead," they protested together, "we left him +a few minutes since alive and well." I seized upon the vacillation +manifest in their voices and proceeded with confidence. + +"Then how think you I came along this road? Think you M. Jerome would +let me go so easily? You know his temper too well. Does he change his +mind like a woman? I turned about to take the nearer path, and see, +his blood is not yet dry upon my sword." + +"We do not believe you. It is some trick." + +"If you will but move this way and give me clear passage to Versailles, +I will go and say nothing. You can then return and minister to your +master." + +"Nay, we'll hold the road an hour, which gives him time to come up. An +hour gone and you may pursue your journey." + +"Then, forsooth, one of you can make his peace with God. I'll shoot +your stoutest bully and try blades with the other." + +I raised the pistol which had been concealed unknown to Jerome, and to +say the truth, it looked formidable enough all a-glitter beneath the +rising moon, though I doubted much if I could strike my mark. + +As I started resolutely onward I warned them: + +"Pull your nags off in yonder level space, leave the left fork free, or +by the gods, you burly black-haired rascal, I'll take the first shot at +you, you make the fairest target. Way there, in the King's name!" + +As is ever so with low-born churls, and no gentleman to command, each +looked to the other for some act of heroism, and each sought his own +safety. + +They stood their ground only an instant, then pulled aside as I had +bidden them. As soon as I passed them a decent distance as if I had no +fear, I put spurs to my good steed, and, breathing more freely than I +had done for many days, heard the merry pounding of his hoofs upon the +open way to my mission's end. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SERIGNY'S DEPARTURE + +The clocks were striking, one after the other in monotonous imitative +fashion, the hour of nine when I delivered my horse to a sleepy groom +at the little tavern just outside the Versailles gate. + +Serigny was already in his rooms, intent on some business, and opened +his door himself. There was no need for concealing his gratification +and the intense impatience he felt to know results, nor did he make any +attempt at concealment. On the contrary, he was as urgent as a school +child. Everything about him, packed in boxes and traveling bags, +seemed prepared for instant journey. Upon his table a few disarranged +papers were scattered beside a leathern portfolio, through which he had +evidently been looking when I arrived. Without stopping to replace any +of the documents he hastened me to a seat, and drawing his chair close, +commanded me to begin. My coming had been so sudden I had given no +consideration to the nature of my report to Serigny, and found some +difficulty in gathering ideas together in such shape they would be +understood. I had hardly begun my statement when quick steps sounded +along the outer passage followed by an almost imperative knock on the +door. Jerome, I thought. So it was. Jerome, bespattered and soiled +from his hard ride, a raw bruise across his cheek, his clothing awry. +He was pale and determined, yet quiet withal. + +I instinctively rose and laid my hand to my hilt. A glance reassured +me. His purpose, lying deeper, I could not divine; it was plain though +he brooded not that kind of quarrel. Nor do I to this day know what he +intended when he first entered Serigny's room that night. + +"I rode after you in all haste, Captain." + +"Indeed you did," I mentally agreed. + +"And met a fall, which, as you see, has somewhat disfigured me," and he +laughed, while I agreed with him again. + +Serigny, being so intent on the important transactions of the hour, +accepted his explanation without question. The welcome, though +cordial, was brief, Serigny being a man of no unnecessary words. + +"Go on, Captain," and I picked up the broken thread of my narrative +where Jerome had interrupted. + +As I went on obediently, Jerome would now and again supply some link +wherein my memory failed, or suggest something I had left unsaid, until +having so much the nimbler tongue he took the telling out of my mouth +entirely. I could not complain, for he detailed the various adventures +far better than I, and gave me more of the credit than I would have +claimed for myself. We had, by common consent, forgotten our late +strife, and becoming much interested I broke in upon a glowing account +of my heroism: + +"Hold, Jerome, by my faith, you grow more garrulous than a fish-wife of +the barriers; tell but a plain, straight tale, and leave off all that +romantic garniture of thine," and thence I reclaimed my straggling +story and brought it to a conclusion. All this while the dispatches +for which we had risked so much lay safe in my breast. I rather +hesitated to produce them, dreading what the hot-headed fellow might do +to get a hold upon that which peradventure would cause trouble to his +lady love. I could not decline when Serigny asked for them, but hauled +out both packets, one taken from Yvard, the other from Broussard, +casting them upon the table. Jerome eyed them so I that knew from the +look his late fury was not yet dead, and I watched him in readiness for +any move he might make to repossess them. + +He sat as unconcerned as if the whole affair interested him no further, +now that the main object of his solicitude was safe in the keeping of +his superior. I misdoubted whether this was not all a sham, and could +hardly believe him the same frenzied Jerome who had pleaded so hard, +and fought so desperately for this self-same packet of Yvard's, which +at this time reposed within easy reach of his hand. Once he reached +out and took it up negligently, inspected the seals and marks, then +replaced it. His examination seemed one of mere idle curiosity, or +would have so appeared had I not known that he was already perfectly +acquainted with every mark borne by our charge. The eyes, half closed +in dreamy contemplation, spoke apparently of a man who has been +relieved of some grave responsibility and enjoys the relaxation, yet, +for all of that, he was listening most intently to what Serigny and I +were talking of. Serigny was now fondling the instruments which were +to be the restoration of his own and his brother's influence. His +words were addressed to neither of us in particular. + +"Here is the seal of Spain. Cellemare again, Egad! They are bold, or +must have great confidence in their emissaries. Here, too, is Madame. +Ah, my clever little lady, you have outdone your own cleverness at +last. I fancy even the King's old love for his son's mother will not +save you now. I would I knew what was in them." + +"We can easily see, and close them snug again," ventured Jerome, but +noting Serigny's frown, he turned it off with a laugh, "or so our +friend Madame would advise." + +It thus became manifest he had not abandoned his idea of intercepting +whatever might compromise Madame de Chartrain. + +Serigny continued: "These must be placed before the King unopened by +any of us. Yes, it's a risk," he caught Jerome's knotted brow of +indecision, "I grant you it is a risk, for I know not what +complications are here contained. I will myself seek the King, and +with these am sure to gain his own ear." + +Jerome all this while uttered no other word, nervously flicking the mud +splotches off his boots, and lifting an earnest look now and anon to +Serigny. + +My own mind was busy devising means to foil any contemplated treachery +upon his part, and wondering whether it was not my duty to acquaint +Serigny with the whole truth of the matter. The test came when I least +expected it. When all our adventures had been detailed again and +again, his dozens of incisive questions answered, our conversation +naturally drifted toward the future. My mission in France completed, +there was nothing now but a return to the colonies, and the +uncertainties of a campaign which I no longer doubted was imminent. +Somehow the thought of a great and glorious war did not appeal to me so +forcibly as such a prospect would have done some few weeks agone. + +There was ever a shy little face, a brave girlish figure which stood +resolute and trembling before me in the park, that intruded between me +and the barbaric splendor of our western wars. Nor did I raise a hand +to brush the vision aside. It toned down the innate savagery of man, +softened the stern, callous impulses of the soldier, and all the +currents of my being trickled through quieter, sweeter channels of life +and love. Even the shame of it made not the thought less sweet. + +There was but trifling period to spare for such gentler musings, for +Serigny, by a gesture, called attention to his well packed luggage. + +"See, I am ready. I only waited your coming and report to put out at +once for le Dauphin. My people have already gone forward to arm and +provision her for the struggle. We must be prompt. There is much to +lose in a day. I myself will go on to-morrow and have all in complete +readiness for the voyage, and, who knows, for the fighting on the other +side. Now give heed Placide--Captain de Mouret," for he was always +particular to distinguish the man from the soldier, and in giving +orders to address me by my proper title. "The war has been decided +upon; you will remain here and watch developments"--he was proceeding +to acquaint me with what was expected of me. I knew not what he might +say, but felt impelled to throw out a silent warning, which even though +he understood it not, he was quick enough to take. He paused and +looked me inquisitively in the face. I glanced awkwardly from him to +Jerome and back again. + +The thought then dominant was a growing distrust of Jerome, and the +desire to have our movements secret. I remembered Bienville's words +"We know not who to trust," and being ignorant of what orders Serigny +meant to give, or how much information they would convey to Jerome, +deemed it best to let all the occurrences of the day come out. I could +not forget the lad's gallantry, nor must I lose sight of the fact that +as affairs now were, he might very well have gone over to the other +side for the sake of Madame; things stranger than that took place every +day, and I had learned to be discreet. He might thus come into +valuable hints and afterward cast them into the scale against +Bienville, for every means good or bad would be used by them to save +their own influence, to uplift the Duke of Maine. If Bienville were +involved in the general ruin, why, what mattered it to them? + +While I remained hesitating for a word, Jerome's ready wit had already +comprehended my purpose. He took the words from my lips. His +countenance first flushed, then became hard and fixed, compelling me +for the time into silence. + +"Monsieur de Serigny, I perhaps can speak you better our good Captain's +mind. He mistrusts me--." + +"You?" burst out Serigny greatly surprised. "Why you have ever been +our staunch and loyal friend. What is this, Captain de Mouret, surely +you are above a young man's jealousy?" + +Jerome gave me no time to explain. + +"Softly, softly, sir. The Captain has good cause. Give me heed, my +friends. To you, M. de Serigny, I will say upon my honor, which until +this day was never stained by thought or deed, I will say,--this day I +would have betrayed you. Nay, do not look so pained and unbelieving; +all men are mortal, and passions stronger even than duty, stronger than +loyalty, yea, stronger than honor itself, may tyrannize over the best +of us. I repeat, this day would I gladly have betrayed you, betrayed +my friends to save--well it boots not whom, but a woman. For the woman +I love may lose her liberty if not her life when those accursed papers +reach the hands of the King. I was mad, and at this moment doubt and +fear myself. It is better not to trust me with your plans; the Captain +is right. Jerome de Greville never yet deceived a friend, but for the +love of God, Messires, do not tempt him now," and he faced about with +unsteady step and started toward the door. Before we could detain him +he was gone, leaving Serigny staring in the most unbelieving and +bewildered fashion at me. + +"In God's name, Captain, what piece of folly is this? Tell me all, for +ofttimes the success of the most careful plans is governed by just such +undercurrents as this, of man's love or woman's spite. Go on, I +listen." + +I explained briefly Madame's position, Serigny nodding his +acquiescence; it was an old tale to him, except he did not know +Jerome's relations with Madame. Of her domination over the Duke of +Maine he was well aware. When my story was fully done he pondered for +a long while in silence. His sorrow was deep and sincere. + +"Poor fellow; poor fellow; as noble a lad as ever drew a sword, but in +his present frame of mind it is safer not to trust him; he is capable +of any act of desperation. We will do our best to protect his lady, +though. Where was I? This matter has disturbed me-- Oh, yes, about +to give your orders. You see I am all ready to leave. I have but +waited your return. The war has been decided on and the news needs +only to be given out. The King hesitates and wavers; Chamillard is a +mere reflection of the royal whim. If we do not attack the Spaniard he +will attack us; it is simply a question of whether we want the war at +Biloxi or Havana. For my part I would rather see Havana in siege than +Biloxi. This matter can not be long delayed, a few days more at most. +These dispatches may decide. With these before the King he will no +longer doubt my brother, but will place the blame where it most +properly belongs--for in the main, Louis is just. I would not desire +any greater pleasure than to see the gibbet whereon these traitors of +the itching palms, these thieves who sell their King for Spanish gold, +will take their last dance. Do you remain here for as many as six +days, this room is at your disposal. Be quiet and discreet; learn all +and tell nothing. A still tongue is the safest in these times. The +moment war is declared make all speed for Dieppe and we will up anchor +and away." + +Serigny was as happy as a boy at the prospect of action; the atmosphere +of court ill agreed with his fiery temper. This was the gist of our +plan of operations, and it was so arranged in detail. + +In a few moments Serigny left me, taking the packet with him, and I in +excess of caution followed him at a little distance, locking the door +behind me and keeping the key in my pocket. I bore his tall figure +well in sight until he passed out of the unfrequented halls into that +portion of the palace where the many shuttlecocks of fortune +congregated to laugh and talk and plot and lie. Not long after he came +back, sorely nettled and disappointed. + +"It is done; the King has them in his own hands; yet he does not talk; +promises nothing; is closeted with his ministers; they must be of +considerable importance. It is all secure for us, for I told him of my +departure in the morning to the colonies, and he assented. I judge, +then, it is something of a very delicate nature, touching the royal +honor of the King's own blood. Besides much is in cipher which it will +take time to read. Louis, you know, would not admit, save to those +nearest his throne, the possession of the secret Spanish cipher." + +The night passed by dismal and uncertain enough. I must confess to a +great sinking of the heart when I saw Serigny's carriage roll away in +the gray of the early morning, leaving me absolutely alone in my +father's land of France, where in the short space of two weeks so much +had transpired; much to be ever remembered, much I would have given +worlds to forget. + +It must have been a most forlorn and dejected looking creature that +stood in the great square that sunless morning, peering into the mists +which had absorbed the carriage. The solitude of vast untrodden +forests breeds not that vacant sense of desolation which we children of +nature feel in the crowded haunts of men. Face after face, form after +form, voice after voice, yet not one familiar countenance, not one +remembered tone, not the glance of a kindly eye; all is new, all is +strange, all at seeming enmity. The defection of Jerome, my only +comrade, was indeed a cup of bitterness. I dreaded to meet him, not +knowing what tack he might cut away on. Yet I could not blame him; it +was more of pity I felt. + +I recall with great delight some of the minor occurrences of the next +three or four days. After Serigny's departure, every afternoon at +imminent risk I would take horse to Sceaux, and pursuing a by-way +through the forests and fields, through which a wood-cutter first led +me, ride hard to catch a glimpse of her who now occupied all my +thoughts. I wonder at this time how I then held so firm by the duty of +returning to the colonies, when the very thought of war and turmoil was +so distasteful to me. When I rode to Paris and clothed myself once +more in my own proper garments, their friendly folds gave me a new +courage to meet whatever Fate might send. + +It may be pertinent to chronicle here, what history has already +recorded, the result of placing those dispatches in the King's hands. + +The Duke of Maine, as all the world knows, disavowed his wife's act in +treating with Spain, and thus saved his own dainty carcass from sharing +her captivity in the Bastille. But both he and Madame were imprisoned +until he made most abject submission and apology to Orleans. + +Madame de Chartrain was sent to a provincial fortress, and bore her +incarceration with great fortitude, winning even from her enemies the +admiration always accorded to firmness and virtue. + +Philip of Orleans being once firmly established in the Regency, changed +his usual course, and pardoned many of those who had conspired against +him. Their prison doors were opened, and the Duke of Maine, becoming +reconciled to his haughty lady, forgave her and gained great credit +thereby in the vulgar mind. They spent their lives quietly at Sceaux +during the Regency, and naught else of them concerns this history. + +Philip of Orleans possessed some of the virtues of a great man, and +many of a good man, but these he kept ever locked within his own bosom. +His mother, the rigid and austere Madame, said once of him: + +"Though good fairies have gifted my son at his birth with numerous +noble qualities, one envious member of the sisterhood spitefully +decreed that he should never know how to use any of these gifts." Such +was the character of the Regent. + +Of Jerome and Madame de Chartrain I would fain tell more, but during +the troubled times in America I completely lost sight of them, and my +inquiries developed nothing of sufficient verity to give credence to +here. + +All Frenchmen know of Jerome's gallant death at Malplaquet. It is a +fireside legend now, and young French lads turn their moistened eyes +away at the hearing. Marshal Villars being sorely hurt and in peril of +capture, there fought beside his litter an unknown gentleman who, +without name or rank, yet bore himself so commandingly, the discouraged +guard rallied again and gave him willing obedience. Arrived at a +narrow bridge he urged the litter-bearers safely across, and fighting +at the rear to be himself the last to reach a place of safety, he was +struck and fell. Prince Eugene, the courteous enemy, who had himself +witnessed the incident, sent a guard of honor to the Marshal at +Valenciennes the next day with the body, deeming it that of a man of +consequence. His letter congratulated the defeated Villars upon having +such chivalric friends. + +It was poor Jerome, and no one knew him then. He rests now with his +fathers. + +I loved the lad truly. As knightly a gentleman as ever died for his +King, or lied for his lady. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE CASTLE OF CARTILLON + +Two days, four, passed. Serigny had departed for Dieppe to arm and +equip le Dauphin, yet still there was no official declaration of war. +I was waiting, as he had ordered, for the formal declaration, on the +publication of which I was to join him on board at once and we would +set sail instantly for Biloxi. + +Another anxious day, during which I vacillated between an ignoble love +and a noble duty. Then, late in the evening, the whole court was +fanned into a blaze destined to spread throughout Europe and America, +by the announcement that the war had been formally decided upon. + +Men may long look forward to a crushing calamity, and when it comes be +surprised and unprepared. So, though I well knew I must leave France +with all speed, and possibly never see her shores again, I put it from +me as persistently as men do the certainty of death. Every day did I +ride to Sceaux, by the old wall, and catch a glimpse of her I loved. +When war was at last declared there was no time for parleying with +duty. My path lay straight and clear before me; yet for once a +soldier's duty and a soldier's adventure gave me no pleasure. All my +thoughts were otherwhere. + +Hot-foot to Sceaux again I rode on my way to Dieppe, and from the same +embrasure at the wall where my horses had trampled down the foliage +many times, I watched her coming. It was not for long. More hurriedly +than was her custom she glided, a glorified young creature, in and out +amongst the shrubbery, until the envious chapel door hid her from my +sight. No living thing was in view. The sound of no discordant voice +broke the holy peace of God. Temptation came never to our first erring +mother in more insidious guise than this. + +Where was the harm, I reasoned, it was but for an instant's speech with +her, ere the bounding seas would roll between us. So with nervous +haste I tumbled from my horse and tethered him stoutly to a tree. Over +the wall and to the chapel door took another instant, and there, +inside, at the rail, she knelt. I paused, as a sinner might, +hesitating to mar with heart profane the devotions of a saint. My foot +struck a cracking board in the entry, and drew her glance toward me. +She sprang up as I entered, with a swift cry of surprise, and, as I +fancied, some whit of gladness in the tone. + +"You, Monsieur? You here? I thought you away from Sceaux." + +"Yes, Madame, true; but I returned to speak with you before I leave +France forever. I came here to--to--" I could not tell her why; my +heart, so full, clogged my utterance. But women ever understand. + +As I cast about me for a word, we had drawn closer, and taking the hand +which half-hid in the folds of her dress, gleamed more white and pure, +I would have raised it to my lips. Even at such a time I noted the +device upon a ring she wore, a device grown so familiar: A wolf's head, +sable. + +"An old thing of my mother's," she explained, "Charles has one, and I." + +I eagerly seized upon a subject which might so naturally prolong our +interview. + +"Aye, I know the device well; are you of the d'Artins?" + +"Yes, my mother was; there are now none of the race. The last is a +wanderer; I know not if he lives." + +"I know, perchance, of such a man, Madame; would you tell me more of +him, of yourself?" + +"I never saw him, my mother's father. Her marriage displeased him +greatly. When her first child was born, a girl, she sent it to him for +his blessing. He denied it, saying he wanted no more of women. The +child died in infancy. Of my sister's birth and mine he was never +told. Then he went away, where, none know." + +It thrilled me with a new hope. Who could guess but my relations with +Colonel d'Ortez might throw me again in her way. I took her hand +again, making pretence to examine the ring more curiously. She made +slight demur, and I pressed my first fervent kiss upon the hand of +woman. Man's fortitude could stand no more. Tossing honor, +discretion, duty to the winds, I folded her close, closer yet, and +kissed her brow, her hair, her eyes--her lips, she struggling like a +frightened nestling all the while. It was done. + +Ashamed but impenitent--it was too new, too sweet to wish undone--I +loosed her gently, and kissed her hand but once again, then left her +standing where the light from the mullioned window in halos wreathed my +saint. It was thus I ever afterward remembered her. + +She made no other sign; I withdrew swiftly as I came. From across the +wall, unobserved, I watched her leave the place, downcast of eye and +slow of step. In rebellious and uncertain mood I rode away. + + +Though the relish in my task was done, I made all haste toward Dieppe. +Scarcely stopping for food, changing horses as often as I could, I +pushed on without adventure until I reached the Chateau Cartillon, then +a formless ruin. + +Here my saddle girth broke and I was nearly thrown to the ground. I +scrambled off, walked to the little inn where I inquired how far I had +yet to go. + +"Three leagues yet to Dieppe," the host replied, "but Monsieur can not +go on to-night; he must wait the morrow; he can go with comfort in the +morning." + +I sent my groom for a new girth and found it would take quite an hour +to procure one from the village. + +"Probably Monsieur would visit the castle upon the hill there," +persisted the landlord, pointing across the way, "it is worth his +while. It is said to have been destroyed by the Great Henry in his +wars with the Duke of Mayenne. True it is that sounds of battle and +screams are yet heard there on stormy nights. Probably Monsieur would +rest here several days----." + +I essayed to silence the fellow, for I was in no mood to listen to his +chatter. Yet there was something in his eulogy of the locality, which +he gave as a hawker crying his wares, that fixed my unwilling attention. + +"And, Monsieur, perchance you may see old mad Michel. What! you know +naught of him? Country folk do say his grandam witnessed the murder of +the Count, and that it sent her feeble mind a-wandering. Her child +through all her life did fancy herself the Count, and made strange +speeches to the people's fear. And now this grandson of hers has grown +old in frenzy like his mother and grandam, possessed of an evil spirit +which speaks through him betimes--it is a curse of the blood, Monsieur, +a grievous curse of the blood." + +It aroused something of a curiosity within me, yet I was loath to pause +upon my journey. Forced, though, to wait an hour, I thought to walk +over to the Chateau a couple of hundred yards distant. Taking a lad +who lounged about the inn, to show me the way, I sauntered up the path, +pausing a while at a long-disused spring, and idly plucked an apple +from a branch which over-hung it. A little further up, and mounting +the steep acclivity, I stood within the ancient fortress. + +This castle, since rebuilded, you, my children, are of course familiar +with, for you were all born here. At that date the great central tower +alone stood erect amid the universal destruction. A black wolf's head +reared itself high above the portcullis. The moat was filled with +drift of crumbling years, and the walls, fallen in many places, ran +hither and thither in aimless curves and angles, much as they do to-day. + +Up to this hour my chronicle has been only of such adventures as might +befall a soldier upon any enterprise, but now a strange thing happened. +Until that moment I had never seen the Chateau Cartillon, still there +was not a corner or a passage which did not seem well known to me. My +feet fell into paths they seemed no strangers to. I seemed to know +intuitively what each building was for, and even imagined most vividly +scenes which had transpired there. The whole place had the most +intense personal interest for me, why I knew not. + +I am not superstitious, but the ruin oppressed me, made me restless and +uneasy; yet I was loath to leave. The loneliness of it all filled me +with vague apprehensions as I picked my way across the grass encumbered +court-yard toward the road again. A thousand haunting fancies of half +familiar things thronged from out each dismantled doorway. Faces I all +but recognized peered at me through the broken casements; voices I +almost knew called to me from many a silent corner. Yet all was still, +all was solitude. Heartily shamed at my quickening step I hurried on +and having consumed a quarter of my hour sat down by the spring +mentioned before, just beyond the castle's utmost boundary. + +The haze of late afternoon had deepened into night upon the peaceful +meadows and lazy sweep of river. A distant peasant's song came faintly +from the fields. + +While sitting there beside the spring, gazing listlessly into its +placid depths, an uncanny figure made its way through a breach in the +bastion, and stood before me. At first I confess I was startled, the +wild uncouth thing, bent and decrepit, with hair of long and tangled +gray, fiery sunken eyes, seemed born of another world than this. He +bent his gaze with searching scrutiny full upon me. + +The lad whispered: "It's old mad Michel; he lives up there," pointing +to a tumbled down tower, "and believes himself the Count--the Count, +and him long dead lying yonder in the well." + +The boy shuddered and crossed himself. + +The old man gazed steadily at me for some moments then bowing low, he +cried: + +"Hail! Son of d'Artin! Hast come to view thine own again? Let us +into the walls." + +[Illustration: "The old man gazed steadily at me for some moments."] + +"Let us go, Monsieur, quick," urged the lad, tugging at my coat, "it is +late." + +The dusk in fact was coming on apace and climbing shadows crept round +the grotesque masonry. Unheeding the lad's fear, I was strongly +impelled to talk with the daft creature. It was an impulse born not +wholly of idle curiosity. I felt strangely moved. + +"What do you want of me, old man?" I asked. + +"I am Henri d'Artin, by murder's hand laid low; I would tell you much." + +"Let us go, Monsieur, let us go. He speaks of unholy things," the boy +pleaded fearfully. Meeting no response he turned and fled down the +slope, away in the twilight beneath the trees. + +"Dost hear the clanking arms, the rolling drums of war? List unto the +shouts, the cries within. Dost not know it is the day after the feast +of the most Blessed Saint Bartholomew?" + +The man's wild earnestness fixed a spell upon me, and to the end of his +narrative I listened until the tale was done. I can not hope to set +down here as I heard it what the madman said, nor to have my lines +breathe forth the vigor of his speech. Carried beyond mortal energy by +his frenzy, overmastered by some mysterious Power of which we men know +naught, he threw into his strange, weird story a life and action which +entered my very soul. And as he spoke he seemed to live through the +scenes that he so vividly described. It was as though some grim drama +were being enacted for my enlightenment. So well as I can tell it, the +tale ran thus: + + +On yestermorn my wife, my daughter and little boy, committed to the +charge of old Gaston, had driven into Rouen to spend the day. I rode +along after them to learn the news from Paris. We of the Reformed +Faith hoped for great things from the meeting of our leaders with the +Duke of Guise and the Queen Mother, for King Charles seemed kindly +disposed toward us. But, God of Mercy! what scenes there were in +Rouen; everywhere was slaughter, everywhere was murder. I found my +carriage overturned in the streets, covering the dead and mutilated +bodies of wife and daughter; the babe, unhurt and unnoticed in the +carriage, had escaped. Throughout the city were prowling bands wearing +the white cross in their caps, the white sash on their arms, which +designated the followers of Guise, and with cries of "Death to the +Huguenots" and "No quarter to the enemies of Holy Church," they slew +without mercy. I had now no idea but to put my boy in a place of +safety, and with him before me rode straight for the nearest gate. I +passed unmolested through the streets, and by avoiding the public +places, drawing out of the way of murdering bands, thought to evade +them and reach the river gate south of town. My whole soul revolted at +leaving the bodies of wife and daughter in Rouen, but the living child +must be considered before the dead. At the turn from out the obscure +Rue St. Croix into the open square at Vieux Marche I heard a shout, +"Here he is, this way," and saw a man at arms stationed in the square +beckoning to his comrades who came clattering down the Rue de Crosne. +This blocked the path along which I intended to leave the town. + +Riding at their head I recognized my old time enemy, my half brother, +Pedro Ortez, a man of whose prowess and cruelty terrible stories were +told. + +Right willingly would I have paused to give him fight, but for the +babe. The fellow who had raised the cry now threw himself full in my +way with the evident purpose of engaging me until the others came up. +I made straight at him, but he stood his ground bravely, and encumbered +as I was with the child, he succeeded in wounding me twice before I +could pierce him through the throat and drop him from his horse. +Verily, his courage was worthy a better quarrel. + +This, in full sight of the oncoming band, fixed their attention, and, +raising the shout of "Death to d'Artin," they spurred their horses to a +gallop. I had barely disappeared down the deserted Rue Corneille when +they debouched into the square, spreading out and circling round as +hounds hot upon a scent. Here they were at fault, not knowing whither +I had turned among so many narrow and irregular streets. Before they +found me again I was well upon the high road to Cartillon. The +superior speed of my horse gave me easily the lead. + +I soon overtook Gaston, drawn aside in the bushes, wounded and +bleeding, waiting for me. At first I upbraided him fiercely, but a +frightful gash across his head, dabbling his gray hairs in blood, +stopped my wrath. On the ride home he told me of the day's disaster. +Pedro Ortez and his cut-throats had set upon them in the name of the +church. He was soon cut down and left upon the street, recovering +consciousness only to find his murdered mistress lying dead beside him. +He had then crawled away to warn me, for the whole object of Ortez +seemed to be to take my life. + +Gaston's distress was pitiful; as his mute eyes now and again sought +mine, I could not find it in my heart to censure him. Having distanced +my poorly mounted pursuers I stopped to water my horse at the spring +before riding the few hundred yards to the gates of Cartillon. While +yet waiting by the spring I was horrified to see men struggling on top +of the great tower. Their fight was brief and decisive. Two of them, +one being Maurice my most trusted man at arms, were thrown violently to +the courtyard below. Of the others some were killed, some overpowered +and carried below again. + +All of this took only an instant, for it appeared but the end of a +desperate encounter which had been raging elsewhere. The time, +however, was long enough for me to see that those of the larger party +wore the white sash and cross which distinguished my assailants in +Rouen. + +"God in heaven, what murder's work have we at Cartillon?" I cried aloud +in my misery. Then one who could answer came running toward me from +the castle, gashed, with snapped sword in hand. + +"Oh, master, master, the Catholics, the Catholics," was all he could +speak out before he fell a senseless mass at my horse's feet. + +Cartillon was not now a refuge. + +Immediately the distant sound of hoof beats came loud and louder yet, +from the direction of Rouen. Ortez was coming. + +"Quick, Gaston, we must fly." + +My overtaxed horse failed me now. Pulling the rein he only sank slowly +to his knees, and after a few spasmodic twitches, stiffened out forever +upon the rocky road. I stood erect a moment, child in arms, +irresolute. There was short shrift to think. My blood rebelled at +flight. + +"Here, Gaston, take the boy; hide in the wood. Carry him to the Abbot +of Vaux, and conjure the good priest, by our fathers' love and ours, to +save my baby." + +Gaston had hardly passed from sight among the trees before a dozen +well-armed horsemen, bearing the same white cross in their caps, +spurred round a curve in the forest road, coming suddenly upon me +beside my fallen steed. Sword in hand, I fronted them, determined, +come what would, to fly no further. The evil face of Ortez shone with +gratification at so unexpectedly finding me alone. + +"Now, yield thee, sirrah," he cried, as his men surrounded me. A quick +sword thrust through the body of his horse, brought him to the ground. + +"Not yet, thou slayer of women; here, upon equal footing, thy life +shall pay for those of wife and child." + +I verily believed the Almighty vengeance was in my blade, and doubt not +I should have slain him despite his troopers but for a crushing pike +blow over the head, so swiftly did it all come about. + +My brain reeled; the sword dropped clanging from my nerveless hand. +When I recovered, I found myself bound upon a horse behind one of the +men. + +"On with him, men, to Cartillon; there we rest this night in the King's +name." + +In this wise we rode along; Ortez openly exultant, I silent and +scornful. + +"Aha, my fine brother," he spoke low at my saddle, "thy father's son +has thee in his power now. And shall I not revenge upon thee the wrong +our father did my mother for thine? Didst know the story?" + +I made no reply, but he went on unmindful. + +"To _my_ mother he gave his love but dared not give his name; to thy +mother he gave his name but could never give his love. So thou art the +proud Lord of Cartillon, and I the outcast soldier of fortune, the +nameless adventurer, slayer of women--what thou wilt. But things are +changed now. Before many hours I will be the Count d'Artin, and thou a +dishonored corpse, sweet brother." + +"Thou! _Thou_ my brother?" + +I turned upon him a look of incredulous contempt, yet, for I had heard +some such tale of my father's youth, I asked: + +"Thy mother was--?" + +"Nanon Esculas, whom thy father abducted in Spain to desert in France." + +"My heart sank; I had seen the woman, and knew her son for one of the +most courageous and unprincipled adventurers who hung about the Court +and held their swords for hire. When the noisy troop rode up to the +gates of Cartillon their leader paused, a head appeared upon the +battlements. + +"Guise," cried Ortez, giving the watchword of that day of slaughter. +The drawbridge lowered, and open swung the gates. + +"Welcome to Cartillon, d'Artin," Ortez bowed. "Here at last we find +rest and refreshment. Let a feast be spread in the great hall, ransack +the place for good cheer. We've done brave work this glorious day, my +lads, and a merry ending we'll have before the night is gone." + +Everywhere in the courtyard were evidences of bloody conflict. Singly, +in groups and in hideous crimson-splashed piles lay Catholics and +Huguenots together, peaceful enough in death. + +"By my faith, and a gallant set of gentlemen we have here," laughed +Ortez. "What think you, brother mine?" + +And even as he spoke he leaned from his saddle to strike down a half +dying wretch who lifted his head from among the slain. + +"Perez," he called to his sergeant riding behind him, "dispose of these +bodies. Throw the heretic dogs into the old well yonder. Give our +martyred friends Christian burial." + +He sat his horse idly toying with his dagger, and forced me to watch my +servants, the wounded and the dead, being cast into the yawning +darkness of the well. + +"God's blood! here is our sweet young Philip. What, not yet dead! +Why, it matters not, cast him in." This in answer to a questioning +look from the more merciful Perez. + +The men at arms had extricated from a heap of slain the limp body of my +youngest brother, a boy of twenty, his pallid face gaping open from a +cut across the cheek. He lifted his eyes languidly to mine. + +"Oh brother, you are come. Some water, water," he murmured. + +"Throw him in, men," Ortez interrupted. + +Perez yet hesitated. + +"Shall we not first dispatch him, sire?" + +"No, I would not harm my gentle brother; throw him in. Be not slow +about it either, thou chicken-hearted bullies; pitch him in." + +The men started to obey this savage order. + +"Hound of hell!" I screamed, tortured beyond endurance, and struggling +at my bonds. + +Ortez slapped me in the face with his gauntlet, then laying his hand +upon my shoulder said with assumed gentleness: + +"Calm yourself, my dear brother; think of your unbandaged wounds; they +may bleed afresh." + +Philip was conscious as the men bore him to the edge of the well, but +powerless to resist four stout fellows who cast him headlong amongst +the dead and dying to mingle his groans and blood with theirs. Oh, +that God should permit to men such deeds, and grant that men should +witness them! When the last body had been disposed of, Ortez led the +way to the banquet hall, inviting all his rabble to join the feast. +The banquet hall, used as it was to scenes of turbulence, never perhaps +had looked upon such a throng as that. I occupied the head of my own +table, strapped helpless in my seat. On either side were vacant +chairs. Ortez sat at the foot. Between, the soldiery ranged +themselves as they pleased. One of the troopers coming in late would +have taken his place beside me, but his Captain stopped him: + +"Not there, Gardier; we have other and fairer guests for whom those +seats are kept." + +Almost as he spoke the chairs on either side of me were slipped away, +and after awhile as silently returned to their places. + +Sacrament of passion! In one of them was bound the mutilated corpse of +my queenly wife, her fingers hacked off and her ears torn out for the +gems which had decked them. Upon my left sat little Celia. But for +one lurid stripe of crimson across her girlish breast she might well +have been asleep, so lightly death had touched her. Behind them I saw +a tall, gaunt woman, wearing a man's helm and carrying a pike. She +directed the men. This was a woman's hellish work. + +Ortez rose with studied politeness: + +"Your wife and child, d'Artin; our charming family reunion would be +incomplete without them." And the woman laughed aloud. + +My brain burned; something seemed to strain and give way. I lost all +sense of pain, all capacity to suffer. How long this lasted I know +not. When the revelry was at its height, when the wine had dulled +every human instinct of these rough "Soldiers of the Church," Ortez +raised his voice above the tumult; he knew his men were in the humor +for a diversion he was about to propose. + +"Now comrades," he said, "for the crowning joy of this most blessed +day, now for our last sacred duty to Mother Church." + +He came round the table and taking a cord from the hands of one of his +men he threw the noose over my head. With feet bound together, hands +free, I stood amongst them, this throng of butchers, each with the +white Cross of Christ in his cap, the white scarf of Guise upon his +arm, drunk and eager for blood. + +"Henri Francois Placide d'Artin, what hast thou to say why we shall not +declare thy blood attainted, thy name dishonored, thy estate forfeited, +why we shall not hang thee for a Huguenot dog, traitor to King and +church? Speak." + +All the defiance of my race burned fearless in my eyes; I felt my face +flush an instant at the shame of such a death, but replied as steadily +as might be: + +"Not a word to you, thou infamous one, thou base-born coward, murderer +of the helpless; not to you!" + +The cool, polite manner of Ortez fell from him like a mask. He seized +the cord with his own hand, jerking me prone upon the floor and +commenced to drag me from the hall. A dozen willing hands lent aid. I +clutched instinctively at everything which came in my way, being torn +from each hold by the ruthless villains at the rope. + +Desperate, I grasped the leg of a trooper, but a savage kick in the +face wrenched him free, and down the stair they started for the open +court. At the end of the cord came tumbling, rolling, bumping down the +stone steps this almost senseless heap which was yet a man. + +Arrived beside the well, whose great overhanging sweep offered a +convenient scaffold, Ortez paused to look at his victim. My breath +came slow, I could hardly hear their words. + +"Think you his senses will return?" + +"Possibly, sire," replied the man to whom this was addressed. + +"Then we will wait; my sweet brother would weep to miss so brave a +spectacle as his own hanging." + +He sat there upon the edge of the well, whence came the groans of the +dying, the hot, fresh odors of the dead, and waited, fiendish in the +patient ferocity of his more than mortal hate. + +After a little I opened my eyes and stared about me, scarcely +comprehending where I was or what had happened. Ortez called upon his +men to raise me. Being placed erect the cord was drawn just taut +enough to sustain me standing. Now the ghastly woman I had seen in the +hall pushed her way through the crowd. + +"Her son," she hissed, and savagely struck me in the mouth until blood +followed the blow. The cord instantly tightened and I felt myself +swing across the well. First only a dizziness and a parched mouth. +Then the tumultuous blood surged to my throat, beating, struggling, +gurgling like some pent-up mountain stream against the rocks. I threw +both hands up to grasp the rope--heard a laugh, not a human laugh, yet +it sounded so far, so very far away, away back upon the earth. + +A gigantic merciful hand seemed to take my head within its gripe and +press out all the pain. + +Fiery circles swam before my eyes; great crimson blotches floated about +in restless clouds of flame; then dreams, dreams, long delicious +dreams. And out of endless years of rhythmic music, the laughter of +low-voiced women, and many colored lights, came at length oblivion. + + +Thus the tale ended. It was the same I had heard in far away +Louisiana, told again with all the grim earnestness of desperate truth. + +I stood now in the great courtyard again, beside the ancient well, +drinking eagerly every inspired syllable. When the speaker had done, +he shrank back into the darkness, and was gone. + +It was as though I witnessed in my own person the wretched death of +Henri d'Artin, and stood within his castle's court when the ruthless +deed was done. Verily man knoweth not the rebellious vagaries of an +unhinged brain; knoweth not what be but unmeaning phantasies, or what +be solemn revelations from the very lips of God. + +In the deep gloom the ruined castle loomed darkly, a ghastly monument +of evil deeds. I looked about for the madman but saw him not. The +weirdness of the place, the horror of its secret, crept into my blood. +I became afraid. Down the bleak road I picked my way, glancing +fearsomely over my shoulder. I fain would have fled as had the lad. + +I found my horse re-equipped. Still shuddering I mounted, scarce +daring to look backwards at the cursed pile. Then, with the madman's +story surging in my brain, I dug savage spurs into my steed and +galloped desperately onward through the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FROM THE PATH OF DUTY + +It was about ten of the clock when I reached Dieppe. Soon thereafter I +was well aboard le Dauphin, Serigny himself meeting me at the vessel's +side. + +"Hullo, Placide," he cried. "All goeth well, and the passing night +gives promise to us of a brighter day." + +Later, in his own cabin, he told me of a brief meeting he had with +Louis. + +"For the time we are safe. The King is restless about the safety of +the province, and he trusts Bienville as a soldier. The Spanish +intrigue keeps our enemies so busy they have not time to disturb us. +The King has no man who can take Bienville's place. Well, it's all +happily over, and I am as delighted as a child to be at sea again. We +would sail at once, now that you are come, were it not for de la Mora; +he, with his wife and another lady, are to bear us company. The +Chevalier is a thorough soldier, and I welcome him, but like not the +presence of the ladies. We may have rough work betimes." + +I knew my face grew pale, and thanked the half-light for concealment, +or he must have noted. Who that "other lady" was, possessed for me no +interest, and I never asked. + +De la Mora. This was terrible, and so unforeseen. Full well I knew I +could not spend five long weeks in daily contact with Agnes and give no +betraying sign. I must needs have time to think, and that right +speedily. + +"When do they come, sire?" + +"Any moment; they left--or should have done so--the same time as +yourself. His orders were the same." + +Rapidly as a man could think, so thought I. + +"How long will you wait for them?" + +"Until dawn, no longer. Then we sail." + +A glimmer of hope--de la Mora might be delayed. Without any clearly +defined purpose I went on and carefully gave Serigny every detail of +information which could be valuable touching the expected trouble in +the colonies. Of this my hands should, in any event, be clean. I even +handed him the King's new commission directed to Bienville, whereof I +was so proud to be the bearer. Whilst ridding my mind of these +matters, I could not have said what course I meditated. A boat grating +against the vessel's side set me all a tremble, but it was only a +letter of instructions. Making some poor excuse to Serigny for the +moment, I entered the yawl as it left the ship to go ashore. A +well-known voice hailed us ere we made the land. + +"Ahoy there, the boat," and through the shadows I made out the form of +him I dreaded most to see. + +"Boatman, can you put three of us aboard yonder vessel?" + +"Aye, sir, it is from her I have just come." + +"Is thy craft a fit one to carry ladies?" + +This dashed down the hope he had left his wife behind. + +"Aye, sir, it is a safe craft, but not a fine ladies' barge. We can go +with care and run into no danger. The wind is low." + +"'Twill serve." + +I jumped ashore and would have slipped by without speaking had he not +recognized me. + +"By my soul, de Mouret, it is you; and we are to be companions on the +voyage. Bravo." + +He approached me frankly, with outstretched hand and hearty greeting. +I would fain have avoided touching his honest palm, but there was no +way for it. + +"I see you are surprised. Yes? I was suddenly ordered to sail in le +Dauphin, and report to your good Governor, Bienville. A most sturdy +soldier from all report. Heaven send us a sharp campaign, I am weary +of these puny quarrels. We will have brave days in the colonies." + +This open-hearted way about him struck a new terror to my heart; I +could face his sword but not his confidence. His cheeks glowed with +martial enthusiasm and I almost caught again the hot lust of battle. + +"And Agnes, with her little sister, is at the inn. Yes," he continued, +noting me step back a pace in protest, "it is a rude life enough for +tender women, but they come of stock that fears no danger, and it's +better there than at the Court of Louis." + +I hardly heard the man. To meet his wife day after day, to associate +on terms of cordial intimacy with this honorable gentleman, to enjoy +his confidence, my heart filled the while with guilt too strong to +conquer--the thing was torture not to be endured. + +"Come with me to the inn; let us get the ladies and their luggage +aboard. Agnes will be glad to meet you; she says she has great +curiosity to see what you are like." + +I excused myself most lamely upon the plea of some duty to be performed. + +"Ah well, on board then; she will have abundant time, aye, abundant +time." + +From a dark place near the inn door, I watched their departure. Poor +weakling that I was, I could not deny myself. The Chevalier, with +Agnes and another lady, took their way toward the waiting boat, a +flickering lanthorn being borne in their front. His words, "Agnes will +be glad to meet with you; she has great curiosity to see what you are +like," recurred again and again. + +So she had deceived him, and he knew nothing of our meetings? Ah, well +do these women manage, and we are ever dupes. And I, who all my life +had detested small deceptions, found myself heartily applauding +this--was it not for my sake. This secret was _ours_--_mine_ and +_hers_; the bond which we two held in common apart from all the world. +A sweet reflection. The little weaknesses of women are very precious +to their object, and if the deluded one knows it not, why where's the +harm? Small comfort came to me, however, for all the while conscience, +like a burning nettle in the side, gave the lie to each excuse. + +All that night I paced about, and up and down. At length came gray +dawn, but not decision. An early fisherman disposed his net upon the +beach. I watched him long in silence, then abruptly asked, so fiercely +that he dropped his work: + +"Old man, do you know of any other vessel sailing soon for the American +Colonies in the South?" + +"Aye, sir, there's a brig fitting out at Boulogne-sur-Mer for the +Spanish seas, to sail in a week or thereabout. But, sir," the old +fellow looked cautiously about to assure himself that no one else could +hear, "they say un-Christian things of that brigand crew. She bodes no +good." + +"A freebooter?" + +"Aye, sir, or a privateer, which, they say, is the milder term." + +My resolution was formed. + +"Await me here; I will pay your gains for the day if you will but do me +a slight service." + +"Aye, aye, sir," he responded, touching his surf-stained cap. + +I returned briefly from the inn bearing a note for M. de Serigny. +Therein I explained that a most important matter had transpired to +detain me until another vessel sailed, some few days at most. I would +tell him of it more at length when I joined him at Biloxi. + +I gave it, with a broad gold piece, to the old fellow, and directed +that he give it to Serigny. There I remained until I saw the man +clamber up le Dauphin's side, when I left at once, fearing further +communication from Serigny. + + +Entering Boulogne at daybreak, the undulating valley of the Liane +claimed not one appreciative glance. The ancient city trembled in its +slumber at my feet. Already it became restless with the promise of +another day which clad its gables in flame and burned the rough old +towers with the shining gold of God. A little beyond, the waters +glimmered in the sun's first rays, and writhing seaward tossed +themselves in anger against the dim white cliffs of our hereditary foes. + +As a picture laid away in memory this all comes back to me pure and +fresh, but on that morning I gave it no heed. From the heights I +passed along through quiet streets into the lower town, thence to the +beach, where I was soon inquiring among the sailors for the privateer. +These women looked askance at me, and regarded my unfamiliar uniform +with suspicion, but after great difficulty one of their number was +induced to carry me alongside an ominous looking craft lying in the +harbor--a black-hulled brig of probably six hundred and fifty tons +burden. Of the sentinel on deck I asked: + +"Your captain--" + +"Is here," and at the word a dark, wiry man, who had evidently been +watching my approach, appeared at the companion way. + +"A word with you, sir, if you are the captain of this craft. I am told +you are refitting for a trip to west Florida. What your errand is I +care not; I want to go with you." + +"We do not take passengers," he answered positively. + +"Then take me as a marine, a seaman, what you will. I am a soldier, +familiar with the handspike as with the sword, though knowing little of +winds or currents." + +Captain Levasseur eyed me closely, asked many questions concerning my +life and service, to which I replied, truthfully in part. He seemed +satisfied. + +"Well, we do need a few more stout fellows who can handle a cutlass; +when could you come aboard?" + +"At once; I have no baggage but the weapons at my side." + +"Good. Your name?" + +"Gaspard Cambronne," I answered at random. + +The freebooter laughed. + +"We care nothing for your name so you will fight. We sail the day +after to-morrow one week." And surveying my well knit frame, for I was +a sturdy youth, "If you know any more stout young fellows like yourself +we can give them a berth apiece." + +So I scrambled aboard without more ado, and became at once a member of +the "Seamew's" crew. I hardly knew at first why I gave a false name. +But the character of the vessel was doubtful, its destination +uncertain, and knowing not what mission she was on I shirked to give my +real name and station. The chance was desperate, yet not one whit more +desperate than I. + +The Seamew sailed more than three weeks behind le Dauphin, armed with +letters of marque from the King commissioning her to prey upon Spanish +commerce in southern seas, and especially to take part in any +expedition against Havana or Pensacola. + +Our voyage wore on drearily enough to me, almost without incident. +After four weeks of sky and sea we rounded the southernmost cape of +Florida and turned into the Mexican Gulf. I grew more and more +impatient and full of dread. Le Dauphin had twenty-three days the +start of our faster vessel, and Biloxi was probably at that moment in a +fever of warlike preparation. It was just possible, too, that the +Spaniards had not yet been informed of the war, and nothing had been so +far done by them. + +Cruising by Pensacola harbor, just outside the Isle de Santa Rosa, a +pine-grown stretch of narrow sand which for twenty-five leagues +protects that coast, Levasseur called me to him. + +"Do you know, my lad, what vessels those are at anchor in the harbor?" + +Two of them I recognized as I would my own tent, two French men-of-war +which Bienville had long been expecting from France. The rest were +Spaniards, full-rigged, four ships, and six gunboats. Levasseur put +the Seamew boldly about and entered the harbor. He signaled the +Frenchmen, lowered a boat, and sent his lieutenant aboard the flagship +with credentials and a letter signifying his readiness to engage in any +enterprise. + +From Admiral Champmeslin, in command of the squadron, he learned that +Bienville and Serigny, combined with the Choctaws, had invested +Pensacola by land, and on the morrow a simultaneous attack by land and +sea would be made. The Spanish forces consisted of four ships, six +gunboats, a strong fort on Santa Rosa Island, and the works at +Pensacola, the strength of whose garrison was unknown. + +That night on board the Seamew was spent in busy preparation and in +rest. I alone was unemployed, my awkwardness with ropes and spars +forbade it. I sat moodily upon a gun at the port, and fixing my eyes +on shore vainly endeavored to make out what the French and Choctaws +were doing there. To the left were the meager camp fires of the +Indians; further up the hills a more generous blazing line marked the +French position. + +Gradually a low wavering sound separated itself from the other noises +of the night, coming faint but clear upon the light land breeze, the +first quivering notes of a Choctaw war chant. How familiar it was. +Was I mistaken? I listened more intently. No. It was in very truth +the voice of Tuskahoma, my old friend on many marches. + +I cared nothing for the Seamew or her crew, and determined to seek my +old friends to fight out the day with them. + +What little thought I gave it justified the deed. My position as an +officer of the King would palliate deserting the ship which had brought +me over. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE FALL OF PENSACOLA + +I slipped down the anchor chain without noise into the throbbing sea, +and swam ashore to a point some three or four cable lengths away. +Guided by the single voice which still sang of war, of glory and of +death, I pushed easily into the ring of hideously painted savages who +surrounded the singer. To unaccustomed eyes this would have been a +fearful sight. + +Two hundred warriors sat motionless as bronze idols about their chief; +two hundred naked bodies glinted back the pine knot's fitful glow. In +the center of this threatening circle moved Tuskahoma, two great +crimson blotches upon his cheeks, treading that weird suggestive +measure the Indians knew so well. Round and round a little pine-tree, +shorn of its branches and striped with red, he crept, danced and sang. +His words came wild and irregular, a sort of rhythmic medley, now soft +and low as the murmur of the summer ocean, now thrilling every ear by +their sudden ferocity and fearful energy. Now it was the gentle +lullaby, the mother's crooning, the laughter of a child; again, the +bursting of the tempest, the lightning's flash, the thunder's rumbling +roar. + +His arms raised to heaven like some gaunt priest of butchery, he +invoked the mighty Manitou of his tribe, then dropping prone upon the +ground he crawled, a sinuous serpent, among the trees. + +For awhile his listeners wandered away upon their chieftain's words to +the waiting ones at home, to hunting grounds of peace and plenty; +melodious as a maiden's sigh that song breathed of love and lover's +hopes, it wailed for departed friends, extolled their virtues, and +called down heaven's curses upon the coward of tomorrow's fight. Then +the fierce gleam of shining steel, one wild war-whoop and all again was +still. His words faded away in the echoless night till a holy hush +brooded o'er beach and forest. + +Then the solitary dancer wound about the ring as the crouching panther +steals upon her prey, while peal after peal came the frightful cries of +barbaric conflict, the shrieks of the wounded--a wild, victorious shout +blended with a hopeless dying scream. + +With a master's touch he played upon their vibrant feelings; not a key +of human emotion he left unsounded fame, pride, hate, love and +death--his song expressed them all. + +Thoroughly frenzied, warrior after warrior now began to join him in the +ring; voice after voice caught up the dread refrain which terrorized +the trained soldiery of Europe and filled their imaginations with the +nameless horrors of unrelenting war. + +High above the din Tuskahoma lifted now his ferocious battle cry; +advancing upon the blazed sapling he sank his tomahawk deep into the +soft white wood, then moved swiftly out of the circle to his own fire. +This was the act by which he announced his assumption of supreme +authority. + +Frantic with excitement the unleashed throng rushed upon this fancied +enemy, and soon but the mangled fragments and the roots marked where it +had stood. + +And the forest slumbered and the sentry paced his lonely path. + +It is not my purpose to speak in detail of those matters of history +which have been so much better described by men of learning. I would +merely mention in passing such smaller affairs as relate directly to my +own narrative. + +Short and sharp was the conflict which, under God, gave our arms the +victory at Pensacola. Swarming over the palisades or boldly tearing +them down, the Choctaws, led by Tuskahoma, swept the Spaniards from +their works. It so happened that Tuskahoma and I mounted the +fortifications together. As I essayed to drop down upon the inside my +sword belt caught upon the top of a picket, leaving me dangling in mid +air, an easy prey to those below had they only noticed my plight. +Tuskahoma paused to sever the belt with his knife, and by this accident +I was first within the Spanish works, sword and pistol in hand. Soon a +hundred were by my side. + +The Spanish troops, inured to civilized warfare, could not stand before +these yelling demons, springing here and there elusive as phantoms, +wielding torch and tomahawk with deadly effect. + +In the very forefront, shoulder to shoulder, with a laugh and a parry, +a lunge and a jest, fought the Chevalier de la Mora. Merry as a lad at +play, resolute and quick, I could but stop betimes to wonder at the +fellow. Gallant, gay and debonnair, he sang a rippling little air from +soft Provence, and whirled his blade with such dainty skill that even +the stoical Indians gazed in awe upon the laughing cavalier. Fighting +through a bye-street, he met, steel to steel, a Spanish gentleman, +within the sweep of whose sword lay half a dozen of our good fellows. + +De la Mora glanced at this silent tribute to the Spaniard's prowess; +his face lighted up with a soldier's joy. He planted one foot +staunchly across a prostrate corpse, and right jauntily rang out the +hissing music of their steel. Instinctively I paused to watch, and as +instinctively understood that though pressed to his best, de la Mora +desired to be left alone. Verily it was a gentleman's fight, and no +odds, for love and glory's sake, though the Spaniard might have had a +whit the better. As I fought on, I heard the swift hurtle of a flying +knife, and saw the Spaniard drop his sword. De la Mora glanced round +with indignant eyes to the Choctaw who had made the cast, now looking +for approval from this gentleman who sang like a woman and fought like +a fiend. The Chevalier was like to have wreaked summary vengeance for +striking so foul a blow. Through the press I could see him go up to +his late adversary, bare-headed and courteous, to extricate him from +the motley, bleeding group wherein he had fallen. Throwing his +powerful shoulder against a door, he broke it down, and tenderly +carried the wounded gentleman within. I could then see him quietly +standing guard at the door, waiting for the turmoil to cease, for it +was then quite evident that the day was ours. + +Already the Choctaws were busy tearing the reeking scalps from the +living and the dead. De la Mora's face grew deathly pale at the sight; +his cheeks did play the woman, and one might deem him my lady's dapper +page, catching his maiden whiff of blood. This generous act kept him +from being in at the close of the fray, and robbed him of the greater +meed of glory which he might have thereby won. Twice that day, as he +struck down a pike aimed at my breast, did he make me to feel in my +heart like a lying thief--I, who was weak enough to imagine his +dishonor. + +Just at the last there was a trifling incident occurred which my lads +insisted was greatly to my credit. News of this was carried straight +to the Governor, and much was made thereof. + +Bienville, with his Frenchmen, battered down the gates, and before many +minutes the proud Castilian pennon lowered to the milk-white flag of +France. On sea and land were we alike successful. + +An hour after Pensacola fell, the Spanish ships struck their colors to +Champmeslin. Our greatest loss was the total destruction of the +Seamew, blown up by a red-hot shot, which fell in her powder magazine. + +At the surrender I caught my old commander's eye. He motioned me to +draw nearer. I obeyed most reluctantly, for I expected a stern rebuke +from the rugged soldier who never forgave the slightest deviation from +his orders. Instead, Bienville overwhelmed me with praise. He grasped +my hand, and spoke loud enough for all the troops to hear: + +"Before our assembled armies I am proud to acknowledge your share in +France's triumph this day; proud and grateful for your fidelity at +Versailles and Paris. Your example of loyalty and courage is one +worthy to be emulated by all the sons of France. The King shall have +your name for further recognition." + +This was a great deal for Bienville to say, especially at such a time. +My own lips were dumb. + +"Take your proper place, sir." + +And mechanically I walked to the head of my cheering guards. I was +amazed. And Serigny? Had he made up his mind to overlook my +defection? Had the Governor forgiven my failure to return in le +Dauphin? Surely not. The noble voice of Bienville broke into my +puzzled thought: + +"Captain de Mouret, you will receive the surrender of Don Alphonso, our +knightly and courteous foe." + +It thrilled me with pride that I should receive so famous a sword, for +knightlier foeman than Alphonso never trod a deck nor tossed his +gauntlet in the lists. I stepped forward to the Spanish lines where +their vanquished admiral tendered me the insignia of his command, when +on a sudden thought I put back the proffered sword, assuring him so +noble a soldier ought never to stand disarmed, and no hand but his +should touch that valiant blade. My delighted lads cheered again like +mad, and Bienville himself seemed much pleased at my courtesy. + +"Bravo! Placide," he exclaimed, clapping his hands, his rugged face +aglow with martial joy. His countenance changed, however, when his eye +fell upon the cringing figure of Matamora, the commandant of perfidious +memory. + +"You, too, Matamora? What, not yet killed! Hast saved thy precious +skin again? More's the pity. And do you think to merit the respect +accorded manhood and good faith? By the name of honor, no. Here boy," +and he beckoned to the negro slave who stood at his elbow, "do you take +yon dishonored weapon and break it before the troops." + +And Matamora, full glad to escape with life and limb, willingly yielded +up his sword to the black who snapped it under his foot, obedient to +Bienville's nod, then cast the tainted pieces from him. + + +Upon the long march to Biloxi, de la Mora was the life of the command, +and drew to our camp fire every straggler who could make a fair excuse +to come. He knew good songs, and he sang them well; he knew good +cheer, and he kept us all in radiant spirits. All, save myself. I was +bitterly dejected. + +"Cheer up, lad," he'd say, "What ails you? One would think you'd met +reverse, instead of winning glory and promotion. It was a brave day, +and bravely you did bear yourself. Would that Jerome could see." + +But the consciousness of dishonor had torn elation from my soul, +though, God knows, it had before been stainless in thought or deed. + +"We'll have many sweet and tranquil hours at Biloxi when days of peace +are come. My cottage can be your home after the barracks no longer +claim your care. Agnes is the sweetest of wives; her little sister, +too, a child, but fair, and clever too, beyond her years." + +Verily I cared nothing for a baby sister. But Agnes? + +He repeated his invitation to their cottage many times, and mentally I +prayed, "O God, lead not Thy children into temptation." + +When we had settled down again at Biloxi, for days I remained to myself +in the barracks, and saw no one, making pretense of being busy amongst +my men. + +De la Mora rallied me upon my ungallant conduct, in denying to the +ladies the sight of so famous a soldier. + +I had now firmly determined to make it necessary to be away from the +post for a season, either in campaign with the Choctaws against the +Natchez, or by taking part in the coming siege of Havana. Any pretext +to get away. Anything but the truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX + +One day very soon thereafter my servant presented me a box, which he +said had been brought there by an Indian from Colonel d'Ortez, with the +request that it be delivered into my own hand. And further, to beg I +would make him a visit as soon as my duties would permit. + +The evening being far advanced I could not go that night, so contented +myself with the promise I would cross the bay on the morrow. + +Later, my company being my own, I gave attention to the box, such a +metal receptacle as was commonly used for articles of value. It +responded easily to the key, and opened without difficulty. + +The reasons for d'Ortez's fear and retirement lay bare before me, if I +would but search them out. Within the box, bound together by deerskin +thongs, were many writings, some on parchment, some paper, of different +dates and degrees of preservation. Some were well worn from age and +handling, others more recent, were in better condition. Some there +were which appeared quite new and fresh; these must have been the +latest to find a resting place in his keeping. + +All were arranged in due and systematic order; of whatever age, each +bore a careful superscription, giving in brief the contents of the +paper written by his own exact hand. Beside this, each document was +numbered and placed in sequence. Verily, it was most methodically +done, so any child could read and understand. + +It was with much misgiving I approached the task of making myself +familiar with my old friend's secret. Had he committed some youthful +crime which weighed heavily upon his trembling age, and had driven him +to these savage shores, where, shut out from all companionship with his +kind, he did a lonely penance? If so, I preferred to remain in +ignorance, for his was a friendship so dear, so pure, I desired not to +taint it with the odor of guilt. + +He had, however, made his request in such urgent terms, even pathetic, +I could not disregard it, and putting aside the reluctance I felt, I +took up the paper which lay on top, directed to myself, and began its +perusal. It was as follows: + + +My dear Placide: + +The great feebleness of my worn-out frame warns me again that time for +me is almost past. It may be, when you recross the seas, I shall have +gone to final judgment. * * * remember my request, and carry on to the +end that work which generations of cowards have left undone. * * * All +is here contained in these papers, except some recent news I have of +the Pasquiers from the northern colonies. + +Possibly if you went to Quebec and sought out the Cure of St. Martin's +(who wrote this last letter, No. 32) you may right it all, and give to +my soul its eternal peace. * * * With the strong affection which my +bodily infirmities have in no wise diminished, I am, + +Your old friend. + RAOUL ARMAND XAVIER D'ORTEZ. + of Cartillon, Normandy. + + +Having carefully read this letter, I then proceeded to peruse the +various documents in the order he had arranged them. + +The first, written by the hand of the Benedictine, Laurent of Lorraine, +Abbot of Vaux, told of the admission to the monastery of a child, son +of Henri d'Artin, to whom the good monks gave the name Bartholomew +Pasquier. This child, though designed for orders, left the monastery, +cast his fortunes with the King of Navarre, and became a great officer +in the household of King Henri the Fourth. + +Other documents gave an account of the posterity of this child down to +one Francois Rene Alois de Pasquier, who fled to America in 1674 to +escape the vengeance of a certain great lord whose son he slew in a +duel. This was he who was reputed to have been killed in battle, and +to have left no issue. And this was he whom I afterward found to be my +own good father. + +There was also contained an account of the later life of Pedro d'Ortez, +who, profiting not by his blood-gotten gains, threw himself, while in +delirium, into the same old well whereon he had hanged his brother, +Henri d'Artin. + +Some further notes by the good abbot told of how Raoul, the second son +of Pedro, slew his own brother, before their father's eyes, in order +that he, Raoul, might be Count of Cartillon. And this same Raoul, some +years later, did have the locket made and forced his own son to swear +that he would restore the real sons of d'Artin, the true children of +the Black Wolf's Breed, to their own again. All of these accounts are +of surpassing interest, old and quaint, to a perusal of which I +recommend my children.[1] + +For the first time, in reading these manuscripts, did I begin clearly +to associate the name d'Ortez with the name used by the madman in his +story at the old Norman ruin. With this new light, link by link did +the whole knotted chain untangle. Curiously enough, the tale I had +heard at the ruined castle tallied in the main with the monkish +documents here preserved. Indeed it supplied me with knowledge of much +which otherwise I would not have comprehended so completely. The +horrible reality of that weird recital was still fresh and distinct +before me, undimmed by time and unforgotten through all my troubles. + +I had sought refuge many times from brooding over my own affairs by +turning to this for interest and occupation. Every further detail was +supplied by a number of quaint documents, which Colonel d'Ortez had +digested into this: + + TABLE SHOWING THE MALE DESCENDANTS OF + + HENRI d'ARTIN AND OF PEDRO ORTEZ. + + Henri Francois Placide Pedro d'Ortez, suicided 1604. + d'Artin, died Aug. 28, Charles Pedro, killed ) Sons + 1572. by Raoul 1602. ) of + Bartholomew Pasquier (son Raoul, died 1618. ) above + of above), died 1609. Charles Francis Peter (son of + Bartholomew Placide ) Raoul), died without issue. + Pasquier killed in ) Sons Pedro d'Ortez (brother to + wars of the Fronde. ) of above), died 1663 + Henri Louis John (brother ) above. Henry (son of above), killed + to above), died 1654. ) in battle. + Francois Rene Xavier de Pasquier Alphonze, killed in ) + (ennobled), killed 1650. battle. ) + Francois Rene Alois de Pasquier, Felix, died in infancy. ) Sons + fled to America. Supposed to Raoul Armand Xavier ) of + have been killed about 1681. d'Ortez, born 1641 ) above. + No known descendants. Well (myself). Died ----. ) + known to the Cure of St. No children. ) + Martin's, Quebec. She who was born my daughter I + disowned, and she died without + issue. + + +It appeared that the only thing to be done was to visit the good Cure +of St. Martin's, and, enlisting him in the search, find whatever +descendants might have been left by this Francois Rene Alois de +Pasquier. The task need not be a difficult one, as many old people +should still be living who might have known of the man.[2] + +I now bethought me of this enterprise as a fair excuse whereby I could +leave Biloxi for a space. I would, therefore, call upon my old friend, +and having obtained leave, matters now being safe with the colony, make +the journey to Quebec. + +But, alas for the weakness of fallen humanity; my last act before +putting myself out of temptation's way was to run full tilt into it. + +While this came so near to causing my dishonorable death, yet it was, +under Divine Providence, the direct means of spreading before me a long +life of happiness and honor. After a hard battle with my weaker self I +lost the fight. + +Just as on the day I departed from Versailles, I determined, cost what +it would, to see Agnes once again. So I wrote her a note. Such a +blunt and clumsy billet as only a love-sick soldier or a country clown +could have written. It craved pardon for the heat and the haste +displayed by me when we parted at Sceaux; it implored one last +interview before I left the colonies forever. I had not the art to +conceal or veil my meaning, but told it out and plainly. Such a note +as an idiotic boy might pen, or a simpering school lass be set +fluttering to receive. + +I bade my man deliver this to Madame de la Mora on the morrow, charging +him minutely and repeatedly to see it safe in her own hands. So +careful was I, I did not doubt that even so stupid a lout as Jacques +understood me perfectly. + +His further instructions were to meet me at the Bay when I should +return in the evening from my visit to Colonel d'Ortez, and there +beside its rippling waters--or so I had arranged--I was to receive her +answer. + +It had now turned late of the night, and I sought repose. Sleep evaded +my bed. What with my own restless desires, my chiding sense of +ill-doing, and the d'Ortez story I had read, I tossed and tumbled +through the remaining hours of darkness. Tumbled and tossed, whilst +the sins and sufferings of men long dead passed and repassed with their +spectral admonitions. + +Early on the morrow, while the day was yet cool, I crossed the Bay, and +climbed the slope of sand before the lonely house. It looked more +deserted and desolate than I had ever seen it. The stillness of +solitary death clung as a pall about the place. Pachaco, the Indian +servant, sat beside the gate, as motionless as the post against which +he leaned. + +"How is the master, Pachaco?" I inquired, passing in. + +"Him die yesterday," came the stolid reply. + +"What? Dead! When?" + +"The shadows were at the longest," he answered, indicating by a gesture +the western horizon. + +I hurried into the master's room. In the same position he had +occupied, when, months ago, he had beckoned me to remain, he sat there, +dead in his chair. His clothing hung about him in that sharply angular +fashion in which garments cling to a corpse. Long, thin locks were +matted above his brow, awesomely disarranged. But the pose of his +head, drooped a little forward, suggested a melancholy reverie, nothing +more. + +The golden locket, which he had shown me that well-remembered night, +rested within his shrunken palm. I noted that the side was open which +revealed the blazing bar of red. As if absorbed in that same +unpleasant thought, there sat the master, dead; dead, and I alone knew +his story. How vividly the old man's sorrow came back; how it +oppressed me. + +I bent down in tender sympathy to look again upon his wasted features, +and kneeling, gazed into his wide-open eyes. The calm of promised +peace upon his brow was distorted by the unsatisfied expression of one +who has left his work undone. + +So are the sins of the fathers visited upon their children, for I was +no longer in doubt but that the murderer, Pedro Ortez, was the sinning +ancestor of my old-time friend. Even in his presence my thoughts flew +to Agnes; had she not spoken of her grandsire as being such a man? The +stiffening body at my side was speedily forgotten in the music of this +meditation. + +I gained my feet again and looked down upon him, fascinated by the +changeless features of the dead. It was probably natural that standing +there I should revolve the whole matter over and over again, from the +first I knew of it until the last. A young man's plans, though, work +ever with the living; the dead he places in their tomb, covers them +with earth, bids them "God-speed," and banishes the recollection. I +was already busy with my contemplated search for the last d'Artin, and +stood there leaning against the oaken table pondering over the +question, "Where is the last d'Artin?" + +My mind wandered, returning with a dogged persistence to that one +thought, "Where is the last d'Artin?" "Where could _I_ find him?" My +restless eyes roamed round the cheerless room, coming always back to +rest upon a long dust-covered mirror set in the wall across the way. + +As wind-driven clouds gather and group themselves in fantastic shapes, +so, deep in that mirror's shadowy depths, a vague figure gradually took +form and character--myself. + +With the vacant glance of a man whose mind is intensely preoccupied, I +studied minutely the reflection, my own bearing, my dress, my weapons. +I even noted a button off my coat, and tried dimly to remember where I +had lost it, until--great God--this chamber of death and revelation had +turned my brain. + +What face was that I saw? My own, assuredly, but so like another. + +Aghast, powerless to move or cry out, I stared helplessly into the +glass. Every other sensation vanished now before this new-born terror +which held my soul enslaved. I closed my eyes, I dared not look. + +My body seemed immovable with horror, but a trembling hand arose and +pointed at the mirror. Scant need there was to call attention to that +dim, terrible presence; my whole soul shrank from the ghostly face +reflected in the glass. For there, there was the same pallid +countenance, death-distorted and drawn, which I had conjured up in many +a frightened dream as that of the murdered Count--there was Henri +d'Artin. + +How long I stood transfixed, pointing into the mirror, I know not. As +men think of trifles even in times of deadly fear, so did my lips frame +over and over again the last question I had in mind before all sense +forsook me, "Where is the last d'Artin? Where is the last d'Artin? +Where--?" + +And in answer to my question, that long, rigid finger pointed _directly +at me_ from out the dusty glass. It was as if the hand of the dead had +told me who I was. + +It had been no blind chance, then, which led me to the Paris house of +the "Black Wolf's Head;" the girl's ring with the same device, and the +grewsome narrative beneath the shadow of the Wolf at the Norman +ruin--nothing less than fate had brought these lights to me. + +Verily some more logical power than unreasoning accident must direct +the steps of men. A God of justice perhaps had placed these tokens in +my path. And soldiers call this "Fortune." + + * * * * * * + +I dispatched Pachaco to Biloxi with the news of death, and long before +the afternoon our few simple arrangements for his funeral had been made. + +"Bury me here, Placide, beneath this great oak," he had said to me one +day. "The Infinite Mercy will consecrate the grave of penitence, +wherever it may be." + +He had his wish. + + + +[1] These documents have been included in an appendix to this volume. + +[2] A very slight investigation showed that this last named Francois +Rene Alois de Pasquier was none other than my own good father, who +assumed the name de Mouret to avoid the consequences of a fatal duel in +France. This I learned from the pious Cure of St. Martin's, who knew +him well. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +A NOTE WHICH WENT ASTRAY. + +Meanwhile Jacques had undertaken to manage my little affair at Biloxi +with tact and discretion. And this is how the fellow did it: + +It seems that Jacques thought no harm of the note, and when he took it +first to the house my lady was out. The honest fellow, doing his best +to carry out my instructions, refused to leave it. When he returned, +my lady worked, bent down amongst her flowers, in the little garden +beside their cottage. The Chevalier stood some distance off, busied +someway, Jacques knew not how, but with his face turned away from my +messenger as he came up. Jacques handed the note to my lady through +the fence, and she took it gently by the corner, fearing to soil it. +She held it up to look at the name written upon it, and seeing it was +her own, looked again more curiously at the writing. She did not know +the hand. Then she gaily called to the Chevalier: + +"Oh, Charles, come here; see what I have; it is a missive to your wife, +and from some gay gallant, too. I do not know the writing. Do you +come here and read it to me. My hands are so--" She held up two small +white hands dabbled in the dirt. + +"Perhaps some invitation to a court ball. We'll go, eh, Agnes?" + +He came like the fine, strong gentleman he was, across the garden, +taking the note from her and tearing it open. He began straightway to +read, my lady on tip-toe behind him reading over his shoulder, and +holding her contaminated hands away from his coat. His face grew +puzzled at the first, then as he seemed to finish, he stood a pace +apart from my lady and read again. There was murder in his face--yet +so white and quiet. + +He threw down the note and ground it into the soft earth beneath his +heel. Then he caught my lady firmly by both her shoulders and held her +fast, at full arm's length, gazing steadily into her face. + +"God in heaven," as Jacques said to me; "Master, what eyes has that +Chevalier de la Mora! No man could lie to him with those eyes reading +what a fellow thought." Jacques could not make himself to leave; he +stood rigid and watched. + +"Well, Madame?" + +"She tried to laugh, but her husband's face forbade that this could be +a spark of lover's play. + +"Well, Madame?" + +"Why, Charles, what is the matter with you, you behave so strangely?" + +The Chevalier had grown an older man, his face stern and resolute, eyes +a-glitter, and mouth drawn in tense, determined lines. A most +dangerous man. + +"Why, Charles, what is the matter?" + +"When did you meet him at Sceaux? What did you do?" + +"Meet who?" + +"Don't lie to me, woman, I am in no mood for subterfuge." + +She besought him with one frightened look, one step forward to him as +if for protection, which he repelled; then she looked as though she +might weep. + +"Neither do you weep. Tell me how many notes like this have you +received?" + +"Like what? I could not read it, you held it so high," she sobbed. + +The Chevalier stooped down, picked up the crumpled paper from the +earth, and smoothed it out. He then handed it to her, and regarded her +face intently as she read it. + +"Read this, Madame, and see how careless you have been." + +And my lady read the note; she, too, read it again, the first reading +not sufficing her to understand. Then she looked at her husband with +great wide-open eyes; she was now calm, and as quiet as he. + +"Truly, Charles, I know nothing of this." + +"It was always said, Madame, at Sceaux, you could take the stage and +play the parts of distressed and virtuous damosels," he answered her, +coldly curling his lip. + +"Tell me, Madame, as you value your soul, what is this Captain de +Mouret to you?" + +"As I value my soul," my lady answered him direct and steadily, looking +straight into his eye, her own hands folded across her heaving breast. +"As I value my soul, Charles, I know nothing of him." + +"What does he mean when he says here 'I was hasty and too impulsive +when we parted in the chapel at Sceaux'?" + +"Upon my honor, Charles, I do not know. I never saw the man in all my +life--to know him." + +"Upon your _honor_," the Chevalier repeated. + +And my lady's cheek flushed fire. But her form straightened up, and +her eyes met his unflinching, without guilt or fear. The Chevalier +turned and caught sight of Jacques, for the lout, according to his +story, had grown to the spot as firm as one of the oaks. + +"Here, you fellow, come here, _come here_!" + +And Jacques dared not disobey him. + +"Here, fellow, how many notes like this have you brought to my wife?" + +"Only that one, my lord." Jacques started in by telling the truth, and +he followed it up religiously. According to his account of it, the +Chevalier looked him straight through and through until he dared not +tell a lie. + +"Mind that you tell me the truth. Who gave you this note?" + +"Captain de Mouret." + +"When?" + +"Last night." + +"Where?" + +"At his quarters." + +"To whom did he say you should deliver it?" + +"To Madame Agnes de la Mora." + +The Chevalier stooped, picked up the envelope, and re-read the +superscription, handing it over to my lady, who took it unseeing. + +"Did he expect a reply?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"And where did he say to bring it?" + +"Bring it to him when he returned from across the Bay this afternoon. +I was to await him upon the shore." + +"At what hour?" + +"None was named, my Lord; he said it would be late, perchance." + +Verily, as Jacques told it me, he must have drained the stupid fellow +dry. + +Then the Chevalier turned to my lady with the utmost courtesy: + +"What say you, Madame, shall I bear your reply to this gentle captain? +For by my faith, Madame, you require a more careful go-between than +this, one more discreet and less glib of tongue." + +"Charles, upon my honor, I know nothing of all this; I have never seen +this Captain de Mouret." + +He looked as if he did not hear her. He glanced at the sun, full two +hours high, drew his sword and started to leave the garden. + +He paused to doff his cap, and say, "I bear your message for you, +Madame; verily, I am honored." + +My lady neither screamed nor fainted during his questioning of Jacques; +she stood and listened as one dazed, or who but dimly understood. The +Chevalier strode out sword in hand. + +"For shame, Charles," she called to him calmly enough, though she was +deadly pale, "here is some wretched mistake--" + +"Yes, there does appear to have been a mistake--in the delivery of this +precious billet. I will speedily make that right." + +"Charles, Charles!" + +He turned. Her bearing was full as proud as his. He looked from the +woman to the paper in his hand. + +"Well, if you know not this man, then he has wantonly insulted you. I +shall await this Captain de Mouret by the water, and there I shall know +the truth. He shall explain what means this pretty letter to my wife." + +Jacques watched her proudly erect figure enter the door. He saw her +sway a moment in indecision, then sink beside the bed to pray. She +came shortly to the door again and called him. The fellow's brain +worked slowly, and he had not yet comprehended the extent of mischief +he had done. That he had done something amiss, though, he began to +understand. + +"You had that note from Monsieur le Capitaine de Mouret?" + +"Yes, Madame." + +"And he said deliver it to me?" + +"To Madame Agnes de la Mora. Am I not right?" + +"Yes, I am Madame Agnes de la Mora, but that note was not intended for +me." + +She came closer to Jacques, so close indeed she laid her trembling hand +upon his sleeve. + +"Tell me--you know this Captain de Mouret well--tell me if you would +save an innocent woman, has this Captain de Mouret a love affair here? +Answer me, answer me truly, has he a love affair, or--or a mistress?" + +Her innocence and direct question abashed Jacques sorely and set him a +wondering what manner of escapade was this his master had got into. + +"I will go to her, be she what she may, go to anybody; my husband must +not kill this innocent man. No; and here I disturb myself about my own +reputation, while two lives are in jeopardy. I must think, I must +act--but how?" + +And she broke down to weep again, showing the woman in her that was +behind so brave a front. Her tears were not for long. Jacques felt it +was his turn now to say something, so he blundered out, "See the +Governor;" then one whit better he went, "_I_ will see the Governor for +you." + +The good fellow had in that moment for the first time realized that he +could stop the affair, and do it he would if he had to quit the colony. +And she such a lovely lady, so gentle with the poor. + +"Do you not fear to speak with him of such as this?" + +"No, Madame, Bienville's soldiers do not fear him; they leave that for +his enemies." + +And so it fell out that Jacques told the Governor. And he told him all. + +It was ever Bienville's wont to act with quick decision. + +"Order Major Boisbriant to report to me at once." And off posted +Jacques upon his errand. + +That officer attended with military promptitude. + +"Major Boisbriant, do you seek on the instant the Chevalier de la Mora, +and bear him company wherever he may go until you are relieved. Put +upon him no restraint, and say nothing of your having such orders from +me if you can avoid it. There is trouble brewing here, which I want to +prevent; an affair of honor, you understand. He has gone toward the +landing on the Bay. Be discreet and delicate." + +Boisbriant nodded his comprehension, saluted, and was gone. Bienville +turned to Jacques. + +"Saddle my horse at once and bring him here." + + +It was much later than I had hoped before I could with decency return +to Biloxi. Impatient, childish and excited I recrossed the bay, +leaving a little detail of soldiers to watch beside the body of my +friend. As soon as I saw Jacques on the other shore I knew something +had gone wrong. That senseless knave was pacing uncertainly about the +beach, stopping here and there to dig great holes in the sand with his +toe, and carefully filling them up again. The fellow, ever on the +watch for me, was at the same time watching the path from Biloxi, and +seemed to dread my coming. Instead of meeting me at the water, he +waited for me to approach him, thus leaving the two boatmen out of +hearing. + +"Well, give me the note; why stand there like a driveling fool," for +the fellow's hesitant manner angered and frightened me. + +"There is no note, sir." + +"No reply?" + +"The lady sent none." + +"Why?" + +Under my questions Jacques turned red and pale, then he blundered out: + +"The Chevalier de la Mora said he would bring the answer to you +himself--at the shore." + +He kept his eyes fast riveted upon another hole he was digging in the +sand. + +"The--Chevalier?" I knew what that meant. Great God! and this was the +end of it all. + +"Tell me, you bungling fool, what knows he of this?" + +"Pardon, Master; I thought no harm of it; you had never before employed +me on such an errand." + +It was now my own turn to seek the ground with my eyes, so just, so +humble was the rebuke. + +"I thought no harm of it, sir, and gave it to Madame in the garden; she +called upon the Chevalier to read it for her." + +"What said he? To her? Was he violent?" + +"No sir, most polite; terribly polite, and cool; but, master, you must +not meet him; he will kill you." + +Of this I had scant doubt. + +"Did he make no sign as if he would do her harm?" + +"No, sir, not then, but he looked so queer one could hardly say what he +meditated. I would not care to have him look at me like that." + +I was paralyzed by the suddenness of the ill-fortune which had +befallen, but I was to be allowed no day of grace in which to plan a +line of conduct. My face had been turned all this while toward the +sea, there being something soothing to me about the long, even sweep of +those bright, blue waters in the south. + +Jacques faced the town. I noted a deprecatory gesture, and following +his gaze saw the Chevalier himself coming our way at a good round pace. +My knees did quake, and the veriest poltroon might have well been +ashamed of the overweening fear which possessed me. In defense of +which I may say, I believe it was due in large part to my great respect +and fondness for de la Mora, as well as a deep consciousness of the +justice of his cause. From long habit I looked first to my weapons, +but for once felt no joy in them. + +"Captain de Mouret," he greeted me with a soldier's formal courtesy. + +"Chevalier de la Mora." + +"Captain, I have the honor to return to you a note which I believe +bears your name," and he handed me the unfortunate billet. + +"Am I right? Is that your hand?" + +I scorned to lie, and answered him evenly; + +"It is." + +"Is that note properly directed? To Madame de la Mora?" + +"It is, but--" + +"Have you any explanation, sir, to offer?" + +For the life of me I could think of nothing to say; I could not tell +him the truth, neither could I lie to him with grace. So I simply said: + +"It was not her fault," probably the worst remark I could have made. + +"Then, this note is true? You did meet my wife by appointment in the +ruined chapel at Sceaux?" + +"No, by my honor, there was no appointment; I came upon her by chance, +and through no consent of hers." + +"And so you presumed to meet my wife in a lonely place--which she +denies to me upon her honor, as you now swear; you were there 'hot, +impulsive and hasty' which this _honorable_ missive of yours craves +pardon for. Now you seek another private interview which you say you +can not live without?" + +I nodded moodily, wishing only to have the matter over, and avoid his +further questioning. + +"By my soul, Captain, I am rejoiced to find you so frank--rejoiced that +you do not lie. The other, God knows, is bad enough." + +I winced, but held my tongue. + +"Our business, then, is plain enough; and there is no time like the +present." + +So saying he cast off his coat and began to roll his sleeves back, +leaving bare that magnificent forearm of his, supple and dexterous. +Imitating him we were both soon stripped for action. + +I had only my light rapier, worn about the garrison, while he was armed +with his heavy campaign blade. I was already a dead man, or so I felt, +for there was no spirit in me for the fight. Our blades crossed, and +immediately he noted the disparity of arms. + +"Captain," he remarked, composedly, drawing back a pace. "This is a +bad business; I shall surely kill you, but wish to do so as a +gentleman. Permit me to exchange our weapons, so you fence not at such +great disadvantage." + +And he offered me the hilt of his own reversed sword. + +"Chevalier de la Mora, you are a gallant gentleman, will you believe a +man who has not yet lied to you, and who feels a word is your due?" + +"Be quick," he replied, "we maybe interrupted." + +"I have wronged you and will render full atonement. But it has only +been a wrong of the heart; one of which I had no control, no choice. +Your sweet wife has never, by word or deed, dishonored the noble name +she bears." + +"Of course, Captain, it is a gentleman's part to make such +protestations. It is fruitless for us to discuss this matter further, +except as we had so well begun." + +So intent were we both that neither had seen Jacques leave us, nor had +either heard the swift hoof beats of a horse upon the deadening sand, +until the rider was full upon us. + +Bienville. Behind him, on foot, just emerging from the brush some +distance away, Boisbriant and Jacques. + +"Gentlemen, gentlemen, put by your weapons. What does this mean?" He +had flung himself from his horse and stood between. + +De la Mora sullenly dropped his point. + +"A mere private matter of honor, sire." + +"Are there so few enemies of France with whom to fight that you must +needs turn your swords at each other to rob me of a good soldier when I +need every one?" + +By this time Boisbriant and Jacques had come up, and Bienville +commanded: + +"Major, do you accompany the Chevalier de la Mora to his quarters. You +will take his parole to remain there during the night, and he will +report to me at ten to-morrow. Placide, do you come with me." + +He gave up his horse to Jacques, and taking me by the arm led me in the +direction of the garrison. Truly, I was in no better plight, for I +feared reproof from the Governor more than the steel of de la Mora. +During all this time I said no word. We returned to Biloxi in absolute +silence. Bienville, with all a gentleman's instinct, recognized the +delicacy of my position. + +The Governor took me at once to his own room, and sat me down at the +table. + +"Now, Placide, tell me all about this miserable affair," + +"I can not, sire; believe me, I can not. I beg of you not to put upon +me a command I must disobey. This wretched matter is not for me to +tell, even to you." + +"A woman?" + +I held my peace. + +"Yes, I thought as much. Is it your fault or his, Placide?" + +"Mine." + +He drummed on the table with his fingers a while before he spoke again. + +"Then, my lad, there is but one thing I can do, that is to send you +away from here at once. You can leave this place to-night, seek out +Tuskahoma, make your way to Pensacola, thence to Havana, where I +warrant you will find other occupation. Or, if you so desire, I will +accredit you to Governor Frontenac in the north." + +I chose Havana, there being the greater prospect of active service +there. It took the methodical Governor but brief space to give me such +letters as would insure me fitting reception from our brave fellows at +Pensacola. He placed them in my hand, and I quietly rose to bid him +good-night, and good-bye. I would not have ventured upon anything more +than a formal word of parting, for I had the consciousness of having +done much to forfeit his regard. But the old man came over and put his +arms about me as he might a beloved son. + +"Placide," he said, "it grieves me to the soul for you to leave me. I +love you, boy, as I do my own flesh. You have served me truly, always +with affection and honor. I respect your silence now, and ask you for +no confidences not your own. Serigny has told me how faithful you were +in Paris, and what he heard from others of your interview with the +King. Placide, my lad, even now it fires my blood to think of a boy of +mine standing before the mighty Louis, surrounded by our enemies, and +daring to tell the truth. It was glorious, glorious, and it saved your +Governor. I had minded me in an idle day to hear it all from your own +lips. Perhaps, some day, who knows, it may yet come. You will lose +not an hour in leaving Biloxi, and I have your word to engage in no +encounter?" + +"Aye, sire, you have my word." + +"Good-by, Placide." + +I had dropped upon my knee, and, taking his hand, kissed it gently. He +turned back into his room, shut the door, and left me alone in the +hall. I walked thence straightway to my own quarters, put on hastily +the garb of the forest and made all readiness. My toilet was not +elaborate, and a short half hour found me completely equipped for the +journey. + +Leaving Biloxi, unaccompanied, like a thief in the night, I set out, +and having reached the Bay winded a horn until Pachaco heard, then sat +me down to wait for his boat. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE CHILDREN OF THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED + +According to the Governor's recollection, I had been gone only a short +space when a peremptory knock came upon his door. He opened it, and +there stood the Chevalier de la Mora, dishevelled and with evidences of +haste, but courteous as was his wont. + +"I desire to speak with Captain de Mouret, at once, at once." + +"That you can not do; he has gone. Chevalier, I am astonished. Had I +not a gentleman's parole that you should remain in your house this +night?" + +"You had, sire, but the conditions were urgent, and see, I have sought +Captain de Mouret without arms, so no breach could occur between us." + +"Fortunately, M. le Chevalier, Captain de Mouret has consented to leave +this colony to-night, and before the day dawns he will doubtless be +many miles away." + +The Chevalier heard like one dumb and undecided, a great doubt tugging +at his heart. He departed unsteadily in the direction of the barracks. + +"Here, my good fellow, hast seen Captain de Mouret?" he inquired of a +straggler. + +The man saluted. + +"Yes, sire, he but lately went the path towards the Bay." + +"How long since?" + +"A bare quarter of an hour. He was dressed for the forest and went +alone." + +During this while I, Placide de Mouret, stranger and outcast, sat upon +a grassy hillock awaiting Pachaco with his boat. The echoes of my horn +had died away in the night, and soon after I caught the sound of +running feet, and heard a man's voice calling my name as he ran. To my +utter astonishment it was the Chevalier, breathless from his speed. + +"Is it you--Captain de Mouret?" + +"It is--Chevalier," I replied, uncertain at the first who the man could +be. + +Seeing him in such a state of mind I knew the struggle had come. There +be times in every man's life when he recks lightly of consequences, and +this was not my night for caring. I had, in a measure, run away thus +far from him, and he, not content with this, had pursued me past the +limit of forbearance. So anticipating his own action, I began +carefully to take off my own coat, and remembered with pleasure that it +was not a slight rapier which now hung confidently by my side. + +"No, Captain, not that. I have sought you this time in peace. See, I +have no weapons." + +Suiting the gesture to the speech, he flung wide his arms, and showed +himself unprepared for battle. + +"Captain, you and I have fought side by side. You are a man of +courage, and if you have injured me you will render me due account upon +my demand. I do demand this of you now, that you return with me to +Biloxi at once, upon my assurance as a soldier that no harm will there +befall you. This, sir, upon a soldier's honor." + +It was a most unexpected outcome to such an interview. I hesitated +warily at his request, and then thinking it could make matters no +worse, inquired: + +"How long will you require me, and for what purpose?" + +"The time will be most brief, a moment should suffice. The purpose I +can not give, but it will bring you into no danger. I repeat, upon the +word of a man of honor, that you will be permitted to return safely as +you came, and no one will follow." + +I must say, in spite of these protests, I did not want to go. But he +pressed his wish so earnestly that I followed the Chevalier down the +winding path back to Biloxi, not without great trepidation, however. +He walked rapidly in front, and not a word was exchanged between us. +We passed the barracks and the Governor's house, where I thought to +stop, but he led me on. Leaving the thicker portions of the little +town, he soon paused before his own gate and swung it open. The wild +thought now entered my brain that perhaps he had planned some terrible +revenge upon his wife, and desired to torture me by forcing me to +witness it. I hung back at the gate. My own good sword re-assured me, +and he mounted the step to throw open the door. + +"Come in, Captain. I regret that I can not give you a more sincere +welcome." + +Truly, there was nothing in the aspect of the room to cause alarm. Two +ladies were inside, one at either end of a simple working table--Agnes +and another lady, about her own figure, whom I did not know. The elder +woman looked straight in my face with an anxious air. + +The Chevalier did not formally present me. Agnes drooped her head +somewhat, and never raised her eyes at my entrance. It was a most +awkward situation. As to what de la Mora contemplated I could not +venture the wildest guess; certainly no violence in the presence of +this other lady who looked so cool while yet so pale. + +"Captain de Mouret, as you hope for your soul's salvation, I conjure +you to tell me the whole truth. I do solemnly promise you, upon a +soldier's honor, at the very worst which may come, I will only leave +this colony, and will not injure any one." + +I had seen de la Mora on many a field, but never did he look stronger +or nobler than on that night. His voice sounded full and clear despite +the intensity of his suffering. + +"Captain de Mouret, you are a soldier, a brave one, as my own eyes have +witnessed, reputed a man of untarnished honor. Will you truly answer +me one question upon the sacred Blood of Christ?" + +His earnestness appealed to every better instinct of my nature, so I +replied to him: + +"I will." + +"Have I your oath?" + +"You have." + +"Then, sir, to which of these ladies, if either, did you intend this +note should be delivered; and which, if either, did you meet at the +ruined chapel at Sceaux? Speak, in God's name, and do not spare me! +Suspicion is more terrible than truth." + +The very worst had come, and I felt my resolution waver. I knew not +what story Agnes had told her husband, nor did I know who that other +lady was. She looked enough like Agnes to have afforded shallow +pretext for an evasion. Verily here was a strong temptation for a lie, +and I was almost minded to tell it and relieve Agnes. Agnes, though, +would give me no cue; never once did she lift her eyes to mine. I +might even then have told the lie, but for the reflection it would +compromise an innocent woman. + +"Captain, in God's name, speak! do you not see that I am quiet and +self-controlled?" + +"Chevalier de la Mora, I shall tell you the exact truth, and hold you +to your promise that there shall be no violence--now. What I did was +through my fault alone, nor did your lady give me the slightest +encouragement--she is blameless. It is a sore strait you have placed +me in, but _this_ is the lady who has all a soldier's love, and a +soldier's respect, which she has done nothing to forfeit." + +As I spoke, I indicated the shrinking figure of Agnes, and turned to +meet the storm. Verily the storm did come, but from a different source. + +The elder lady rose with a fervent "Thank God!" which I could find no +reason for her saying. Agnes nervously twisted at the table cover, her +cheeks crimson with the shame. I could not resist a long look down +upon her, and do what I might, my love showed full and strong in my +face and mien. + +De la Mora keenly watched us all. That other lady, for whom I had no +thought, to my utter surprise, moved toward him with hands +outstretched, and cried: + +"Charles." + +For a moment he hesitated, then: + +"Oh, Agnes, Agnes, a lifetime's love and service can not compensate you +for what I've made you suffer--the doubt I bore my loyal wife." + +He fell upon his knee before her and carried her hand to his lips as +though she were a goddess, and then sprang toward me with the gladdest +of glad smiles, thrust his hand at me, and came near to cracking mine +by the vigor of his grasp. His throat choked up, and he said nothing. + +And all this while I looked from one to the other with a most dull and +stupid stare. + +Agnes looked up at me once, radiant and confused, then lowered her eyes +again. + +The Chevalier broke a silence which was becoming intolerable, to me at +least, who did not understand it all. + +"Captain de Mouret, you have been in error, and have done me no wrong. +This lady here is my worshiped wife, Madame Agnes de la Mora." I +looked upon her incredulously, while that gracious woman took one hand +from her husband long enough to extend to me her greeting. + +Thoroughly perplexed by this most unlooked for denouement, I asked: + +"Who, then, is _this_?" + +"This chit," he replied, walking round the table, happy as a boy, and +almost lifting her bodily, "this is Madame's little sister, Charlotte. +She confessed this evening to having spoken with you once in the Chapel +at Sceaux--and I, may God forgive me, doubted but she had done it to +shield her sister. I knew the little minx had warned you in the Park, +but thought nothing of it. Charlotte, come here!" + +And Charlotte de Verges laid her warm little hand in mine. For thirty +years it has rested there in peace. + + * * * * * * + +Thus, through many strange perils and purifying sorrows came the +abiding happiness which blessed these last two children of the "Black +Wolf's Breed." + + + + +FINIS + + + + +APPENDIX + + +Note by the Author + +I have included here the full text of the documents contained in the +iron box, sent to Placide de Mouret by Colonel D'Ortez, just prior to +his death. One of these papers, that showing the male descendants of +Henri d'Artin and of Pedro Ortez, which proved that Francois Rene Alois +de Pasquier was the father of Placide and which indicated that the wife +of the Chevalier de la Mora and her sister were the grandchildren of +Colonel D'Ortez, was set out in the body of the narrative and will be +found in Chapter XXII. These supplementary documents (which are +historically accurate) confirm, not only the story related by Colonel +D'Ortez to Placide, but also the strange story told by mad Michel under +the shadow of the Castle of Cartillon. While they may add little to +the narrative interest of the main story, these documents serve to +confirm some of the least credible incidents of the tale, and it was +thought, therefore, worth while to include them here. + + + +DOCUMENT No. 1 + +Document No. 1, indorsed on back, "Notes chiefly written by the Abbot +of Vaux." + + +_In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Sanctus Spiritus. Amen._ + +I, Laurent of Lorraine, Benedictine, by Divine permission Abbot of +Vaux, do make these writings and divers memoranda, partly from my own +unworthy knowledge, and partly from facts openly notorious and resting +on the testimony of witnesses as credible as there be in this world of +falsehood and vanity. + +All of which latter portion, concerning one Pedro d'Ortez and his +descendants, is here set down at the special prayer and persuasion of +said d'Ortez, a profane and sacrilegious lord, yet whose past service +to the Holy Church should not be forgotten, though his late riotous and +ungodly life hath much grieved the faithful brotherhood. + +THEREFORE, I, Laurent, Abbot, as above stated, do make and inscribe +this chronicle, beginning this, the 29th day of June, in the year of +grace, one thousand five hundred and seventy-six, according to the +eccleciastical computation. + +And herein: + +ITEM the first--(Being a copy of entries made by my own hand upon the +register of the monastery, now preserved in the archives of the same.) +Aug. 26, 1572. Admitted to the sanctuary and protection of the +monastery this day a certain suckling babe, aged about two years. + +The infirm servitor by whom said babe was tended, dying the same day, +despite all efforts and prayers. + +August 28th, 1572. Died August 26th, 1572, at Cartillon, Henri +Francois Placide d'Artin, Count of Cartillon, Seigneur de Massignac, +etc., a heretic and apostate, falling before the wrath of God on +occasion of the pious stratagem of the Feast of the Blessed +Bartholomew, arranged by Her Most Gentle Majesty, and the dutiful son +of Church, Henri, duc de Guise. + +Note. The babe aforementioned being the son and heir of above, was +admitted to communion of the church and baptized Bartholomew Pasquier. + +Further note. Sept. 9th, 1589. Bartholomew Pasquier being designed +for orders, but unruly and rebellious in spirit, ran away upon the +murder of our good King Henri, third of that name, and joined himself +with the armies of the heretic Henri, Prince of Bearne, self-styled +King of France and Navarre. + +Afterward, when the said Henri, repenting of his errors, reunited with +the true Church, said Bartholomew appears again as a major in his +guards, holding a firm place, it was said, in the King's favor. + + + + +DOCUMENT No. 2 + +(Abbot Laurent's writing) + +Statement of Brothers Anselmo and Jehan, touching the rites of exorcism +by them administered, _contra daemonios_, to the temporal and +seigneural lord, Pedro d'Ortez, Count of Cartillon--fourteenth of said +lordship--a man of profane blood, dying in grievous torment of soul, +possessed of foul and wicked fiends--may God protect all true +Christians from the same. AMEN. + + ANSELMO DI NAPOLI. + JEHAN DE TOURS. + + +_In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Sanctus Spiritus. Amen._ + +It was come the early part of the night when there arose at the outer +gate such an unseemly clattering of hoofs and rattle of worldly weapons +as greatly terrified our humble-minded brethren, engaged at their +devotions. + +The holy Abbot, being retired at his prayer and pious meditations, +Brother Jehan, worthy and devout, in humility of spirit inquired of +their errand. Being informed in hot haste that the puissant and mighty +Lord of Cartillon lay dying in sin, possessed of frenzies and fiends, +and stood in need most urgent of extreme unction, we deliberated +thereupon together. + +"Hurry, haste, good fathers, ere it be too late; we have here two stout +palfreys to bear you to his couch." + +The Abbot having in due season come forth from his closet, we were +commanded to go forthwith to minister to the needs of the noble Count. + +Provided with holy oil, and the ritual for casting out demons, bearing +a piece of the true cross, before which no evil being can prevail, we +rode away at so rough a pace withal, through constant urging and +imprecations of the men at arms, as caused us to be sorely shaken and +disturbed, both in mind and body. + +Arrived at Cartillon, we made great speed to repair to his bedside, +where, of a truth, the man lay flat of his back, weak in flesh, but +stout and rebellious of soul, contrary to the doctrines of our most +blessed religion. + +Before he caught sight of us, he moaned and heaved, pointing his +fingers ever out of the window, and uttering strange heathen +blasphemies--whereat we crossed ourselves piously. + +Following the direction of his gaze we saw naught save the starlit dome +of heaven. + +The eyes of the demon gave him power to see diabolical and unclean +forms. + +Sorely distracted thereat, he cried out in direst fear: + +"Hence! Hence! Seek my mother in Hell, for it was her doing. I would +have spared the women." + +The man being clearly possessed of an evil demon, we immediately made +ready the sacred offices of the church for the casting out of such. + +Believing from the demon voice issuing through the possessed man's lips +that it was the woman fiend, Lilith, who in female guise doth walk the +earth in darkness, we resorted with much speed to the office specially +prepared for that evil and depraved being. + +The holy ritual was being devoutly read by Brother Anselmo, when the +man, turning in his couch, caught sight of us at our sacred labors. He +thereupon, with many profane and blasphemous oaths, bade us cease and +begone. + +"Out! Out upon you, thou shaveling hypocrites! Thinkest thou I am +become a helpless woman to profit of thy mummeries? No, by the body of +Jupiter. Get out! get out!" + +"Oh, weak and rebellious son of Holy Church, calm thy troubled spirit +and take unto thyself the most blessed peace of God. Repent thine +errors, and prepare thy mind for the Paradise of the just." + +Verily, it was an evil and malignant demon which controlled him, for +the words but struck a pagan madness to his heart, and he sprang from +his couch. + +"Hush! Hush your priestly lies, which sink a new terror in my soul. +It can not, can not be, this other world where men receive the reward +or punishment drawn upon themselves in this. Thou liest, thou canting +monk-faced coward; it is all a lie of priestcraft. + +"There is no God, no Hell; no, I will not, will not believe it. Get +thee hence before I drive thee to the gibbet and fling thy quarters to +hawk and hound." + +We crossed ourselves in horror, kissing the piece of the true cross, +fearing his presence and terrible blasphemy would draw a bolt from +Heaven. But there he stood, for some divine purpose secure in his body +from the vengeance of God. + +So fierce a fire consumed his strength he sank again in mortal weakness +on his couch. + +We watched him long. He gazed as one fixed by an evil eye, through the +open window straight toward an ancient well across the court-yard. + +He mumbled words whereof we could only guess the import. He raised a +long, thin finger, knotted at the joints, and pointed to the well: + +"Do you hear it? Oh, mother, mother, it was your doing! Listen now. +Dost hear their cries in Hell? See, see, the body turns and swings, +softly, softly," and he covered his face, uttering the most plaintive +cries. + +He started up again and went to the window, stretching out his arm as +before. We could see nothing but the court and old well, long dry of +water. + +"See, there she is; see, see; I come, I come." + +And regarding not our sacred relics or adjurations, he passed out the +door, down the stair of winding stone, through the men who, palsied by +craven fears, put not forth their hands to stay; staring before him +with wide-open eyes which saw not, d'Ortez strode through them all into +the vacant court-yard. + +No pause he made, but straightway went toward the well, whither--at +some distance be it humbly confessed--we followed. + +At first he but peered within and listened; then he stood quiet for a +space, as if he waited, for what we could not tell. + +None of us being sufficiently near to prevent, and the power of the +demon prevailing over weak and mortal flesh, he mounted the curb, and, +amid the most horrid shrieks, cursings and revilings proceeding from +the foul demon Lilith, he plunged himself bodily in the darkness below, +wherefrom came only faint groans for a short space. + +Thus died Pedro d'Ortez, Lord of Cartillon. + +Leaving the task of getting out his body to those vassals who, greatly +perturbed in spirit, gathered at the spot, we hastened away horrified +at such abominations of Beelzebub as we had witnessed, being for our +fear and little faith made culpable before God, and hoping to +repurchase peace by great penitence. + +Report made and rendered to the Most Reverend and Illustrious Father in +God, Laurent, Abbot of the Monastery of Vaux, this the tenth day of +July in the year of grace one thousand five hundred and ninety-six. + +(Signed) ANSELMO DI NAPOLI, + JEHAN DE TOURS. + + + + +DOCUMENT No. 3 + +(Concerning Raoul d'Ortez) + +Indorsed on back, "Further notes by Abbot of Vaux." + +_In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Sanctus Spiritus. Amen._ + +Further facts having come to my knowledge, in this, the year of grace +one thousand five hundred and eighty nine, which do most gloriously +illustrate the dispensations of a just God, and His visitation of the +sins of the father upon the children of them who hate Him, it is deemed +meet and proper that they be here set down and perpetuated for that +future generations may know the truth; Therefore: + +Be it held in everlasting memory, that Pedro d'Ortez, the same who has +been by me beforementioned as of a profane, carnal and blood-guilty +life, living not with the fear of God before his eyes, but filled with +evil at the instigation of the devil:--The said Pedro having at this +period two sons, desired that the elder should, according to secular +law, inherit his title and lands. He desired also, that the younger, +Raoul, might enter the armies of the King. But Raoul, nothing loath, +in so far as the fighting there was concerned, lusted yet for the gold +and acres which were his father's. Pedro, the elder brother, being of +a mild and amiable temper, designed more for the cloister than the +camp, Raoul jested and jibed at him alway for his gentle disposition +and meekness of spirit. + +All of these facts being stated and related to me by Brother Julian, +who went betimes to the castle for alms and tithes--which same were +frequent denied and withheld, to the great detriment of our just dues. + +One day, after a more than usually violent quarrel between Pedro and +Raoul, their father came suddenly upon them in a retired portion of the +castle grounds. The sight was enough to startle even a man so used to +shedding human blood as had been the Lord of Cartillon. + +Pedro was slowly sinking to the ground, easing himself down somewhat +upon his knees and elbows. His brother stood near watching, and calmly +wiping the red drippings from his sword upon the grass. Not a +semblance of regret did he show for the deed of blood. + +The father gazed transfixed with horror from one son to the other, +until the slow comprehension came to him. + +"How now, Raoul, what hast thou done?" the older man demanded of Raoul. + +"Canst thou not see? He stood between me and the lordship of this fair +domain," the younger replied full as sturdily, hot and scornful, with +lowering brow and unrepenting glare. + +"Thou foul and unnatural murderer, and thinkest thou to profit by thy +brother's death? No; I swear--" + +"Hold, old man; swear not and taint not thy soul with perjury. Have a +care for thine own safety. It is now but the feeble barrier of thy +tottering age which prevents all these acres, these fighting men, these +towers from being my own. Have a care, I say, that thou dost not lie +as low as he, and by my hand." + +The old man fell back a pace affrighted, feeling for the first time in +his life a fear, fear of his own son. Yet the scornful and defiant +face before him was that of his true child. Therein he saw reflected +his own turbulent and reckless youth. The wretched old man covered his +face from the sight of Pedro, his first born, who had settled down upon +his back in the repose of death, and moaned aloud in his agony. + +"Nay, sorrow not, my father," Raoul commanded harshly, "it was but a +weakling who stood next thy seat of power. Behold! I, too, am thy +son; I am stronger, of a stouter heart, abler and more courageous than +he, and will make thee a fitter heir. Didst thou not slay thy brother +to sit in his hall? Didst not thou hang him to drink his wine, to +command his servants? Have I done aught but follow thy example?" + +Heedless of his father's sobs Raoul pursued his unrelenting purpose. + +"What the sword did for thee it has done for me, all glory to the +sword," and he raised the reeking blade to his lips to kiss. The elder +man shrank away from him as he approached. + +"Nay, as I tell thee, draw not thy hand away, turn not from me, or by +the blood of Christ, by thine own gray hairs, I'll lay thee beside thy +woman-son, the puny changeling whose face now is scarce paler than his +blood was thin. Now, by the God who made ye, swear 'twill be given out +as but an accident, and no man will ever know from thee the truth." + +"I swear, I swear," the old man repeated piteously after his son. + +And so it came to be that Raoul, the second son, succeeded his father +as Lord of Cartillon. + +And thus is the promise of the Lord God made true. + + + + +DOCUMENT No. 4 + +(Concerning the making of the locket) + +Extracts from the statement of Miguel Siliceo, goldsmith, of San +Estevan de Gormaz, as given in presence of Brothers Jehan and Hubert, +only such portions being here set out as have relation hereto, for the +sake of greater brevity and perspicuity. + +Said Miguel Siliceo, Spaniard, sojourning in the town of Rouen, having +come to the Monastery of Vaux to unburthen his soul of certain +diabolical knowledge and happenings which preyed thereon, to his great +distress and distraction of mind, having first solemnly sworn upon the +name of St. Iago of Compostella, his patron, to speak truth, did say: * +* * + +I came to Chateau Cartillon in the year of grace one thousand six +hundred and forty-two, upon the solicitation of its lord, he having +known me upon the banks of the Douro for a master workman, well skilled +in rare and curious devices, both of metals and precious stones. For +more than two years I rested in and about the castle, seeing much +whereof my soul hath need of ease and God's forgiveness. * * * + +* * * One day Count Raoul, being vexed and much disturbed, commanded my +attendance upon him. + +"My good Miguel," he spake in voice much softer than was his wont, "I +do require of you a proof of utmost skill." + +I bowed my willingness to undertake a commission. + +"I require a golden locket, such as man never saw before, of rare and +cunning device. Do you forthwith make it for me, showing upon the one +side the black wolf's head of d'Artin, and quarterings, in fairest +inlaid work. Upon the other and hidden side, let it appear the black +wolf's head as before, but surcharged with the bar sinister. You know. +And let it be concealed by so secretly a hidden spring, no hand but +mine can touch or find," and as he spoke on, his tongue flew the +taster, his eyes roved about, he kept tight grip upon his sword as if +he feared. He, Raoul of Cartillon, the man whose headlong courage was +an army's byword, he feared in his own hall. + +Even so, for proceeding further, his speech grew more wild, and I fain +would have fled. + +"You know my oath to my father." I of course knew naught of the +matter, nor do I know it yet, though I have diligent inquired. + +"My oath to forego the hall, give up my place with my fighting men. +Yea, upon my father's sword I swore, recking light of an oath, and the +old man, dying, would have it so. That oath torments me now. The evil +demons of the air haunt my bed; fiends leer at me through the day and +whisper all the night. I see my father's soul writhing in the fires of +Hell, and there he lays and beckons me to him. But no, by the heart of +Mars I'll be no craven fool to give up my castle and my name. Perhaps +my son may, I'll make him swear to me to do so. Yet I fear; I fear; I +like not that pit of scorching flame where my father suffers because he +did lay his hand upon his brother." + +I could not but look him in the face, and he thought there was wisdom +in my glance, for he clutched me at the throat. + +"Ah, thou prying hound, what dost thou know? Speak! Speak!" + +But speak I could not, though a soul's salvation hung on my glib and +nimble tongue. + +Count Raoul soon loosed me, seeing my ignorance. Yet some dark story +had I heard and repeated not--the crimes of the great are too dangerous +morsels for a poor man to mouth. + +"Go now to thy shop, and mark ye, sirrah, that no man sees thy work." + +I had hardly gotten well to my forge before three stout varlets came in +on a pretense of seeing a golden bracelet which I showed them without +suspecting aught. When, my back well turned, they slipped gyves upon +my wrists, bound me by a great band of iron at the waist, and made all +fast to the huge stone pillar. + +Thenceforward, all through the days and nights which followed, one of +these men stood ever at my window to see I worked with speed, worked on +the locket and not upon my chains. + +Count Raoul came many times as the work progressed, but the guards were +alway at too great a distance to tell in what quaint form my beaten +gold was fashioned. + +Many, many lockets I made of cunning workmanship and design, of curious +chasings and most marvelous wrought intertwinings, yet none suited my +lord. One after one they returned to the melting pot and my labors +re-commenced. + +During the long months I was thus engaged, I saw the Count often, nay, +more than daily, for his whole feverish life seemed in-woven with the +yellow and white metals I was busy interlacing and rounding and +polishing up. + +At times an abject fear sat upon his countenance, and he mumbled of +strange sights he saw, of communings with the Prince of Darkness, of +specters gaunt and hideous that glided through the deserted court-yard, +and stood beside his chair even in the noisy banquet chamber. + +For that the Count was mad I could not doubt. + +Yea, of all these things he spake as he urged me on as a lazy horse +under whip and goad, to finish, finish. + +I inquired of this at great risk of one of the men who stood guard; he +tapped his forehead, and replied: + +"He does all things so. It is so in camp, on the field, in the hall. +Aye, but he's a very fiend in battle," and the fellow's eye brightened +with a fierce pleasure at the thought of his lord's well-known +prowess--for Count Raoul had wandered much in foreign lands, and deeds +of blood followed in whispers to his door. + + * * * * * * + +It is of these dealings with the evil lord, and close association with +one possessed, I seek cleansing. * * * Too often did I pass the names +of Rusbel, Ashtaroth, Beelzebub, Satan and others trippingly upon my +tongue--may the Saints defend--to keep my lord's temper smooth, for I +verily believe he meant to slay me when my task was done. + +It was for this I made my work long and tedious, that the acid I was +daily using on my chains might have due season to eat them through, and +I could be free. + +* * * finished at length to his satisfaction, and slipped off through +the night. + + * * * * * * + +Stated and subscribed in presence of Brothers Jehan and Hubert, on this +the morrow of All Saints', in the year of grace one thousand six +hundred and forty-six. + +MIGUEL SILICEO. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Black Wolf's Breed, by Harris Dickson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED *** + +***** This file should be named 20330.txt or 20330.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/3/3/20330/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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